Llew sat up, alert and fearful. And Braph’s presence disappeared, but not before leaving a lingering sense of smug triumph. Jonas pushed it down.

  “He’s back?” Llew asked.

  “He’s gone.” Jonas gripped her hand in reassurance, but his jaw clenched at the implications. “But he knows where we are, and that Anya’s with us.”

  Anya was looking about the room as if she thought Braph might leap from a dark corner or cupboard.

  “I don’t think he’s near,” Jonas tried reassuring her. “But he’s workin’ for Turhmos. He’ll tell ’em.” He tapped his temple. Anya’s eyes widened. He gave Llew a significant look. They weren’t safe here.

  Llew’s fists clenched. “Damn Braph!” she exclaimed. “He’s got what he wanted. Why can’t he leave us alone?”

  Jonas could only shake his head over his own lack of insight. He should’ve known his half-brother better than anyone, but he had nothing.

  “He was—” Anya swallowed. “—in your head?” She looked like she wanted to be sick.

  The door opened, and the others sidled in. Elka eased her medical satchel to the floor while Rowan placed a sack of bread and fruit in the middle of the table and then they didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves, and remained by the door.

  “Oh, thank goodness,” said Anya. “I’m starving.” She reached into the sack, tore off a chunk of bread and handed it to Llew, then repeated for Jonas and everyone else.

  “There’s not much, but it should plug a gap,” Rowan said.

  Alvaro eased himself around the table and stood by the cold coal range, looking down on the three at the table as he chewed bread.

  “Braph knows where we are and is probably telling Turhmos right now,” Llew said, almost achieving nonchalance.

  Anya shuddered as she locked her gaze on Jonas. Likely, she was remembering the boat ride to Phyos when Braph had used her to attack Emylia. “That doesn’t make sense.” She narrowed her eyes. “Doesn’t he want to kill you himself?”

  Jonas almost laughed, but remembered neither Anya nor Alvaro knew their full situation.

  “He said there was no challenge in it, now that—” He flicked his gaze between Anya and Alvaro, and withdrew his hand from Llew, sitting back. “Now that I’m powerless.” He looked down; didn’t want to see what they thought of him now. He could guess. Funny how someone like Alvaro, who’d always been kind of useless, could walk around owning his space, yet Jonas felt he could shrink to nothing and he still wouldn’t be small enough.

  “We saw the headlines,” Anya said. “How?”

  “Braph.” Llew’s sneer resounded through the word. “It’s always Braph.”

  Alvaro grunted his agreement.

  Jonas glanced up to see Anya’s pity settled in at full measure and he had to look away again.

  “If they have any reason to believe you’re here, they’ll tear this place apart,” Alvaro said. “They know about the bunker. We can’t hide, not this many. And not with—” His voice trailed off, but Jonas heard all that remained unspoken. Not with him. Weak and broken, he was nothing but a burden.

  Little felt better than moving inside Orinia, especially when she made those little gasping sounds that told Braph she was enjoying herself, too. Little felt better. Perhaps only flooding his system with Immortal power compared. Now, the combination of coital bliss with one’s true love and the rush of incredible power created something akin to the greatest sensation of all time. Only one thing might be better.

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  Braph’s imagining of the power he could extract from the Taither tree elicited a groan of deeper satisfaction from his lover. Orin stirred in his bed roll nearby and Braph bent down to cover Orinia’s mouth with his own. He cared little about being discovered by his son, but Orinia insisted she couldn’t truly let herself go if Orin might wake, and Braph liked it when she let herself go. He teased her with his tongue, drawing hers into his own mouth, toying with it, sucking. He caressed her neck, across her shoulder, and dimpled her thigh with his flesh hand, supporting himself on his metal one, and with a thought and a slight flex of the muscles in his right arm, drew in more power and generated a vibration through his body he’d never be capable of without magical enhancements.

  Orinia gasped, her eyes flying wide open. In one smooth, deft move, Braph shifted his metal hand under her head to catch it before she hit the ground and covered her exhalation with his flesh hand. He shushed her through a grin and a laugh, and kissed her cheek. Shushed her again as they flexed together in their final tremors.

