Page 96

She smirked, caught admiring herself. “With any luck, my antlers will grow longer than your horns.”

I laughed. The great rumble shook through my body. Heat flushed to my fingers and toes. Ayla’s lips twitched.

I wanted to laugh again. “My horns will always be longer,” I replied.

She gave way to a proper chuckle. I joined in, growing louder. Ninti gave a short bark, joining the hilarity. Even Eleanor permitted a cautious titter to cross her lips.

It wasn’t that our jest was funny, but that we shared the miracle of survival. The absurdity of living. With great belly laughs, we reminded ourselves that we lived.

Lost to our noisy chortle, we didn’t hear it, the clink of crystal. We didn’t see it rolling over broken stone and planks. Nobody noticed until it bumped against Eleanor’s feet.

She picked it up. Eleanor cupped Inarus’s crystal skull in her hands.

Ayla

Eleanor went rigid and her eyes rolled back. Her fingertips dug into the skull. Zayne tensed. I wondered if I should help her. Ninti sniffed the air, choosing not to act.

The moment passed. Eleanor blinked. She stumbled, found her balance, and looked down at the crystal skull, tracing her fingers over the smooth surface.

“I spoke with Gloom,” she whispered, calm as ever. She glanced at Zayne. “Gloom said you spoke earlier?”

He nodded slowly. “It was strange.”

“Very strange,” Eleanor agreed. She trembled. “And I learned of our situation. Inarus had mentioned it, but… it’s more dire than I realized.”

My breath hitched. Eleanor was queen. Inarus and the Shades were gone, but this drama—it continued? From the grim line of Eleanor’s lips, more work was needed by the Shadow Court.

As for me, my Brand was gone. Was I…free? Zayne frowned, his chin tightening. I might be free, but he tugged at my heartstrings.

“Gloom didn’t seem aware of the Collapse,” he said.

Eleanor nodded. “Since you got her attention, she’s investigated. Apparently… she’s been tricked. These black diamond shards, like the one Inarus carried, they are her divine artifacts. They connect to her.”

“I thought the one Inarus carried was destroyed—”

“There are more. Many more,” Eleanor explained. “It was once a single black diamond, larger than this skull, Gloom’s divine artifact—and it was shattered. Gloom thought the shards were too small to use, and she stopped paying attention, losing herself in the Divine Realm. She slept untilyoureached for Inarus’s diamond shard. When you reached for it, you woke her.”

Ninti nuzzled the ring on my hand. I still didn’t understand the power behind the ruby—let alone a larger stone linked to Gloom. I suspected Ninti knew more, but for now, she stayed silent.

“Now Gloom is aware,” Eleanor continued. “She’s trying to learn more, but since discovering what you’ve done, the other shard bearers have stayed out of her sight. They have learned to access and manipulate her power without her knowledge or consent.”

“I sensed someone else,” Zayne added. “Another shard bearer entered the Divine Realm. Their signature reminded me of the Mer.”

Mer? That seemed familiar.

“Calindra,” I whispered.

Eleanor shot me a sharp look. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a letter from her in Inarus’s apartments.”

Zayne glanced at his sister, and Eleanor shook her head.

“Who is she?” I pressed.

“A dissonant voice amongst the Isles,” Eleanor answered. “Like Inarus, she is frustrated fae goods have helped the Starlit Isle. She is known to be…” Eleanor frowned.

Zayne continued, “Calindra is a lady of the Mer, known for pressuring those within her jurisdiction to develop questionable fae goods. Some are frustrated, but her products are selling. She is starting to have sway within the Court of Mer.”