Page 27 of Shardless (Tempris #1)

-From the personal notes of Ivain Castaro

The 25 th day of the month Ares, during the 246 th year of the Empty Throne

As I approach my elderhood, evenings like this are what I live for. Late summer on Tempris has always been my favorite—the sunsets are so vibrant, so heartbreakingly beautiful, that even the most hard-hearted of souls couldn’t help but stop and linger.

As I write this, we are all out on the third-floor balcony—Sarina, myself, and the children—enjoying the last of the summer air. Sarina is currently sitting to my left, thoroughly engrossed in her latest hobby. Something with glass and paint that I don’t really care to understand. And of course, the children, if I can really still call them that, are doing what they do best—bickering .

In her attempt to educate the younglings on mortal culture, Sarina recently taught them how to play a human game called chess. It has been an entertaining experiment, to say the least, especially considering how antagonistically competitive those two have always been. The game they started this evening has been going on for nearly two hours now.

They are at a standstill currently, and though Skye has more pieces left on the board, I believe Taly may actually have the advantage—if she can keep it. Her strategy is quite bold. So far, she has risked everything, even going so far as to sacrifice her queen two turns back. Skye, however, has chosen a different approach. I daresay he is at times as daring as Taly in his tactics, but only to a point. For he has now retreated and protects his queen at all costs. He has already had several opportunities to take the lead, but he refuses to give up that one piece.

And now I see that she has him backed into a corner. He has nowhere else to retreat and no choice but to play his queen or throw the game. Taly is already quite confident in her impending victory, but Skye seems to be wavering now in the face of defeat. I know for a fact that there is nothing the boy hates more than losing to Taly, but after such dogged dedication to this strategy of his, I can’t help but wonder which option he’ll choose.

“No,” Skye said tersely as he handed off yet another stack of paperwork to a young fire mage. The petite woman almost had to run to keep up with him as he strode into the main building. “Tell Carlin that the mortals stay inside the keep. The other fey can complain all they want, but the fact of the matter is they’re better equipped to deal with the cold. Mortals get sick far more easily, and we barely have enough earth mages to go around as it is. If more fights break out, open up the dungeons downstairs and throw the dissidents down there to cool off. Also, inform Geran that I won’t be able to meet with him until later this evening.”

“Yes, sire,” the girl replied, sounding almost as harried as Skye felt. “And Lord Emrys? Er… the other Lord Emrys? What shall I tell him?”

Skye stopped at the entrance to the servants’ stairwell, shaking his head. Kato had been clamoring for his attention all morning, but he just hadn’t found the time to meet with him yet. He barely had time for his current errand. “Tell my brother that unless it’s urgent, he’s going to have to wait. I’ve got 20 different people bending my ear right now, and they all want something different.”

“Yes, sire.” The girl bobbed her head before turning and disappearing into the crowd milling about the great hall.

It was just after midday, and Skye breathed a sigh of relief as he started taking the stairs two at a time. This was the first moment of peace he’d had all morning. Between organizing the teams responsible for scrounging the surrounding area for supplies and trying to devise a training regimen to teach the civilian mages basic combat formations, he was starting to regret stumbling out of bed before the fifth bell had struck just to tag along with Taly to do a little pre-dawn research.

There’s a lie , he thought, grinning like a fool as he ascended the final stair to the top floor of the living quarters. The worn carpet muffled the sound of his footsteps as he made his way to the end of the hallway, to the suite he and Taly had shared. Yes, he was tired. Well, exhausted. But he didn’t regret a single moment of that morning. From waking up with Taly in his arms to that life-altering kiss they had shared in the library—he wouldn’t change a thing. Except for the part where Kato had interrupted them. That he would change.

Skye came to a stop in front of the door to their room, and his hands were shaking as he combed his fingers through his hair. Why am I so nervous? he wondered, attempting to straighten his wrinkled shirt. It was just Taly. Not much had changed since that morning. Except for everything. Only everything had changed.

What if she says no? That thought had occurred to him at least once or twice since they had parted ways. He had asked her what she wanted, and she had never given him a clear answer. Yes, she had let him kiss her again—seemed open to his advances—but she could still change her mind. She could still decide that she just wanted to be friends.

