“You seem to hold Lord Visentis to a higher standard than me. Why is that?” I asked, ever so slightly offended, when I felt so awful for having kept this from her, to begin with.

Valaine gave me a warm smile, bringing a hand up to cup my face. “You’re still new here, Tristan. And, to be honest, I find it impossible to ever be upset with you, regardless of the reason. Kalon, on the other hand… We go way back. He’s like a brother to me. He should’ve told me. It was his operation, his friend infiltrating the Darklings, his duty to tell me.”

Her response was so ample, so multifaceted, that I didn’t immediately catch on to the first part about me. When the words came through, and I understood what Valaine was telling me, a peculiar heat expanded inside my chest, hugging my heart and tightening its grip on my throat as I looked at her.

“You don’t think you’d ever be upset with me?” I asked. “I find that hard to believe. I am perfectly capable of doing things stupid or reckless enough to annoy you.”

The touch of her hand sent ripples through my skin, and when she tried to pull back, I caught it, keeping it as a warm frame for my cheek. Her gaze softened, and for a moment, only the two of us were left in this world.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Valaine replied, slightly amused. “I get that enough from Kalon. My brother from another mother.”

She made me laugh, maybe a little too hard, but it was enough to break the last layer of tension left between us. Valaine threw her arms around me in a long hug, and I had no choice but to lose myself in this embrace.

“Thank you, Tristan,” she whispered in my ear.

Her heart thudded against mine. I wanted this moment to last forever, so I could never be without her scent tickling my senses—night-queen and lily blossoms…

“For what?” I asked, closing my eyes for a moment.

“For giving me a reason to keep pushing. For being truthful and kind. For being you. Frankly, it’s refreshing in this day and age,” she replied.

There wasn’t much else I could say to her, so I settled for holding her close, welcoming her affection, and hoping I’d done enough to lift her spirits. It killed me to see Valaine sad. It was as if her emotions echoed all around, infecting those in her vicinity—including myself.

I, for one, preferred her smiling and determined to keep fighting. She was infinitely more beautiful that way, both inside and out. And if the Darklings were still trying to kill her, they would have to go through me first.

Esme

It was midnight, and Kalon and I were due to meet with Trev outside the palace, on a small and narrow side street. He’d managed to send a message to Kalon, advising him on his success in infiltrating the lower circles of the Darklings. They had accepted his candidacy, not at all surprised that a former Rimian was interested in joining their ranks. They only recruited Aeternae, yet many Naloreans and Rimians had tried to enter, thinking it was a good opportunity to throw a wrench into the empire’s wheels—little did they know that the Darklings weren’t anarchists at all…

We settled in the darkness, away from the solitary streetlamp flickering at the corner of the street. The local residents were likely sleeping, their shutters pulled and the lights out. I listened carefully, counting the jingling steps of nearby gold guards that patrolled around the palace. They couldn’t see us from the main alley.

I’d had some time to think about everything, and I had come to believe that I could not let Trev do any of this alone anymore. Kalon didn’t know about our invisibility potion, and the crew and I had agreed to keep it to ourselves—our safety hatch, in case anything went wrong.

“How are the white-haired twins coming along?” Kalon asked, drawing me from my deep thoughts. He stood close to me, one shoulder leaning against the wall of a house. “I still can’t get over how identical they look. The mirror image of one another. Gorgeous, but spooky.”

I smiled. “They’re getting there. I think we’ll get something soon on both fronts. Today, they were rushing around from one study room to another. I’ve got a feeling they’re about to make a breakthrough. Frankly, I’m just glad the Lord and Lady Supreme allowed Amane to come over. Amal is brilliant, but together they’re unstoppable.”

“I hope so. We’re coming up to ten infected Aeternae now,” Kalon said darkly, his brow furrowed. He’d lost his father to the disease, so I could only imagine how he was feeling about all this.

“I’m not saying we’re going to save you all. But we will try. That much I can promise.”

Kalon stilled for a moment, standing mere inches from me. A smile fluttered across his lips as his eyes searched my face, as if he was trying to ascertain whether I was being truthful. I was, so I held his gaze for as long as I could, wanting him to understand that I meant every word.

My heart struggled, as the night seemed to envelop us both in a warm and pleasant kind of darkness. The narrow alleyway began to disappear. Time slowed down. Nothing else could be heard, other than our breathing.

We had sparred. We had fought vicious attackers, and he’d saved my ass more than once. We had laughed, and we had tiptoed around one another, wondering where the limits were. Whether there was enough trust between us for this dynamic to work. So far, it had not disappointed, but part of me was still slightly wary. My instincts were sharp as razors, compelling me to keep my head clear at all times.

