With Hayden’s body next to mine, I feel warmer. My muscles are tired, and I allow myself to slouch against him. To let go of my weight and just be here.

Hayden was right. This sort of heat between us is better for me right now.

Hayden’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “What are you thinking?”

I look at him and say the first thing that comes to mind. “You have perfect lips.”

I expect him to laugh or make some kind of comeback. But he just kisses my forehead and tucks me back into the crook of his arm. We sit and watch the burning hills, just doing that. Nothing more.

And I am content.

Chapter 9

9

It’s deep into the night when I hear a shout. It pierces the night quiet, instantly sending my pulse to a gallop.

Hayden has nodded off beside me, but he wakes with a small jolt. I grip his forearm to keep him from making any sudden movement that might give away our position.

“What was that?” he whispers. His eyes pan across the rolling land below us, and he blinks a few times to shake off sleep.

“A man’s voice. Close.” I don’t hear it anymore. Now I only hear the creak of branches as they sway with a breeze.

We come to our feet slowly, forcing steadiness out of our tired, stiff limbs. There could be Auds nearby, so we are careful to move in silence as we find our bows.

The sky has calmed considerably since the show of funnels and the smoke hours ago. The Aether flows are smoother, almost veil thin. They are as calm as I’ve seen them in days. We have gone from a tempest to a gentle, low tide. Safer for us, but without a thick concentration of Aether above us, we’ve lost much of our illumination. The night has grown dim. A murky rolling blue, like we’ve swum to the bottom of the sea.

My range of vision has decreased to only two hundred yards. Wearing horse blinders could not feel worse.

“We should move off this hill,” I say. “We won’t know what’s going on unless we get closer.” My idea is borderline idiotic. We’re in a secure position, and leaving it for unknown danger would be insane. But I have never been one to wait around for things to happen. I’m confident that Hayden will steer us right, though.

“Good idea,” he says. “Let’s go.”

No voice of reason, then. My fingers tighten around my bow.

As we descend the hill, my heart thuds so powerfully in my chest that I wonder if Hayden can hear it.

We walk half a mile before we see them. A group of people emerges from the mottled darkness.

I count forty.