Before he could second-guess himself, Skye pushed open the door and then quietly closed it behind him as he stepped into the antechamber. He could see Taly just beyond the doorway, her back hunched as she leaned over a writing desk that had been shoved into a corner. Her hair had been swept to the side and braided, and she had changed into a plain white linen shirt with long tapered sleeves that were pulled down and buttoned at her wrists. The toe of her boot tapping out an absentminded rhythm was the only sound breaking the silence as she studied whatever was on the desk in front of her with rapt interest.

“Hey, Tink?”

Taly whirled around, her hand clutching her chest. “Shards!” she yelped, her gray eyes wide. “Wear a bell or something!”

Skye chuckled, his hands in his pockets as he came closer. To his great surprise and delight, she hadn’t buttoned her shirt yet, and he could clearly see the lace of her undergarments peeking out from underneath the sheer fabric of her camisole. The long lines of toned muscle, the sharp curve of her waist, the generous swell of her breasts—all were on full display to his eager eyes. Beautiful. Strong . A far cry from the half-starved waif he’d had to coax and cajole into talking to him as he walked her back to the manor only a few short weeks ago.

Noticing his intense scrutiny, Taly tensed, her fingers twitching. But she didn’t tug at the edges of her shirt, not even when he let his eyes drift down and linger—tracing and retracing the feminine contours of her body.

“What are you staring at?” she muttered, her back stiff as she turned back to the desk.

Closing the remaining distance between them in a few long strides, Skye wrapped his arms around her, pulling up the fabric of her camisole and letting his hands rest on the smooth skin of her stomach. “You,” he murmured, delighting in the slight flush that reached even the tips of her ears. Pressing his nose into the crook of her neck, he finally allowed himself to fully take in her scent. Even after he had been cleared to use his magic, he had abstained back in the library, afraid that the extra layer of stimulation might break his already tenuous restraint.

“You know I don’t like it when you do that,” she said with a soft sigh, one hand coming up to tangle in his hair.

“Do what?” he asked, slightly dazed. Shards, she smelled good—like mint and sage, with just a hint of jasmine. There was a faint tickle of iron, just around the edges—distinct but easily ignored.

“I don’t like being scented. You know that. Besides, you’re a shadow mage, not a dog. I know it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes but—"

Skye pinched her sides, just where he knew she was ticklish. “I could be a dog,” he said, his own laughter mixing with hers. “If you feed me, I’ll just keep coming back.”

She turned in his arms, placing a hand on his chest. It was just enough to make him pull back. Yes, he wanted to push her, but, first and foremost, he wanted her to want to be pushed.

“Spoilsport,” Skye muttered, pressing his lips to her brow. “I’m sorry, but that shadow mage in Ryme didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, and you should never have given him a second thought. Humans do not reek of iron. That was a gross exaggeration.”

“Says you,” she quipped. Her hands twisted in his collar, pushing the fabric aside. Skye shivered when he felt her fingertips ghost across his skin. “But then again—"

Unable to resist the urge any longer, Skye pressed his mouth to hers, a low moan escaping him when her hands found their way into his hair, teasing and tugging as she eagerly returned his kiss .

She was the first to pull away, and he followed her, placing one last gentle kiss just at the edge of her mouth. “I’ve been wanting to do that all morning,” he murmured against her lips, not ready for the moment to be over just yet. “You were saying?”

“What are you doing back so early?” she asked breathily, turning back to the cluttered tabletop. “I wasn’t expecting you until tonight.”

“I’m between meetings, so I thought I’d come check on you.” Looking over her shoulder at the faded map spread out on the desktop, he added, “See if I needed to put you to bed.” That earned him a sharp elbow to the ribs, and then another when he just laughed shamelessly. “Seriously, though, how are you feeling? You had me worried.”

“Fine.” Taly’s head snapped up. “I’m fine,” she repeated, turning back to the map. “Tell me, have you talked to Kato yet?”

