by Box Set
* * *
successfully stealing it, you will have proved to me that you can be trusted on the big day. And the big day is coming soon.
* * *
The big day? And that would be … the day Zell attempts to take the Unseelie crown for himself? The day he plans to invade the Guild? Damn, I wish I could read the rest of this note.
I push it into one of my pockets, open a doorway on the wall, and make the quick journey to the Guild. Inside the entrance, I flash my marked wrists to the night guard on duty, who quickly scans them with his stylus. Then I head straight to Councilor Starkweather’s office. The chances are high she’ll be here, given her workaholic tendencies.
I knock on her door. A moment later, I hear her voice bidding me to enter.
I explain our assignment, show her the note, and tell her why I think Zell wrote it. “Remember when Ryn and I broke into Zell’s dungeon to rescue Ryn’s sister, and I brought some pages back and gave them to you?”
“Yes,” she says slowly, crossing her arms over her chest. She wasn’t impressed that we’d broken into Zell’s home. She told us we were to forget about the whole thing.
“If you still have those pages, then you can compare them to this note. I’m almost certain the handwriting will match.”
“I shall definitely do that before we interrogate the thief who dropped this note.” She stands and heads toward her door.
“If it is Zell’s handwriting,” I say, following her, “can I question the thief?”
She opens the door and motions for me to step out ahead of her. “I don’t think that would be appropriate, Violet.” Apparently I’m no longer Miss Fairdale now that I’ve graduated.
“But we caught the thief. That was our assignment. Why wouldn’t it be appropriate for me to question him?”
The door clicks shut behind her. “Because everything to do with the Unseelie Prince forms part of a larger investigation that you’re not involved in.”
I can hear the words she isn’t saying: That investigation is too important and I’m too young and inexperienced to be trusted. I want to remind her that I’ve almost certainly come face to face with Zell more times than anyone else in this Guild, but I know my words won’t do any good. I stamp down my frustration. “Okay,” I say. “I understand.”
I head down a different corridor and away from her. I pat my pocket for my amber so I can check for a message from Ryn, but it seems I’ve left it at home. I’ve been looking forward to a message from him all day, hoping that today is the day he’ll know when he can come home.
A few weeks after Honey and Asami successfully completed their final assignment in Egypt, a new uprising began. The winged pixie-type creatures that had agreed to live peacefully alongside the bronze-skinned elves decided they actually wanted the pyramids all for themselves. Big mess. So the Guild sent Ryn and his new team to deal with the unrest in as peaceful a manner as possible.
They’ve been gone two weeks.
It feels like years.
I know they’re fine because I get occasional amber messages from Ryn, but I miss him so. Freaking. Much. As much as I’d miss my limbs if they were suddenly chopped off. More, in fact. And I haven’t heard from my father since my birthday, so basically I’m back to spending my evenings out on assignment or at home with Filigree—just like I did for most of my training. The difference now is that I’m no longer happy with a lonely life.
I stop by the corridor lined with rows and rows of pigeon holes. Now that I’m a proper guardian, I have my own. Goodbye to the locker downstairs near the training center. I walk past the rectangular openings until I get to mine. There’s a folded paper inside with my name on it. Probably another boring memo. I head back down the corridor, unfolding the paper as I go. It only takes a few words for my feet to come to a halt.
* * *
VF,
You don’t know me, Violet, but you and I have something in common: We’re both trying to take down the Unseelie Prince Marzell. I saw you at his masquerade ball, and it has taken me until now to find out from him who you are. Five days from now, Zell will reveal to his closest followers, which includes me, his exact plans for when and how to invade the Guilds. Five days from now, I will give you that information—if you want it.
You have no reason to trust me, of course, so let me give you a reason. I overheard Zell asking his latest follower, a faerie with pyromaniac-like special abilities, to cast a raging inferno at the entrance of the Guild situated in the fae realm near London. His aim isn’t to breach the protective enchantments, but rather to let the guardians there know that no Guild is safe from his reach.
Tomorrow night you will know that I am telling the truth.
D
* * *
What on earth? Is this a joke? I look up and down the corridor to see if anyone is watching or laughing, but I’m alone. I look back down at the generic stylus-printed type. It must be a joke; no one from the Unseelie Court would be allowed into the Guild to deliver a note—or for any other reason, obviously. But who inside the Guild knows that I was at Zell’s masquerade? I haven’t told anyone except Councilor Starkweather. I suppose the people involved in investigating Zell might know by now—and I don’t know who those people are. Maybe someone’s annoyed that I keep trying to weasel my way into that investigation, and they’re trying to get me in trouble. Or make me look stupid.
I fold the note and push it into my pocket. I don’t plan to make a fool of myself by running to Councilor Starkweather with it. If it turns out to be a legitimate warning and there really is a fire tomorrow night, it’s not like anyone’s going to get hurt. The fire is just supposed to scare people, right?
When I get home, I place the note in the drawer beside my bed, next to the box that contains my ribbon bracelet and my tokehari ring from my father. The key necklace from my mother stays around my neck all the time, like the arrow earrings in my ears. I fetch my amber from my desk, and my heart does a happy dance when I see there’s a message from Ryn.
