Several times after we resumed walking did Raphael try to come up to me to talk. Each of those times I had moved away from him, making it clear that the last thing I was planning on doing was talking to him. When he tried to move to Mallory, she too gave him the cold shoulder. I almost felt bad for him – almost. Eric now rested a hand on Raphael’s shoulder. Yes, he was definitely on my side while I was their capture. I had almost believed that Eric truly did want to help me above siding with Raphael.

I was walking by myself this time, completely alone with my thoughts. Kalen and Casian were walking closer together, catching up on lost time I assumed. It seemed that again it would be impossible to separate Natalia and Mallory from each other. I envied how those two were able to become such close friends in such little time. I’d never really had a friend like that, or just a friend I wanted to spend so much time with. There must be something I was missing out on.

After a couple of hours of walking, Kalen turned to address our group. “Were not too far from the kingdom’s borders, and then it would be about half a day more to get to Andreas’ mansion.”

Raphael stopped and everyone else followed shortly after, turning to him. “I think it might be in our best interest to use that teleportation spell now. There is something you all must know.”

He suddenly had everyone’s attention. “What are you talking about?” Natalia demanded.

Eric and Raphael shared a glance. “Well, the whole reason that Eric and I went to May’s inn is to hide until we figured out what to do from there. We are fugitives in the eyes of Queen Elisa.” Raphael latched into an explanation and everything around us turned deadly quiet. This was information we should’ve known earlier.

Casian came to my side, and I could feel the tension radiating off him at the mere mention of the threats of dragons. He spoke up before any of the rest of us could get a chance. “I’m sure that not all dragons are a threat.”

Raphael’s eyebrows raised. “You did not see what I saw. The queen would not have elicited their help if they weren’t a threat!”

“Not all dragon lords have to be working with the queen.”

“I doubt she would have appeared so sure of herself if she wasn’t in the process of convincing all of them.”

Casian went deadly still, his eyes flaming as he regarded Raphael. I understood the feeling, but now was not the best time to have this argument. I’d seen enough evil in all types of people to know that both good and bad existed in the most unlikely of places. But this was not a conversation that we could quickly have, and the threat of the other dragon lords I believed to be very real. I placed my hand on Casian’s bicep and his eyes went to mine. I willed him not to push the situation further, hoping that he’d understand that we could explain everything to everyone later.

“This is a conversation we can have later,” I began. “As you said, we are pressed for time, and it’s unwise to ignore such a big possible threat. As much as I hate to agree with Raphael, he’s right. The fastest and safest way from this point forward is to use his teleportation spell.”

“You do realize the whole reason we have been walking as long as we did is because you refused to use it in the first place?” Mallory remarked with an adequate amount of snark in her voice.

I took a deep calming breath. “I’m aware, thank you. But that was before I was aware of the possible threat we were facing. Had Raphael chosen to be more forth coming before, we would not be having this conversation right now.”

Kalen, noticing the tension, stepped in to diffuse the building tension before things got out of control. “Let’s not argue and just get to Andreas’ mansion as quickly as we can. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can deal with everything else that is still hanging quite thickly in the air around certain people. Deal?”

Everyone nodded, some more half-heartedly than others. Raphael gestured for all of us to take hands, and I was careful to make my position as far away from him I our circle allowed. Again, I was placed between Casian and Kalen, grateful that I had at least two allies at my sides.

I didn’t even get a chance to blink and we were gone. I was slightly disoriented when I started to make out the familiar surroundings of the edge of the woods outside Andreas’ manor. My heart beat rapidly in my chest, anxiety becoming my primary emotion. I couldn’t even think of the bad memories associated with that woods, my head cocking to the front door of the manor instantly. I felt all eyes on me as I stared at the door. My breath shuddered as I attempted breathing in deeply. Casian threw his arm around me, squeezing gently. “Everything is going to be fine, you have nothing to worry about.”

But I had everything to worry about.

I stayed at the back of the group as we started advancing to the door. Kalen was the one to knock, probably because he figured of everyone here, Andreas would be the least surprised to see him. My eyes were trained on the door, but I knew I was slightly obscured from the view of whoever was inside. Kalen started knocking, and when no one opened at first, his knocks grew more insistent.

