So I strolled instead the halls of Fangreach while the cold stone echoed beneath my soles. I thought of Ashendusk—where Kael, Mara, and I were heading in the coming days. I tried not to imagine the blood basin Jace had talked about. The seer. The portal.
I couldn't shake the visage of Jace's broken body from my mind. Seconds later, if he'd moved those steps slower, we may never have known what the cult's plans were. And then … into the jaws of destruction we should have walked.
I saw Kael at the western wall, staring at the black as if he believed he could find the storm before it found them.
He did not glance around when I approached.
"They'll have assassins after that," he said, his voice barely audible. "Not hounds. Not cultists. Something sharper."
"I know."
"Get you to the old wardmaster. Strengthen your bindings. Triple up on the guards outside your door."
I took his hand. "I'm not hiding."
His eyes finally met mine. "I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to live."