* * *
Finally home. Wanted to visit, but I heard you’re out tonight ridding the world of a dangerous thief. I’ll see you tomorrow, Sexy Pixie. Don’t forget to dream about me.
* * *
Hell no. I’m not waiting until tomorrow. I open a doorway and head straight to Ryn’s house, dizzy excitement setting my heart racing. He granted me access to his home so I can come and go as I please. I don’t know if he told his mother; she probably wouldn’t approve.
The faerie paths take me to his bedroom, which is in darkness except for the enchanted miniature galaxy floating near the ceiling above his desk—a present for his seventh birthday. He keeps threatening to get rid of it because, according to him, it’s childish. I think it’s beautiful.
The laces of my boots untie themselves as I step quietly toward his bed. He’s facing away from me, his shoulder rising and falling in time to his steady, quiet breaths. I slip out of my boots, climb onto the bed, and crawl across the covers. I’m about to lean over him and kiss his neck when he says, “Do you think you’re sneaking up on me, Sexy Pixie?”
Damn. “Yes, that’s exactly what I think.”
He rolls over and pins me beneath him. “You’ll have to try harder than that.” He brings his lips down to meet mine while I wrap my arms around his neck. Sparks and tingles flash across my tongue, my face, my arms. I still don’t know if Ryn’s doing that on purpose, or if it happens spontaneously when people with magic kiss. Either way, Ryn has never been more right than when he told me I was missing out.
“Did you catch the bad guy?” he whispers into my ear.
“Of course. Did you fix Egypt?”
“Of course.” A kiss on my earlobe. “Has Jay flirted with you yet?”
I place my hands on either side of Ryn’s face so I can look at him. “No, but it’s cute that you’re jealous.”
“Jealous? Ha! Don’t make me laugh.”
“You are so jealous.” I push him off me so I can s
lide beneath the covers. “But it’s okay. I’ve been jealous before. Back at the palace when you were flirting with Opal whatever-her-name-is.”
“Ah, yes, I remember that.” He sits up against his pillow and pulls me to his side. “Your jealousy actually hurt my chest.”
“Good. I’m glad.” Seems his ability is useful for something.
“Come on, I was just being friendly to her.”
“Yeah, right. I bet you were intentionally trying to make me jealous.”
Ryn chuckles. “I think I was.”
I punch his thigh, and he has the decency to pretend it hurt. “Anyway, why are we sitting up? I was just getting comfortable before you brought up the subject of my teammate.”
Ryn yawns, then says, “I have some bad news. I thought it would be better if you weren’t distracted while I told you.”
“Bad news?”
“Yeah.” He rubs his eyes. Poor guy must be tired after his long assignment. “I was at my father’s house this evening. I stopped by for half an hour or so to see him and Calla. Turns out his griffin disc has been stolen.”
“What?” I sit up straighter. “How do you know? Did he tell you about it?”
“Not exactly. He was quite agitated. You know, moving things around and looking everywhere. So I asked him what he was searching for. He described the disc so I could help him look, but he didn’t tell me anything about it.”
“Crap,” I murmur. “That’s bad. Does he know when it went missing?”
“No. The last time he saw it was a few months ago.”
I shake my head. “You know, I thought the protective magic we had on our homes was supposed to keep unwanted people out.”
“Yeah, so did I.”
“Maybe back when Angelica was stealing the discs, she was able to get into our parents’ homes because they were her friends and had already granted her access. But now that Zell’s the one stealing discs, how did he do it?”
“Maybe he knows ways around the protection,” Ryn says. “There must be ways to break those spells if you’re powerful enough.”
“Or if you have a powerful friend who seems to like breaking into places.”
“Halfling boy,” Ryn mutters. “I suppose he could have stolen the disc for Zell before he deserted him last month. Have you heard anything from him since he showed up in the gargan tree?”
“Not a thing.”
Nate must have listened to me when I suggested he take his parents and run. I went to his house about a week after our confrontation in the gargan tree, and neither he nor his parents were there. Instead, a man who looked remarkably like Nate’s father was sitting at the dining room table making a phone call. On the table beside him lay an open newspaper with an article about a missing family. There were three pictures: Nate, his father, and his step-mother.
I kind of regret being so harsh to him, but I couldn’t trust him anymore. Parts of his story made sense—the details match up now that I think about it—but he could have simply made up the story to fit the details. It’s better if Nate just gets on with his life somewhere far away. He could even start over in a new place and pretend he’s a normal human.
Ryn laces his fingers between mine. “Now that I’ve shared the bad news, would you like to hear something good?”
After kissing the back of his hand, I say, “Definitely.”
“I may have a lead on your missing box.”
“Really? From your Underground contact?”
“Yes.”
With all the excitement of discovering my father still alive, followed by Ryn and me getting together, and Nate showing up out of the blue, I actually managed to forget about the missing box from my mother for an entire week after Zinnia told me about it.
