book title

Emara walked out of the luxurious washroom with a towel wrapped around her short curly hair, feeling fresher than she had in… well ever. Chipo had given her a sleeveless dark red tunic, loose white pants to match her own, and soft slippers lined with gold trim. Emara let out a sigh and flopped on the large bed draped in a plush cream and apricot comforter that smelled of happiness and spring days.

“Feeling better?” Jai sat on the spacious window seat, flicking a coin absently with one hand as he stared out at the sun still sparkling high over the sea. His own dark waves had already dried, but he still had on the courier’s uniform he’d worn into the palace.

Emara drummed her fingers on her belly, considering his question. Weariness still coated her bones, making them at once both heavy and brittle. But beneath that, a spark of hope had rekindled. They knew where Bellaphia was, and in this strange world she’d found—her heart fluttered again—she’d found family. Something she’d thought forever lost to her. Even if she didn’t find her way back, if her fate was to remain here for the rest of her years, wouldn’t that be okay too?

She shook her head, trying to keep her heart from settling on a course to wish for. It was still entirely possible whatever yanaa Everard had used to send her here would run out, and she could be whisked away as suddenly and unexpectedly as she’d come. And if that happened, she needed to be ready for it.

“Yes,” she replied at last. “I still have more questions than answers, but I trust Chipo, I know what I must do next, and…” She glanced around the room once more. It looked like a smaller version of Chipo’s next door, except this one was painted in earthy colors rather than the rich jewel tones of her chamber. “At least we can sleep safely here.” It was a thought that often consoled her before she drifted off… at least on those few nights when she could count it as half true.

Jai snatched his coin from the air and turned to her, his expression hotly defensive. “You were safe at Anisa’s.”

Emara raised herself on her elbows to fix him with a skeptical look. “Is that right? And you weren’t ever-keeping one ear open, never letting yourself quite fall asleep in case Pran’s gang found you in the night and dragged you into the street?”

His shoulders relaxed just a little, but he held her stare. “I didn’t say me; I said you.”

And suddenly Emara saw through the façade, under the mask, to the constant fatigue and worry that hid there, to the twitching eye always looking over one shoulder. She bolted upright with the realization—the Shadmundar that always stood watch while she slept, whose ragged ears pricked at the slightest sound, his one blue eye missing absolutely nothing. How strange that the cat had donned the name of the mask, while finally taking it off.

She stood up and crossed the room to sit beside him as Shad had done so many times for her. She didn’t take his hand, but her arm brushed his, and the connection sang through them with a trust that both were loath to give, yet still flowed between them effortless as the tides.

“I know I was, and I thought the same thing when I fell asleep last night too. I know I have you to thank for that… for so many things.” She saw Shad’s limp body curled on the floor, and she clutched her hands together, wishing she’d said this to him then. Wishing that Jai would remember these words from her, but knowing he would lose this moment, just like so many others.

He met her gaze, their faces close and his brows drawn low with intensity.

“So when I say we’re safe here, I mean that you too will be able to get some rest.”

He broke the stare, the coin flipping in his hands once more. “The guards are probably still looking for us, and Chipo is very young.”

Emara snorted. “Young? What? She’s probably a moon or two younger than you.”

He looked back at her, a grin curving through his mock outrage. “She’s three years younger!”

“Skies above.” Emara fluttered a dramatic hand over her heart. “The amount of wisdom she will gain in these next three years—”

Jai elbowed her, his smile growing wilder. “Oh stop. You know what I mean. It’s not about years.” The coin slipped between his fingers, appearing and reappearing, his face sobering once again. “She’s never had to sleep with one ear still listening.”

Emara’s smile fell, and once again she glanced around the room. Her gaze moved from the well-kept fireplace to the ornate lanterns hanging from the arched ceiling to the plush bed, and the washroom with the basin larger than she’d ever seen. Of course, Jai was right. Chipo might be an Heir of strength and power, but this would almost certainly be her first foray into real danger without a contingent of guards to protect her.

In fact, that freedom, that risk, was probably part of what allured Chipo.

“You’re right, but I think for this one night, behind these locked doors in this lavish palace, we can rest.” She stood and made her way toward the bed. “Tomorrow we’ll worry about tomorrow.”

Jai sighed, arranging one of the cushions behind his head on the window seat. “Fine, I suppose I can do with a rest.”

