Nico and Zephyr reached the bottom of the mountain trail, where Kelin, Azan, and Suri had pulled the windship closer. They stood on deck at the railing, ready for orders to sail through high noon and continue the chase.
“I’ve made a decision,” Nico declared. “Break down the sail. From here on out, we hunt a gonda. We’ll rest here for a few days to gather our strength before turning for the gonda breeding grounds.”
“About time!” Azan cheered and hugged Kelin in his excitement. Suri, who Nico thought would be overjoyed the most, stood with a shadow over her face.
“You sure about this?” Zephyr asked at Nico’s shoulder.
At some point, the chase had stopped being about Kai and what was best for him and had become more about Nico. Nico had needed to prove herself better than Rasia, but eventually you had to realize that there were some people in life that are just . . . better. It was time Nico considered what was best for her kull, and the people at home depending on her.
Nico reached into her belt for Zephyr’s dagger, back from the oasis, and handed it over. “I’m sure. Come on. Let’s introduce you to the kull.”
Kelin climbed down the stairs and gave them a cocky smile in acknowledgment. The tent kid teased, “Sure did take a while up there.”
“Perhaps you and Azan could learn a thing or two,” Nico said, biting down a smirk. Kelin squawked out a laugh and gave her a cheeky wink as he walked away.
“I hope he’s been minding himself,” Zephyr said pointedly.
“We’ve come to an understanding.”
Azan and Suri unhooked the sail from the deck. Azan lowered it and Nico reached up to catch the edge. She stretched it over the ground, and Zephyr staked it with an effortless stomp of his foot. Azan jumped from the stairs to meet them.
“Azan, this is Zephyr. A good friend of mine. He’s here to join our kull. I know we’ve been rather short on a fifth member for a while now.”
Azan glanced over Zephyr, curious. “You look different than what I imagined.”
Zephyr glowered. “What did you imagine?”
“My family fulfills quite a few orders for your tah. Figured you’d be as dark as him, and short and small, but you’re not. Well met.”
“Well met,” Zephyr said, wary. Azan left, walking toward Kelin to help build the campfire. Zephyr looked to Nico for an explanation, no doubt expecting a worse reception.
“He’s good bones,” Nico explained.
One more introduction, and it was the one Nico had been imagining for years—the moment when she introduced her best friends to each other. Except now, Nico wasn’t that same wide-eyed, optimistic little kid. While Azan had made his greetings, Suri had curved past to disappear into the underbelly of the windship.
“Wait here,” Nico said, walking over to peer inside the hatch. She found Suri sitting atop the water barrels, staring at nothing. “Suri, you can’t hide in here forever.”
“Did you fuck him?” Suri whispered.
Nico’s shoulders tensed at the accusation. Suri’s tone was completely different from when Kelin had teased Nico about her relationship with Zephyr earlier. “Even if I did, that’s none of your business. Can’t you get past your hate for just a moment and meet him?”
“Fine.” Suri pushed herself off the barrels and shuffled past.
Nico followed Suri out the hatch, hoping Suri would talk to Zephyr and find all her fears about him were unfounded. Those hopes were quickly dashed when Suri spat on the ground at Zephyr’s feet. Zephyr’s jaw tightened, and for a moment Nico thought Zephyr might retaliate, but Zephyr did nothing. Very few kullers would have let that go. Suri moved past without a second look.
Nico rushed forward, outraged, but Zephyr stopped her with a touch on her arm. “Nico, it’s whatever. It’s okay.”
“No, this is not okay. You two are my closest friends. It’s not supposed to be this way.”
Zephyr rolled his shoulders. “For what it’s worth, I’ve been jealous of her too.”
The admittance took Nico aback. Zephyr had never spoken of Suri with ill will. She had naively hoped they had been as excited to meet each other as Nico had been excited for them to meet. But like Zephyr, it seemed Suri had always been jealous of the other best friend.
“That’s no excuse not to introduce her name to you,” Nico said. Perhaps Zephyr could shrug it off, but Nico was done with this behavior. She marched after Suri.
“Suri, we need to talk. Now.”
Suri followed after Nico. They stopped close to a rock wall. The campfire cast their shadows tall against the mountain, like some sort of play cast along the sides of adobe houses. “Apologize to Zephyr.”
“I’m not apologizing to a tent rat.”
“That is enough! Zephyr has never done anything to you. Nor are you competing against each other. A no to you doesn’t mean a yes to him. And even if I did choose him, that doesn’t give you the right to treat him so poorly.”
“Clean your face, Nico. These tent kids aren’t to be trusted, and he’s been playing you for years. He’s using you. You’re just some prize to him. You’re the Ohan, and you deserve better. Look at how he’s already changed you. Now, all of a sudden you stop chasing after Kai? I begged you for days. What could he have possibly said or done to change your mind?”
“That Kai is happy!” Nico snapped.
Nico could change her mind, and it frustrated Nico that Suri couldn’t change hers. Nico was willing to give Rasia a chance, so why couldn’t Suri give Zephyr one? Suri’s jealousy had morphed into this thing that was so intractable, and Nico was done ignoring her behavior in the hopes she’d get better. Nico was done giving Suri’s hate space with her silence.
“I promised you success in this Forging, and I will keep that promise. But I will no longer tolerate your hate. Our friendship ends here.”
“You don’t mean that, Nico.”
Nico reached for her magic and slapped Suri in the face, splattering clods of grass and dirt, with the wad of Suri’s own spit.
Nico felt the devastation she’d always feared, that terrifyingly loss that cut organs out of her body, the crushing of her entire world. But she fought through the pain. She was stronger than her parents. She refused to break.
Some friends weren’t forever.