them again, rewriting the information on a single piece of parchment.
“Aye,” he said, the exhaustion clear in his voice. “Who else can we trust? Everyone is so busy, leading all the different pieces. My job is just the one with the hardest schedule. It’s not the only bad one, though. Luykas doesn’t get much sleep, either.”
“He gets consistent sleep,” she pointed out. “He sleeps at night with me…with the family, even if it’s a short time.”
“Aye,” Bryn whispered. “This will settle down when winter comes, ya know that. I’ll remind ya that ya left for all of spring, love.”
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around him from behind. “I’m just worried about you.”
“Thank ya, love. It means a lot to hear that from ya.” He grabbed one of her hands and brought it to his lips. “I need you to get Alchan,” he finally said, holding her hand to his lips, letting them slide against the back. She heard and felt the frown, a sign of trouble.
“At this time of night? He’s sleeping beside Rain, and no one ever tries to disturb them,” she said, frowning as well. “If it’s bad, I’ll do it, but you need to make sure it’s that bad.”
“You’re the only one who can go get him without getting tossed around for it,” Bryn reminded her gently. “It’s not good. I think I’ve figured out the Elvasi, and there’s bad news about Seanev’s campaign. We need to send someone out to stop him, and we need to do it now.”
That forced Mave to start moving, and she moved quickly.
“Mave!” Bryn called out. She turned back to him as he put down a piece on the table. “Zayden and Mat are in trouble, too. If my scouts are right, they’re in a lot of trouble. Most of the teams we sent out are. Tell him all of that. He’ll come.”
That made her run. She was in the air before she had time to think.
18
Mave
Mave landed with a hard thud on Alchan’s porch. She didn’t bother knocking, barging through the door like she owned the house, without a single fear for her life.
“Alchan!” she roared.
She heard thumping and crashing in one of the side rooms and marched for it. She knew the door, knew it led to Alchan’s inner sanctum, his bedroom, but she didn’t let that stop her. She opened it with a single shove to see Alchan standing, his eyes wide and naked in the middle of the room.
“This better be fucking important,” he snarled. He pointed at the door and marked an imaginary line. “Don’t cross that threshold. You won’t like what happens.”
“Listen to him,” Rain said, sitting up and blinking. “What the hell is going on?”
“Bryn wants to see you immediately. He says it’s urgent,” she said, ignoring the nudity. “He thinks we need to send messengers out to pull Seanev back. He also has reason to believe our teams are at risk.”
“Fuck. He’s been gathering intel tonight, hasn’t he?” Alchan reached out and grabbed some breeches. “Give me a moment to dress, and I’ll follow you back, or did he ask you to get anyone else? Actually, no. You’ll stay with me. Rain, when you have pants on, go get the rest of the Company.”
“What’s going on?” a small voice said. Mave turned and bit back the instinctive growl that threatened to leak out. Lady Lilliana was standing in the far hallway across the dining area, rubbing her eyes. “Is there something wrong?” She wore a loose, long dress, easy to put on and take off, probably just to cover her nudity. It wasn’t supposed to be sexual, but Mave couldn’t help but liken it to dresses Shadra once put on her. It clung to curves and exposed so much skin.
“Lady Lilliana, I’m going to kindly ask you to find Nevyn and Varon. You’ve met them, and they live on this cliffside. Can you tell them to meet me in the war room?” Alchan asked, now wearing pants as he walked out of his bedroom. “Rain, that leaves you with getting Luykas.”
“Of course.” Rain walked out right behind him. Mave was impressed they got moving so quickly.
“I’ve got Luykas,” she said, giving her bond a mental tug hard enough to wake her husband from the dead and let him know she needed him. She felt him wake as though he was startled and tugged again. The feeling of worry flooded back, unrestrained. “He’s up and