Emara watched him for a moment as he tried to curl his long legs into the window seat. “You know I meant the bed.” She gestured grandly to it.

“You can have the bed,” he said, still shifting on the seat.

With a sudden realization, Emara leaned over with a long laugh. In her world, no one cared for such things as propriety. There was no room for such useless worries when they were merely trying to survive. And how many times had she slept with Shad curled against her back, her stomach, the crook of her knees? This was hardly new territory.

Jai regarded her as she stood folded over in laughter, gasping for breath. “You’ve finally cracked.”

Emara wiped the mirthful tears from her eyes, her belly aching. When was the last time she had laughed like that? Had she ever? She couldn’t remember. “The bed is bigger than the room that four of us slept in last night. We can share.”

His hand squeezed around the coin in his palm. “But—”

“Where I come from, people sleep where they can. They huddle together for warmth, or safety, or even just comfort. Sometimes even being within reach of another is the only thing keeping the terror at bay. In the dark of the night, when the dead and monsters roam, modesty and appearances quickly become meaningless words no one bothers to remember.” She got under the covers with a yawn, fatigue already tugging on her eyelids. “Of course, you can sleep where you like. But just remember you were invited.”

As sleep tugged her into darkness, the bed shifted just a little as someone eased into the other side, and Emara smiled.

A shuffle outside the door brought Emara back to the room, and her eyes flicked open. Though the lanterns still burned, the fire had gone out, and the windows showed a clear night sky. Next to her, Jai slept with a hand beneath one cheek, his breathing deep and even. Although he hadn’t gotten under the blankets, he’d shifted closer to her in his sleep, his face open and peaceful and close enough to touch. The corner of Emara’s mouth lifted with a bittersweet smile, wondering how long it had been since he’d let himself sleep so deeply.

Another shuffle sounded from Chipo’s room, and Emara slipped out of the bed, taking a step toward the door before it swung open and Chipo all but bounded through it. “It’s time!”

Jai gasped, bolting upright before stumbling out of bed, his gaze darting all around in confusion. “What—” Then his eyes found Emara’s and focused again. “Odriel’s teeth, are you trying to scare the soul out of me?”

Chipo giggled, her gaze moving from Jai to the bed that had so obviously hosted two, and she winked at Emara. “Hope I didn’t interrupt.”

Emara’s face flushed hot, and she shook her head, trying for nonchalant. After all, hadn’t she said she didn’t care about modesty? “Not at all. Do we have supplies? Horses?”

“Everything is ready, just follow me.” With that, Chipo bounced away toward the balcony.

Emara started to follow when Jai caught her wrist, her yanaa at once spilling into him. He leaned close, his gaze urgent beneath his sleep-mussed hair. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Emara squeezed her hand around his arm, tugging him forward. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

He lifted a finger. “I asked first.”

“Really? I thought you were supposed to be the wise lost magus of nineteen long years?”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking this question.”

“I have to find Bellaphia.” Emara retreated a step, her palm skimming his arm until only their fingertips touched. “I’m going.”

“Then I’m going too.”

He moved forward, his fingers entwining with hers, her yanaa practically crackling where their skin met. Could he feel that?

“Good,” Emara managed, turning away. But she didn’t let go of his hand as she pulled him into Chipo’s room.

And Everard’s words came back to her. Shadmundar is the thread… Is this what he meant? This strange connection between them that spanned a century. Were she and Jai somehow tied together in this?

“Over here!” Chipo stage-whispered from her balcony where she brandished a coil of rope. “See, supplies!”

Jai stopped short, his gaze darting to the balcony, and Emara stifled a laugh. “Don’t worry now, she brought a rope this time. See, I told you we could count on her.”

“The rope doesn’t make it better.”

“Oh come now.” Emara pulled him forward. “I promise you’ll make it through this.” And get turned into a cat, live for a hundred years, and then come back to die in this Lost-infested palace.

But as they clambered into the night, the sour thought swished around in the clear air. At least, that was what had happened to him before. Now that she was here, had she changed that somehow? Or perhaps she was wrong about everything, and even though this world looked like hers, it wasn’t the same at all.

One thing was sure, she couldn’t count on any promises from Time or anyone else...

She watched with fierce gratitude as Jai painstakingly lowered himself down the rope below her, with Chipo barely containing her giggles at the bottom.

…Because she knew better than anyone, danger was everywhere, and the only way to keep her new friends safe was to hold them close.