Page 34

Aruan

B ringing Elsie to Marikanea has an added value, a benefit I didn’t bargain on.

For me, it’s just a way of keeping her from danger while my father, brothers, and cousins search for the enemy plotting against Elsie.

For her, it’s a homecoming, the final realization she needs to admit she belongs here.

I should’ve thought about this simple yet clever strategy earlier.

Visiting Marikanea so that an inborn part of her could recognize the place where her roots are ingrained would’ve helped in motivating her to stay on Zerra, and in essence, with me.

The only reason she’s excited about leaving Marikanea is the prospect of seeing her adoptive parents. Otherwise, I’m not sure she would’ve left willingly. I probably would’ve had to throw her over my shoulder and carry her away. And if I know her, it would’ve been with kicking and screaming.

Unknowingly, Evolet fuels Elsie’s eagerness to return to Lona by reminding her of her Earth parents when she tells us how Elsie disappeared as a baby.

She explains how her late sister came into her daughter’s room to feed her baby, only to find the crib empty.

They’d searched high and low and finally offered rewards for information about the infant’s whereabouts, but no one knew what had happened to the baby.

Some Alit said a Slitheax or a dragon stole her through the open window. Others argued the eastern wind had barreled through the window and carried her away. They speculated that she might’ve been dropped in the sea or crushed on the cliffs when the wind eventually stilled.

But none of them could’ve guessed the culprit was the queen of Lona, the mother of Elsie’s own mate. Now that I know the truth, it makes perfect sense. My mother could’ve easily portaled herself here, sent Elsie through another portal to Earth, and been back in Lona before anyone was the wiser.

After promising Evolet and Kal that we’ll be back for another visit soon, Elsie takes leave of her newfound family, which includes an abundance of cousins, second cousins, and distant relatives. I can’t remember half of their names.

I portal us straight back to my room. Betty flies past the window, welcoming Elsie.

The pixie dragon, whom she baptized Pip, seems to have taken up permanent residence in my quarters.

Since Elsie is overjoyed to see the sly little creature, I don’t protest. Every extra incentive that makes her happy to stay here—with me—helps.

While a squadron of my most trusted guards escorts Elsie on a visit to the Earthlings, I go in search of Kian. I don’t like not having Elsie close to me, but there’s a good reason I don’t want her to be present for our conversation.

Kian is leaving my father’s quarters, where he’s been in council with the king and Suno, when I run into him in the hallway.

“Here,” he says, pulling me into an empty room before sealing the archway.

“What have you found?” I ask, searching the bond to assure myself that Elsie is safe.

For the moment, she’s happy, or as happy as she can be under the circumstances, so I trust my guards to protect her with their lives while I interrogate my brother.

“Nothing.” He watches me with a steady gaze. “Which is a big revelation in itself.”

Beyond frustrated and not a little impatient, I ask in a measured tone, “How the dragon can nothing be big?”

“I read the mind of every person in the palace, yet no one was near the bridge the morning Elsie took the Earthlings out there.”

I walk to the window and grip the ledge hard as I study the bridge that runs to the other side of the cliff.

“It had to have been someone in the palace. The bridge was fine the night before. Mother walked out on it for a stroll with our aunts, and we had no visitors.” Turning to face Kian, I express the ugly thought that’s been lodged inside my head since the incident.

“Unless Mother…” I don’t even dare to say the rest.

He crosses his arms, not denying or confirming the possibility.

“Did you read her mind?” I ask.

“You know she blocks me from reading everything, although she can’t expel me as thoroughly as you can.”

“So you think…?” I leave the rest hanging.

“I don’t think it was her.”

“Why not? She’s done it before.”

Kian widens his stance. “She’s too invested in the new alliance she’s forged with Evolet. I doubt she’d jeopardize that.”

“Then what is this big revelation of yours?”

He drops his arms to his sides, comes closer, and says in a lowered voice, “The big revelation is, brother, that whoever it was is strong enough to prevent me from reading those memories in his mind.”

“Or her.”

“Right.” He continues in a voice that doesn’t carry far enough to be overheard by any eavesdroppers on the other side of the wall, “Whoever it was, what matters is that he—or she—is very strong.”

The way he emphasizes the word gives me pause. “What are you saying?”

“You block me from reading anything in your mind. Father mirrors certain memories, trying to trick me. Mother can filter out some events, but they leave a blank that lets me know some of her recollections are purposefully missing. But there’s another scenario I hadn’t considered before.

What if someone can change his memories to reflect what he wants me to see? ”

“Twisting the truth? An Alit can lie with his words but not with his mind. You told me so yourself.”

“Unless that Alit has a very strong mind power.”

I reflect on that for a moment. “No one with such a selective mind power exists.”

His lips curve into a humorless smile. “Not that we know of.”

“You think the guilty party is hiding among us, right under our noses.”

“There’s no other explanation.”

“That’s your big revelation?”

“Think about it, Aruan. You interrogated everyone. I read their minds. Not having found anything is an answer in itself.”

“Tarix? You always say you’re battling to read his mind.”

“He’s vague, but not that vague. However, at this stage, I think you’d be wise to consider everyone a suspect.”

“That doesn’t help much,” I say grimly. “Which means we’re back to square one.”

“Maybe we’ve been asking the wrong questions and using the wrong methods. Instead of looking for the guilty party by reading minds, we should use logic. Who knew that Elsie would be on the bridge that morning, and who wants to see her gone?”

