I rose from the bench, every limb stiff from sitting too long in the silence. The decision sat heavy in my chest, but at least it was a decision. At least I wasn’t aimless anymore.

  I stepped out into the hall, the light dimmer now, shifting through cracks in the wood like the day itself was tired.

  Talia wasn’t far. I found her in the records room, a narrow chamber tucked beneath the second staircase, thumbing through a stack of half-dried scrolls. Her coat was tossed over the back of a chair, and her sleeves were rolled past her elbows, ink-stains smudged against her fingers.

  I lingered in the doorway.

  She noticed me immediately. “Hey,” she said, setting a scroll aside. “Feeling any better?”

  I nodded, eyes cast down for a breath before I looked up again. “Yeah. A bit. Thanks again. For earlier.”

  Her smile softened. “Anytime.”

  I hesitated. Shifted my weight.

  “I hate to ask,” I said carefully, “but I… I need a favor.”

  Talia raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  I scratched the back of my neck, trying not to fidget. “I need a map. Of the southern hemisphere. One that shows the west. The path to the Holy Land.”

  At that, her posture straightened, a flicker of something unreadable fshing across her face. “That’s… a specific request.”

  “It’s important,” I said quickly. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t. I just need to know the route. I can copy it, or look at it here if that’s easier, or—”

  “I can’t,” Talia interrupted gently, raising a hand. “Not from the archives, anyway.”

  My chest sank. “Why not?”

  “Guild w,” she said, folding her arms. “Archives don’t go to non-members. Not even scraps.”

  “Oh.” I tried to hide the disappointment creeping across my face, but it slipped through anyway. I puffed out a breath and crossed my arms, scowling without realizing it.

  Talia blinked. Then tilted her head, studying me.

  “What?” I asked, confused by her sudden amusement.

  She ughed, low, warm, and a little too knowing. “Nothing. Just… now I see why Jax likes you.”

  My stomach flipped. “What?!”

  “You get this little pouty scowl when you’re annoyed,” she teased, grinning now. “It’s kind of cute.”

  “I do not pout!” I said indignantly, though my cheeks flushed with a betrayal I couldn’t stop.

  Talia chuckled, clearly enjoying herself. “Sure you don’t.”

  I turned away slightly, muttering under my breath. “I hate everyone in this guild.”

  “I heard that,” she said, still smiling.

  I tried to shake it off and crossed my arms tighter. “So. No map, then.”

  “I didn’t say that,” she replied, stepping closer. “I said I can’t give you one.”

  I blinked, frowning. “Then who—?”

  “You could ask Jax,” she said, casually brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “He can check one out from the archives and lend it to you.”

  “But why can’t you do that?” I asked, brow furrowing. “You work here.”

  Talia gave me a look, part fond and part exasperated. “Because he’s the one who vouched for you.”

  I opened my mouth. Closed it.

  Oh.

  Talia just shrugged. “Rules are rules.”

  I exhaled slowly, looking down at the floor. That meant I’d have to wait. Or find him. Gods knew where he was.

  “…Fine,” I mumbled. “I’ll ask him when he gets back.”

  Talia smirked. “You could try saying please. Might get you a better map.”

  I shot her a gre.

  She grinned wider. “There it is again.”

  “I do not—!” I stopped, groaned, and shoved my hands into my coat pockets. “Never mind.”

  Talia’s ughter followed me as I turned away, but so did her voice but much gentler now.

  “Hey. For what it’s worth… I hope you find her.”

  I looked back, met her eyes. “Me too.”

  After that, there was nothing to do but wait.

  Jax was still out, running whatever job the guild had sent him on. No one could say when he’d be back, only that he’d left before sunrise and wouldn’t return until te. Maybe even morning.

  Still, I didn’t leave.

  I lingered by the front entryway, settling on the worn bench just beside the coat rack, where sea-chilled air seeped in from under the door. Lantern light flickered against the old stone walls, and every creak of the floorboards upstairs made me look up, hoping it was him. It never was.

  A few guildmembers passed through, some curious, some indifferent. One or two slowed, eyeing me warily, like I didn’t belong. Which, technically, I didn’t.

  One of them even looked like he was about to say something but Talia appeared in the doorway before he could speak, arms folded, her expression cool.

