29. TO HUNT IN DREAMS

Janel’s story

The Mother of Trees, the Manol

The day of their arrival, evening

When Janel returned to the royal suite, she found Talea and Xivan waiting in addition to Teraeth and “Kihrin.”

Janel lay down on the bed. “Shall we do this?”

Talea seemed more interested in the room, likely because she hadn’t been there for Valathea’s grand tour earlier in the day. “Did no one make a fuss about the three of you all staying here?”

Janel smiled. “Why would they? The vané saw how Kihrin and I were acting around Teraeth when we brought him back from the Well of Spirals. The odd part would’ve been if we’d done all that and weren’t sharing a room.”

Teraeth was openly pacing. Janel was surprised he wasn’t tossing a knife from hand to hand. As it was, he reminded her of a caged black jaguar, which was hardly the first time she’d likened the man to a hunting cat. He’d always worn the predator close to the surface.

“You two know how to get past the Veil into the Afterlife?” Teraeth asked Xivan and Talea.

The two women shared a look.

“I’ve done it before,” Xivan said. “I’m pretty sure I can do it again.”

Teraeth looked expectantly at Talea.

Who shrugged. “How hard could it be?”

Teraeth began cursing under his breath.

“If she doesn’t figure it out, you can keep her company until Xivan and I return,” Janel said. She wasn’t worried, though. Talea had been the first one to gain a Greater Talisman and seemed to have transitioned quickly. The small mental duplicate of the former goddess who appeared to Talea and Talea alone—Eshi—was more than capable of talking the fledgling luck goddess through the right skills.

“Teraeth, stop wearing a track in the carpet, please,” Janel said. “We’ll be careful, and we’ll bring your father back.”

Teraeth walked over to where she lay and kissed her. Xivan cleared her throat when said kiss turned overexuberant.

Reluctantly, he released her. “Go raise hell,” he told her.

“Hopefully not,” Janel said. “I’d rather just Return your father.”

She closed her eyes in that world and opened them a moment later in a different one.