“Nope.” Skye dropped down into the desk chair that had been pushed off to the side. “He’s been trying to track me down, but I’ve been tied up with Kane all morning. Why?”

“No reason,” she replied a little too quickly.

“What did he do?” Skye asked, bristling. If his brother was trying to mess with Taly just to get to him… and when they were dealing with shades on top of everything else…

“Please.” Taly glanced at him from the corner of her eye, giving him a sly wink that made his heart stutter. “I think I know how to deal with you Emrys boys by now.”

“And I like to think I still have a few tricks you haven’t seen.” Although, he would be more than happy to divulge every trick he knew if it would convince her to crawl into his bed and never leave.

Standing up straight, Taly began buttoning her shirt, rolling her eyes when he pouted. “I have something to tell you, and I don’t think you’re going to like it,” she said, suddenly serious. “I’m going to Plum. I’m going to try to make it to their scrying relay.”

“Are you kidding? That’s a terrible idea,” Skye said, his eyes narrowing. For the first time since he’d walked in, he noticed that her pack rested at her feet, and panic coiled deep in his belly.

Taly began pacing in a nervous circle as she tucked in her shirt tail. “Skye, we have no way of knowing if the other villages have been hit yet. Sure, this might be a one-off thing, but it might not be. Send me to Plum. There’s another relay there—one that might still work. If not, then I can move on to Vale, even Bago if I need to. If I can find a relay that’s still operational, I might be able to get a message out before this happens again. Or, at the very least, contact Ryme and get you the backup that you need.”

Grabbing her by the arm as she passed, Skye said, “No. Were you not there this morning when we all unanimously decided that going to Plum would be suicide?”

“For a fey, maybe,” Taly said, pushing him away. “But I’m not fey. I’m human—that means no aether. If I’m careful, I won’t attract beasts or shades. And if something does go wrong, I know how to defend myself.”

Skye shook his head. “Taly, this is not the time to go off and play hero. If you want to help, then stay. You can contribute more right here than off in the woods somewhere.”

“That’s not true,” she argued stubbornly. “ While I might be good for digging through a pile of old books and repairing a rusty tower gun, I’m just going to be another liability on the road. I’ve already looked at the preliminary census data, and anything I could contribute would just be redundant. I have no value here. But out there…” She looked at him pointedly. “I need to do this, Skye. I can’t just stay here and do nothing.”

Skye was silent for a long moment, his eyes taking in her wide stance and crossed arms. She wasn’t going down without a fight. “I’m sorry, Taly. I can’t let you go off alone.”

“You don’t get to make that choice,” she replied simply. “I know the way, and I can handle myself. I’m going.”

Standing, Skye took her in his arms, pressing his nose to her hair and noting the way her arms came up to circle his waist—despite the look of defiance he’d seen in her eyes only moments before. “No.” When she tried to push him away, he held on. “Just think about this for a minute. I know you can handle yourself, but you were lucky to get away from those things the first time. We’re both lucky to be standing here right now.”

“I’m going, Em,” she said more forcefully. She pushed against him, stumbling slightly when he let her go. That rebellious flame had been rekindled and shone brighter than he’d ever seen it. “We both have a part to play right now. Let me play mine.”

No, no, no! his mind screamed at him. It was madness. Had she hit her head yesterday? That was the only reasonable explanation he could come up with to describe this insanity. His fists clenched at his sides as he suppressed the urge to sling her over his shoulder and force her to see the healer. He had dealt with Taly’s stubbornness before. He just needed to remain calm and reason her out of this corner she had somehow backed her way into.

“Look, I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do,” Skye said. “I can’t make you stay. But here’s what I will do. I’ll make you a deal. It’s going to take us a few days until we’re ready to move, and we’re not giving up on fixing the scrying relay here. Let’s see if we can bring it back online. If we can’t, then come with us to Della. It’s not far, and there’s a relay there. If that one’s down too, then we’ll regroup—reopen the discussion about going to Plum or Vale. If we get a foothold in Della, then that becomes a far more reasonable distance to travel—a few hours there and back. We could even spare a team. That sound fair?”