  They lay on the Quaven bank of the Kulverdeen River, at approximately the same spot Braph had crossed in the other direction with Llewella and Jonas more than a month earlier. While the last time the winter chill had seeped deep inside everyone and coated everything, this time the spring flourished in sync with Braph’s and Orinia’s rediscovery of each other. The last time, Braph had been powerless. This time he was more powerful than he had ever been. Last time, he’d had to make the swim through the icy cold waters. This time, he’d simply grasped a hold of his family, and they to him, and they’d flown across without dipping a toe in the water, powered by Orin’s power pumping through Braph’s veins. A much more pleasant way to travel.

  Braph eased his weight off Orinia, lay his head on her shoulder, cupped her breast, toyed with a nipple, then hooked his flesh hand around her other shoulder in a somewhat awkward but still comforting hug. “How do you wish to travel today, my love? We can walk, commandeer horses from a town on the way, or we could fly again, if you prefer.”

  Orinia sighed, as if she hadn’t wanted to be pulled back to reality after Braph’s ministrations. This pleased him. “The journey is pleasant.” She allowed herself a sly side-eye glance at him. “I would hate for it to be over too soon.” She sighed again. “Although, I suppose being somewhere with a bath would be even better.” She angled her head to look at him as squarely as possible with their faces so close. “Would any Quaven inn proprietors put us up for the night?”

  “If they wish to be paid handsomely, they certainly will.” Braph settled in, savoring the closeness of his lover.

  He drifted back to sleep in the chill morning before Orin finally awoke and they all rose to make their way deeper into Quaver. They didn’t carry bags of supplies, and Braph wasn’t about to eat bush meat. And while Orinia’s Syaenuk healing could allow her to live with little to no sustenance by mouth, Orin’s and Braph’s internally generated magics required more food than the average person. Sure, Braph’s device allowed him to make up for any lack, but that was reliant on Orin’s blood, which relied on Orin being well fed. And so, they sought the nearest town.

  Quaver had towns much closer to the border as Aenuk destruction of the land was reduced compared to the Turhmos side. Braph supposed Aenuks might be more easily overpowered and killed swiftly on the Quaven side, while on the Turhmos side they would find more support, and be that bit more likely to survive while injured, to drain the surrounding landscape. However it happened, he was pleased to reach a small town within half a day where he and his family could enjoy a midday meal hearty enough to make up for the missed breakfast.

  Orinia’s pale skin earned her more than a few wary glances, while Braph bore enough of a resemblance to his brother to elicit double takes, as well as awe and confused wonder. When he folded his metal hand over his flesh arm, the wonder might be blended with, or entirely obliterated by, horror. Regardless, all that mattered was that they be well fed and watered, and Braph paid handsomely to ensure Orinia could bathe unmolested.

  Once sated and cleansed, Braph allowed their trio to rest awhile in the restaurant-bar, and while Orinia played cards with Orin, Braph sat back and closed his eyes, once more reaching out across the lands with his mind.

  The land was vast and the automatons miniscule, but Braph knew them just as well as he knew his brother, and he could calculate their likely location based on their trajectory and speed. While they must have already arrived in Quaver, deposited their first load and departed again, there was no sense of urgency or distress in the Quavens Braph and his family had crossed paths with. Given that less than two hundred of Quaver’s thousands of Kara would be infected, so far, Braph wasn’t surprised. Besides, the concentration of Kara in and around Taither likely served to draw the critters on and past any individual Kara near the border. Braph was confident that the mood in Taither would be quite different by the time he arrived. Chaos would free him to focus on tapping into the Ajnai without interference.

  Scanning the northern Turhmos landscape, the energy signature of the automatons front of mind, he located a group of four south of the border. Hmm. He supposed if one or two had hunted deeper into Quaver than the others, they may remain separated for the rest of the journey. A nuisance for Nilv, no doubt, but of little consequence for Braph, really. So long as his man did his job.

  Stretching out his awareness like this was taxing. Too taxing to make it worth seeking the final two flying critters. He simply had to have faith in his own genius. His creations worked. They would return home to be refueled and reloaded. They were ingenious magical devices within the well-oiled machine that was his life.

  Orinia caught his eye, and they shared a smile.

  He was a blessed man.