by E Hall
“No, you didn’t because you’re afraid to hear the answer.” She turns toward the window.
“Kenna, I don’t like you. Having a sentimental conversation or whatever this is won’t change that. You’re—”
Her glower has the potential to pierce the toughest of hides. “What was it you said? I didn’t ask what you think about me. Forget about your self-loathing and general hatred of everyone, you saved me from doing something stupid.”
“I don’t think I heard that quite right,” I say.
Kenna’s lips lift and her eyes glint. “You didn’t have to risk your life for me.” Her glare doesn’t waver from her brother.
“How do you know I was risking my life?” he asks.
“Clove, come on, drop the act. Admit that you care.”
“I don’t.”
“Fine, you don’t. Whatever, but you’re brave and strong and—”
“All right. Don’t get carried away.” Anyone else would mistake the lilt of amusement playing across his features for scorn.
“Back to my question,” I say, getting to my feet.
“While you were gone, Pepper had a breakthrough in her translations,” Kenna says.
I nod. “‘With the birth of the new generation of fae, a cursebreaker will be born. The curse will be lifted on the light of the moon if she sacrifices herself.’” I recite the words verbatim. The thought of losing Kenna to Melchior threatens to crush me even with her safely right here.
“I thought it meant me,” Kenna says. “Greyson’s last words were to break the curse.”
“Me too,” I say, referring to my assumption that the translation meant Kenna.
Clove shakes his head. “I’ve spent years studying all of this. You could’ve asked me. The translation didn’t say the cursebreaker would be fae.”
Kenna throws her hand to her hip. “I would’ve asked you if you weren’t such a jerk. Let’s see, you tried to steal the key, lied, betrayed us, and lost the scepter.”
“I didn’t lose it,” Clove says.
“Are you delusional?” Kenna shouts.
I leer at Clove. “Clearly he is. One more time. What do you mean Clove saved your life?” I bellow.
Kenna sighs. “Right. When I saw Pepper make that translation, I thought it meant me so I stormed off into the woods, ready to sacrifice myself to be Melchior’s consort. I thought that’s what it meant.”
Clove shakes his head. “See, you should’ve come to me.”
Kenna rolls her eyes. “Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Clove must’ve seen me on the edge of the forest about to make the biggest mistake of my life, when—”
“He blasted you with magic,” I supply.
“No, he talked me off the ledge as it were.”
“I’m steps ahead of you. I already learned everything you know. I was just missing the key to the chest. Turns out I can’t touch it because it’s iron.”
“So you don’t have the Wolf Jewel,” I say.
“I don’t have it.”
“Neither do we.” I sigh.
“So, smartypants, what did the translation mean? If I’m not the one to make the sacrifice who is it? Who is the cursebreaker?”
“Let’s go to the secret room,” Clove says.
“No funny business.” Magic dances across her fingers. “I won’t hesitate to blast you.”
“And I’ll rip you to shreds,” I add.
Clove shrugs. “I won’t use magic against you.” He turns his gaze to the window. “You probably read Pepper’s translations. As the only other male fae in existence, I’m meant to be the next fae king, but I’m in love with Pepper. Like our father and Lila, I’ve fallen for someone I cannot have.”
“Where is she?” I ask.
“She’s making the sacrifice to Melchior. It was only a matter of time. As soon as I realized that, I’ve worked tirelessly to find the scepter and jewels, to make things right.” Clove’s voice sounds empty, bereft.
“You have interesting methods, Clove.” I scowl at him for knocking me out.
“The fae are out of balance, the shadow within grows darker every day. Surely, you know about the Shadow Army and what was done to the fae? I fight against that side of my nature, but—” Clove pauses.
Kenna gasps, catching up with the conversation—likely she knows little about the Brightening and everything that came before it, including Count Bortimal. “Then you know Pepper is a dragon shifter?”
Clove nods.
“Then what are we doing here? We have to go after her.” Kenna turns in the other direction down the hall.
