Page 87 of Daemon Master

That seemed an ominous sign. Usually, she was the first to arrive, badgering Seymour until he begrudgingly agreed to demonstrate a strike or block. But today, all the seats stood empty.

“I thought you’d be thrilled by Elana’s endorsement,” Seymour said eventually, still watching his daemons. “Instead, you’re acting like we’ve already lost.”

“Maybe we have,” Adrian replied, his voice rigid. He knew he wasn’t being entirely rational, but he couldn’t help his creeping dread. “We need to be ready in case we have to leave quickly.”

Seymour turned toward him, raising his brow. “Adrian, Elana sided with us againsther own sister. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

As if the watcher’s words had broken a dam within him, Adrian’s fears came spilling out. “There’splentyto worry about! What if Elana changed her mind or was putting on a front for her daughter’s sake? What if the rest of the Enclave sides with Leda? What if Freya never speaks to us again? Spirits below, they could be meeting right now to decide our fate!”

Striding forward in two quick steps, Seymour grabbed him roughly by the shoulders. Despite his agitation, Adrian found the watcher’s firm grip comforting, helping to ground him.

“Spirits above, snap out of it!” Seymour said. “You can’t allow what-ifs to consume you. No matter what happens, we’ll face it together. Right?”

Deep breath in, deep breath out.“Right.”

Seymour gave his shoulders a brief squeeze before letting go to clap him on the back. “That’s more like it.” He looked pastAdrian and smirked. “Besides, if you have any lingering doubts about where we stand, you can just ask her yourself.”

“What do you—” He followed the watcher’s gaze, his eyes widening.

Elana shuffled down the street toward them, her colorful shawls shimmering in the morning sun. Her expressionless face gave away nothing of her emotions, and Adrian’s heartbeat quickened. Had she come to confront them before anyone else arrived?

Ifanyone else arrived…

He tried to marshal some of Seymour’s confidence as he bowed to the Enclave’s leader. “Elana. A pleasure to see you this, um, fine morning. What can I, uh, do for you?”

“Good morning, Adrian. Seymour.” She nodded politely to each of them. Her tone was pleasant enough, though Adrian caught a tightness to it that might indicate tiredness.Or suppressed disdain. “I hope I’m not intruding. I wanted to see how you were doing.”

Seymour had already turned away after a muttered greeting, leaving it up to Adrian to answer. He cleared his throat. “We’re good. Why…why wouldn’t we be?”

Elana raised an eyebrow at his breathless response. “Well, youdidexpend much of your aether yesterday resolving a daemon attack. I’d assumed that’s why you made yourselves scarce.”

“Er, um, yeah. My rest was…restful.”

He winced inwardly. Spirits below, could he sound any more incompetent? He needed to get a grip. He’d been calmer confronting Elana weeks ago. Of course, back then, he hadn’t felt like they had so much to lose.

Thankfully, Elana chose to ignore his awkwardness. “Glad to hear it. I’m sure you’ll also be relieved to hear that Ghosttear is adapting well.”

He blinked. “Adapting to what?”

“To his new living arrangements, of course.” Elana moved to the nearest sitting stone and sank down with a soft sigh. “Apologies, but I’ve spent too much time on my feet as of late.”

“Not at all.” He hurriedly took a seat across from her, still puzzling over what she’d said. “I’m afraid I missed something. What’s happening with Ghosttear? I assumed…”

Well, truth be told, he wasn’t surewhathe’d assumed. Guilt wound its way through him. He’d been so distracted agonizing over Elana, Leda, and the Enclave’s reaction, he hadn’t given much thought to how Ghosttear had fared following its ordeal.

“After what happened, I decided it best to isolate him from the rest of our daemons,” Elana explained. “For both his safety and theirs.” She must’ve misconstrued his expression because she added, “Not to worry—he will still be well cared for. Though I’d recommend against Seymour or you spending too much time with him given your…sensitivity to his technique.”

Adrian shook his head. “That’s not—I mean, we will. I’m just…surprised. I’d have expected everyone to be skittish around Ghosttear after what happened.”

A faint grin thawed Elana’s serene features. “Oh, I suspect many will be. But most of us have spent the better part of two decades among wild daemons. Ghosttear’s outburst is far from the worst crisis we’ve faced, nor do I expect it will be the last. What sort of daemon sympathizers would we be if we turned on them the instant they became inconvenient?”

Adrian supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. As Elana said, coexistence was a core part of the Enclave’s philosophy. Still, it reinforced his determination to earn their trust.

“Thank you for taking care of him,” he said, adopting the pronoun she’d used for Ghosttear. “And…thank you for standing up for us. It couldn’t have been an easy choice.”

“Easier than you might expect.” Elana’s jaw tensed, her eyes hardening. “I’d hoped Leda would come around, but she can beas stubborn as a stump when she’s convinced she’s right. Three weeks have done nothing to temper her animosity toward you, and yesterday’s incident…well, she and eight of the others have made themselves scarce.”

He bowed his head, shame heating his skin. “I didn’t mean to drive a wedge between you.”