“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.
“I’m honestly exhausted,” I replied, staring straight ahead. “I didn’t even realize it until earlier. I just can’t wait to land in the bed and not leave it until the morning.”
Kalon didn’t reply, but he nodded slowly. I figured it was enough. Lying to him was not something I enjoyed, but the both of us following Trev around, even in invisible magic, felt like too much of a stretch, especially since Trev had warned us against it.
On my own, I could move faster. My stealth was an advantage I was more than willing to use, especially if it would get me closer to the Darklings. I trusted Trev, but not as much as I’d let on. He was still a freshly made Aeternae, a novice. I simply couldn’t leave the whole mission in his hands, no matter how capable said hands were.
I wanted results, and I would stop at nothing to get them.
Esme
An hour later, I was invisible, waiting close to Trev by the fountain in the palace garden. I’d put on my red lens glasses, too, just in case. The team knew about what I was planning, and I had promised to be in touch via Telluris as soon as I had something—the red lenses were in case Tristan decided to get all brotherly and follow me around. I’d warned him not to, but disregarding family requests was deeply embedded in our DNA.
Fortunately, there was no sign of Tristan anywhere. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be, either. I needed him to stay around Valaine and to keep Kalon busy in case he came sniffing around my room. My paranoia was turned up to eleven at this point.
The night sky was clear, the haze thinning to reveal a sea of twinkling stars again. The moon cast its milky light across the garden, dressing everything in pearl dust. The water gushing from the fountain resembled a playful stream of liquid diamonds, capturing and reflecting light in an endless dance around it.
I would’ve taken this peace and quiet for an eternity, but there was no chance in hell that things would end this way here. Trev kept to the shadows, for the most part, since there were still palace guards and night shift gardeners occasionally walking around.
Eventually, two gold soldiers came up the main alley, watching Trev intently. For a moment, I worried they might ask him questions… until one of them raised a hand and revealed the black-and-white thread around his wrist. My stomach sank. These two were Darklings, currently working in the palace. How many more were there? How many had slipped past Corbin’s interviews and raids?