After Ryn reminded me about the box, he broke into the office of the guardian who led the investigation into Reed’s death and found the relevant file. Since there was no mention of a box, we went back to the spot on the forest floor where Reed fell. I could tell it was difficult for Ryn to revisit the place his brother died, but he seemed to handle it well. We took a good look around, digging up parts of the ground to see if the box may have become buried over time. I even went back later and walked along the Tip-Top Path itself to see if Reed perhaps let go of the box as he fell and it landed somewhere other than down below. I searched every crevice in the surrounding branches but found nothing. Not surprising, really. Did I honestly expect it to still be there nine years later?
So Ryn decided to go Underground and search for it the way he searched for my necklace: by finding a hint of a rumor of a story and following it.
“And what did this Underground contact of yours tell you?” I ask.
“He knows someone who knows someone who sells, uh, redistributed handcrafted items.”
“In other words, stolen handcrafted items?”
“Yes. And apparently he sold a wooden box with the name Violet on it several years ago.”
I sag back against the pillow. “Several years ago? The box could be anywhere in the entire fae realm by now.”
“Hey, I found your necklace, didn’t I?” His fingers brush the gold key resting against my chest. “I’ll find your box.”
The feeling of warmth and safety that Ryn always manages to bring to me washes over my body. I look into his eyes, and I’m overcome by the urge to tell him something. Something big-deal and scary and so not me. Something involving a word that starts with L.
No. I can’t say that. It’s too soon. I’ll freak him out. I’ll freak myself out.
“Can I talk to you about something else?” Ryn asks.
“Sure.” As long as you aren’t about to use the scary L-word.
He frowns. “Are you okay? I feel like you’re freaking out about something.”
“Nope.” My voice comes out like a squeak. “Just … stressing about the Zell situation, I guess.”
He gives me a funny look that tells me he doesn’t quite believe me, so I lean forward and press my lips against his. He obviously forgets whatever he was going to say because his hands slide around my waist as the kiss becomes more heated. They skim across my back, beneath my top. I press my body closer to his.
“Wait,” he says against my lips. “Wait, I’m supposed to be telling you something.”
Reluctantly, I pull away from him. “It had better be good.”
“It’s always good when I’m talking.” He caresses my cheek as I roll my eyes. “Okay, so, I have a theory,” he says. “A theory about why some of us have extra magical abilities and others don’t.”
I snuggle closer to him. “I’m listening.”
“You know how everyone loved Reed? I mean, people always say—”
“—there was just something about him,” I fill in. I’ve heard so many people say it. I’ve even said it.
“Yes. There was something about him. And I don’t think that something was natural. I think it was his special ability. Like mine is sensing others’ emotions, yours is finding people, Calla’s is to make people see what she’s imagining, and Nate’s is power over the weather.”
“Okay …”
“And didn’t Zell say something to you in his dungeon about the griffin discs being connected to fae with special powers?”
“Yes, but he didn’t explain what he meant.”
“Well, here’s my theory: People who use the griffin discs extensively have children with additional magical abilities.”
I let his words sink in.
“Think about it,” Ryn says. “Your parents had discs, my parents had discs, and Nate’s mother had a disc. My father is the only one who still has a disc, and look at Calla. She turned out special too.”
I nod. This could be what Zell was referring to. “So the reason there are a lot of fae with unique magical abilities is because the discs have had so many owners over the centuries.”
“Yes. And since Zell has been hunting for the discs for a while, he probably has a long list of people who’ve owned a disc at some
point. Once he figured out there was a connection, it would have been easy enough for him to go back and find out who their children were.”
“Yeah, and then abduct them.” I tilt my head back and stare at the galaxy. “So, it’s like we have a little bit of Tharros’ power in us. That’s weird, isn’t it?”
Ryn nods. “It is weird to think of it like that.” He looks down at me. “But don’t go freaking out about his magic making us evil because I don’t believe that at all. We’re on the good side, V. It doesn’t matter what kind of magic we were born with.”
Thirty-One
Tora leans forward and rests her elbows on her desk and her chin on her hands. “And as I walked in, hundreds of butterflies rose off the table and fluttered away, leaving the most amazing arrangement of flowers on the middle of the table.”
I clasp my hands together beneath my chin. “That’s so romantic, Tora.” Not as romantic as a magic carpet ride and a gazillion glow-bugs, but not every guy can pull off something that epic.
“And the food was glorious.” Tora tips her head back and leans it against the cabinet behind her desk. “He sure can cook.”
“Thank goodness for that.” I think of Tora’s abysmal cooking skills. You’d think that possessing magical abilities would allow her to do a mediocre cooking job, at the very least, but no. “He sounds perfect for you. Do you think he’s going to ask you to form a union with him?”
Tora’s cheeks turn pink. “I have no idea.” She sits forward and starts moving things around her desk that probably don’t need to be moved. “I mean, we haven’t exactly known each other very long, and unions are a big deal amongst our kind. I’d have to think about it very seriously because no union should be broken lightly.”
It shouldn’t. In fact, unions are rarely broken at all. That’s why it was such a scandal when Ryn’s father left and formed a new union with someone else. People didn’t say much, of course, because they all knew about Reed’s tragic death and how difficult it was for his family, but you could see it in their expressions whenever Ryn’s family was mentioned.