  “She’s fine,” she said, loud enough for the room. “She’s waiting. That’s all. Let her be.”

  “But she’s—” the boy started.

  “I’ll vouch for her,” Talia said firmly. “This time.”

  That shut them up.

  After that, the others stopped staring. They passed me with nothing more than a gnce, the kind of silent acknowledgment you give someone who's been cimed, for better or worse.

  Eventually, even the Guildmaster passed through, shadowed by his ever-present silence, his steps too quiet for someone his size. He looked at me once as he passed. Just once. And then kept walking, cloak trailing behind him like smoke.

  I shifted on the bench, hugging my coat tighter. The wooden sts pressed into my back, and my eyelids grew heavier as the hours dragged on. Every time I blinked, I had to remind myself not to drift.

  ~

  It was sometime past midnight or maybe closer to two, when the door finally creaked open and cold air swept in behind the familiar figure.

  Jax.

  He stepped inside with a lightness that didn’t match the hour, slinging his coat off with one arm and tossing a pouch of coins toward the front desk without even gncing. His dark curls were damp from the mist outside, and his boots were muddied, but he didn’t look tired. Just... Jax. Rexed. Smug. Alive in the way that always made you feel a little more tired by comparison.

  I stood up before I could talk myself out of it.

  He blinked in surprise when he saw me, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Well, well,” he said, voice low and zy. “Didn’t know I had a fan club.”

  “I’m not here for you,” I said quickly. “I mean. I am. But not like that.”

  His brow lifted. “Charming as ever. Did I forget your birthday or something?”

  “I need a favor.”

  Now he looked intrigued.

  “Oh?”

  “I need a map,” I said. “From the archives. One that shows the southern hemisphere, especially the western routes.”

  Jax tilted his head, his gaze sharpening just a little. “You finally pnning to leave this dump of a city?”

  I crossed my arms, trying to keep my voice steady. “I just need to see it. That’s all. I don’t need questions. Just the map.”

  He watched me for a beat. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Probably a dozen things I didn’t want to hear.

  “I can’t pull anything from the archives without reason,” he said eventually. “Guild rules.”

  I took a breath.

  “I was told you could check it out,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Talia said you could lend it to me. Because you’re the one who vouched for me.”

  Jax grinned. “She did, huh? And now you’re name-dropping me. I feel important.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  He leaned back against the wall, arms folded. “What’s it for?”

  “I’m not telling you,” I said, too fast. “It’s nothing.”

  That wiped the amusement from his face, just a little.

  “Doesn’t sound like nothing.”

  “It is.” My voice caught, and I hated that it did. I swallowed, recovering. “Just… please.”

  The word slipped out before I could stop it.

  Just one word, but it carried too much.

  I didn’t even mean to say it, not really. Talia had teased me about it earlier, and maybe I’d thought I’d say it for her sake, half as a joke, half in defiance.

  But it didn’t come out as a joke. It came out quieter. Thinner.

  Desperate, almost.

  I bit down on the inside of my cheek and turned my face slightly, hoping he hadn’t caught the flicker of worry in my eyes. Of course he did. Jax missed nothing.

  He was quiet for a moment longer. Then without another word he pushed off the wall, turned, and started toward the archive door.

  “Stay there,” he said over his shoulder. “I’ll be back.”

  I stared after him.

  And let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

  It didn’t take long.

  Ten, maybe fifteen minutes ter, Jax returned with a map in hand, rolled and tied with a thin strip of leather. His boots tapped quietly across the worn floorboards, his presence easy, like always.

  But his eyes weren’t smiling this time.

  He held the map out to me but didn’t let go when I reached for it.

  “You know I’m gonna ask again,” he said softly.

  I frowned. “Jax—”

  “What’s going on?”

  I tugged, but he didn’t let go. Not yet.

  “I’m not trying to be a pain,” he added, voice quieter now, less teasing. “You want the map? It’s yours. But the least you could do is give me something. I vouched for you, remember?”

  I hesitated, fingers tightening around the parchment.

  He wasn’t wrong. He had vouched for me. He had gone out of his way, and maybe asking for a single answer wasn’t that much.

  I let out a slow breath, keeping my voice even.

  “…I have to find my sister.”

  Jax’s brows drew together. “Esther?”

