Runebinder (The Runebinder Chronicles #1)(19)

“We could not,” Dreya said. She stepped forward. Devon moved at her side. A shadow. “We would not have had the strength to carry so many. To do so would have risked us all. We would have been followed.”

“But why me?” I’m no one. I’m worth nothing.

“Because we were sent to find you,” Jarrett said.

Hearing him say it was a kick in the stomach.

“Why?”

Jarrett opened his mouth, but Dreya put a hand on his shoulder and stepped forward.

“You are being targeted by the Kin,” she said.

Tenn’s heart lurched to his throat. Did she know about Tomás?

“Dreya, don’t—” Jarrett began, but she waved her hand and continued, anyway.

“It is not a statement you wish to hear. Any sane man would feel the same. But it is the truth. The Kin desire you, and they will stop at nothing to take you. That is why we were sent.”

He went silent. Having the Kin after him wasn’t a shock after all that had happened. The shock was that others knew about it. The shock was that these three had let the rest of his troop die for it. For him.

“You should have let Matthias take me,” Tenn whispered. “I’m not worth their lives.”

“Do you really think Matthias would have let us go?” Jarrett asked. Suddenly, there was a hand under Tenn’s chin; Jarrett tilted Tenn’s head up to meet his gaze. “Matthias is a necromancer, Tenn. He would have taken you and killed the rest of us, anyway. At least this way... At least now you’re safe.”

Tenn wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. Jarrett’s gaze held him, as surely as Jarrett’s touch sent flames racing through his chest.

“Why? What makes me special? Why do they want me?”

Jarrett grinned.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out by keeping you alive. The Prophets told us to protect you. Personally, I’d guess it’s tied to your Spheres acting up. I’ve never heard of that happening before.”

Tenn couldn’t take his eyes off Jarrett’s. They were so warm. So familiar. He was acutely aware of Jarrett’s fingers under his chin, of their closeness, of the warmth Jarrett gave. A warmth, and a confidence. He could have stayed there forever. Instead, he pushed the warmth away and stepped back, letting Water slosh through his veins in a cold curse.

He hated himself. For being alive when the rest of his troop was dead. For being the reason his troop was dead. But mostly, he hated himself because, right then, he didn’t hate himself. There was something about being in Jarrett’s gravity that made him feel alive. That made the last few years of bloodshed and regret fade away.

Something clanked beneath Jarrett’s coat as Tenn stepped away.

“What’s that?” Tenn asked, pulled from his thoughts.

“Something I picked up,” he said.

Jarrett pulled the object from inside his pocket. Tenn gasped and stepped back. It was the jar the necromancer had held, the one with the flickering flame.

“Why—”

“I thought it might come in handy,” Jarrett said.

The twins stepped forward, peering over Jarrett’s shoulder silently. But Tenn wasn’t watching them. He couldn’t take his eyes off the jar.

At first, he thought it was badly scratched, but the more he stared at it, the more the markings that flickered in the sun and from the inner fire became, well, if not legible, at least uniform. Definitely symbols. Harsh and angular. They seemed to whisper in his head, like reading a foreign language he could almost place. The weight of a void, the dark center of a star, the raging heat of space, consuming, consuming...

“What?” Jarrett asked.

Tenn looked up. He didn’t realize he’d been moving his lips.

“Can you read them?” Dreya asked.

Tenn stepped back and looked away. “No. I just... No.”

He caught the twins looking at Jarrett. He caught Jarrett’s furrowed brow. He caught the slightly stronger glow coming from within the jar. Or maybe it was just the sun.

“It sounded like you were reading it,” Jarrett ventured.

“No. I was just making it up.”

Jarrett’s next words were slow. Confused. “Are you—”

“We should be moving,” Dreya interrupted.

Jarrett seemed to snap back to reality. He looked to Dreya, shoving the jar back inside his pocket.

The moment it was hidden, the whispers in Tenn’s mind quieted. He hadn’t even realized they were still there.

“Are you recharged?” Jarrett asked.

“Not fully,” she said. “But we do not have time to waste. Especially if you are carrying that.”

“Where are we going?” Tenn asked. Jarrett was still looking at him curiously, like he wanted to ask him a thousand questions. Questions, he knew, that had nothing to do with the symbol-covered jar.

“Outer Chicago,” Jarrett replied. His words were still guarded.

Tenn looked to Dreya. He could feel the warmth of Jarrett’s gaze. It lingered in his chest, thawing the cold places. And sending a dozen more questions racing through his brain.

“Why?” he asked.

Dreya sighed. She kept looking to the horizon, to the way they’d come from. “Outer Chicago is safe. Mostly.”