What's this an update? WOO! Have at her, read away. Hope you like it! Looking forward to hearing your comments.

I rested my head against her shoulder and let my bare feet hang over the side of the bed. The window view next to the bed extended over the valley path that led to library tower. Now that I had my mom back, it was the first time since the world of Acklemar unraveled, I felt like everything was going to be okay.

"Mom?" I twisted the starch-white sheet in my fingers.

"Uh-huh..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What's on your mind?"

I glanced over my shoulder at the door, half expecting Jaxon to waltz back in any second. "I was wondering about the contract. Some of the details I've figured out, but there are others I still don't have any memory of."

She wrapped an arm around me and lay her head on top of mine. "You want to know what happened to the money."

My fingers froze in a tangle of sheets. I pulled them loose and gazed out the window. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"I would too if I were you."

I gave her a tentative smile. "Why's that?"

"Because I know you," she said in a warm tone, lowering her voice. "You wouldn't keep checking that window view if who you were looking for was already here."

Ouch. I'd forgotten how quick to the point she could be. She was right, though. I had been searching the scene for Kellan. With each glance, it felt like my heart broke a little more. Why hadn't he come?

"I can't help it." I burst into a sob on her shoulder. "It would be so much easier if I didn't love him, but I do. Even when he argues with me and makes me so mad I want to punch him, I love him."

My eyes burned, and my words were tight as I spoke them. The stones around my neck hummed against my chest in a faint glow.

"Oh—Wrenny..." She hugged me closer to her. "It's always been that way between you two. Both of you terrified if you said the wrong thing that would be it. It was never something either one of you wanted to admit."

"Well, I don't think that's the problem now." I tugged the top of the medical gown and exposed the knotted ring.

The marking was no longer a watery wave but had a crystallized frosty look to it. I ran my fingers over its frozen etching, unsure what to think about its change in form.

"Hey," Sage said, closing the door. "So I came back as soon as I could."

She plopped down on the bed across from mine and stared at the mark. "So, what happened between you and Kellan?"

"What do you mean what happened?"

She pointed to the mark. "Well, one of you shut the back door."

I must have had the I have no idea what you're talking about expression plastered on my face because they both looked like they were trying not to laugh.

"The back door." Sage rapped her knuckles on her head. "You know? When he talks to you in your head? If a partner shuts out the other, that's what happens."

Great, it's official I am an idiot. "We argued in the garden outside the Keep. He didn't want me to go..." I washed my hands down my face and let out a frustrated groan. "I forced our connection shut after he'd ordered me not to go in."

Sage kicked off her shoes, lay down on her stomach and placed her head in her hands. "It's totally reversible, so you can stop worrying."

The tightness in my chest lessened. "It's about time I got some good news for a change. How do I do that?"

With a silly grin, Sage plucked at her shirt like she was trying to cool off. "You just have to kiss and make up."

"You make that sound easy." I glanced at the door. "It's not like I can just disappear and find him after I promised Jaxon we'd talk. I owe him that much."

"Yeah, band-aid boy and his entourage are a problem."

I couldn't blame him for being a bit clingy. After all he'd done for me, Sage's comment stung a little. "Hey, do me a favor, don't call him that."

She shrugged, "You're right. He did help bring you and Robin back so I guess I can cut him some slack."

My mom squeezed my hand. "You're going to owe him a lot more than a conversation. There's the contract repayment to consider."

"The money's gone, isn't it?"

The look on my mom's face said it all. "With Jaxon as your partner, you didn't have to worry about money. So when you found out, the guild couldn't repair the training facilities or add the needed beds in the infirmary due to lack of funds—"

"I donated the money," I said finishing her sentence.

She nodded.

It didn't matter. It wouldn't have been enough to pay out the contract anyway. There was always the chance Otis had changed his mind about wanting me for a daughter-in-law.

"You donated the cash for this place, and your aunt still made you pay for all those books? Harsh."

"You messed with Astra's books?" My mom looked amused by the thought. "You're lucky repayment was all she demanded."

The door rattled, and I flashed a glance at the door to see who was there. Well, I didn't have to ask Sage about the entourage now. Jessica leaned against the doorframe fanning herself with a red envelope.

I let out a bark of laughter. "You? Why are you here?"

She picked a long brown hair off her shirt and looked at disdain, then let it drift from her grip to the floor. "Rude much?"

Only to you.

"I was looking for my cousin. You know the blond hair guy that has pretty much camped out here since we've arrived? Seen him?"

"Yes. Why?" I said, hoping she'd get to the point.

"A runner from the Fire Circle just arrived with a letter, addressed to him." Jessica flipped the envelope over, and the edges of her lips turned up. "Oh, and it looks like your name is on here too."

"Hey," Jax said over her shoulder. "I thought I told you not to come within a mile of this room."

"But this came for you." She pouted and held up the envelope. "I was just trying to be helpful," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

He grabbed it from her fingertips. "Delivered. Now you can go."

Jessica glared at him, then spun on her heals so fast, the ends her auburn hair collided with his chest. His lips drew into a thin line, then he pinched the bridge of his nose, and strode over to the side of the bed.

"Sorry about her," he said in an apologetic tone. "I told her not to come anywhere near this room. But of course, she didn't listen."

"If she wasn't my cousin, I probably would have left her back on Racine. She's such a—"

"Flower?" Sage said, jerking her head in the direction of my mom, trying to tell him politely to watch his words.

He laughed and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, flower probably wasn't the word I was thinking of."

The crimson envelope in his hand sparkled with a gold fleck embedded in the paper. It looked very official with the wax seal and ribbon that fastened the package shut. Jax glanced at the front of the envelope and passed it to me.

He lowered his head and licked his lips. "Here, you open it."

Jaxon Burnell and Wren Delacroix were spelled out in black loopy calligraphy sweeping the front of the stiff paper.

Burnell? It just occurred to me I hadn't known his last name until now. There was still so much I didn't know about him.

"Don't you want to read it first?"

"I don't need to. If I know my father, I already know what it says."

My mom gave my hand a squeeze and got up from the bed shifting my weight.

"I promised Astra I'd get to a few things she needed help with this morning." Her eyes rested on Sage for a moment. "We can finish our talk later."

Sage dragged herself from the bed and slipped her shoes back on. "I guess I should go check on Josie. She's begging to get out of here. Her bedside table has three feet of paperwork on it that someone left for her."

She brushed past Jaxon and tilted my chin so she could get another look at the burn.

"If you keep it clean, it should heal nicely." She released her hold. "There's not much more we can do for you here, so if you want to check out. we can catch up back in your room later."

Jaxon, with shoulders slumped, settled into the spot next to me on the bed and stared at his hands.

What was in this envelope? I cracked the seal and pulled out a glittery gold card that read,

The Fire Circle

invites you

to bear witness and

celebrate the joining of

Jaxon Burnell and Wren Delacroix.

Held in

2nd year of Fluorite,

on the 267th moon.

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