by K. A. Linde
“She was a spiritcaster.”
“No. I haven’t heard that word in a long time either. She would have told me. She wouldn’t have kept it from me.” Zina looked frazzled.
“Someone went to great lengths to keep what she did from you and the public.”
Zina paced the room. “That bastard!” she snarled. “I need to go.”
“Wait, go?” Kerrigan asked, jumping up after her.
“There are things I need answers to.”
“But I thought you were training me.”
“This is as far as we go,” Zina said dismissively as she headed for the door. “If what you said is true, then I can’t help you any more than I have. You will need a spiritcaster trainer.”
“But your mom was the last spiritcaster in Alandria!”
“Then look beyond Alandria,” Zina said at the door.
Kerrigan balked. She’d never considered that as an option, but she didn’t even know how to find someone like that. She couldn’t exactly leave training. Zina had been her one hope to figure this out.
“Where are you going?”
“To get answers,” Zina said.
Zina bundled up their supplies and rushed out of the house. Kerrigan followed her in a huff. Vox appeared in the street, and they were airborne in an instant. Kerrigan would give anything to call Tieran right now and have him sweep her away from this moment. She was shaking from exhaustion. The vision had snapped it all out of her, and the last thing she wanted was to wander through the streets of Kinkadia at night alone.
A thought hit her as she huddled against the side of Black House. Zina had taught her that every person had their own signature and she could draw them into the spirit world. Dragons had dominion over the spiritual, which meant Tieran could be pulled in. Her idea bloomed bright, forming in her mind, giving her a way to fix what was broken.
Kerrigan was drained from the vision, but she had enough energy to drop back into the spirit plane one more time. She sat on the mossy ground with her back to Black House, closed her eyes, and pulled herself out. She had no idea of Tieran’s signature. But she knew Tieran now. She knew the heat of his breath on her neck. The sarcastic tone he used when she said basically anything to him. The relief in his body when she’d found him that day in the mountains. The smile he sometimes shot her when they succeeded in duping Alura. The feel of his warm body beneath hers as they soared around the arena. The gentle pressure of him speaking in her mind. Tieran belonged to her in a way that had nothing to do with the bond.
And so she reached out with her spirit magic for the essence of him. She had no idea where he was. Did the dragons stay in for the Night of the Dead? Or did they go out? She couldn’t remember.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she needed him. And there was no bond to connect with.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, reaching out for him in the spirit plane. It could have been hours or minutes, but time ran differently on the plane. Finally, she smelled baking cinnamon and hearth fire. The scent and warmth curled around her. Familiar. It knew her.
With just a brush, she eased against that signature and drew Tieran into the spiritual plane.
The dragon looked at her in astonishment. Kerrigan?
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Tieran, I need you.”
How have you accomplished this?
“Surprise. I have spirit magic.”
His golden eyes blinked at her slowly. And you were able to find me in the spirit plane?
“I was working with Zina tonight, and she mentioned that every person has their own signature. I thought about what I know of you and searched for that signature. I’m at Black House, and I don’t feel safe walking home. Can you get me?”
You know what this means, don’t you? He grinned devilishly.
She smiled at him in that liminal space, relief flickering between them. “We’re going to pass our bonding test tomorrow.”
31
The Celebration
Alura was baffled.
And it was glorious.
“You pass,” Alura said. She shook her head. The little metal beads she’d braided into her hair clacking against each other. “I don’t know what you did over the weekend, but you pass.”
Kerrigan grinned from ear to ear.
Alura had dropped Kerrigan off at a spot an hour outside of the city and said to call her dragon to her. She moved into the spirit plane and spent the next hour stretching herself to locate the smell of cinnamon and that feel of hearth fire. She told Tieran her location and he’d flown right to her. They’d beaten everyone’s time except Fordham. They might have done it, too, if she hadn’t still been learning how to find him on the spirit plane. This would work.
“Thank you, sir.”
Tieran bowed his head low. Mistress Alura.
“Go. Both of you. Kerrigan, the air lesson has been moved to the top northern aerie. Mistress Zahina left for urgent business, and you’ll be working with Master Carr instead.”
“Of course.”
Urgent business. Which basically meant she was missing and no one knew where she was. Kerrigan knew why, but she wasn’t about to reveal that information. She had no idea what had made Zina fly off into the distance and not look back. Her mother had been dead for a thousand years. How could she learn more about it now, except through Kerrigan’s visions?
Kerrigan left the arena and found Helly waiting for her on the sidelines. She applauded. “Well done.”
Kerrigan beamed. “Thanks. What are you doing out here?”
“I heard that you were having trouble, and I wanted to watch for myself instead of waiting for word.”
“Oh,” Kerrigan said faintly. “Well, I passed.”
“Good. I’m so proud of you.” Helly gestured for her to walk as they headed back up the hill toward the mountain. “I did want to ask you about Zina. I have reports that she left Kinkadia altogether. Weren’t you training with her last night?”
“Yes. I had a vision while we were together,” Kerrigan confessed.