I stab my fingers into my hair. “Anyone could’ve found out she’d be going there. You know how the walls have ears.” My smile is hard. “As for wanting her gone, that makes up the entire population of Lona.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“You didn’t see how the village kids reacted to her. They’re frightened out of their wits every time she happens to cross their path.”

He studies me. “Why?”

“You know why. It’s because of the prophecy. Even our own mother acted in the name of that cursed prediction.”

“Only the supporters of the scrolls believe in the prophecy.”

“There are many in the palace,” I say dryly. “Mother and her advisor, for starters. Father and most of the royals.”

“But not Suno, not our siblings, and not all the royals.”

“Great.” I pace the floor. “That eliminates a handful of people at most.”

He follows my agitated movement with his gaze. “That’s why we have to set a trap.”

I stop dead. “No.” My reply is harsh. “I will not use my mate as bait. It’s much too dangerous.”

He watches me with that habitual eerie expressionlessness in his eyes. “Do you have a better plan?”

I grit my teeth because I don’t. As much as I hate to admit it, we’re at a dead end. Whoever is trying to kill Elsie, for whatever reason, isn’t going to give up. The multiple attempts on her life are proof of that. He’ll continue until he succeeds.

My power surfaces at the thought, anger pushing up inside me until cracks run through the walls and every window in the room explodes.

Kian stands motionless in the midst of the chaos, not showing any reaction to my loss of control. Anyone else would’ve condemned me or told me how this little demonstration plays into the hands of the believers. His lack of emotion serves to calm me, helping me to force the uninvited violence down.

Neither of us says anything as I mend the cracks and fix the windows. If only it were that easy to fix the problems I’m facing. I haven’t even started on the slave-trading operation yet. Elsie remains my priority. I won’t rest until I find the enemy trying to hurt her.

“How do you want to move forward?” Kian asks.

Knowing I can trust my brother, I put him in charge of the investigation while I kept Elsie in Marikanea. I’d hoped he would’ve sniffed out the perpetrator by now, but if he’s right and someone is clever enough to twist the truth in their memories, we have to change tactics.

“I want every person in the palace watched,” I bite out. “I want to know everything about everyone, down to what they eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

“You want me to put spies on the royals?”

I give him a hard look, leaving no doubt about my meaning. “ Everyone .”

“That’s plenty of Alit. We’ll need a lot of spies.”

My chuckle is wry. “I’m not increasing the risk by bringing more people into the palace, and I don’t trust anyone except for the guards I vetted myself. Present company excluded, of course.”

“So who will handle this?”

I grip his shoulder. “You, me, and a few guards.”

He lets out a long breath. “You should consider pulling Vitai and Gaia in. There’s too much ground to cover for just the two of us.”

I pull my lips back into a dark grin. “Who needs sleep?” I didn’t enhance my senses to hear and see through walls for nothing.

A portal appears in the center of the floor. Jaw ticking, I release Kian.

My mother steps through the portal with Tarix short on her heels. “Aruan.” She nods in greeting, wisely not trying to hug me.

I’m not sure how long it’s going to take before I can forgive her for what she did. Maybe an eternity.

“They told me you were home.” Her smile is stiff. Uncertain. “How was your visit?”

“Good,” I say, not giving her more. “Is there something you wanted?”

She folds her hands in front of her, her posture the epitome of serenity and innocence. “It’s time. I’m sending the humans home.” She faces Kian. “Your father and our advisors agreed it’s best if they don’t remember Zerra.”

“You want me to erase those memories,” Kian says.

Not deeming it necessary to confirm the statement, she addresses me. “It’s time for Elsie too.”

Time for Elsie to pay her adoptive parents a visit.

Without another word, she turns around and leaves through the portal she left open.

Tarix glances at a few small pieces of glass that remained forgotten on the floor when I repaired the windows I’d broken. His gaze flits between the shards and my face as he hurries after my mother.

When I look at Kian, he’s assessing me.

“What?” I snap.

“How much are you going to tell her parents?”

“You mean the people who raised her.”

“Yes.” He continues with the same monotonous intonation, “Her parents.”

“Just what they need to know.”

“That their daughter is a powerful Alit mated to a prince and now living on Zerra?”

I raise a brow. “And?”

“That’s more or less everything they were never supposed to know.”

“And?” I repeat.

“Are you sure in doing that you’re not signing their death sentence?”

I curl my fingers into fists. “If anyone touches them, they touch me.”

He pats my shoulder. “Just make sure everyone knows that.” He heads for the archway and pauses at the threshold. “You coming? I thought you’d be excited for a chance to see Earth.”

I throw him a crude sign, which only makes him chuckle.

When Kian walks into the hallway, I go after him.

Like all Alit children, I’d been curious about Earth when I was younger.

But after Elsie’s alleged death, my curiosity diminished.

I lost interest in just about everything.

It took all my energy to cling to sanity and be the ruler Zerra needs.

Not a day went by that I didn’t fight the numbness that had been steadily twisting around my soul like a vine, choking off the emotions I had left.

But now I feel again, and I want to know everything, especially if it concerns Elsie. I want to see the home in which she grew up and meet her adoptive parents. And that’s exactly what I will do shortly.

I’m only a few stairs and a portal away from Earth, but before I go, there’s something I need to do.

Catching up with Kian, I order, “You’re going to give me the ability to speak English.”