Page 31

“I suppose only time will tell,” Astra replied, rising from her seat. The rest of the council watched her as she descended the stairs and made to pass Ivonne, who stepped into her path.

“When you tell your dear mother of what you’ve seen, be sure to include who helped the rebels consume the city. She knows exactly what to do with traitors.”

The word tickled Astra’s ears, the space she kept vacant in her heart for a certain tall blonde throbbing. She’d used the word twice now—traitor. The intentions behind each syllable were laced with venom. Astra turned her eyes to the High Priestess’s frigid glare.

“Do not fret, Ivonne. I’ll give her every sordid detail.”

Astra pushed through the room, carrying her chin high, even as a stinging flood of uncertainty crashed through her veins.

* * *

Astra jogged through the hallway, her day dress slipping against the onyx tile behind her.

Where are you? She sent across the temple, searching for the buzzing golden energy of Ameera’s mind.

Lobby , she sent back as Astra rounded the corner.

Ameera leaned over the altar table, gathering a stack of documents and books into a woven bag, the kind the priestesses carried back and forth from services.

Helena giggled as she helped her stuff one more book inside.

“I’ll see you this evening?” Ameera asked as she caught Helena’s warm gaze.

“Looking forward to it,” Helena replied, resting the tips of her fingers against her chin.

“She’s quite pretty,” Astra observed as they exited the temple gardens and looked both ways down the city street. “Where are you taking her?”

“ She’s taking me to an art gallery in the Sixth District. Will you be okay on your own for the evening?”

Astra wiggled her eyebrows as she spotted the creaking sign swaying in the breeze over The Waning Wren. “I’m sure I can find something to entertain myself.”

“And the commander.”

“Oh, shit. Yes. Forgot about him.” Astra pushed the wooden door open and let Ameera enter the dim pub. The walls were already lined with people, despite the early evening hour.

“We made out pretty good,” Ameera said softly.

“Ivonne has been panicked over the Rift’s leaks for months now.

Helena wasn’t sure about the details, but she’s been pulling texts on the wards and origins.

She also overheard Ivonne arguing with your mother at the Spring Equinox in Lunaria.

She accused your mother of covering up something for Selenia. ”

Astra shivered. “Selenia? Why would she be in leagues with Selenia? They barely tolerated each other before her Ascent.”

The girls stepped up to the bar, the busy eyes of the bartender landing on them momentarily before pulling another pint for the man next to them.

“Forget entertainment,” Astra said. “I’ll spend all night rifling through your haul. Something about Selenia has always given me pause—if she’s involved in any of this, it can’t be good.”

The bartender stopped before the girls and Ameera glanced to each side.

“We’d like the Vega Special?”

The woman nodded her head and pointed a finger toward the corner where one of the rebels from last night’s gate-crashing sat, head buried in a news leaflet.

She didn’t approach Astra or Ameera as she felt the heat of their stares.

Instead, she stood slowly and tilted her head toward a door at the back as she stretched her neck.

The woman disappeared and Astra counted to ten in her head before following, painfully aware of the stares her presence drew as patrons tried to figure out if she was really who they suspected.

“We had a bit of an issue, Princess,” the woman murmured as they broke into the alley.

“What kind of issue?”

“You’ll see,” she sighed, yanking on the door of the building next to the pub. It pulled them into the dark underground of Ellume’s tunnels, the cold, damp air clinging to Astra’s skin as they wandered farther and farther into the city’s center.

They followed her through the labyrinth until they arrived outside of a heavily guarded set of doors. The rebel closest to them nodded as she approached, allowing them passage. As they rounded a corner, the clank of a gate startled Astra.

“Are we… in a prison?”

The woman tossed a grimace over her shoulder.

“Shit,” Ameera hissed.

A merlot-stained tension rose in their lungs as they followed the woman down another hallway, this time passing several cells.

Most of them were empty, but not all. Astra’s stomach churned with the despair in the room as prisoners stirred at the sound of their steps. The woman came to a stop at the end of the row, standing equidistant between the final two cells carved into the dirt walls.

Astra hung her head back. “Oh misty Mother above, what did you two do ?”

The commander’s head snapped up from his slumped position against the dusty wall, drawing a gasp from both Astra and Ameera. His amber eyes burned against bruised purples and reds that spilled from his nose over the planes of his face. His forearms were covered in shallow cuts and scratches.

“Surely a human didn’t do that,” Ameera whispered as he hauled himself to his feet. Astra spun, her eyes landing on Daria’s sullen glare, her arms folded against herself in the cell across from Luxuros. She looked better off, but still had several short gashes in her forearms.

“We have a very strict code of conduct here,” the woman explained.

“No physical altercations are tolerated, not even between high-ranking rebel officers like the commander.” She winced as she tossed Astra a set of keys.

“We’ll let it go this time since I understand you’ve done us a favor, but next time he’ll have to pay the fine. ”

Astra shoved the key into the lock at the edge of the iron bars, the click echoing off the stone floor and ceiling.

“What the fuck,” Astra whispered as Luxuros stepped from the cell and stood beside her. Her eyes took in every mottled marking against his flesh.

“It’s his fault,” Daria muttered, pushing herself up and leaning against the bars. Astra ignored her, keeping her attention on Luxuros.

“Did you…”

“Did I fight a woman? Is that your question, Princess?”

She frowned at his tone, the bitterness spreading like poison in the air.

“I certainly wouldn’t blame you,” Ameera said.

“Oh, please,” Daria sneered. “Your idiot commander is lucky to be alive. He thought it would be a good idea to get into a scrap with the hatchlings. I warned him they weren’t old enough to be touched!

I was trying to save his ass from their mother and the bastard caught me in the eye with his elbow?—”

“I had it under control,” Luxuros growled.

“You reveled in a chance to hit me,” Daria spat. “From the moment I dared to criticize your precious princess, you were waiting for a reason to fight.”

The commander looked away, the heat of his rage rising over the iron wall within him.

“What did she say?” Astra asked. When the commander did not meet her gaze she changed tactics. “What did you say?” she asked Daria, her mind wandering in a billion directions for what she might have revealed to Luxuros. The possibilities sparked in her chest, racing to her fingertips.

“There she is,” Daria laughed. “Queen Blastra. Go ahead, darling, burn me again. At least I’d be even,” she muttered, pulling the sleeve of her shirt back. A river of pink scars ran over her tan skin between tattoo ink and hatchling scratches.

“Healed fine,” Astra whispered, shame clutching at her throat.

“She get you yet, Commander?” Daria smirked. His eyes closed briefly, a million unreadable thoughts pulling at the corners of his lips. “Oh gods. She did, didn’t she?”

“It was self-defense,” Luxuros said, shrugging.

“It always is,” Daria returned, a hollowness to her tone that felt rather like a punch to Astra’s gut.

“Enough,” Ameera said. “We found Lumas.” She pulled a ledger from her bag and tossed it onto the ground before Daria’s cell. “We’ll be out of your hair tomorrow.”

Daria, for perhaps the first time in all their years together, had nothing more to say.