Page 218 of Voidwalker
“Oh?” Kashvi cracked a hard-earned grin. “Or else what?”
“I can be very convincing—”
The two of them retired inside. Fi waited as the last of the villagers returned.
She’d be lying to say she didn’t catch herself looking for Boden amongst the crowd. Didn’t feel a skip in her heart each time she remembered he wasn’t coming back. He’d loved herenough to search for her seven years ago. To give her this safe place to build a home. She’d keep it safe for him.
Antal returned with a pair of metal smiths. Then a carpenter. Then a baker. At last, he circled the square to join Fi, shoulders sagging with world-ending fatigue, though his tail betrayed him, a low but contented swish.
“That’s the last of them,” he announced.
Fi appraised his work with a nod. “Excellent job, Lord Daeyari. You’ve done well by the people of Nyskya.” Then, softer, “Ready to go home?”
“Please,” he groaned. “I’ll be picturing that teleportation route in my sleep—”
He stilled as Fi wound her fingers into his. Confiding, she asked, “Would you like to go back toyourhome, Antal?”
No more threat of Verne. No more Beast prowling the cliffs.
Antal blinked at her, a moment of surprise. A slow, tired smile.
Then they were gone.
Night lay upon the city of Thomaskweld.
Fi returned to stone beneath her boots. A groan of wind at the mouth of the cave.
Antal’s quarters were remarkably as she remembered: a room carved into the cliff, a rug of black trees and silver moonlight, a sitting area with a low table and cushions. All of it, windblown. Dusted in snow. Whatever energy once laced the walls had dissipated, leaving the rock cold and dark.
Antal surveyed his abode with a scowl. He crouched, tapping a claw to one of those thin floor conduits, a hairline of copper in moonlight.
Crimson energy flooded the vein. It branched across theground to melt the snow, flowed up walls to set lanterns alight in soft twilight blue. Already, the wind quieted. The air warmed.
Fi slipped off her boots, relishing magic-heated stone beneath bare feet.
“You’re installing this in my house,” she informed him.
Antal cut her a wry grin. “I suppose I still owe you a favor, for your help.”
“Incorrect. You’re doingthatfor free, because I kiss very well.” Fi tipped her chin up. “I haven’t decided what my favor will be.”
He moved to the window—so she wouldn’t see his compromising smirk, Fi suspected. Last time she’d been here, she’d huddled in a corner, keeping distance like a trapped hare. Now, she joined the Lord Daeyari at the ledge overlooking his city.
At this height, the wind bit her cheeks and set her hair to flight. Invigorating. Below, the golden lights of Thomaskweld consumed the valley floor. Energy conduits branched like veins from the power factories. A beautiful city. Larger than any she’d lived in.
“How does it feel to be back?” she asked.
Antal breathed deep of the bracing air. “I missed it here.”
“The infatuation with heights still baffles me. Though, the view is nice.”
Antal slipped an arm around her waist, nuzzling his nose to her cheek as the wind swept both their hair into knots. “A better view than ever.”
Fi scoffed. “Filthy flatterer.”
“Tell me to stop.”
Of course she wouldn’t.
