by Ella M. Lee
“No.”
“Did you see who did?”
“No.”
“You were the one who found the body?”
“Yes.”
“Are you withholding any information that you believe could help identify her killer?”
“Other than the fact that it seems a lot like it was Xiao? No.”
When he was done, Edmond nodded to him, and they moved on to the Water pinnacle members.
I looked down the row at those of us who’d already been cleared. Stephan stood at the end. He’d been questioned first and immediately set aside. He raised a brow at me and tilted his head toward the entryway. A second later, he slipped out of line.
I glanced at Nicolas. He was focused on Arturo, questioning him with the same easy proficiency he’d used on everyone else. I frowned. I shouldn’t follow Stephan. I shouldn’t. But this might be my last time to speak with him ever, and so far… well, he’d been perfectly polite to me.
Okay, maybe not perfectly polite. But he hadn’t tried to grab me or hurt me. Nicolas would never talk to him, and neither would Ryan. I was the only chance at building a bridge.
If you build a bridge, Nicolas will burn it down as fast as he can.
But with Juniper dead, Nicolas’s budding alliance with Smoke was gone.
Stephan had things I wanted, things Lightning needed, and I didn’t think I could go back home without at least exploring all my options.
I backed up, stepping out of line. Ryan tilted his head at me, but I smiled, waving him off. His eyes followed me, but I walked quickly. Hopefully he would think I was using the bathroom.
When I rounded the corner into the entryway, I found Stephan waiting for me out of sight. He beckoned me down the hall, sweeping in front of me.
“Shouldn’t you be grieving?” I asked, following Stephan into the empty library. He turned and shut the double doors behind us.
“Why?” he asked, taking a seat on the couch. “I had no personal love for Juniper.”
“What was that little emotional display earlier, then?”
“It was precisely that, a display.” One of his brows rose, indicating that he thought perhaps I was an idiot.
“Your reaction outside didn’t seem fake,” I said, recalling the way he’d attacked Nicolas in what looked like a rage.
“My reaction outside needed to elicit a certain response from Nicolas.” He shrugged. “I got what I wanted.”
“You are a psychopath,” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “But I’m a psychopath who can help you bring Daniel back. That is what you’re doing, right? I thought you might want me to clarify.” He unleashed one of his smiles. “What do you care about the rest?”
“You murder people. You torture them,” I said. “You did that to Nicolas.”
“Nicolas has a different understanding of what happened than I do,” Stephan said.
I laughed dryly. “Oh, yes, tell me all about how you know best, or you were doing it for his own good, or whatever bullshit you believe in order to fall asleep each night. You hurt him. If you expect any of us to get over that, think again.”
Stephan smiled viciously. “You think you know him, but he shares half of my genes.”
“Thank god it’s only half,” I said.
“Shockingly, I don’t care what you think of me,” Stephan said. He spread his hands. “Do you want my help or not?”
Moment of truth. My heart pounded so hard that my vision blurred and my head ached. This was our best shot at helping Daniel. Nicolas wasn’t a god, and our clan was small. We didn’t have the resources to handle this. Stephan was offering me a massive amount of Smoke research that was pertinent to my issue.
“We need to put a binder in place,” I said, lowering myself tentatively into the seat across from him.
“Of course,” he said, but his tone was mocking.
“And I have conditions,” I added.
He tilted his head at me, leaning forward. “After I’ve so graciously indicated none myself?”
“You don’t get indefinite access to me,” I went on. “I’ll come to your lab for a month. You can study my Lightning magic. You won’t hurt me. You won’t kill me. You won’t even touch me. You’re entitled to magical research only. You’ll treat me like a guest. I’ll be free to go afterwards.”
He laughed slightly. “As if I want to keep you around for… what? Your beauty? Your brains?”
I ignored the slight. “And this is contingent on your own research being helpful to me. The agreement is void if I can’t use it to get Daniel back.”
