It was as they stood embracing against the most romantic backdrop of all time that they heard the sound of a throat clearing, followed by Jordan’s voice.
“By all means, don’t let us interrupt.”
Alex jolted, her head moving back at the same time as Kaiden’s, only to find their friends inside the common room, standing just before the balcony’s entrance.
Pulling away from Kaiden, Alex strode towards them, torn between screaming at them and hugging them. When she halted a few steps away, she still didn’t know which reaction to lead with. While considering her options, her gaze locked on Bear, noting the shadows beneath his red-rimmed eyes and his face strained by grief.
William.
Bear had lost his father less than two days ago.
Just as Alex had lost Niyx.
She swallowed at the look he sent her, seeing her own pain reflected in his eyes. Instantly, her feelings about her friends’ recklessness dissolved, along with any desire she had to demand an explanation for how they had come to be in Tia Auras. She didn’t wait another second before moving forward to wrap her arms around Bear.
“I’m so sorry about your dad,” she whispered into his ear, his return embrace so tight it was almost painful.
She felt him shudder against her, but then his grip eased as he whispered back, “It’s how he would have wanted to go. In battle, with honour.”
From what Alex had known of William, that was true. But Bear had missed a key point.
“No,” she quietly corrected. “In battle, doing what he could to protect his family.”
His arms spasmed around her, and this time there was no ‘almost’ regarding the pain of his tightened hold—it straight up hurt. But she hugged him back just as fiercely, offering what comfort she could. The loss of Niyx was still so fresh, but Kaiden had been there for her, and the letter Niyx himself had written had helped her move past her all-consuming numbness to see that there was more she had to do before she could let grief overwhelm her. But Bear… He hadn’t been given the same closure. More than anything, he should be with his family right now, not gallivanting across worlds.
Gently withdrawing from him, Alex stepped back and took in all her friends as Kaiden moved up beside her, having greeted Declan, Jordan and D.C. while she and Bear had been having their moment.
“What are you all doing here?” Alex finally asked. “How did you even get here?”
“What, no, ‘Hi, guys, lovely to see you’?” Jordan returned. The spark that had returned to his eyes since his freedom from Aven’s Claim was missing, telling Alex that he was almost as affected by William’s death as Bear. But she could also see that he was trying to remain strong for their friend, as if he thought acting as normal as possible would somehow help. Alex wasn’t sure that was a smart move—they both needed to grieve. As did she. And yet, none of them had the luxury of time right now. Their mourning would have to wait.
Ignoring her ‘I want answers now’ expression, Jordan moved forward and pulled her into a hug, followed by D.C., who all but launched herself into Alex’s arms.
“Next time we’re alone, we are so going to talk about what was happening out on that balcony,” D.C. whispered into Alex’s ear before pulling back again, her expression promising an in-depth, likely high-pitched discussion.
After a brief hug from Declan which included a bone-jolting thump on the back, everyone was once again back in the same positions, this time with Alex tapping her foot impatiently.
“Who’s going to explain?”
“Headmaster Marselle told us he would send you straight to Woodhaven after you returned from the battle at Graevale, but you never arrived,” D.C. answered, her eyes shifting carefully to Bear and away again. “We didn’t think much of it until Declan turned up and said you were missing. Both of you.”
“I hunted this lot down, figuring you might be together, wherever you were,” said Declan. “And we all headed back to Akarnae to search for you.”
“But there was no trace of either of you anywhere—it was like you’d both disappeared,” Jordan jumped in, walking towards the pile of cushions and collapsing onto them. While stretching out and making himself comfortable, he continued, “We were worried Aven had taken you, but we figured he would’ve been more triumphant about it and let the world know. So that left us thinking that wherever you were, you were probably safe.” He looked around and amended, “-ish.”
D.C. moved towards the cushions, sliding down until she was lounging next to Jordan, leaning into him when he wrapped his arm around her.
“The only logical conclusion we could come to was that your disappearance had something to do with the Library, so that’s where we headed,” the princess said. “It took us hours of pleading into what felt like nothingness before a cloaked man appeared with Soraya and told us that he’d sent you off to another world.”
Jordan snorted. “We thought he was a crackpot. Would have continued to if Soraya hadn’t been with him. Or if Declan wasn’t with us—he’s like a human lie detector, did you know?”
Alex did know that. Kaiden had once told her that Declan’s gift was an ability to sense deceit—something Kaiden had adopted as his own, and one of the reasons they had both figured out she was from Freya.
“What else did Athora say to you?” Alex asked, her voice quiet.
“Athora?” Jordan asked. “Is that the cloaked guy?”
“Did he say why he sent us here?” Kaiden asked when Alex was unable to do so.
It was Bear who answered this time, his voice barely a croak of sound, enough that Declan moved closer to him and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder—something that surprised Alex, especially when Bear seemed grounded by his show of support.
“He said you came to get help from the people who live here—from the Tia Aurans—because without them, we have little chance of stopping Aven.” Bear swallowed but held Alex’s gaze. “He said that your gift won’t be able to save anyone, not like you hoped it would. Not like we all hoped it would.”
A ringing silence met his words. Alex had nothing to be ashamed of—on some level, she knew that—but she still felt like a failure. Everyone had been living under the presumption that she held the key to defeating Aven because of her gift. But that had never been the case.
Inhaling deeply, Alex said, “So, you know why we’re here. That doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“As if we’d miss out on this,” Jordan said, attempting levity for the sake of them all. “When that Athora guy offered to open the door for us, how could we say no?” He grinned despite the sorrow lingering in his eyes. “A new world to discover? Sign me up.”
Ignoring his feigned jubilation, Alex brought her gaze back to meet Bear’s and whispered, “You should be with your family.”
He stepped forward to take her hand as he looked around at them all. “I am with my family, Alex.” He squeezed her fingers. “And right now, you need me more than they do. They know I’m here—they all but pushed me out the door to come and find you, because they knew that’s what Dad would’ve wanted. I’ll have time to grieve with them once this is over. We all will.” His throat bobbed, but he stood taller and held her gaze as he said, his voice now strong, “He was a protector—he gave his life protecting us, as you said. I’d only be dishonouring his memory if I wasn’t willing to do the same.”