by Jessica Gunn
Of course, we could be in an entirely other galaxy and that was the band I was seeing. A valid argument to be sure.
But I somehow just… knew. The way I knew with Zezza that we were bonded for life. The way I knew that no matter how much I wanted to run from my new reality, I was the Warden of the Storm. Whatever that might translate to in Eli’s prophecy he seemed to love so much, I was in it for the long haul.
For once, it wasn’t out of some need to be a part of something. To feel connected.
I was connected and there was nothing at all I could do to sever that connection.
Shortly after cleaning up from dinner, I fell into bed. Zezza slept on her perch in the living room.
I dreamed of the poker game on an endless loop. Sometimes Kristian killed me on the spot, draining my blood dry. Other times he continued to look at me with complete recognition and anger and guilt all at once, like he had earlier in the waking world. Then other times still, Keir either won Zezza’s egg or commanded me to follow him back into the fae weave with the power of knowing my full name.
I dreamed I was back home inside the Varrone household, eating dinner around a table filled with food and decorated for Thanksgiving. I didn’t want to be there and kept looking at my phone every few minutes. Rachel, my older sister, watched disapprovingly as Mom and Dad gave their normal speeches about gratefulness and how lucky we were.
We were lucky. Our family was still whole after the world had been turned upside down by the meteor strike. Yes, I’d let Maddie down. And yes, my parents were still pissed at me about that. But every time Maddie looked my way and smiled, telling me about the new play she was in, all of that went away.
I knew I’d messed up that night. But I’d done everything within my power to get to her. To find her. To bring her home safe.
And I had.
But my parents had never forgiven me for leaving her alone in the first place.
“I got into Harvard,” Rachel exclaimed out of nowhere. “I start next fall. Then on to grad school to finish up and begin work.”
My father grinned, pride lighting up his face. “See! This is what hard work will give you.”
“Extravagant student debt?” I couldn’t help but say.
My mother leveled me with a look. “Vera.”
“What? I’m happy for her.” Really, I was. But I didn’t see the need for all this schooling when my parents had already groomed her to take over the family business one day. She had all the experience she needed for the job and then some.
Maddie and I, we wouldn’t have that same advantage in the workplace. Even if we wanted to work for Varrone-Donovan Financial.
“Thank you, Vera,” Rachel said, her tone cold. She hadn’t spoken more than a few words to me since the night of the meteor strike. “How about you? Any news on your end?”
“I… got an A on my portfolio.” I smiled. I’d worked hard on that, putting in more hours of work than I had on any other project in my life. I’d traveled all over the city looking for the perfect locations and subjects to photograph. After months of doing so, my portfolio was finally complete.
Rachel nodded slowly. “And do you have plans to submit it anywhere?”
“Not yet.” I hadn’t gotten there. I had dreams of college, sure, but I hadn’t yet decided if my art was for me or for everyone.
“Well,” my father said, “at least with that out of the way, you can focus on your schoolwork.”
“Richard,” my mother warned.
Maddie leaned closer to me. “I can’t wait to see your photographs.”
I smiled until my father sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Vera should be focusing on schoolwork, not the arts.”
“It’s what I want to do,” I said. “I don’t want to be involved with the family’s company. I’ve told you that a hundred times.”
He reached into his pocket and produced a small spherical object. Light from the chandelier overhead glinted off the smooth stone casing. A weave stone. “It appears you’re already involved.”
My brows furrowed. Outside the dream, I knew it was a weave stone. But this hadn’t happened in reality. My parents likely had no idea I’d taken their weave stone until Treya had told them about the game. “I don’t understand.”
My father leaned over the table, holding out the weave stone to me. Suddenly, it was only he and I at the table. Maddie and Rachel, even our mother, were missing.
“You stole this,” he said.
“I-I…” I had to wake up. This wasn’t real. This hadn’t happened.
“Why?” he continued.
I shook my head. “I had to get out of Boston. Away from you and this city.”
“And the supernaturals.”
A bead of sweat dripped down the side of my face. Guilt swept through me, as though I’d been caught red-handed in the midst of committing a high crime. “Yes.”
“You doom us all.” My father lifted up his hand and stood before slamming down the weave stone on the dining room table. It shattered against the oak wood and into a hundred pieces and piles of dust.
The shock of it and the sound of the shattering stone startled me out of the dream. I bolted upright, both hands over my heart to hold it inside my chest while it pounded like a drum. Sweat caked my brow and the back of my neck.
“It’s not real.” I kept repeating it to myself.
My parents didn’t know. At least, they hadn’t known everything prior to me joining that game of poker.
A new question surfaced from the depths of the dream, though. One I hadn’t considered prior to this.
Where had my parents—simple, magicless humans—gotten a weave stone only supernaturals could power?
I lay there for at least an hour, unable to fall back asleep. I wasn’t sure what time it was. Being in a different weave meant my phone was relatively useless and there weren’t clocks in the bedroom. Zezza slept soundly nearby and I didn’t want to wake her.
