by Sadie Moss
Was that what these other disappearances were? A way for the government to get rid of Gifted and Touched citizens who were sympathetic to the Blighted?
But if the Representatives were the ones behind the disappearances, then why were they so concerned about them?
Unless…
Maybe they weren’t behind all the attacks. What if there was someone operating outside the council’s purview, who had taken matters into his or her own hands?
But who? And why?
I wished I had Jae’s vast intelligence, or Akio’s gift for reading people. My brain felt like mush as I tried to pull all the puzzle pieces together and make them fit.
What the fuck is going on here?
Chapter 4
“Ah! You must be the young Miss Lockwood!”
The booming voice made me jump, and I took an involuntary step back.
We’d reached the fifth floor while I was lost in thought, and my grandmother had stopped outside a set of grand double doors. They swung farther open, revealing a tall man with white hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His face was lined with wrinkles, but his bright blue eyes were clear and sharp, and they twinkled with delight as he walked toward me.
He clasped my hand in both of his, shaking it rather than bringing it to his mouth for an ingratiating kiss like so many of the men at the palace did.
“Yes!” Beatrice exclaimed, beaming back at him. “This is my granddaughter, Lana. I’m sure this man needs no introduction, my dear, but may I present our Secretary General, Theron Stearns.”
I tried to keep the shock from showing on my face as my hand went limp in his.
I’d seen pictures of Theron Stearns before—the Capital was practically wallpapered with images of our illustrious leader—but this man looked almost nothing like those images. In the posters and billboards, he lived up to his name by looking as stern and forbidding as one would expect the leader of the country to be. But the man standing in front of me now resembled a kindly grandfather, one who was spry enough to keep up with even the youngest of his grandchildren.
“It is such a joy to meet you, Miss Lockwood! We all lost many loved ones to the Great Death, and your return is a true gift. A miracle.” He shook his head, his eyes hardening a fraction. “The Blighted took so much from us, but they could not take everything. I’ve never seen your grandmother so lighthearted.”
His enthusiasm put me off-balance. It was also very strange to hear one of the Gifted talk about how much the Blighted had taken from them. Theron Stearns had been instrumental in ending the worst of the violence against the Blighted, but apparently he still fell into the camp that believed they were somehow responsible for the Great Death. How the entire nonmagical community could’ve conspired to create a disease that would kill almost two-thirds of all magic users was beyond me. The theory made no sense, but it was one many of the Gifted still clung to and used as justification for their terrible treatment of the Blighted.
“I’m glad, sir. I’m happy to have found my way back to her,” I said, proud that I managed to speak without raising either my voice or my fists.
Chief Advisor Rain Blackshear, the man who had caught me sneaking back into the ballroom at the Grand Ball, stepped out of the large room and approached Theron. His gaze fell on me and his expression shuttered.
“Beatrice, you know she can’t attend the council meeting.”
Beatrice huffed. “I know that, Rain. I just wanted to show her around.” She turned to me. “Will you be all right here on your own for a little while?”
I almost grinned.
Would I be all right on my own? Left to my own devices to explore the palace? I’d give that a “fuck yes.”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I might find somewhere to go sit down. I don’t feel very well.”
That part actually wasn’t a lie. My head was still throbbing, and I was highly tempted to rip all the pins out of my hair and shake my head like a wet dog.
“Oh. All right.” She patted my cheek, her gray eyes darkening with concern. “I’ll find you when I’m finished. If you still don’t feel well, I can have Tarik take you home. ”
Shooting an inscrutable glance my way, Rain ushered Theron and Beatrice inside the room and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. The doors swung shut.
All right, all right. I get it, you asshole. Like I wanted to go to your stupid fucking council meeting anyway.
Actually, I was sure if I asked Christine, she’d tell me that was exactly what I should be doing. The more I could learn about the Representatives and what they knew about the Resistance, the better. But I’d already picked up some interesting little tidbits of information, and I was anxious to share them with the guys. Plus, the worse I felt, the weaker my brain-to-mouth filter got. If I spent much more time around the Representatives in this state, I’d probably end up blurting something I’d regret.
I headed down the corridor away from the council room, keeping an eye out for any open office doors I could slip into. My luck held out for a few minutes, allowing me to wander freely, but when I turned down a side hallway with several open doors along it, a guard stepped in front of me.
“Sorry, miss. This is a restricted access wing.”
“Oh. I’m Beatrice Lockwood’s granddaughter,” I tried hopefully.
The guard shook his head, not budging an inch. “Restricted access. Chief Advisor’s orders. I’m sorry.”
Well, damn. So much for walking the palace halls unimpeded.
“Okay.” I rubbed at my temples. “Then can you just tell me how to get outside? Or is there a balcony somewhere? I need some fresh air.”
“Of course, Miss Lockwood. Go back the way you came, down one level, and to the end of the hall.” The guard seemed a little afraid of me and very eager to please. Apparently, my grandmother’s name did carry some weight around here. Just not enough to get me anywhere good.
“Thanks,” I muttered, turning to follow his directions. My head pounded in time to the rhythm of my feet on the stairs, each step jarring my brain inside my skull.