“I will do whatever it takes to get Pepper back. But we need the last Jewel.” Clove strides toward the secret room.
Reluctantly, we follow.
Books and papers containing Pepper’s translations lay scattered around. The Klave pulses with its otherworldly light and power.
Kenna stands next to her brother and they both gaze at their father’s leather chair.
“You belong there,” Kenna says. “I had no idea you were trying to figure this out. When you said you wanted the keys to the kingdom, I thought you were a warlord or something.”
“I’m not always nice. It’s the unseelie fae in me. It’s hard for me to apologize. I’ve spent much of my life seeking answers. You show up and...I guess I was irritated. I’m sorry for being a jerk.”
“I violent, killing jerk,” I mutter.
“You know the way of our world,” Clove says.
“And I’m here to keep the peace.” Taking a wide stance, I stack my arms in front of my chest.
Kenna waves her hand. “Clove, apology accepted. Back to business. Why didn’t you tell Pepper what you knew?”
“That she’s a dragon shifter?” Clove asks. “I was afraid. I’ve always been alone. If I scared her off, the possibility of a future with her would’ve disappeared and it’s the only thing that carries me forward each day.”
“Love?” Kenna says.
Clove nods.
He and Pepper must be fated mates. Surely, she must’ve felt something. Movement from nearby catches my eye. Clouds seem to glide across a mirror standing on a table. I walk over to it.
Kenna appears at my side. “I saw a couple in its reflection once. It looked like they were searching for something.”
“It’s a reflecting mirror.” Clove points.
“Aren’t all mirrors?” Kenna says sarcastically.
“This one reflects on the life of its owner and shows scenes from their past.”
“Whose was it? Who was the owner?” I ask.
“Isa.”
“So I saw Isa in it...and Alden?” Kenna says, gazing into it now. “I wonder what they were looking for.”
“The Triad Jewels. They’d found the three. Alden carved the boxes and put them inside. Greyson hid them in the chests for an extra layer of safekeeping as he searched for the scepter.”
“But the Wolf Jewel is missing, meaning someone got to it before any of us.” Kenna leans toward the mirror. “I see the forest and the fae like they’re going to perform the Initiation Pepper told me about, but there’s no moon.”
“There’s always a moon,” Clove says. “Melchior can influence clouds and wind, concealing or revealing it.”
“When I was little and afraid to go to sleep at night, my mother used to tell me that even in the dark, the sun still shined somewhere on the planet. I suppose the same can be said of the moon,” Kenna says with dread in her voice.
Clove picks up the sextant and closes one eye as he looks through it. “It’s said that if you look through this, you can see possibilities for your future. Not certainties, but what could happen.”
“I’ve looked through it, and it was blurry.” I remain focused on the glass.
“Ah, right. Same reason the mirror looks foggy to you. These magical items are fae.”
Kenna holds it up to her eye and aims it toward me for a long moment. She smirks. Then her face falls. She turns it on Clove. She takes her ti
me when she speaks, and her voice turns to molasses. “I see a friend, a brother, family.” She lowers the magical item. “You concern and worry me, Clove, but I want you to find your piece of happiness.”
“Can we try again?” Clove asks.
“Finding the jewel and scepter?” I ask.
Kenna shakes her head and steps toward him. “Hi, I’m Kenna Slade.” She extends her hand to shake. “It’s nice to meet you. I always wanted a brother.”
“I’m Clove, and the pleasure is mine.”
They both smile, and it transforms into slightly awkward laughter, but laughter all the same.
“The fact that you stopped me from running to Melchior tells me I can trust you, but I want to hear it from you.”
“Yes, Kenna, you can trust me.”
I still don’t trust him, but I do trust Kenna.
I clear my throat and clap my hands to get their attention. “Glad to see the happy family reunion, but we have a jewel to find.”
“Also there’s the issue of the missing scepter.” Kenna lowers onto the couch next to me.
“And a dragon shifter to save,” Clove adds.