“Really?” Helly asked. “I hadn’t told her that you had visions. Just spirit magic. It must have been a shock.”
“Yes. I, uh, saw her mother.”
Helly stopped, her eyes wide. “A vision of the past? Because Zina’s mother is long dead.”
“Yes, it was in the Great War when Zahina had just joined the Society. They argued, and then Mei left. It was the last time she saw her. She said, ‘That bastard,’ and then just left. Left me there.”
“Gods,” Helly whispered. “What a mess. Well, at least that explains why she vanished. Thank you for the insight. And if you have any more of these visions, let me know.”
Kerrigan nodded. She felt guilty that she hadn’t told Helly about the one about Mei putting up the wall. But her gut told her that she wasn’t ready to let anyone know that she might have the ability to take it down.
Kerrigan waved good-bye and then hurried to her afternoon lesson. Her friends actually cheered when she walked back into the room.
“You did it!” Audria cried, throwing her arms around Kerrigan.
“I did. We figured it out. I really must have been blocked.”
“I’m glad you passed,” Fordham said.
“Wouldn’t be the same without you,” Roake said with an eye roll.
She laughed and settled into her seat for history. While Movanna rattled on about the foundation of the Society, Kerrigan scribbled out a note to Fordham and dropped it onto his desk.
RFA event tonight, princeling. Join me?
He secretly glanced over at her and then opened the note. He scratched something out, scribbled a note, and then passed it back to her.
He’d scratched through princeling. She almost snorted.
Someone has to keep you in line.
She grinned down at the paper. Her toes curled as she imagined him keeping her in line. She was so relieved to not be kicked out of the program that she might even do something crazy and kiss Fordha
m Ollivier tonight. Might be stupid. Might be worth it. Only tonight would tell.
“Do I look ready for subterfuge?” Fordham asked when Kerrigan opened her bedroom door.
Her breath caught at the sight of him in all black silk. His black hair loose and tumbling into those ever-changing eyes. A half-smile on his sensuous mouth. His body so big and tall that he took up her entire doorway. He towered over her, and she loved it.
“You look ready for a ball,” she teased.
His smile dropped. “Our last one was quite eventful, wasn’t it?”
Despite sharing the library space frequently over the last months, they’d never brought up her betrothal to March again. She didn’t want it to be real. She hoped her father had figured out a way to break it. Because she had no intention of marrying that man even if he had changed into the upstanding gentleman that he appeared to be. The only gentleman she wanted was the sinister and domineering one in front of her.
“It was,” she said. “Let’s not repeat that night, okay?”
He nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Then let’s get going.”
She veered left instead of right, and he fell into step beside her.
“This feels like old times. Sneaking out of the mountain to get in trouble.”
“No trouble tonight,” she said with a wink. “Just trying to make people like me as important as people like you.”
“You already are.”
She hid her blush by ducking into the secret passage that led out of the mountain. Valia had shown it to her during the tournament. It was shocking that someone knew this mountain better than Kerrigan did.
They exited out of an old wooden door and slid it back into hiding before heading out onto the streets of Kinkadia. Fordham still had a bit of wonder to his expression when he gazed around the city. After having gone into the depths of the Dark Court, she understood his awe. He’d spent countless years trapped inside a mountain with hardly any space to wander. Just enough for a small village stuck in time and a war field soaked with blood. Nothing like the vibrant, industrious city that Kerrigan called home.
They headed to the Square, where the protest was to begin, and found Hadrian’s blue hair as a beacon near an erected stage. Already, hundreds of humans, half-Fae, and Fae congregated in front of it.
“Hey,” Kerrigan said, grabbing Hadrian’s arm to get his attention.
Kerrigan had her hood up, so he jolted when he found her standing there.
“Gods, Kerrigan, you scared me.”
“Sorry. You with Clover?”
His gaze swept to the stage. “She went around to speak with Thea. Can you believe the number of people here?”
“It’s much bigger than the last one,” she agreed.
Hadrian nodded at Fordham. Fordham nodded back. Boys.
“Are you going to speak?” Hadrian asked.
She shook her head. “I can’t be seen. I’m on thin ice as it is in the program.”
“But they need you.”
“Look at this place. The Square is full. They don’t need me.”
“If you say so.”
She’d done her part. She’d helped to energize the RFA when they were getting the protests off the ground. She didn’t need to be up there on that stage now. It was enough.
“How’s Darby’s Season? I haven’t heard from her much.”
“Good, I think,” Hadrian said. “She was in the east for the Venatrix Night of the Dead event. So, she’s been out of the city all week.” He shrugged. “It was a whole thing that Lady Sonali insisted on.”
“Is she… courting someone?”
“Not that I know of. Not yet. Lots of interested parties,” he grumbled. “Not that Darby seems excited about any of them.”
“Yeah. How could she be?”
“Why is she putting up with this?” Fordham asked. “Forgive me, I don’t understand this courting ritual.”
“She feels obligated,” Hadrian said. “As a lady of the Bryonican court, it’s part of her duty. She loves the parties and dancing.”
