Henry and Dominicus stood where they’d said they would, with Maya perched on Henry’s hip. As we approached, Dominicus’s ear twitched, picking up our footsteps before he waved. Henry jumped slightly, turning toward us in surprise, but his face quickly split into a smile.

“Good morning, you two,” he greeted, then muttered under his breath with an amused shake of his head. “I always forget you sense more than you see.”

Dominicus’s lips quirked, but he didn’t respond, simply turning to nod at us. “I presume you’re ready to leave?”

“Yup,” I replied. “Whenever you are.”

Maya yawned, tucking her head against Henry’s shoulder as she rubbed her eyes. “We’re going home?”

Henry kissed her forehead, hoisting her higher onto his hip with a soft hum. “We are, though you’ll stay with Sir...” He trailed off, glancing at Time.

“Thomas,” Time supplied smoothly with a wave, clearly having thought ahead about aliases.

Henry continued, “You’ll stay with Thomas and the spirit of Nature for a while. I’ll come back for you once things are safe at home.”

Maya frowned, her arms tightening around Henry’s neck. “I don’t want to go with him. He looks mean.”

Henry winced, shooting an apologetic glance at Time. “Maya! That’s rude.”

Time merely shrugged, though a flash of grief flickered across his face before disappearing. “Children seldom like me. I take no offense.” His voice was heavy, his gaze distant, as though caught in the memory of something painful.

I nudged his side lightly and stepped in to distract him. “Don’t worry, Maya. You’ll also be staying with the spirit of Nature, remember? If you’ve got questions about animals or plants, she’s the best person to ask.”

Hopefully, Nature wouldn’t mind being followed by a curious kid…

Maya perked up. “Does she know about Lunar Wolves? Both kinds?”

I had no clue what those were, but I nodded confidently. “She made them, so yeah, I’d say she knows.”

A grin spread across Maya’s face, her previous sleepiness vanishing. She wiggled to be put down, and Henry obliged, keeping a close eye on her as she grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the road.

“Let’s go! I have so many questions to ask her!”

Henry let himself be led, Dominicus following a step behind, while I lingered next to Time for a semblance of privacy.

“You okay?” I asked quietly.

Time snapped out of whatever memory had gripped him and straightened, his expression clearing. “Of course.” He lifted his chin, the haze from before gone. “We should begin your lessons. There is much you need to know about Nexus.” He glanced at Dominicus. “You, Chosen of Fate, would benefit from this as well.”

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Dominicus gave a faint nod, though he didn’t look back at us. Time took it as agreement and continued. “You already know how to contact spirits in an emergency, but let us discuss how to do so for mundane requests.”

I nodded, falling into step beside him and listening closely.

“Most spirits are solitary and avoid the mortal realm when possible,” he explained. “Unless you are connected to another spirit who can reach them, they are nearly impossible to contact. Spirits with a presence on Nexus, however, often have homes or bases. For example, Nature and Inspiration reside in Latica. Anyone wishing to speak with them can request an audience directly or through one of their Chosens.”

“Is it normal for spirits to have multiple Chosens at once?” I asked, trying to commit everything to memory.

Time made a so-so gesture. “It depends on the spirit and their duties. Nature, for instance, has many Chosens to manage Nexus’s concerns, allowing her to focus on critical matters. Inspiration, on the other hand, has fewer because his duties require personal involvement. He only takes Chosens who impress him enough to want them close.”

He gestured toward me. “Karma’s role involves finding those who wreak havoc on Nexus and ensuring they face consequences. Sometimes she takes Chosens; sometimes she does not. Her preferred punishment for mortals stepping out of line is to turn them into cockroaches. While effective initially, it lost its deterrent power—hence, our current predicament.”

I hummed. “So, what’s the plan? We can’t keep turning people into roaches if it’s not working, but we still need a punishment.”

Time shrugged. “We have time to decide. For now, open your spells menu.”

I did, frowning at the row of question marks that hadn’t been there before. “What’s with the question marks?”

“They represent undeveloped spells,” Time explained. “Once you decide on one, it will appear. If it is something outside Karma’s jurisdiction, it will not solidify.”

“I’ll think about it on the way to Latica,” I said. “What else do I need to know?”

Dominicus, walking ahead, tilted his head slightly back toward us. “If you don’t know how to acquire new spells, that might be a good topic.”

Time nodded. “Indeed. Spells can be learned from two sources: a spirit or tomes written by Mana herself. You can only cast spells aligned with your affinity—in your case, plants. Each affinity’s tomes are stored in specific locations around Nexus.”

“So if I want more spells without Karma’s help, I need to find those tomes?”

“Correct,” Time said, “though I do not know their exact locations.”

Dominicus slowed to join us, his expression grim. “You might not find them in their proper places anyway. Silas has been collecting them.”

Time stiffened. “He stole Mana’s tomes?!”

Dominicus nodded, “I don’t know how many he’s taken, but if I had to guess, I would say a good number.”

Volpe shifted in my hood, bumping the satchel strap, and slowly, suspicion dawned on me as to where the tomes were.

I looked at Time, shifting the bag meaningfully. Understanding dawned in his eyes, followed by relief.

“We have good news on that front, at least.” Time said. “Nikolas claimed the king’s personal library as his boon before we left. The tomes might be amongst that.”

Dominicus exhaled, his shoulders relaxing. “Good. The idea of those falling into the wrong hands is... unsettling.”

Looks like my love of books was paying off.

“When we stop tonight, I’ll go through them and see what we’ve got,” I said, already dreading the task. Hundreds of books and a satchel full of plants—it wasn’t going to be easy.

I wanted to categorize it all when we were alone, with privacy, but that didn’t seem to be an option now. We couldn’t afford to wait either. If the tomes were in the bag, we needed to know now.

Which meant tonight would be another long, sleepless night for me.