Burnt Devotion (Imdalind, #5)(40)

I knew at once what it meant. Just as everyone else did, it seemed, guessing by the amount of wide eyes I was surrounded by.

I guess my meddling hadn’t been in complete vain.

A wide grin spread over my face, my heart seeming to swell at what I saw. After everything she had to face and what Edmund had done to her, I was happy for her.

I was happy for them both.

Ilyan had waited so long for her, and after talking to her, I knew she loved him. It was beautiful.

“Surprise, surprise,” Thom growled from beside me, his voice low enough only I could hear.

I only rolled my eyes at him. Saying something about this new development so close to Ryland was only asking or trouble.

I shook my head at him in warning and went back to helping Ryland who whimpered beside me like an injured dog, thankfully oblivious to the new, while not unsurprising, development. I didn’t want to know what he would do if he found out they had bonded.

“My lord,” Sain greeted Ilyan royally as he approached them, and I had to forcibly restrain an eye roll. Of course he was all formal and courteous now, whereas earlier, he had seemed about ready to start a coup.

Joclyn watched us, a deep pain bowing through her features before she nodded once and moved to sit next to Dramin.

She looked entirely calm, entirely controlled compared to how I had seen her only yesterday—the scared, volatile girl who cowered in corners and clung to Ilyan like a lifeline. She stood straight and tall, her face happy. There was no wonder at why she was happy.

Joclyn laughed at something Dramin had said before turning back to us, the worry that was taking over her features sliding away as she caught my eye. Normally, she would have smiled, made a face, done anything, but she merely stared at me, so guilty that, if there had been any doubt, she took it all away.

Dirty little rat killer.

I wanted to laugh; instead, I just focused.

“Ryland.” The low rumble of Ilyan’s voice pulled me away from Joclyn’s betrayal inducing stare and back to the whimpering boy who rocked back and forth beside me, his brother surrounding him in what was part comfort, part security.

Wrestling baby tigers was never fun, no matter how cute you thought the stripes were.

“Ryland,” Ilyan tried again, this time the boy’s focus snapping right to him. “I need you to look at me. I would like to help you.”

Ryland moaned at his voice, the sound so low and mournful that it felt like the sound of a dying animal. It echoed around us before he began to rock with much more force. The action made it clear he was trying to find something to press his body against.

I fought the need to reach out to him, to wrap my hands around him as Sain and I had done for so many weeks and months as Cail destroyed him. I wasn’t the only one, either. Sain stood behind him, writhing his hands in the same agony.

It was becoming very clear that even Ilyan might not be able to calm Ryland down enough to transport him safely. It was not that he wasn’t trying, not that Ryland wasn’t trying. We had simply run out of time, and whatever Edmund had done, he had played his hand well. Just like the sight had said.

“Sain.” Ilyan kept his hand around his brothers as his focus shifted to the old Drak.

Sain’s eyes lit up as though he knew what was coming.

He probably did.

One of these days, I was going to say something that Sain didn’t foresee. I didn’t see that happening, but at least I was going to try.

“I need to know the exact moment my father will arrive—”

“You know Drak magic doesn’t work that way, Ilyan,” Sain interrupted him, the breach in conduct visibly bristling Ilyan.

I stepped back on instinct. I had been on the receiving end of that wrath one too many times as it was, and I wasn’t interested in making it a full one hundred.

“I understand this, Sain.” Yep, one foul step away from explosion. Could I leave now? “But I need you to get me as close to the exact time as possible.”

The two men locked eyes in a silent match for power. Whatever had upset Sain before came back full force as I felt their magic bristle. While I did fear Ilyan’s temper, this match up was only comical to me. I knew the power Draks held. What was Sain playing at?

A Chihuahua could not defeat a Great Dane, and it would be foolish of them to try.

Although, part of me kind of wanted them to, if only for the show.

Unfortunately for me, the staring match ended with a nod from Sain, and then his eyes instantly dipped to the haunting black the Draks always had. I looked away on instinct, the memories of the horror movie hallways from the night before only increasing my freak-out factor.

I must be losing my nerve. Either that, or I had too many nerves, the anticipation from the exciting challenge of what I was about to face too much. It could go both ways.

“Under the flashes of magic the sky breaks apart. The man will come bathed in flames. The time is soon when the sun will break the clouds. Then it will be too late.” Sain’s voice was that low rumble again, and I shivered on instinct, the magic in his words moving into me the same way they had before.

He had barely gotten the words out before Thom took off toward Dramin and Joclyn, his shoulders hunched as they always were, but this time, it had more to do with the fact of what Sain had said and what that meant for all of us.

I knew I wasn’t the only one to realize how dangerous what we were going into was, and the complication that was Ryland…