That was becoming a challenge, because Kalon’s eyes had an almost hypnotic effect on me. We were drawn to each other, whether we admitted it or not. Even now, the space between us was shrinking, as if we were both leaning in closer and closer… and closer. He didn’t stop, and neither did I. The idea of “what if” persisted at the forefront of my consciousness, as my gaze dropped for barely a second, catching the precise instant in which his lips parted ever so slightly. Another breath or two, and our lips might meet. What then?

My answer never came.

Footsteps jolted us both apart and back into the reality of tonight. We turned our heads and exhaled at the sight of a cloaked figure coming toward us from the darker end of the alley. I was already gearing up for a fight, my muscles tightening, when the stranger’s hood came off, and Trev Blayne’s face came into focus.

“You are late,” Kalon said, his tone flat.

“No, you are early,” Trev replied, somewhat amused.

They both chuckled and firmly shook hands. Trev shot me a friendly smile. I returned it, still staying close to the wall, as I realized that my knees had softened from what had to have been an almost-kiss. Since my combat anticipation had already faded away, I was left with the aftermath of the closeness between Kalon and I. It was an intense thing to get over.

“What news do you bring?” I asked.

“I made it. The Darklings have accepted me as an apprentice,” Trev said. “I passed the first tests, and… well, they call them conversations, but they’re like mild torture sessions, really.”

“Torture?” Kalon replied, his eyebrows arched in surprise. “What kind of torture?”

“Oh, they deprive you of blood and your senses. They taunt you. They poke and prod and even beat the daylights out of you, while you’re handcuffed and blindfolded,” Trev muttered. “It’s a way for them to test your resolve, apparently. Naturally, I aced it. They failed to break me, so… here I am, about to meet one of the Scholars. That’s what they call their ringleaders. Scholars. It’s the last stage of my induction.”

Kalon and I exchanged excited glances. “When are you meeting this Scholar?” I asked, my pulse already racing, as I made plans to follow Trev using my invisibility potion. Once I had the identity of at least one of the ringleaders, I’d be one step closer to solving Nethissis’s murder and maybe even preventing more attacks on Valaine.

“Tonight. In about an hour,” Trev said. “It will be somewhere in the palace. They’ve asked me to wait in the garden, near the fountain.” His expression shifted into one of concern as he looked at us. “You two had better not follow me. I’ll be in touch again after I meet with the Scholar. I can’t risk any of the Darklings spotting a tail on me. I only told you where I’m meeting the others because I trust you. Okay?”

Kalon nodded. “Absolutely. It’s your operation, Trev. I’m not going to interfere until you give me the green light. I’m sure Esme feels the same way.”

He gave me a look that suggested quite the opposite, as if he already knew what I was planning. But he couldn’t have known, since I’d kept the invisibility gimmick to myself. Nevertheless, I offered a smile. “I most certainly do,” I said, and took out a small lead medallion with Druid inscriptions, which I’d borrowed from Draven prior to leaving The Shade. “But I want you to hold on to this, Trev. It’s a little bit of magic. Break it in half if you’re in trouble, and I will know where to find you, okay?”

Trev took the medallion and turned it over several times. It was the size of his thumbnail, with a small hole at the edge for a string to fit through. “What is it, exactly?”

“In case of an emergency, once it’s broken, it acts as a tracker,” I said, showing him another medallion, the other’s twin. “This one will burn hot if you activate yours, and I will know where to find you. It will change color as I get closer to you.”

“Thank you, Esme, that’s really thoughtful,” Trev replied, smiling.

“You sure love having tricks up your sleeves,” Kalon observed, his eyes glimmering with curiosity as he looked at the medallion, which Trev stuffed inside a hidden chest pocket.

“Give me a day, tops, and I shall have more news,” the former Rimian said.

Kalon and I watched as Trev put his hood back on and walked away into the night, vanishing like a shadow in the far-end darkness of the alleyway. There were multiple access routes into the palace, but the most discreet ones led through the northern neighborhoods surrounding the magnificent structure, which was now illuminated from within, amber lights flickering in almost every window.

Once we were alone again, I knew I only had half an hour, tops, before I would lose Trev. I’d lied about the medallion, of course. My copy got hot whenever it was around Trev’s, and now it was getting colder as he got farther away. I needed to lose Kalon first.

“Let’s head back,” I said, planning to jet right out as soon as he was gone. “I’m tired. I need some sleep.”

“I’ll walk you to your room,” Kalon replied.

I gave him a strained smile. “That’s most kind. Thank you.”

I kept a rapid and steady pace as we walked toward the palace, leaving the alleyway behind. My nerves were already itching, the medallion hidden in my fist and getting colder with every minute that went by. There was bound to be heat again, once Trev came into the palace garden.

“You seem to be in a rush,” Kalon was quick to remark.