Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 137
8
Calandria poured some wine and handed Jordan the cup.
He accepted it gratefully, and hunched further under the
blanket next to the fire Axel had lit in the fireplace. Axel now
paced angrily at the doorway to their tower room. He had
barred the door. Several times people had knocked, but he'd
shouted that things were under control, Jordan was fine.
It seemed he'd disgraced them at the banquet. Jordan
could still taste vomit faintly; he gulped at the wine to mask it.
His hands shook, and he stared at them dumbly.
"What's wrong with him?" Axel demanded.
"He seems to be becoming more attuned to the implant.
He was only able to receive when he was asleep before.
Jordan, can you hear me?"
He drew himself closer to the fire. Reluctantly, he said,
"Yeah."
Her fingers alighted on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah." He drained the wine, facing into the fire.
"This is too much for him," Axel said. "We should stop."
"We don't know where he is yet!" she retorted. "The
avatar is a threat until we find him and neutralize him. You
know how the gods are. We have no way of knowing whether
3340 hid a resurrection seed in Armiger. If it did, and the seed
sprouts... then, everything we've done is threatened."