Page 34 of Shardless

Aiden and Aimee broke away and started circling the base of the gate. Aimee had to lean onher brother’s arm, her skirts bunched in one hand as he helped her navigate the debris. They spoke to each other in hushed voices as they surveyed the stacks of salvage with wide eyes.

Skye moved with practiced precision around the gate, stopping here and there to make a notation in a small journal. Although it had been several years since he’d had to take readings on the gate, he’d performed these same tests so many times during the final days of the last charging cycle that the movements were still second-nature. Everything seemed to be in order, so it didn’t take him long.

With the measurements from the shadow crystals squared away, Skye approached the time crystal. Without a time mage, they had no way of knowing exactly when the separate time streams would sync, but they could make a guess. Skye blew out a slow breath as he ran a hand over the strip of gold. Even dark crystals, crystals that could no longer focus or refine aether, retained faint traces of magic swirling about their inner depths. There was information in that energy—if one knew how to find it. Closing his eyes, Skye attempted to tease out that tiny ripple of aether still lingering inside the crystal, tried to guess its secrets.

Jotting down a few notes, he closed the notebook and slid it back into his pocket. It seemed Ivain was right to be worried. Their original estimate was off. These readings were telling him they needed to move up the timeline for the gate connection by at least a week, two if they wanted to play it safe.

Just enough time to create more paperwork.

“Is everything alright?”

Skye jumped at the sound. He hadn’t heard Aimee and Aiden come up behind him. “Yes. It’s nothing we can’t still correct,” Skye said to Aiden in a low voice. “I’m done here. If you want to start heading back to the horses, I’ll go get Taly.”

Taly had scouted around to the far eastern perimeter of the scrap field where she stood motionless, scanning the area the harpy had been guarding earlier. As Skye approached, she said aloud, “I think we’re okay now. It was watching us for a while, but it seems to have lost interest. It’s moving away.”

“Just in time.” Skye came up to stand beside her. “I’m finished if you’re ready to head back.”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding stiffly.

Skye turned and waved at Aimee and Aiden. Aiden was almost carrying his sister at this point, and the two had fallen behind. They moved slowly, taking deliberate steps and occasionally stopping to peer into the piles of mortal waste.

Taly and Skye walked back in silence, deftly picking their way across the uneven terrain. She kept her eyes trained on the ground, her lips pursed in a frown. The tension from their argument at the stables still hadn’t dissipated completely, and if her previous words and actions were anything to go by, he knew she would be walking out of his life again in a few hours. He couldn’t let her go like this.

Hesitantly, Skye reached over and flicked her on the nose, just like he used to do when they were children and he wanted her attention. She started, her eyes narrowing in irritation as she gave him a questioning look. But then to his great relief, instead of pulling away, she cocked her head to the side and smiled.

At least that was one thing he could still count on. They could bicker and fight until they were blue in the face, but they were still friends in the end.

“You did good today,” he remarked casually, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Taly eyed him skeptically. “Try not to sound so surprised…jerk.”

Smirking, Skye pulled her to his side, reaching around her as he tried to wriggle his hand into her bag. “So, what did you find? Anything good?”

Taly laughed and slapped his hand away. “Not really. Just a few pieces of old jewelry—absolutely garish, but still gold. If I’m lucky, I might not be forced to eat Jay’s cooking this month. Even on a good day, that guy makes Sarina look like a gourmet chef.”

Skye covered his mouth, trying to suppress the laughter he could feel bubbling up. His stomach still turned just thinking about the few times he’d been subjected to Sarina’s cooking. “Shards… that’s bad. That’sreallybad.”

Eventually, they approached the edge of the debris field where the scrap started to thin. Glancing behind them, Skye could see that Aimee and Aiden had stopped, and Aimee was crouched on the ground reaching for something.

“Hey, about earlier…” Skye started to say to Taly. He hesitated, unsure of how to finish that sentence. He felt a pressing need to address their argument before they headed back, but at the same time, he meant every word he had said earlier that morning. She had hurt him, and he still didn’t quite know how to move past it.

“Don’t worry about it,” Taly sniffed. “Whatever hatred or hostility you feel towards me, I deserve it.”

“What?” Skye stopped, standing motionless as he stared after her.She thought that he hated her? Where the hell had she come up with that crazy idea? “I don’t hate you, Tink.” Taly walked the few steps back to him, ready to argue, but he held up a hand to shush her. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m angry. And hurt. And I wish you would just tell me what the hell is going on with you since, as I’ve told you before, I can’t read your mind. But hating you? I could never hate you.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” Taly mumbled as she kicked at a stray piece of scrap. “Because you were right this morning. What I did—the way I left—it was selfish. Ivain, Sarina, you—you’ve never been anything but kind to me, and I threw it away.”

Skye felt his heart clench almost painfully, and he took a deep breath, trying to find his voice.

Taly’s eyes flicked up to his face. She must have mistook something in his expression for anger because she turned away, her cheeks reddening. “You want answers… I get that. But that’s not something that I can give you right now. I know that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but that’s just how it is. Still, whether you believe me or not, I am sorry. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. If my word still means anything to you at all, then I promise you that much is true.” She took a deep breath before looking up at him uncertainly.

Skye shoved his hands into his pockets as he considered her words, tried to measure her sincerity. After a long moment, he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Say it again,”he commanded softly.

Taly looked away before meeting his eyes. “I’m sorry, Skye.”

“No.” He waved his hand dismissively. “No, no, no. The other part. The important part.”

Taly just stared at him, her brows pinched together in confusion. Skye knew the exact moment that understanding finally set in. She gave him an icy glare, and a long-suffering sigh fell from her lips. “You were right?”

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