“That’s a great plan, Em, but it’s going to take too long. The other villages on the island might not have a few days. I’m going. You can’t stop me.”

“Fine!” Skye snapped, rounding on her. She refused to give up any ground, her chin raised high as she stared up at him defiantly. “If you want to go get yourself killed, you have to see the healer first.” He couldn’t help but laugh when her eyes widened. It had been a gamble, but it paid off. While he had no idea why she seemed so reticent to let the earth mages examine her, if he could use that to his advantage, he would.

“I don’t need to see the damned healer,” Taly ground out, a low inhuman, nearly fey growl emanating from deep within her chest.

Skye started at the sound but quickly shook off his surprise. Before she could argue any further, he said, “Prove to me that you’re of sound body and mind, and I’ll send you on your way. After all, I’m certainly in no position to turn down volunteers at this point.”

“Em—”

“Oh, don’t ‘Em’ me,” Skye shot back. “If you won’t see the healer, then I’m not going to get behind this. I’ll tell you the same thing I told Eula—I’m not going to send our men and women to their deaths. You collapsed on me not two hours ago, but now you’re saying that you’re fit to trek halfway across the island? And fight shades on top of that? I don’t buy it.”

“Shards, stop being so overprotective. You’re as bad as Sarina.”

“Really? That’s your go-to argument right now?” he asked dubiously, reaching for her wrist and pushing up her sleeve so he could study the web of discoloration. When she struggled against him, he let her go. “You were supposed to go see the healer this morning for those bruises, but you notice I didn’t say anything about that.”

“Because I don’t need a healer. This” —Taly held up her wrist after checking to make sure that the cuff was securely buttoned— “looks worse than it actually is.” When Skye looked at her, a single eyebrow arched skeptically, she stuttered, “I-it doesn’t hurt—much. I don’t know why it looks so bad. I think I’m just getting clumsier.”

Skye snorted a laugh. “You always did have a knack for running into anything with a sharp edge.” Reaching over, he tucked a finger under her chin, pulling her eyes back to his. “Look, we’ve both had a rough few days, and I think we’re both feeling it. You’ve already done enough for today. Get some sleep, and then we’ll talk again tonight.”

When it looked like she was about to protest again, he wrapped his arms around her. “Please, Taly. Just work with me here. In the past month, I’ve watched you almost die twice, and that’s not including the time I spent yesterday thinking I might not get to see you again. I’m pretty sure I saw a gray hair in the mirror last night, and that’s something that shouldn’t happen until I’m well past the age of being an elder. So please, for the sake of my sanity and my hair, just give me some time to work through all of this. We’ll come up with something. And you have my word that if I see a way you can help, I’ll use you.”

Taly was silent, her lips pressed together in a frown as she fidgeted with one of the buttons on his shirt. She had that look on her face that Skye knew all too well. The look that said she was just getting started.

Shards, he hated that look.

He braced himself, getting ready for the next argument, the next wave of stubborn anger. But it never came. Her eyes briefly flicked to her pack before finding his. Something had just been decided, even if he wasn’t quite sure what that was. Then, in a surprising turn of events, her face relaxed, and she gave him a gentle smile.

Skye felt breathless as she reached up and ran a hand through his hair—as though that simple touch had sucked the aether from his veins. Her fingertips lightly grazed his scalp, and a visible shudder shook his frame when he felt the whisper of her touch against the pointed tip of his ear. Still smiling, she said, “Well, I think you’re lying about the gray.”

Did she just… yes. Yes, she did .

Skye barely managed to bite back a moan as she let her fingers boldly trail along the shell of his ear, bringing her hand down to rest on his chest. Whether she realized it or not, she had just done something very intimate , at least as far as the fey were concerned. Something he desperately wanted her to do again.

A large yawn suddenly overtook her, and she buried her face in his shoulder. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do need a nap.”

“I think that’s a wise decision,” Skye murmured. He released a sharp breath when he felt her lips press against the side of his neck. “But first, I need to hear you say it.”

“Say what?” she asked, her tongue darting out to taste his skin.

Oh Shards, she was trying to kill him. He was sure of it now.

