by Sadie Moss
Fenris led the way onto the old factory floor. The abandoned machines and conveyor belts glinted in the shafts of light that cut through high, boarded-up windows. Against one wall, a metal staircase led up to an enclosed area on the second floor that had been the foreman’s office.
The walls had once been floor-to-ceiling glass, though all but one panel was broken now. Sheets had been tacked over the other panels last time I was here, but they were down now, leaving the space more open and bright. I wondered if the new leader still called it the “war room” like Christine had.
Several people sat at the large table inside the open room. They all looked up as the metal staircase clanged under our footsteps, and I could guess immediately which one was Noble. I also began to understand how so much had changed in the short time since Christine had abducted me.
The group stood as we entered, and most of the men and women excused themselves, stepping past us on their way out. Only three remained. The man in the middle was about my height, with dark skin and close-cropped hair. He was wiry but well built, and I had no doubt that every one of his lean muscles served a purpose. His high cheekbones and pointed chin contrasted with his broad nose, and his dark eyes gleamed with intelligence.
But more noticeable than any of that was the energy that radiated from him. He was Blighted, so it wasn’t magical power; it was just… him. This was not the kind of man who took things slow or did things by halves. This was a man who built a legend out of a scrappy ex-mercenary in less than two weeks.
The other two Resistance members, a man and woman, stepped back silently as Noble came around the table toward us. Every movement he made seemed spring-loaded.
“You must be The Crow.” He smiled at me.
“Yeah, that’s what they tell me,” I shot back sardonically as he shook my hand.
“Lana, this is Noble Richmond,” Jae said. “He’s been with the Resistance for years and has stepped in to fill the gap left by Christine’s… absence.”
The name made me pause, and I scrunched up my brow, pulling an old line of text from the recesses of my mind. “‘But, tell me, where is princely Richmond now?’”
Noble cocked his head. “Excuse me?”
Akio chuckled behind me. “Shakespeare. Richard III. Nice pull, kitten.”
I blushed, feeling a bit like a pretentious ass. If Akio was complimenting me, that probably meant I was being one.
“He’s a character from Richard III,” I explained to Noble. “Called Richmond. Your name made me think of him.”
“Oh yeah?” The wiry man considered that for a moment, still gripping my hand tightly. “What does he do?”
A smile flitted across my face. “Well, he wins in the end.”
Noble’s answering grin was fierce. “Then I’ll take it.”
Chapter 9
I plucked my hand out of Noble’s grasp, not quite ready to be so chummy with him yet.
“So painting me on the sides of buildings—is that part of your strategy for winning then?” I asked pointedly.
He chuckled, broad dimples forming in his cheeks. “Your men warned me you might not like that. But there wasn’t time to ask for your permission. And of course, we weren’t even sure at that point whether you’d return to us alive.”
Fen growled at those words, the sound so like a wolf that I actually glanced over to make sure he hadn’t shifted.
Noble’s gaze shot to him, his look assessing. Then he lifted his hands and backed away from me, walking around the table again to resume his seat. He gestured for us to join him, and we pulled out chairs on the opposite side of the table.
“I understand if you don’t like my methods, Lana.” He leaned forward, already seeming antsy in his seat. I wondered why he’d bothered sitting at all. “And I understand if you’re not happy about being thrust in the spotlight. But if I can be perfectly blunt, you were standing center stage already. I just turned the light on.”
My brow furrowed. “I don’t—”
“Did you think your name wasn’t being whispered in Blighted households all through the Outskirts? Or being spoken of in hushed voices by Gifted and Touched in the Capital? You are of both worlds, and both sides want to claim you. There has never been another person like you.”
I squirmed uncomfortably under his intense gaze. “Yeah, so?”
“Whether we like to admit it or not, if this rebellion is going to have any hope of succeeding, we need magic on our side. And we need more Blighted to join our fight. I believe you can help us achieve both of those goals. You can unite people.”
His words made sense, and despite myself, I couldn’t help liking Noble. With Christine, I’d always felt a bit of a disconnect—we were on the same side, but something about her had always grated on me. But the man before me, who moved animatedly in his seat as he talked in an impassioned voice, drew me in. When he spoke, I wanted to believe him.
Don’t trust anyone more than they give you reason to.
My gaze flicked to Akio, and I was surprised to find him watching me instead of Noble. I lifted an eyebrow and tilted my head slightly toward the new Resistance leader in a silent question, and Akio nodded.
So the incubus was willing to give him a chance. Maybe I should too.
I turned back to Noble, resting my elbows on the table and leaning toward him. “You’ve got a point. But if uniting sympathetic Gifted with the Blighted is your aim, there’s something much more likely to do that than ‘The Crow.’ Like the fact that it was a Gifted man who caused the Great Death.”
Noble froze. But while his body remained motionless, his internal tempo picked up speed. I swore I could actually see him vibrating. Finally, he sat back, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You have proof of this?”
“No, not exactly. I mean, Rain came out and admitted it to me when he had me captured, but all that does is make it my word against his. I don’t have any physical evidence that he was behind it.”
“Rain Blackshear? The Chief Advisor?” Noble pushed his chair away from the table, circling around it to lean against the back.