By the time I reach the balcony at the end of the hall, I was desperate for the cool air that hit my face. I walked across the large expanse and rested my hands on the wide, waist-high marble railing, letting my head dangle between my arms. Then I gave in to my impulse and yanked all the pins out of my hair, tossing them over the side of the balcony.
Ah. Sweet fucking relief.
Tilting my head back, I reached through the cascading mass of my hair and pressed the stone to activate the communication charm.
“Hey, guys?”
“Lana? What’s going on?”
Corin’s voice came through immediately, and I breathed a sigh of relief at the sound.
“I’m at the palace. My grandmother just went into a council meeting. I met a few of the other Representatives, and picked up on a few… strange things.”
“Strange?” Akio drawled in my ear. “Strange how?”
“Has the Resistance ever sent operatives to abduct or kill magical society members?”
“You mean like you tried to do to me?” The incubus’s tone was dry.
Ugh. He’d never let me live that down. You try to kill a guy one time….
“Yeah. Like that. Only not targeting their fellow Resistance members, obviously. Maybe going after powerful Gifted citizens or high-ranking government officials?”
“No. That’s not Christine’s style,” Corin said. “It would’ve been too risky with too little return. We’re playing a longer game than that.”
Resting my elbows on the railing, I gazed out past the city at the snow-capped mountains in the distance. “Well, someone is going after the Gifted. There’ve been three disappearances in the past month, and from the sound of it, more before that.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, right?”
I massaged my forehead lightly. “Maybe. Maybe not. Until we find out who’s doing it and what their motivations are, I’m not ready to count them as an enemy or
an ally yet. But it’s got to be someone with pretty extensive resources. Taking down a Gifted target is no joke.”
Corin gave a grunt of agreement. “Good point. We’ll tell Christine. Maybe she’s heard something about it.”
“Tell us, kitten, what other strange things did you uncover?” Akio’s curiosity seemed to be piqued.
“No other actionable info. I met a few more of the Representatives though. None of them seem to like or trust each other very much.” Victor’s cruel eyes flashed in my memory, and I shivered. “These people are…. Fuck, I hate this place. I miss you guys.”
“We miss you too, kitten.”
Akio’s sincere words surprised me. He was always quick with a sarcastic remark or flippant comment, but it was much more rare for him to admit to an honest emotion. He must be feeling the strain of our separation too.
Corin spoke again. “Jae’s been talking to Christine. She doesn’t want us to have open contact with you while you’re staying in the Capital, but…”
His voice slowly faded, replaced by a loud rushing in my ears. Was the damned communication charm malfunctioning?
I raised a hand to fiddle with the stone on my earring, but as soon as I took my weight off the railing, I stumbled, my legs no longer able to support me. Heat rushed through my body, throbbing in my veins to the same rhythm as the pain beating at my skull.
Oh, fuck.
I’d only felt something like this once in recent memory, and that was right before the magic that’d been lying dormant within my body for two decades blasted out of me like a bomb.
Could that happen again? Was there more untapped power inside me?
Godsdamn it, I couldn’t go through that again. And I didn’t need more men bonded to me through my magic. The four I had were about all I could handle.
My vision darkened as I slid down the side of the railing to the balcony floor. Over the rush of blood in my ears, I thought I could make out the sound of voices raised in panic.
“Corin…” I slurred. “Akio… My magic. I can’t…”
A familiar nausea roiled my stomach as magic surged inside me. I tipped over onto my side, curling up into a ball as if that would somehow keep the magic contained. I was vaguely aware of the decorative potted shrubs in their huge marble planters lifting up from the balcony around me.
“Nooo…” I groaned, pressing my hands weakly to my stomach.
“Lana? Lana!”
The words came through my communication charm, faint and garbled.
“I can’t stop it. I can’t… Help me.”
A tear leaked from my eye, forced out by the pain and pressure building in my head, in my limbs, in my stomach. It felt like lava had replaced the blood in my veins, burning a path through every inch of me. The fragile vessel of my body was too small and weak to contain the magic raging inside it.
“Killer, hang on!”
Fenris.
Was Fenris there too? What about Jae? I wanted him to be there. I wanted to imagine them all in my tiny, crappy apartment, the four of them together. A team. A family. If I couldn’t be there with them, they should at least all have each other.
“Jae…” I forced the word out through dry lips as my vision narrowed to a pinprick.
“We’ll get him, killer. He’s on his way.”
The amount of effort it took to hold back the magic was too much. It vibrated like a caged animal inside me, hurling itself over and over again at the walls of its prison.
Then the walls broke.
Magic poured out of me, lighting up the balcony with a bright white flash and a crashing sound.
Relief.
Peace.
And darkness.
Chapter 5
“Lana? Sweet girl, can you hear me?”
A hand patted my cheek gently, and I scrunched up my face and grunted, twisting my head away.
“Oh! She’s waking up! Thank the gods. Are you sure she’s not injured?” Beatrice’s voice was sharper than I’d ever heard it.
“Yes, Representative Lockwood,” a low female voice answered. “There was a small injury to her head, but I healed it. Other than that, I can’t find anything wrong with her. You might want to take her to the reader, just to be sure—”
“No!” The word was meant to be a shout, but it passed my lips as a croak. “No… reader.”
