I still felt like I was home.

Was it my bloodline—the eather in it—recognizing the land, the air, and the sea? Was my heritage that powerful? Because I honestly hadn’t believed I would feel that after the attack.

A warm breeze sent a tangled strand of hair across my face. I caught it, tucking it back as the same current caught the edges of the cloak I wore, lifting them. Would my parents—at least the one who carried Atlantian blood in them—have felt this way upon seeing Atlantia? If they had made it. My chest clenched with sorrow and anger, and it took everything in me to push it down and not let it take over. If I allowed that, the nasty ball of emotion that had settled in my chest would work its way free, and I…I couldn’t allow that to happen. Not now.

Weight pressed against my leg and hip, and I looked down to find that Kieran had leaned into me. Like I often did with Delano, the urge to pet or scratch his head was hard to ignore. He’d stayed outside with me after Casteel had led me onto a stone pavilion behind the Temple of Saion and then went underground with a few others to retrieve Alastir from the crypts.

It wasn’t the same one they’d kept me in, but Casteel had asked me to stay aboveground. I imagined he did that because he didn’t want me to be surrounded by the dead again, to be reminded of my time spent with them. His foresight was another thing I was eternally grateful for.

I turned back to the sea as I dredged up the hope I’d felt when I realized that there was a chance that Ian was like me. If he was, then he could come here. He would love it. I already knew it after only seeing what little I had. He would feel the peace, too. And when he saw the sea, as clear as it was during the day, and as dark as it was at night? I couldn’t wait to discover what stories he’d be inspired to tell. A smile tugged at my lips.

Kieran stood, ears perking as he heard the footsteps several moments before me. Maybe I was stronger, but it appeared I hadn’t developed the nifty hearing abilities of the Atlantians—because, of course not.

I looked over my shoulder. Emil approached slowly, aware that Kieran wasn’t the only wolven among the trees.

“It is time?” I asked.

Emil nodded as he stopped several feet from me. “When Alastir saw that Cas was alone, he believed you to be dead. We didn’t correct that assumption. Cas thought that the belief would make Alastir more inclined to speak, to incriminate any others who may be involved. But the bastard isn’t saying much.”

“But he is saying something?”

Emil’s jaw hardened. “Nothing that needs repeating.”

“Let me guess? He said that he was only doing what he needed to do to protect Atlantia and that I was a threat?” I surmised, and the Atlantian’s gaze turned steely. “And I imagine he was also incredibly polite and apologetic as he said those things.”