Stephan’s eyes glinted. “Would I behave differently without these requirements, do you think?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “But I’m not taking any chances.” I hesitated. “I also want you to open Smoke’s research up to us. You’re getting what you want. We’re not being uncooperative anymore.”
He tilted his head, considering. “You drive a hard bargain, but you are also very worth it.”
My throat dried out, making my next words difficult. “Does that mean you accept?”
“Yes,” he said. “In return, I will give you this.” He reached into his pocket and took out a thumb drive. “It is all of my research on binding and unbinding magic and life. Nicolas’s research is there, too. It also includes supplemental material. It is everything you need to free your friend. It is not to be made generally public. It is only for you and your clan. And I’ll expect prompt fulfillment of your end of the bargain when you succeed.”
“Sure,” I said.
But I already had a plan forming in my mind for getting out of my end of the deal, and Stephan eyed me as though he knew, as though I were somehow the untrustworthy one here. He got up and went to the bookshelf by the door. On it rested the ink needed to enact the binder.
When he returned to the couch, he set the ink and brush on the table between us. “Ladies first.”
We’d all been taught the binder method at the beginning of the conclave. I followed the steps exactly, dipping the brush carefully in the bottle of spelled ink. I drew a swift curve vertically toward the outside of my right wrist, following the vein that showed greenish through my skin. I repeated the words and conditions I’d said above—that I would give myself over to Stephan for research for a month if his information helped me retrieve Daniel. That was a key part—I refused to be bound by this agreement if his research couldn’t help us. I wasn’t giving myself up for nothing.
When Stephan nodded at me and made a curt sweeping motion with his hands, I painted over the line again. I winced as the ink burned, sinking into my skin, anchoring there like the promise was literally pinned to me.
I studied the black line.
No turning back now.
I was going to burn in hell for making a deal with this particular devil, and I would likely have to do it without Nicolas.
I watched with bated breath as Stephan made the same binder on his own skin, promising that the research he was giving me was helpful, complete, and accurate. Promising to share Smoke’s data with our clan.
Our gazes met, and he studied me for a long time. He didn’t need to speak. I could already sense the words lingering on the tip of his tongue by the slight gleam of triumph in his eyes: Nicolas will hate you.
This was what Stephan did—he upset Nicolas’s life, for God knew what reasons. And now he’d gotten the chance to do it again.
But I was getting Daniel.
In a way, I was doing this for Nicolas. For all of us. I wasn’t the only person who missed Daniel, and it wasn’t as though Lightning couldn’t use his presence right about now.
I’d changed the odds for us. We could have our sanctum whole and complete without instabilities, and we could do it right.
I hoped, anyhow.
Stephan slid the thumb drive across the table. I waited until he withdrew his hand to reach for it, slipping it into my sweater pocket.
“Good luck, Fiona,” Stephan said, but it d
idn’t sound at all like encouragement.
It sounded like the gloating of a man who had gotten everything he wanted, and I couldn’t help wondering if this whole conclave had gone exactly to his arrangement.
Chapter 19
When I returned to the formal dining room, Nicolas was seated at the table across from Gemma. He dipped the brush in his hands into spelled ink, enacting our clan’s binders with Sky, the ones that enforced our sanctions.
He already had two marks on his wrist from his agreements with Wild and Wind. Now he was going to be adding three more for his agreements with Sky.
I stepped back into the line of observers, tucking my hands behind my back, clearing my thoughts of my own decisions and focusing instead on all the work we had to do when we got home. Stephan had followed me out of the library, and I could feel his presence behind me as he walked down to the end of the line.
Nicolas looked over at us, his brows furrowing briefly, his eyes darting between me and Stephan.
Later, I thought.
The sealing of the binders only took another minute. Once Nicolas and Gemma were done, they stood and shook hands across the table.
Gemma turned to the rest of us. “I’m sorry to be concluding this conclave on such a solemn note, but I appreciate everyone’s attendance and continued adherence to decorum. Sky is, of course, available to our friends in Smoke”—she nodded at Stephan—“for any of your needs.”
