“Where in Arflyn’s name have you been?” Sloane demanded.
“Cord,” Tegan began but stopped, she didn’t know if she could speak.
“Is he okay?” Sloane stepped forward urgently. “Tegan, is my brother okay?”
“Yes, his energy was depleted, it took a while to regenerate,” Tegan forced a smile. “He’s upstairs.” Sloane pushed passed her in his haste to see his brother. He ran up the stairs calling for him.
“You look exhausted,” Michael said reaching out to take her hand. Reassuring himself that she was okay and in front of him.
“I am,” Tegan admitted. “Is Zahra okay?”
“Yes, Sloane got her out. Marcus is with her at Headquarters.”
“What happened?” Salem asked coming to stand close.
“The hall, there was fire,” Tegan broke off.
“Yes, it seems the furnishings were not immune to Cord’s spell and they caught fire,” Salem sighed heavily, and Tegan realised he looked as exhausted as she felt. “We lost some Akrhyn,” his head bowed in deference to the dead.
“How many?” Tegan’s voice was a whisper in the room.
“Seven,” Michael answered. “May the Ancients take them and bless their peace.”
Tegan and Salem repeated the words. Tegan’s head was bowed,seven? She hadn’t counted seven, how could she tell Cord?
Cord.
Her head snapped up as Sloane appeared at the top of the stairs, she knew what he was going to say even before he spoke.
“He’s gone.”
Tegan was in the training room, testing the weight of a kali stick. It had been three days since her family had come for her at Silver Lake. Castor Jameis had been with them, portalling them back in twos. Before anyone could question her, Salem ordered Michael to take Tegan to her room, where she had slept for ten hours. Cord hadn’t reappeared and Tegan was making herself sick worrying about him. She hadn’t mentioned his spell or his mark. Tegan still felt overwhelmed and she was still trying to figure it out herself.
“You training with it, or are you playing with it?”
Tegan looked up at Kai as he walked into the training room and she smiled in greeting. He had been relieved to see that she was okay and upon her return to Headquarters, he had grabbed her and buried his face in her hair. Since her return he had been dedicated in making sure she wanted for nothing. What she wanted was some alone time, but everyone was watching her closely and she recognised that she was being selfish. Tove hadn’t been there when she returned, but Tegan was anxiously awaiting her return.
“I’m not sure,” Tegan gave a light laugh.
“I brought you a present,” Kai confided playfully.
Tegan looked at him, taking in his handsome face and warm smile. Kai was open and honest, he didn’t have a mocking undertone when he spoke, he didn’t sneer when he was bored with the conversation. He didn’t have a superior attitude because he thought he was the better Akrhyn because he was insanely gifted.
“What’s my present?” Tegan asked, willing herself to put mocking grey eyes out of her mind. The door to the training room opened and Jasper strolled in wearing training clothes.
“You brought me a sparring partner?” Tegan looked at Kai with delight.
“Well, I know you can beat me easily, but I figured you needed an actual challenge to brighten up your day.”
Tegan looked at him in wonder. Kai had accepted she was the better fighter and had brought someone of the same skill set to make sure she was training properly. Impulsively she reached up and kissed his cheek. “Best present ever,” Tegan grinned. Kai flushed and huffed in pleasure.
“You ready or are you still moping about?” Jasper greeted her with a wink.
“I’m ready,” Tegan answered with a smile as she swirled the kali stick in her hand, taking up her position.
A while later both she and Jasper were on the mats, Kai sat a few feet from them. “I’m exhausted just watching that,” Kai admitted.
Jasper barked out a laugh as he sat up. “Next time you want to impress a female, I recommend you spar with her yourself.” Getting to his feet he offered a hand to Tegan, pulling her up from the floor.