I turned on my phone and let out a frustrated sigh seeing that it was almost dead. Back home in Boston, it was only two in the morning. When we’d arrived at the Lair, it had been morning here, which was the same as Boston. Maybe time wasn’t that different.
If so, this had been the longest night.
My thoughts raced. I couldn’t stop thinking about home and everything that had happened both yesterday and since the meteor strike in general. It felt like my life had irrevocably changed twice, both times outside my control.
Another hour rolled by, or so I guessed. My arms and legs felt restless. I climbed out of bed and stretched a little. Zezza’s little head perked up immediately.
“Everything’s fine, Zezza. Go back to sleep.”
She stood up from the end of the bed and stretched her wings wide. She peered up at me curiously.
I sat back down on the bed. She wandered over and laid her head on my knee. “You can go back to sleep, you know.” I chuckled. “I’m more than capable of sitting quietly by myself while you do. I can’t stay asleep.”
Zezza made a noise deep in her throat and then sent me an image of that cavern opening again.
My brow furrowed. “Are you still curious about that?”
The image appeared again.
I looked down at her. “Do you… want to go check it out?”
Eli had made it clear that he didn’t know what was inside. Or at least, he had made it obvious I wasn’t supposed to go there.
I’d never been good at following the rules. Besides, I couldn’t sleep and what else was I supposed to do? I may get lost on the way, but maybe Zezza’s memory was better than mine.
Zezza lifted her head.
I’d take that as a yes.
I dressed in a simple tunic and a pair of pants and then we left the comfort of the cabin behind us. The jungle’s night air was much cooler than it had been during the day, leaving a chill in the air that reminded me almost of home, where the autumn air had begun turning cold.
Zezza flew beside me,
keeping an eye out. Which was good because I trusted her predator’s instincts more than mine. If anyone was following us or any trouble was up ahead, she’d sense it first.
I led us down the jungle path toward the main, wooden pathway without encountering anyone. Huh. Was Eli staying nearby or back at the palace?
Either way, I hurried on, trying to follow as best I could the path up toward the volcano. Luckily, a giant volcano in the middle of the island was a decent marker. In the images Zezza had sent me, the cavern had been off one of the paths up the volcano. As I found the base of it, I noticed at least three that started from down here.
I looked to Zezza. “Any ideas which path to take?”
Two went up the left side and one on the right. I did not want to take the path that led to the palace. It was likely to be filled with guards and, with my luck, Elena, who’d question instantly why I was out here alone at night.
This was not a good idea. But lying there in my bed back at the cabin, staring at the ceiling while my mind raced, wasn’t, either. That was how my thoughts spiraled, and the disconnection restarted.
I couldn’t afford episodes like that anymore. Not while in a new weave with a hatchling dragon to take care of.
Besides, I’d sort of made a living out of taking risks like this by working for Lunar Royale for years. Also, my curiosity was getting the better of me. If Eli didn’t know what was in here, it was possible he wasn’t supposed to know. Why hide something from the royal family right beneath their palace?
Zezza made a soft noise and began flying toward the left, then up the right side of a fork a few yards later. I followed behind her, now letting her take the lead. As we rounded one side of the volcano, the path began to climb up the side, becoming so steep in parts as we rounded that I started to lose my breath. Once we were around the backside of the volcano, the moon was blocked and the nighttime darkness swept in. Zezza didn’t appear to have any trouble seeing, though, so I continued following her.
Sometime later, after so much uphill hiking that my calves began aching, the path evened out. The rockface here jutted out at weird intervals, creating lean-tos that protected one from the wind. It was inside one of these that Zezza disappeared.
“Zezza?” I started feeling around in the dark, my fingertips brushing the rough stone. “Zezza, where did you go?”
A small trilling led me close, but in the dark, it was hard to make out where the lean-tos started and ended. Then, in the darkness, mini arcs of lightning rippled over a form, illuminating Zezza’s hovering body.
Oh, thank god.
I squeezed between the jutting portions of the rockface and slipped into the open cavern from Zezza’s images. There, on the opposite side, was the door Zezza had shown me. It was hard to see. The only light in here was coming from Zezza’s lightning. From what I could see, the door appeared to be ten feet tall and just as wide, made from wood and secured with metal hinges and beams across the face of it. Almost like this door had been built to keep something in, rather than the royal family out.
My eyes narrowed as I approached the door, my hands outstretched. A low hum thrummed in the air on the edges of warm energy that curled around me. I swallowed hard and touched my fingertips to the door.
And gasped.
The second my fingers brushed the door, my heartbeat thundered in my ears.
Wait. No.
The heartbeat wasn’t mine. I was feeling the heartbeat through the stone door.
I startled and backpedaled. Something was living back there. Something the royal family didn’t know about?
I found that hard to believe. Especially since it appeared that no one else lived on or in the volcano. Supposedly.
I wanted to run down and find Eli, to ask him what the truth was. But now I wasn’t even sure I was supposed to ever know this door existed. And I knew I wasn’t supposed to be up here, much less unescorted.
Zezza nudged my shoulder. I shook my head. “We should go back.”
“You should go home.”