I could hear my pulse in my ears, my whole body on edge. Could it really only have been a couple weeks since I last saw Andreas? It felt like years. I feared I might faint if that door didn’t swing open soon. After about five minutes, it finally did. I stopped breathing.

“Kalen, what the fuck?” Andreas asked, clearly annoyed. My eyes wouldn’t leave him. His hair was a mess, longer than the last time I had seen him. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. The memories of his bare chest pressed against mine caused an involuntary shiver to run through me. His deep, blue eyes, lighter than I remembered them, were hard and angry and I started stepping away. I wasn’t ready for him to see me yet. Casian noticed and followed me.

Andreas still hadn’t noticed either of us.

Kalen pulled his hand through his hair. “Good to see you too, sunshine. In an excellent mood today I see.”

Andreas’ eyes shown a brief gold as he regarded Kalen and a sudden gagging noise came that direction. Kalen started coughing and glared at Andreas who had made no movement to relax. “What do you and your friends want?” he demanded, saying the words friends as if it tasted vile in his mouth. Casian glanced at me and then at Andreas who was too focused on Kalen to notice us yet. He pinched the bridge of his nose and stepped forward, joining Kalen at the door.

“Now come on, you used to be a lot more hospital than this.”

In all my time I’d known Andreas I had never seen him as shocked as he was in that moment. His eyes found Casian, the disbelief written there as clearly as the full moon on a cloudless night. “You are dead.” Andreas’s voice was low, and I had to strain to hear him.

Casian made a show of inspecting all of his limbs. “I appear to be quite alive actually.” A smirk lit up his face and he placed a hand on Andreas’ shoulder. “I’ll explain all of it soon, but I promise you that it’s really me and that I’m alive again.”

Hundreds of different emotions crossed Andreas’ expression in that moment. He turned to Kalen, who nodded in confirmation. “I’m as surprised as you are. But that’s not why we are here,” Kalen said, his eyes flickering to me too briefly to catch Andreas’ attention. I stood frozen in my place.

Andreas sighed. “You might as well come in.”

He left the door open and headed inside without his eyes ever landing on me. I was a bundle of nerves. Did it say something that he hadn’t noticed me yet? Kalen let everyone else go inside and came to my side as he waited.

“He hasn’t noticed me.”

“I’m sure he has, but is telling himself you are a figment of his imagination.”

“Or Casian was wrong and my death didn’t affect him nearly as much as you guys thought it did.”

“He almost strangled me just now. I think it’s safe to bet he’s affected.”

I gave Kalen a worried glance before he led me to the door. I gestured for him to go in first and followed shortly after, closing the door behind me. Andreas’ eyes darted over our small group, his eyes still in hard lines.

“If Casian is not the reason all of you are here, then why a—“ he cut himself off as his whole body became still when his eyes finally found mine. “It can’t be,” he whispered to himself, his voice shaking. I didn’t know how to react. What was I supposed to do?

Before I could contemplate the matter for long, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. My eyes flickered to them, and Andreas cursed, following my gaze.

“Well there sure were a lot of someones at the door,” a woman with long, platinum hair said. My gaze landed on her, causing my eyes to widen. Her appearance was striking. She had cold, piercing blue eyes that regarded us with boredom. And she had a body that would drive any man crazy. And she was wearing only a shirt. My eyes darted back to Andreas. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. She was wearing his shirt. My hand went to my mouth to conceal my horror.

Andreas opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an elated squeal. “Lana!” A small figure I recognize ran to me with near inhuman speed. She crashed into me, throwing her arms around me, knocking all the wind out of me. I hugged her back, an automatic smile spreading across my lips.

“Izzy, what a surprise to see you here,” I said, stroking her hair. She squeezed me harder.

“We thought you were dead, but you’re here. You’re really here!” Tears of joy were spreading down her cheeks and it was hard not to feel warm from her reaction.

My eyes found Andreas again, the other woman now standing by his side. I held on to Izzy, not wanting to understand the situation. Andreas’ eyes never left me, not even when the woman wrapped herself around his arm. He was a statue.

I turned to Casian when I spoke. “I guess you were wrong.”