A Trickle of Soulfyre

Chapter 34: Rupture

Lyrani bit into her sandwich, but she barely noticed the saltiness of the cheese or the sogginess of the lettuce. It was one of the rations ECISI had given her that l hadn't aged or travelled well. The other agents nibbled at their food as mindlessly as Lyrani did, each of their eyes as distant as hers.

Lyrani usually enjoyed silence accompanied by firelight, but the quiet that had settled over the agents wasn't the kind she preferred. It made her thoughts restless and sent them towards things that scared her, things she felt powerless to change.

Such as the circumstances of the baby lying in the bundle of blankets beside her. His irritability had shifted to contentment where he lay within the fire's warmth, within a cave empty of death. His small hands were clasped on his chest as he squinted up at the foreign ceiling. His blankets shifted as he stretched his little legs. Lyrani couldn't help a smile.

Her and Meiyla's timing had been perfect. If they arrived at Phoenix Mountain any earlier, they might've bumped into the murderous Phouka. If they had been any later, the baby would've starved to death.

A low rumbling sounded in the distance, the hungry belly of a giant in the sky realm or an approaching storm. It renewed Lyrani's appreciation for this little cave that she and the other agents had found. It had been free of corpses and any signs of habitation, which was the best they could hope for in this unexplored frontier.

Even as Favian sat beside Meiyla, his possessive hand around her waist, Lyrani sensed his dark eyes on her. She suppressed a scowl, keeping her gaze determinedly away from his angular face even as the line of his square jaw seared into her peripheral vision.

Favian put work before Lyrani repeatedly during the two years they had been together. He discarded her when she asked him to help her make things work between them, but now he dared to give her those soft eyes and act as though she was the one who got away.

Favian hadn't cared about how things had ended between them when Lyrani had been alone, before she met Nash, but something changed after he found out about her and the king. He had been oh so sorry he broke up with her, going so far as to beg her to take him back.

Even so, he had never apologised for ignoring Lyrani after they broke up, as though all the promises he had made and everything she had given him meant nothing. For that reason, she ignored him.

He deserved nothing less than Lyrani's utter indifference. He certainly didn't deserve Meiyla Phen.

Favian had always liked agents fresh out of the academy, when they were too young to know he was trouble. That was when he had met Lyrani and taken advantage of her, of the naïveté that sheltered her from the realisation that not all first loves were fairy tales.

She wished she could warn Meiyla before she saw her junior agent go down the same path of hurt, but she doubted Meiyla would listen if her hostile eyes as she traced Favian's stare to Lyrani was any indication.

Meiyla elbowed him. He turned to her, his charming grin in place to win her over. And she fell for it, her smile softening the tension in her face. It hurt to watch. Lyrani had to look away as she took the final bite of her sandwich.

"So, what brings you to these parts? I'm guessing it's not a coincidence you came upon us when you did." Lyrani looked around at the paranormal unit, dusting the crumbs from her fingers.

Gazana stared into the fire around which they all sat, Tolorn into space, while Favian's gaze hooked onto Lyrani's like a burr on trousers. She looked away quickly.

"You're right." Gazana shifted her gaze to Lyrani. "We've been tracking a massacre for about a week now. The trail led to the cave where we found you."

Lyrani's mouth fell open. "I remember Morloy telling me about your mission."