“The same for Water,” Claudius offered, giving Stephan a similar nod of encouragement.
“Shall we offer a moment of silence for Juniper?” Edmond said, the words soft, almost a plea.
All eyes turned to Stephan, who stiffened. We waited as his magic bristled and then calmed. “Yes, I think we should. Thank you.”
The remaining sixteen of us created a loose circle around Juniper’s body. As one, we bowed our heads and clasped our hands. Nothing in the room, not even the air or the curtains or everyone’s powerful magic, ruffled or moved.
After maybe thirty seconds, Nicolas stepped forward. With an elegant twist of his hand above Juniper’s chest, graceful sparks of purple, black, and white rained over her, settling on her gently.
One by one, a pinnacle member from each clan stepped forward and offered the same gesture, and soon her body was covered in sparkling, colorful magic.
Like gems fit for a queen.
None of us looked away as the magic faded slowly into nothing.
Finally, Gemma nodded. “There isn’t a single person here who isn’t sorry for Smoke’s loss. We can only take solace in the fact that our conclave welcomed new life in its own way.” She gestured to me, Nicolas, and Ryan. “Even in the wake of this tragedy, we wish the very best of luck to our new colleagues in Lightning. Sky looks forward to speaking with you soon.”
Translation: We look forward to enforcing our sanctions soon.
Nicolas nodded stiffly. “Thank you.” He faced the assembled pinnacle members. “Thank you all for allowing us to familiarize you with our clan. We look forward to what the future brings.”
Nicolas stepped around the table to join me and Ryan. With that, everyone in the room immediately shifted, launching into parting chatter. Stephan approached us.
“You owe me some samples before you leave,” he said to Nicolas, as though he weren’t standing in a room with his co-pinnacle member dead.
“Shall we get this over with?” Nicolas said, heading into the formal dining room. Ryan and I waited in the doorway while Stephan got his medical bag and took blood, skin, hair, and magic from Nicolas.
After he was finished, the two men sized one another up with hard expressions. Finally, Stephan held out his hand. Nicolas took it gingerly, shaking briefly and letting go as quickly as he could.
“If you find Xiao,” Stephan said in a deadly hiss, “kill her for me.”
Nicolas’s expression didn’t change, but I imagined he was already planning to track Xiao down—for Juniper, not for Stephan. And with Mark at his disposal, he’d likely succeed.
Nicolas stepped back without saying a word, and Stephan moved past him a moment later, barely sparing me a glance and ignoring Ryan completely.
Gemma went immediately to Stephan, her expression serious and sincere. The two had a quiet conversation that was overshadowed by Ivan’s booming voice as he said goodbye to Kostas and Yuki. As everyone shook hands and hugged and made promises, I began to relax.
We’d done it. We’d gotten through it.
I barely paid attention to my own goodbyes. Kostas kissed my cheek, and Andrea combed her beak through my hair for a brief moment. Yuki smiled at me. Gemma offered me her hand. Claudius hugged me. Polite words left my mouth, but my eyes lingered on Stephan, who was as stiff as Nicolas, moving around in what seemed like a daze, his gaze far away.
I fingered the thumb drive in my pocket and hoped I would manage to never see him again, but I didn’t think my life would work out that simply.
Nicolas’s eyes went to me, assessing.
“Is it time to go home?” I asked, hoping to distract him.
He gestured upstairs vaguely. “As soon as we pack. Keisha is on standby.”
Ryan offered me his arm, and I smiled. He always knew exactly what I needed. Some support from a friend was very welcome right now.
When we got upstairs, Ryan retreated to his room, and Nicolas and I flew through the process of packing. I tossed dirty clothes into my luggage while Nicolas cleared our stuff out of the bathroom.
“What did Stephan want?” he asked. “Why were you with him during the binding?”