Chapter 21
Kenna
“Speaking of starting over, we have to retrace our steps. You had the scepter last,” I say to Clove. “What happened to it?”
Clove doesn’t meet my gaze. “I was desperate. I made a trade.”
“You what?” I ask, thinking of what Greyson did.
“I heard about a vamp who claimed to have the Wolf Jewel in exchange for the scepter...and bringing Greyson back.”
Tension ticks in Corbin’s jaw. “And you believed the vamp? You know they can mesmer anyone, even fae.”
I squint, trying to understand what my brother is saying. “How would you make use of the Jewels if the vamp had the scepter?”
“I planned on getting it back.”
I give him a taste of my fiercest glower. “So you had the tool, the scepter, to bring peace to our kind and decided to trade the safety of the entire planet for the possibility of getting it back? Never mind the logistics, do you realize how stupid that is? What if the vamp had all three Jewels?” I’m on my feet, pacing, fuming.
“I had a plan.”
“A foolish one. We need to figure out how to get the scepter back with no thanks to you.” Thinking back to the fight in the woods with Melchior, I should have been stronger and braver. But shoulds won’t help me now. I will get the scepter, defeat Melchior, and save Pepper. End of story.
I collapse into the chair, fragments of everything that’s gone on in the last months playing in my mind.
“I’m not sorry for trying to reunite with our father, but—” Clove starts to say.
I hold up my hands to signal enough. “Arguing isn’t going to help. Of the most immediate concern is Pepper.”
Corbin points to what was the glass-filled globe, lying broken and in shards on the ground. “What happened there?”
“When I thought I was the cursebreaker, I told Pepper what I needed to do. I didn’t want her to stop me so I started to hurry from the room. I bumped into the globe as I passed then staggered. Pepper, trying to stop me from leaving, knocked into me. She lost her footing.”
Clove’s eyes widen with concern.
I wince. “The globe fell from its wooden cradle and smashed on the floor, showering Pepper with glass and water. She gurgled and choked as though she inhaled the liquid. Her pale complexion faded to blue. Her eyes fluttered open and shut. It was horrifying.”
“Kenna, what happened?” Clove’s voice is heavy.
“I was afraid she somehow swallowed a piece of glass or more likely, the globe was a cursed magical object and she was suffering for it.” My heart thunders all over again at the panic I felt at that moment. “She writhed on the floor—her limbs twitching. I took her by the shoulders, ready to breathe air into her lungs, when she suddenly sat up, with a hand on her throat. She took a deep breath.” I shake my head as baffled now as I was then. “I was blubbering, asking if she was okay. Her eyes met mine, flashed gold, and then she said, ‘I’m okay.’”
“And then?” Clove asks.
“She said she needed to get some fresh air. I took the opportunity to go to the woods. That’s when you found me and presumably when she went to sacrifice herself.”
“Clove, why don’t you try to find Pepper. Kenna and I will try to locate the jewel and the scepter.” Corbin gets to his feet, an Alpha taking charge.
“I think we should stick together,” Clove says. “Find Pepper, then go after the scepter.”
“We wouldn’t have to if you’d just held onto it,” I say to him.
“What about the jewel?” I ask.
“Presumably someone took it from the chest. Did the vamp have it?” I ask my brother.
He shrugs. “I can’t say for sure.”
I jump to my feet. “Wait. What if the box was a trick? Like a decoy and the real jewel is hidden elsewhere?”
Corbin tilts his head from side to side. “That’s an idea.”
“If only we could talk to Greyson. If I were him, where would I hide it?” I pace in front of the broken pieces of the globe, failing to flick away the twinge of sadness of losing him. To a degree, I know how Clove feels.
I pause in front of the sextant afraid to look into it again. I saw more than just my brother. I saw the ruin of our world, Melchior ruling, and magicals destroying each other.
I turn to the mirror, fearing what I won’t see—whether or not Isa and Alden found what they were looking for because it might mean we won’t find what we’re looking for.