I forced my eyes open, staring up into the broad, serious face of a woman about my age. Beatrice hovered behind her, biting her lip as she gazed down at me.
“No reader,” I repeated, my voice gaining some strength. “I—I don’t need one. I just need to go home.”
I meant home, home—my apartment in the Outskirts, where four pieces of my soul waited for me. But Beatrice misinterpreted my statement and snapped her fingers, summoning one of the palace guards who stood at attention nearby. “Call for my driver. Right away.”
“Yes, Representative Lockwood.” He gave a sharp nod and left the balcony. I turned to watch him go, but my attention was diverted by the sight of my surroundings.
I was still near the marble railing, lying in roughly the same spot where I had fallen. All around me, huge chunks of marble, dirt, and destroyed topiary littered the once pristine surface of the balcony. It looked like a giant had come through with a mallet and unleashed fury on the place.
Even more disturbing than that were the scorch marks that marred the marble floor around me and blackened parts of the palace wall.
I swallowed, my throat and mouth dry. “Shit. I’m sorry, Beatrice. I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t give it a single thought, sweet girl,” she said firmly. “We’ll get you home and take care of you.” She flicked a finger, and another guard darted forward. “Tell the Secretary General I won’t be returning to the meeting. Give him my apologies.”
The guard, a demon with deep purple skin, hustled off.
“You two!” Beatrice called to another pair of guards. “Carry her.”
Jerking upright, I scrambled to my feet so fast my head spun. “No! No, I can walk!”
I hadn’t even let Fenris give me a piggyback down a mountain; there was no way I was letting two palace guards carry me down a few flights of stairs.
The healer grabbed one of my elbows to steady me, and Beatrice took the other, peering up at me with concerned gray eyes. “Lana, you were unconscious just a few moments ago. Please, let them help.” When I shook my head adamantly, she sighed. “Then at least let me levitate you—”
“No!”
Gods, that was worse than the first option. I’d already made a lasting—and probably terrible—impression at the palace with my little magic explosion. I didn’t need to top it off by being floated through the halls like some kind of invalid.
I shook my head adamantly. “I’ll be fine.”
To prove my point, I pushed gently away from the hands supporting me, taking a few wobbly steps on my own. I wasn’t exactly “fine,” but now that magic was no longer roiling inside me, I felt fairly confident I could make it downstairs on my own. I directed my attention inward, feeling for my power. It burned low and steady within me, the little pilot light warming my belly once again. It was almost impossible to believe that just a short while ago it had erupted with the force of a thunderbolt.
Fucking magic.
Before I made it five steps across the balcony, Beatrice was by my side again, holding my arm to support me. She didn’t try to levitate me though, so I gratefully accepted her help. Truthfully, my legs felt as weak as wet noodles.
Our trek down to the main level was slow, and we drew more stares than I would’ve liked from the guards and palace staff we passed. But by the time we reached the huge entry doors, I was able to comfortably walk on my own. Tarik was waiting for us in the black SUV. He smiled when he saw me, and I immediately felt a bit better. Fairies tended to have that effect on people.
As we pulled away from the palace, I looked up, scanning the fifth floor. I couldn’t see the balcony where I’d collapsed
.
“No one was hurt, were they?”
I glanced back to find Beatrice watching me intently.
“No, dear girl. No one except you.”
She didn’t take her gaze off me during the entire drive to her estate. I could feel her stare burning a hole in the back of my skull, but I kept my focus firmly on the luxurious estates passing by outside.
It was only after she disabled the wards on her mansion and ushered me inside that she pressed the issue. I tried to slip past her and escape upstairs to my bedroom, but she moved to the side, blocking my path. Her gray eyes were piercing, her lined face serious.
“My dear, I think it’s time you tell me where you’ve been for the past twenty years. And how it is that a mage of your power doesn’t know how to control her magic.”
Her voice was quiet but firm, and for the first time since I’d met her, I could truly see her as a Representative, one of the seven most powerful people in the country. I fisted my hands, fight-or-flight instinct kicking into high gear.
Was this it? The moment the other shoe dropped?
Beatrice had always seemed too nice, too sweet to be believed. It hadn’t squared with the world I knew she was a part of—hell, not just a part of, a leader of.
My heart pounded dully in my chest, and my magic responded to my heightened emotion, flaring up inside me again. “I—”
I put out a hand, leaning against the wall for support.
Do not destroy your grandmother’s house. Do not destroy your grandmother’s house.
Trying to get my jaw to unclench, I breathed deeply through my nose, pushing down hard on the magic that ached to rise within me.
“Oh, sweet girl.” Beatrice clucked her tongue, the hard expression on her face softening as she bustled toward me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you. Not after what just happened. Come here.”
She latched onto my elbow again and tugged me toward the couch in her sitting room. Bright late morning sunlight fell across the cream and cherry wood furnishings, giving the place a pleasant glow. She sat me on the plush cushions, tipping me over gently and slipping a pillow under my head as I lay down. Her cool hand stroked my hair away from my face, and the magic fizzing in my blood settled a bit.