“You know what.” Skye had to force himself to pull back as that sweet little mouth continued to assault his neck. “ Miss I didn’t lie, I just didn’t correct you when you made certain assumptions ? I’m not taking any chances. Say it—out loud.”

Taly glared at him before finally rolling her eyes. “Fine. I’ll get some rest, and we can talk about Plum later. Happy?”

“Thank you,” Skye said, squeezing his eyes shut and trying his best to redirect some of the blood flow back into his brain. “Now… I need to go. I was supposed to be downstairs ten minutes ago to meet with Eula, and then I can’t even remember what I’m supposed to do after that. Apparently, I’m also supposed to find time to meet with Kato as well.”

As soon as he mentioned his brother’s name, Taly’s eyes became shuttered and her body tensed. Although he was tempted to ask what had happened, Skye didn’t push her. Kato had clearly done something to upset her, and when she was ready to tell him, he would listen. Then, he would go pound Kato into the ground. At the very least, he had that to look forward to.

Skye moved to release her, but her fingers coiled in his shirt.

“Wait,” she said, peeking up at him through a veil of dark lashes. “Just… not yet.”

He knew she could feel the rapid beat of his heart as her hands snaked their way up his chest, and there was no way she hadn’t heard his sharp intake of breath when she pressed her body more firmly against his. His arms tightened around her, and the feline smile she gave him when he pulled her even closer would no doubt be playing a leading role in his dreams for many nights to come.

He let her take the lead—trying to be patient as her fingers traced his jaw, then his lips, her eyes trailing every movement as though she wanted to memorize him. And when she finally— finally— pulled his head down and pressed her mouth to his, he realized for not the first time that this woman was going to get him into trouble. Because even though she was still shy and tentative and just a little clumsy, that simple, chaste kiss sparked a wave of desire so vicious, it made him dizzy. It made his blood sizzle, sent icy shivers down his spine. It left him starving and yet somehow sated.

She pulled away far too quickly for Skye’s liking, her cheeks flushed. “Sorry,” she said, a hint of melancholy coloring her words. “You can tell Eula it’s my fault you’re late. I just really wanted to do that one more time.”

If Skye had been thinking clearly as he slowly backed away, reluctantly making his way back towards the door, he might have noticed the way she gripped the edge of the desk a little too tightly .

If he had been able to tear his thoughts away from the fact that he could still taste her on his lips, he might have seen that the smile she gave him didn’t quite reach her eyes.

And maybe something inside him did. But during that moment, he pushed that little voice to the back of his mind as his attention was once again pulled back to the never-ending list of tasks still waiting for him. They would talk later that night when he’d finally managed to satisfy the horde of people chasing after him, each one needing something different.

“Hey,” Taly called out to him just as he was about to turn the knob.

“Yeah?” Skye asked, turning slightly.

She was still leaning against the desk, still smiling that heartbreakingly beautiful smile. “Bye, Em.”

Giving her what he hoped was only a somewhat lovestruck grin, Skye turned the knob, opening the door before he was tempted to blow off Eula in favor of crawling into bed with Taly for some much-needed rest.

“Bye, Tink,” he said as he closed the door behind him.

“Where the hell have you been?” Kato exploded as soon as Skye walked through the door of Commander Enix’s office. “You were supposed to be here almost half an hour ago.”

Skye eyed his brother in irritation as he strode across the long expanse of the tower office. Floor-to-ceiling rows of books lined the walls of the airy space, and the peaked ceiling had been foiled with artfully embossed tiles—something Enix had seen in the mortal realm and then insisted on installing in every suite and office in the compound.

With an irritated sigh, Skye flung the stack of books and ledgers some Ensign had thrust into his hands on top of the cluttered desk—a great massive thing that had been forged from a single living tree coaxed into growing into something vaguely desk-shaped. Spiraling wooden tendrils coiled up the legs and sides, and tiny white blooms dotted each vine, their petals glimmering like pearls. Shrugging out of his coat, he stared out the circular window that dominated most of the back wall. The rain was finally starting to let up, and he could just see the dome of the library peeking through the clouds across the skyway.