Taking a breath, I close my eyes and place my fingers on the glass. I ask to see the couple. I ask to know if they found the jewel.
Like before, for a moment, my reflection stares back. My eyes fill with longing, my lips lift with hope. The haze shifts across the glass. Once more, I see Isa and Alden. “Do you find it?” I whisper.
He kneels before her, holding a small box. Her fingers press to her lips. Her eyes fill with tears yet she smiles. I can’t hear them but his loving expression matches hers. She nods profusely. He gets to his feet and slides a ring on her finger. I recall the passages in her diary about their lives together and his promise to give her a proper ring when he could.
She splays her fingers and gazes at it. The light catches the sparkling gem, and I realize it’s the same one I have on my finger.
I tuck my hands behind my back.
“See anything useful?” Clove asks.
I shrug. “We’re going round and round. I say we take Corbin’s suggestion. You go after Pepper. We’ll focus on the scepter and jewel. When you get Pepper back, we’ll meet here and if we haven’t yet located the other items, we’ll join forces.”
“Fine, but where do you plan to look? It would be a waste of time for you to look in places that I already have,” Clove says.
He highlights dead ends.
“We could try to find our father.”
“You don’t want to do that.” A tremor enters Clove’s voice. “Kenna, what do you know about ghost pirates?”
“Not much. Only that they’re cruel, fearsome—”
Clove shakes his head. “They aren’t just cruel or fearsome, they’re brutal, ruthless…” His words drip with a mixture of fear and animosity. “Have you ever heard of dogfighting?” he asks.
“Sure, it’s inhumane and—”
“It’s what ghost pirates do. They capture wolf shifters and force them into fighting each other for sport...to the death.”
Corbin’s shoulders stiffen. “I’ve heard of it but didn’t realize it was true. No wonder I didn’t like that shipwrecked coast.”
“Since the wolves are on a ghost ship, they don’t receive the relief of dying and continue to fight each other, their brothers and sisters, in perpetuity.”
“That’s revolting.” There’s grit in Corbin’s tone.
“Are you saying Greyson did that?” Sharp, hot liquid rise
s in my throat at my father appealing to the pirates for the truth and possibly participating in a fight against his brothers.
White-hot hatred comes off Clove in waves as he continues. “Ghost pirates are vultures, scavengers, buying the dead and dying with the promise of a truth. By doing so they’re rejected by death itself, left to sail for eternity in the half-life. What’s more, the ghost pirates enslave fae, forcing them into service of another sort.”
The liquid spills back down into my stomach, suffusing me with dread. “I’d gathered our father made a trade, but to become a hollow ghost, not to sail among the ghost pirates. Why would he do such a thing? But more importantly, how did he come to me?”
“He was desperate for the truth.” Clove scratches his head. “Ghost pirates are the scourge of the ocean and land alike, but I’ve never heard of one leaving or escaping.”
I tell him about how we went to Bahia Majia. His face remains impassive as I mention it was where my mother and our father went on their honeymoon.
“We were there for days. I refused to give up.” I tell him about nearly drowning and the veil, leading back here to when we had the battle with Melchior. I recall what Lila said about how he traded one magical form. Melchior destroyed the other. He might still be among the pirates.
The ebb and flow of hope and fear, and the helplessness over what to do burns inside. But by laying my deepest doubts bare, and throwing them into the fire within, I sense that there’s nothing left in the ash except my growing resolve.
Corbin’s lips quirk as though he senses the change in me. “So what’s the plan?”
“Why ask me? You’re the Alpha—”
“So are you.”
I draw a deep breath and gaze at the stained glass window, gathering my thoughts, worrying about the impossibilities. The cuts of orange remind me of sunrise and the melted reds resemble the sunset just when it liquefies at the horizon. I lose myself in the shades and shapes in the glass before curling symbols take form in my unfocused eyes. I glance at the Klave, sitting between us on the table, and then back at the glass filling nearly half the wall. I do it again and then again.
Corbin lifts an eyebrow as I cat my head back and forth.