“That’s the guy. He’s a fucking lunatic. He tried to pull magic from people en masse, and he’s planning to do it again.”
Noble let out a low whistle. “Is he now?”
“Yeah. He has some kind of machine run by magic, and it just needs the power of one more strong Gifted person. He said he has to wait in between pulls, to let the spell build back up again or something. That’s why he kept me for so long. But if he needs magic from one more mage, that means he’ll have to find someone to replace me. Once he does, we’ll have maybe a week before his device is ready.”
“And when it’s ready? What happens then?”
I sucked in a lungful of air. “Then he tries to steal magic from the remaining Gifted population. Or most of them, anyway.”
My heart pounded dully in my chest as I waited for Noble’s response. Waited for him to tell me that wasn’t our problem, that it was about time for the Gifted to suffer like the Blighted had. Those were all thoughts I’d had once upon a time—but I couldn’t think that way anymore. And I didn’t think it was just because I had magic now.
Noble chewed his bottom lip for a second. “Then you better find a way to prove—beyond any doubt—that he’s behind this. And soon.”
I blinked at him. This guy kept surprising me. Not lingering on my shock, I glanced around the table at my four. “How? We just got chased out of the palace for even daring to suggest such a thing. I’m not exactly going to be allowed into any more council meetings. The Representatives made their choice. They stuck their heads in the sand and sided with Rain.”
Jae spoke up from my right. “There are one or two who could possibly be convinced, but she makes a good point. We’ve been labeled traitors by the Representatives. There’s no way they’ll grant Lana another audience… not that she asked for one today.” His lips twitched toward a smile.
I grinned, before I remembered that was the second time
I’d tried to speak to the Representatives rationally, hoping for a reasonable response. When would I learn what a fucking waste of time that was?
Noble’s fingers drummed restlessly on the back of the heavy chair. “First things first—find a piece of solid evidence of Rain’s guilt. Without that, none of this matters. Once you do, you can find a way to show it to the Representatives.”
“Find a way?” I snorted. “I was worried about getting jumped by guards when I was technically allowed to be there. Now that I’m the new symbol of the Resistance and almost got arrested for disturbing a council meeting, I don’t think we’ll make it two steps into the palace.”
“You may not have to.” Noble paced a few steps away then turned back. “There’s a rumor that Rain is going to be moved up from his position as Chief Advisor to Representative soon; he’ll be given Representative Lockwood’s old seat.”
“What?” My chair scraped against the dingy floor as I shot to my feet. I felt Jae’s cool hand cover mine on the table while Corin rested his large palm on the back of my neck. Blowing out a breath, I let my head drop, blood still simmering. “What?”
“I’m not sure whether they ever actually intended to let you have the seat. Theron Stearns is a stickler for tradition, so maybe he would have. But after your disappearance, things shifted. Rain’s been angling for a seat on the council for years.”
My jaw clenched. I wasn’t mad about Rain stealing the position from me; I didn’t want the fucking thing. If I never set foot inside the People’s Palace again, that would be just fine with me. But I hated to think of him advancing higher in the ranks of the government because of Beatrice’s death, profiting yet again from his murdering and scheming.
“Okay, so that’s just one more disaster we have to stop,” I ground out.
Noble belted out a laugh, leaning over his side of the table toward me. “I wasn’t thinking you’d ‘stop it’ so much as ‘crash it.’”
I blinked dumbly. “Crash it?”
“Several years ago, when Victor Kruger took over the seat for his late father, there was a—”
“Public ceremony.” Jae spoke slowly, his fingers tightening around mine. “He was introduced to the people from the grand terrace of the palace. Crowds gathered on the lawn.”
“Exactly.” Noble’s dimples reappeared as he grinned. “Not a bad place to unmask a villain, is it?”
Jae’s expression was far less enthusiastic. “It could work. It would be incredibly dangerous though. We’d be surrounded by Gifted, not to mention palace guards and all the Representatives.”
The grin slipped from Noble’s face, a look of intense seriousness replacing it. “That’s why you’d better find compelling evidence. You’ll have to make them listen before they attack.”
Oh gods. Judging by the way today had gone, that would give us about half a second to get their attention before they decided to kill us. What the hell kind of evidence could we find that was that compelling?
“So when is the ceremony?” I asked, my brain still churning over ways to prove Rain’s guilt. Too bad we couldn’t just roll that giant ball of magic down the mountainside and show it to people. But even though Rain had said he couldn’t access it, couldn’t transfer it into himself, the magic clearly wasn’t dormant. And I didn’t know what would happen if we disturbed an object with that much raw power.
Noble interrupted my thoughts by answering the question I barely remembered asking. “Two days.”
I choked out a laugh, sinking back down into my chair. “Two days? We’re supposed to get irrefutable evidence that Rain caused the Great Death in two days?”
Noble chuckled mirthlessly. “Two days is pushing it, to be honest. We need to move fast. I don’t doubt your assessment of Rain’s timeline, but we’re all just making educated guesses. If we’re wrong, and he’s further ahead than we think… well, let’s not get caught with our pants down.”
Fuck. He was right.