  I nodded once.

  “And she’s… what? Missing?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “She left days ago. Should’ve been back. She’s never te. Ever.”

  Something in his expression shifted, just a flicker.

  He stepped back slightly but didn’t hand me the map yet.

  “And you think she’s in the west?” he asked.

  I hesitated again.

  He caught the pause. “Dawn.”

  “Yes,” I said. “I’m going west.”

  His jaw tightened.

  “You think she went to the Holy Land?” he pressed.

  I didn’t answer.

  “Dawn.”

  “I don’t know, okay?” I snapped, louder than I meant. “I don’t know anything. That’s the point. I’ve gone through every other option in my head. I’ve waited. I’ve looked. I’ve prayed to nothing. And I’m still here, empty-handed.”

  Jax stayed quiet.

  I swallowed hard, trying to push the crack in my voice back down. “If I don’t do something, then what the hell else am I supposed to do?”

  His expression had gone still. Measured. The kind of look he wore when things weren’t a game anymore.

  I hated it.

  So I stepped back. “I just need the map, Jax.”

  He didn’t speak.

  “I’m not a guild member. I’m already intruding. I’ve wasted your time, Talia’s, Irah’s—I’ve bothered enough people just by being here. I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I’m done. You don’t have to worry.”

  Finally, he handed it to me.

  I took it carefully, clutching it like something fragile.

  “Thanks,” I said, softer this time. “Really.”

  He still didn’t say anything.

  I turned, heading for the door before the silence stretched too long.

  “Dawn,” Jax called just as I reached it.

  I paused. Turned halfway, the map pressed tight under one arm.

  He didn’t move. Just stood there in the low amber glow of the hallway nterns, watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.

  “If you’re really going west,” he said slowly, “you know it won’t be safe.”

  I held his gaze. “I can handle it.”

  He frowned. “It’s not a game. That road’s half-ruins and half-madness.”

  “Good,” I said. “Neither am I.”

  He didn’t smile.

  “I thought this is what you wanted anyway,” I added, squaring my shoulders. “Didn’t you say I needed to get out of this forsaken city? Leave Araes behind? Well, this is an opportunity.”

  Jax’s lips parted like he had something to say but nothing came out. He just looked at me, eyes dark and unreadable, something stormy gathering behind the gold in them.

  Then, after a long beat, he said:

  “Hire me.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “Post a job,” he said, stepping forward. “Hire a mercenary to guide you west. Let me be that mercenary.”

  I stared at him, confused. “You’re not even a mercenary, you’re a—” I waved vaguely, “—a thief.”

  Jax gave a huff of a ugh, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m not just a petty thief. I’m part of this guild, Dawn. I know how to get pces. How to get out of pces. I’ve led jobs through worse than the western fringe. I’m good at surviving.”

  He took another step closer. “And whether you see it or not I’m formidable.”

  I opened my mouth. “I don’t have the money to hire anyone, Jax, I—”

  “Don’t,” he cut in, sharp and sudden.

  It wasn’t commanding.

  It was desperate.

  There was something raw in his voice that stopped me cold.

  His hands were clenched at his sides, like if he let them move, he might do something stupid. His jaw was tight. And those eyes, those stupid, bright golden eyes were full of something he hadn’t said out loud yet.

  I didn’t know what to say.

  I should’ve said no. Should’ve told him I didn’t need help. That I could figure it out myself. That I didn’t want anyone slowing me down, getting in the way.

  But the words wouldn’t come out.

  So I sighed, quietly.

  “…Fine,” I said. “You can come.”

  His shoulders dropped just slightly. He didn’t grin, didn’t gloat, he just nodded.

  “But I’m paying you,” I added, pointing a finger at his chest. “Even if I’m broke, I’m not a cheapskate.”

  “Noted,” he said, a breath of something like relief passing through him.

  “Just don’t expect a tip.”

  That got the ghost of a smile. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  I shook my head and turned toward the door again, stepping out into the night before he could say anything else that might make me stay longer than I needed to.

  The cold bit at my cheeks, but I barely felt it.

  I had a map. I had a pn. And now I had Jax.

  Whatever was waiting in the west… I am going.

  And nothing, not the Church, not the past, not even the gods themselves is going to stop me from finding her.