“What does Stephan ever want?” I said. “To make deals and fuck around with people’s lives.”
Nicolas paused what he was doing, studying me. “He offered you a deal?”
“Yes,” I said. My heart jumped into my throat, and my cheeks heated as Nicolas’s harsh gaze pulled me apart.
“You rejected him.” It wasn’t a question. It was something more like a command, not that Nicolas could do anything about my actions now. He took a startled step toward me when I didn’t speak. “Fiona. You. Rejected. Him.”
I took a step back, frightened by his venomous tone.
“He had data and research that we need,” I said, not sure how I managed to unstick the words from my throat.
Nicolas lunged forward, grabbing my hands. The loose sleeves of my sweater fell back, and he inspected my wrists. When he found the binding mark, his incredulous gaze lifted to mine. “You didn’t.”
I looked away.
Nicolas shook my hands roughly. “What did you promise him?” When I didn’t answer, he squeezed my hands harder, and I looked back at him. “Tell me.”
“Fiona? Nico?” Ryan’s voice drifted through the door. “Keisha is ready. Five minutes.”
Nicolas swallowed, shaking his head in annoyance. “Go down without us. We’ll be there shortly.” His eyes were still on mine, and I had no idea how he kept his voice so even. When it was clear that Ryan had moved away from the door, Nicolas grated out, “Well?”
“You’re hurting me,” I said. Nicolas loosened his grip, but his expression didn’t change. “I told him I’d go to his lab for testing—”
“Fiona!” Nicolas’s horrified tone made me lose the rest of the sentence. He let go of my hands as though burned, tossing them away. The raw fear in his gaze speared me.
I was shocked to find that he was shaking.
“You’re scaring me,” I whispered, pulling my sweater sleeves back down over my wrists and twisting my hands in front of me.
“You are scaring me,” he spat. “Finish your goddamn explanation.”
“I put safeguards in place,” I said desperately. “He can’t torture me. He can’t kill me. He can’t keep me there forever. He can only study my magic. And… and… now he has to give us access to Smoke’s research. He can’t consider us uncooperative. We’ve come out of this ahead.”
“Stephan is excellent at lying,” Nicolas said, his voice still hard. “
He’ll find a way around the binder. You can’t possibly understand what you’ve done!”
“I thought of that, too,” I said. “I have a plan for getting around the binder, too.”
I took a step forward, but Nicolas backed out of my reach.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But you have to trust me. We need what he knows. We’ll be fine.”
“We won’t,” he insisted, his wide eyes lit with fear and pain.
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
“Fuck your apologies,” he said, stalking away. “I didn’t think you could ever be so reckless and irresponsible, but here we are. I told you to stay away from him. I asked you for one thing.”
“You aren’t the only one who can make hard decisions for the clan!” I said, exasperated.
Nicolas turned back to me, and this time, it was betrayal that flooded his expression. “Of course you’re free to make your own decisions, but how could you do this to me?”
Nausea washed over me at his soft, pained words. “I didn’t think—”
“You didn’t think about me,” he said, nodding almost absently, and the last shreds of affectionate light behind his eyes died.
My chest heaved. “I was thinking of Daniel,” I whispered, the words shaking.
“Excellent,” he said bitterly.
“I love y—”
“Do you?” His sharp disappointment sent a shock of pain through me.
“This is temporary,” I whispered. “We’ll get Daniel back… and our sanctum will calm down… and we’ll solve my little binding problem… and then everything will be good.”
Nicolas didn’t speak, studying me instead with something that looked like disgust—eyes blazing, brows drawn, lips slightly parted. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it.
Finally, he said in a choked tone, “You don’t understand. I’m not sure you could understand.”
I reached out to him again, catching his wrists. “Explain it to me. We can talk about this.”
But he tore roughly from my grasp, picked up his suitcase, and left the room. A moment later, the door to the suite opened and then banged shut.
I stared at the bedroom doorway for a full minute, unable to move. You knew he’d hate you for it.