I nodded, finally putting my finger on why I liked him more than I’d ever liked Christine. Noble treated me as an equal. Christine had always done that grating thing so many of the Gifted did, addressing me as “Ms. Crow” but somehow twisting the formality so it sounded like an insult. Noble knocked ideas around with me, listened to what I had to say, and wasn’t afraid to admit he didn’t know everything. All marks of a solid leader, in my opinion.
“Okay. We’ll start digging for evidence.” I rapped my knuckles on the table. “Shit, maybe Beatrice has something at her house. I never got to check her office after the bomb went off, but I doubt she would’ve kept anything having to do with her suspicions about Rain at the palace anyway.”
“Good. Let me know what you dig up, and if you need more manpower, let me know that too. I’ve got dozens of new recruits itching for something to do. It’s no use trying to explain to them they’ll see enough fighting to last a lifetime soon.”
Noble’s voice grew heavy with his last words, and I peered at him curiously.
He didn’t look much older than I was, maybe twenty-nine or thirty. But he spoke like a battle-worn general, one who’d seen more of the world’s evil than a single person should.
I wondered where he’d come from, what scars in his past had shaped the man he was today. I was starting to realize we all had them, and that even wounds inflicted years ago could still bleed.
“Thank you, Noble. We’ll stay in close contact.” Jae stood, the other three men rising with him.
My four dipped their heads respectfully to Noble, and I followed suit before we turned toward the door. Pausing with my hand on the doorframe, I threw a glance over my shoulder. “Hey, don’t work too hard to make me a legend, all right?”
I was half-joking, but his response wiped the smile from my face.
“Don’t worry, Lana. I doubt I’ll need to. I have a feeling The Crow will fly high all on her own.”
My heart thudded like a drumbeat in my chest as we stepped quickly down the stairs and headed for the guardroom. Much as I hated to admit it, I had a sneaking suspicion he was right.
And that terrified the hell out of me.
Chapter 10
Gray eyes.
My father’s eyes.
And green. I hadn’t known it, but my mother’s eyes were green.
The photo under my fingertips blurred, the gray and green both melting into a wash of color as tears welled in my eyes.
Gods. I resembled my mother so much, it hurt my heart to look at her. Was this what Beatrice had felt when she gazed at me and saw my parents in my features? The mingling of bittersweet joy and sharp pain, her soul recognizing a part of itself at the same time it realized that part no longer existed?
It fucking sucked.
But I couldn’t stop looking at the pictures.
I sat cross-legged on Beatrice’s bed, flipping through an old photo album. Every image I saw was a new revelation about a life I’d never known. I wished more than anything I’d had the guts to sit down and do this with my grandmother while she was still with me. I wanted someone to tell me stories about these pictures, to give them context and make them come alive.
I sighed. And if Beatrice were here, maybe she could tell us whether she had any damning evidence against Rain hidden away in her house, or if all she ever had against him were unverified suspicions.
A soft knock startled me, and I straightened, wiping the back of my hand across my eyes.
“Come in!”
The door opened a crack, and William poked his head in tentatively, his shaggy red-brown hair sticking up in all directions. His eyes were like saucers, almost as big as his mother’s always appeared behind her glasses.
“Um, Miss Crow? We found some more boxes.”
Beatrice’s estate was enormous, with dozens of rooms and even more hidden storage areas. And she appeared to have kept every important document she’d ever had—and especially every trinket, token, or picture from before the Great Death. The prospect of going through it all was daunting
, so I’d asked my impromptu houseguests to help us with our search.
It had taken a few gentle nudges to get them comfortable enough to touch any of her stuff, let alone go through it. But once the kids got over their nervousness, they threw themselves into the task as only eight-year-old treasure hunters could.
We’d unearthed a plethora of papers, pictures, heirlooms, and books.
But so far, nothing to do with Rain.
“Thanks, Will. Do you want to bring them up here? Are they too heavy?”
“I can manage.” He puffed his thin chest out, and I smiled despite the worry clamped around my heart like a vice.
The official announcement had been made the day after we visited Noble. Rain would be presented to the people of the Capital as their newest Representative later today.
And we still had no proof.
The young boy slipped out of the room, and I dropped my head, staring at the photo album that sat on the bed before me. I could get lost in these pictures of my parents, not much older than I was now, happy, in love, and so full of hope. But that wasn’t helping. I needed to find out something about Rain, not my—
I blinked.
Gray eyes.
Just like in my dreams.
“My dreams,” I murmured, though only the walls could hear me. “Holy fuck. My dreams!”
Leaping off the bed, I dashed out the door and hurried down the stairs so fast I almost missed a step. Wheeling around the corner into the sitting room, I blurted, “It’s me!”
My four looked up from their various positions around the room, where they pored over old notes and papers. Ivy peered over Jae’s shoulder as he sorted through a neat stack.
“Uh, yeah it is.” Fenris cocked an eyebrow at me. “Hey, killer.”
“No!” I was gasping for breath, my brain moving too fast for my mouth to keep up. “It’s me!”
“We need more, kitten.” Akio was stretched out on the couch, lounging like a model as he shuffled papers around on the floor in front of him.
“The evidence we’re looking for. It’s me!”