On Wings of Chaos (Revenant Wyrd Book 5) by Travis Simmons Page B

busy with other things. But he still didn’t like it. He would prefer she was busy with him, but that was dumb.
    After all, she has just met her cousins for the first time in . . . what? Ever? He frowned and looked to his left, where a group of archers were nestled against the wall of the parapet around a lamp, playing dice. He wished he could have joined them and forgot all the worries on his mind, but he couldn’t.
    He had been okay knowing that Cianna was an angel, even learning that she was the daughter of Pharoh. He had grown used to that, and thought of her as just another person, even if she wasn’t. Even if she was actually an angel. But meeting her cousins, hearing her pronounce two of them as Sylvie, and then having them pass out and be whisked away . . . that was a little more than he had been prepared for.
    And the Guardian of the Realm of Shadow. What in the realms! The Shadow Realm was little more than a realm he had heard about, but never really paid much attention to because no one in their right mind ever went there, and here was a group of people, three of them nephilim, who had traveled through the Shadow Realm. Not only traveled through it, but one of them, Joya, had actually been chosen by the realm as its leader. And she was from the Holy Realm, the supposed arch-enemy of the Shadow Realm.
    And as if that wasn’t enough, they had brought two from the Shadow Realm with them!
    Devenstar shook his head. The tightness of the ponytail he wore was giving him a headache. He wasn’t used to keeping his hair tied up, but it kept it out of his eyes, and he was able to watch the group of dwarves milling below on the other side of the wall, even if his mind was on other things.
    Which it was — like how Joya looked so much like Cianna, just younger, shorter, and with more attitude.
    You would think a necromancer would be bitchier than a sorcerer , he thought. That wasn’t the case. Sure, he had only ever had pleasant encounters with Joya, but there was the feeling to her that she had been through a lot, and it was best not to cross her, because she wasn’t the type to give second chances. Talk about strike first, ask questions later .
    “What’s that?” Pi asked beside him, pulling him from his thoughts.
    “What?” he asked, looking up.
    The dark-haired girl pointed off in the distance over the plains. He heard something rumbling, but didn’t really see anything. Was she looking with wyrded vision? He didn’t think so.
    And then he saw it. Torches.
    “Probably just a nightly patrol of dwarves.”
    “They’re kind of close.” She shrugged her shoulders.
    “How’s Clara?” he asked her.
    “I don’t know, I haven’t seen her since this morning.” Pi looked downcast when they talked about his sister. He could understand. Devenstar hadn’t known anyone to ever take so long going through their trials. It wasn’t like Clara was bad at wyrd, or using her sorcery.
    “I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Deven said. “Why don’t you go check on her?”
    “Flora would kill me if I left my post,” she huffed, and in the weak lamplight he saw her eyes roll.
    “What post?” Deven asked, leaning against the parapet. “There’s seriously nothing going on here.”
    “I know,” she mumbled, looking at the same group of archers, their bows against the wall, laughing over a bottle they were passing around.
    “Then go to her,” Devenstar told her. “That’s a command.”
    “Who gave you authority over me?” Pi asked.
    “Um, the Realm Guardian ranked me higher than you,” Devenstar said, and then smiled.
    “Oh, yeah,” Pi said. “Well, who am I to refuse orders from my ranking officers?”
    “Exactly,” Deven said, slapping her on the shoulder.
    She scooted past the soldiers and skittered down the stairs. He watched her retreating form, her hair bouncing as she ran to the keep.
    He turned back and watched the torches coming closer. They were definitely up to something. At first he thought