“Gods!” I shouted and jumped, my hands up. For what reason, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t fight, not really. And my magic seemed to come and go by its own will.
Zezza growled, low and continuous.
A figure appeared out of the darkness, through the entryway to this cavern space. They were cloaked in black robes with a hood that further obscured their face.
“Go home,” they said. “It is not safe for you here.”
“Who are you?” I asked. Their genderless voice wasn’t familiar, so it likely wasn’t Elena. And the black robes didn’t exactly give off a guard vibe.
The figure stepped closer. Their footsteps were light and soundless. “You are not what they think you are, what you pretend to be.”
“What does that mean?” The Warden title was new, sure, and yes, maybe I had some doubts. But there seemed to be no doubt at all from everyone else about what and who I was.
Finally, the figure came to a stop. “Your heritage, how you were made… It is hidden for a reason, because they would not trust you if they knew.”
“They don’t really trust me anyway, so…” Flippant. Being sarcastic was the only way out of this, I was sure of it. I shouldn’t have ever left the cabin. “Come on, Zezza. We’re going. Let us pass.”
They didn’t move. “You have dark elf magic in your blood.”
I was about to walk past them anyway, but I froze, my eyebrows furrowing. “Excuse me?” Elves were rare and had been unseen for many, many years. But dark elves?
“They formed the taboo magic, which led to you,” the figure said, “and you are powerful beyond words because of it. Elven law protects you now, but it will not always. Pick your allies carefully, Vera. It may mean the difference between war and peace.”
“I’m not that important,” I spat. “No one is.”
I wanted out. Now. This sounded too much like Eli’s fate talk for me, and I didn’t know who this person was. Or if they’d snitch me out to Elena or the guards for wandering on my own. I didn’t even want to know how they knew my name. Maybe word really had gotten around about my arrival on the island.
I stepped closer, aiming to pass the figure without issue. “I’m leaving now. Do not follow me.” I tried to keep my voice even and stern. If I was to be powerful and respected, then let me be. Let it be enough to get back and cower in the cabin.
To my surprise, the cloaked figure stepped aside. They were roughly the same height as me, but being closer didn’t make seeing who it was any easier. Darkness and shadow masked their identity, and their tone hid their voice.
“Go careful, Warden,” they said as I passed.
“Will do.”
With Zezza at my side, I ducked out of the cavern space and then sprinted down the volcano as quickly and carefully as I could. Soon we were back at the cabin. I wiped sweat from my brow and locked the door behind me.
We never should have gone there.
Instead of racing thoughts about the past twenty-four hours, now all I could think about was what the figure had said.
Dark elves. Their magic.
Me.
Something told me I’d gotten in way over my head and now, there was no going back.
Chapter 16
It was a long night. In some respects, I woke more exhausted than when I had gone to sleep. The pitter-patter of four tiny dragon feet scampered down the hall. I climbed out of the bed and peeked my head out of the door. Zezza had a piece of fresh meat in her mouth and was prancing about like she was the coolest thing in the world. I supposed mythology had gotten that part right. Dragons were prideful, arrogant creatures.
“Zezza!” I hissed. “Where did you get that from?”
She turned to me and froze where she stood, guilty as charged.
“Hmm?”
Without breaking eye contact, she flipped the meat up in the air, fired a short burst of lightning at it to cook it, and swallowed it whole. Then she flashed me a grin.
“Zezz
a…” I scrubbed my face with my palm. One couldn’t exactly dragon-proof a house. And here, on the Lair, I was pretty sure it’d be illegal. But when a baby dragon could get into the meat fridge on her own, what was I supposed to do? “How did you get into the—”
A form walked by the hallway, clad in the same scale and leather armor as yesterday. Eli.
He wore a slightly sheepish expression. “Good morning, Vera. Sorry about barging in like this. She looked so desperate in the window. I realize now she was playing me…” He looked to Zezza, who couldn’t look more guilty-innocent if she tried.
My face flushed with warmth. What the hell was I thinking? That Zezza had somehow developed thumbs and had gotten into the fridge on her own? Please, Vera. Start thinking clearly.
Which was decidedly impossible with Eli’s muscled arms bare, the rest of his hulking form standing in my cabin first thing in the morning before I had more than shorts and a tank top on.
Then dread settled in. Oh no. Had he found out about my unescorted exploration of the volcano path last night? Is that why he was here so early?
“Vera?” Eli asked after I had been silent for a bit too long. “I hope it’s all right. Along with protecting you, the knights here are all tasked with care of the dragons on the island. Those that need it, anyway.”
I waved my hand as if clearing the words from the air would end this conversation. “It’s okay. Next time, please knock loudly and make sure I’m awake first. And you.” I turned toward Zezza. “Wake me up next time so I can make sure you don’t get into something that might kill you.”
Zezza just stared at me. Toddler to teenager in twelve hours, huh? She’d certainly gone from newborn to toddler in personality in half that time. At least she didn’t appear to be physically bigger yet.
“She’s okay,” Eli said. “Dragons are much smarter than you’d believe.”