“She wants to do it,” Kerrigan said. “Even if we all think it’s ridiculous, we will respect her wishes until she says otherwise.”
Fordham made a noncommittal noise.
That was about what Kerrigan thought of it too. But Darby had made herself clear. So, that was what they’d do.
Clover appeared then, and they all dropped the topic immediately. No reason to bring it up with Clover around. She’d been depressed enough.
“Oh, Kerrigan, you’re here!” Clover grinned widely. “I’m so excited. Look at the crowd!”
“It’s amazing,” Kerrigan said. “I can’t believe there are so many people.”
“All thanks to you!”
Kerrigan laughed. “No way. This is the movement. I was just a small part of it.”
“Give yourself some credit,” Hadrian said with a smile.
“Surprised you brought him along,” Clover said. She glanced at Fordham. “Prince.”
“Clove.”
“Fordham is here to support us.”
Clover shrugged. “I’m into it, but a lot of other people will be hesitant.”
“I am not a representative of my people,” Fordham said formally.
“Yeah, I know you’re into my girl,” Clover said with a mischievous grin. Kerrigan smacked her arm. “Anyway, Thea was wondering if you’d speak.”
Kerrigan frowned. “I can’t.”
“I told her as much but thought I’d ask. Will you come back and say hi at least?”
“Can Fordham come too?”
Clover worried at her lip. “Someone is going to be upset with me, but why not?”
Hadrian waved them off, promising to stay there until they returned. Then, the three of them ducked behind the stage. Thea stood proud and tall with the rest of the leaders of RFA behind her. Her bald head was on display today. No hat or headscarf in sight. She looked ready to take on the world.
Her eyes lit with excitement and then flitted behind Kerrigan and found Fordham. They rounded wide, like it was the last person she’d expected to see.
“Thea,” Kerrigan said brightly, “I’d like to introduce you to Prince Fordham Ollivier.”
“It’s a pleasure, ma’am,” Fordham said, bowing low for her.
Thea’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. A prince of a Fae kingdom known for detesting humans and half-Fae was bowing to a half-Fae woman. It was a sight to behold.
“Well, I can’t say I’m not surprised to see you here.”
“Fordham asked to join us,” Kerrigan said.
“I can speak for myself,” he said, holding his hand out to stall Kerrigan. “My people are known for their prejudice. I can say that I was one of those people, but I have come to find out how wrong I was. I would like to apologize for my previous actions and do what I can to help.”
Thea’s smile warmed, the longer he spoke. “Well, we can always use an extra set of hands.”
“I suppose we’re just letting anyone in now,” Dozan said, striding out of the fog of people to square off with Fordham.
Fordham immediately went on high alert. She could practically breathe in the scent of his magic, and she wasn’t even in the spirit plane. He just radiated that same threatening energy. Dozan brought it out in him. Dozan brought it out in everyone.
“It appears so,” Fordham said coolly.
Thea laughed. “I see you’ve already met Mr. Rook.”
“We’re acquainted.”
The hatred was mutual. No matter that they’d had to work together during the tournament to save her life, it didn’t change how they felt about each other.
“Let’s not do this today,” Kerrigan said.
“This isn’t exactly the place for Fae nobility,” Dozan said.
“I’m Fae nobility,” Kerrigan snapped. “As you continually remind me.”
“It’s different.”
“It is,” Fordham agreed. “I was raised to it, and she m
anaged to escape the worst of it. She’s much better than I’ll ever be.”
Dozan blinked slowly, as if almost in surprise. “You’re not wrong.”
“Oh, look, you can get along,” Clover quipped. “Now, can we get this thing started?”
“You’re sure that you won’t speak?” Thea asked Kerrigan.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to risk it.”
Thea sighed and nodded. “All right. I’ll get up there. Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need it,” Clover told her.
Thea strode onto the stage, calling for silence from the ever-growing crowd. Kerrigan stood between Fordham and Dozan, her skin prickling as they both weighed on her in that moment. The boy she’d always wanted but given up and the boy she never should have wanted, who had given her up. Too complicated to be this close to them.
And Dozan, as always, pushed his luck. He drew even closer, ignoring the glare from Fordham. His lips nearly pressed to her ear. “Any luck inside the mountain finding the killer?”
She gulped as his breath tingled down her neck. She shook her head. “Suspects in the Society are being followed, but I don’t know who they are.”
“What if I said I did?” His hand trailed down her arm, and she stiffened. “What would you give me for that information?”
“Dozan, stop it,” she growled.
He laughed, and Fordham’s hand shot out, grasping Dozan’s arm at the wrist. “The lady said stop.”
Dozan looked ready to throw a punch. That wouldn’t end well.
She pulled them apart. “Both of you stop.” Kerrigan faced Dozan. “Who is being followed?”
“As far as I can tell, only one Society member is any longer.”
She waited, crossing her arms over her chest. “Tell me.”
“You’re no fun,” he teased.
“Dozan,” she snapped.
“The only person still being followed in relation to the murder is Lorian Van Horn.”
32
The Suspect
“Lorian? A Red Mask?” she whispered.
