Johnis swung down and approached, followed by Silvie. Both held her in a steady gaze. The improbable events forced upon us over the last few weeks have changed us, Darsal thought.

“Take it easy, Darsal,” Johnis said. “Do I look like the enemy to you?”

“Take it easy? What do you suggest now, that I follow you to hell once again? Just head out into the desert and find Billos? He vanished before our eyes!”

“I’m not the enemy. Is that so difficult to understand? The books are gone because Billos is a fool—focus your anger at him, not me.”

“Where did that imp go?” Silvie asked, blinking at the trees.

Darsal wanted to slap the girl, if for no other reason than she seemed so smug in her newfound confidence by Johnis’s side. She had her man, this unlikely leader of warriors who didn’t seem to know the meaning of the word quit. Not that Darsal resented Johnis or thought less of him than he deserved, but she felt that any attack on Billos was an attack on her.

If they knew what Billos had done for her all these years, they would understand. If Johnis was Silvie’s man, then Billos was hers. In fact, much more so than these two who’d known each other less than a month. Billos was her savior, the only love she’d ever known, her life.

And now Billos was gone.

Darsal paced up to the boulder, ran her hand over the rough stone where the books had rested only a minute earlier. The surface was warm, by the books or by the sun she wasn’t sure.

Johnis spit to one side. “What did I tell you? I should have taken them from him in the desert and kept them out of sight. Show Billos one ounce of trust and look what it’s earned us!”

“You care more for books made of paper than you do for flesh and blood?” Darsal demanded.

“If they were just paper, Billos would still be standing here with a bloody finger on their covers.”

He was right, of course. But that didn’t change the fact that Billos wasn’t standing here.

Johnis continued as if he’d read her thoughts. “I know you and Billos were . . . are . . . close. For that matter, I’ve risked my own life for him—”

“And he for you,” she said.

“Yes, I suppose so. But you have to remember that the books must come first. We’ve all risked our necks for those three books, and we still have four to find.”

Darsal paced, trying her best to remain calm. “For all you know, Billos has just taken the next step to find those blasted books! I can’t believe you’re taking this so lightly!”

Johnis started to nod.

“Were you the only one chosen, or was Billos also chosen?”

“All of us.”