Gabriel and Max waited for me in the underchamber of the Stronghold, Jiao and Sass with them. I avoided the drach leader's eyes, if only to evade for a moment the remaining sorrow there. His missing wings seemed even more obvious when I pretended they weren't gone. That he was whole again in body. Still, despite his lingering loss, he carried himself like the drach lord he was, so I refused to belittle his efforts to hold up a good front by feeling ...