That library held some very good memories for him now.

“I got held up,” Skye finally said when Kato started tapping his toe impatiently. “Now what was it that was so important I had to push back my meeting with Sorin?”

Stiff-backed and tense, Kato checked the door, his hands pressing into the gnarled wood as he activated the wards that protected the room from other shadow senses , as Taly liked to call them. “I thought it was only right to tell you first, before… well.” Kato sighed as he trudged back across the room, coming to a stop in front of the desk where he shifted restlessly. “It’s about Taly. ”

“What did you do?” Skye growled, his voice low as he recalled the troubled look in Taly’s eyes. He knew Kato had done something to upset her.

“What?” Kato exclaimed. “I didn’t do anything.” He held up a hand before Skye could reply. “Just listen. This isn’t easy for me either. I… I know I always gave you shit about her because she was a mortal, but I can see now why you like her so much. She’s easy to like. But… damn it, there’s no easy way to say this. She’s part of it, Skye. Taly’s a part of this—the attacks, the crystals in the gate. She’s not who you think she is. She’s a traitor.”

Placing both hands on the desk, Skye glared at Kato through narrowed eyes, just barely suppressing the urge to bare his teeth. “Kato, you are on very dangerous ground right now.”

“Think about it!” Kato pounded his fists on the desktop. “None of this started happening until she got here.”

“If that’s your only proof, then I’m just as culpable,” Skye countered, crossing his arms as he turned to look out the window. “And so are half the people down in that courtyard.”

“It’s not,” Kato whispered sadly. “I wish it was. Believe me, I do. But it’s not. There’s magic on her—layer upon layer of enchantments.”

Skye forcibly pushed down the bile that burned his throat. It was a trick. If there were magic on her, he would’ve noticed. “And how exactly would you know that?” was all he said in reply.

Kato ducked his head, a sweep of auburn hair falling across his eyes. “This morning in the library, my magic sparked when I touched her. I thought I was just tired at the time, but something didn’t feel right. So when I took her downstairs after the meeting, I did a little more prodding and… I’ve never seen anything like it. Just on the surface, she’s drenched in water magic. The subtlety, the grace, the detail... I’ve never seen a water glamour like that, Skye. I almost gave up, thinking that I was wrong, but then I found a tear in the spell. I was able to weave my way through the overlay.”

Skye swallowed convulsively. No , he thought, shaking his head. Kato was lying. He had to be.

“And underneath?” Kato continued, either unaware or uncaring of Skye’s inner turmoil. “Shadow magic—a… a web of shadow magic. I didn’t have much time, so I wasn’t able to get a good look at it all. I saw a few aether suppression spells, memory alteration…” Kato’s voice trailed off. “I’m sorry, brother,” he said with genuine sympathy, “but I think it’s safe to say that she was involved with the incident at the Seren Gate.”

“Even if what you said was true,” Skye choked out, “I was with her all last night. There’s no way she could have had anything to do with the crystals going missing from the Seren Gate."

“You never went to sleep?” Kato pressed. “Never left her alone, even for a few moments?”

Skye pretended to study something off in the distance. They had parted ways, he realized, dread snaking its way around his heart. He and Taly. After the attack, after she had found him in the courtyard—he had sent her upstairs to clean up while he saw to his duties. And then later that night, after they had fallen asleep, he hadn’t woken up to her soft crying until well after the guards reported being knocked out.

No! his mind howled. It was impossible. This attack had taken an inordinate amount of planning and coordination. There would’ve been some sign, some clue before today that Taly had been working with them. As it was, she had been with someone almost every moment of every day since the harpy. If not him, then Sarina or Ivain or Aiden. Even Aimee had come up and played a few hands of cards when everyone else had been busy. And the few rare moments that she had been alone—when Sarina had been out of the house, and he had been chained to his desk—he had heard her at the piano, practicing scales, playing her favorite pieces, or just picking out a tune that she had been humming to herself since she was a child. There wasn’t a single second in the days leading up to the attacks that he couldn’t account for.

Except for that night in Della. Skye’s stomach sank. They had parted ways on the eve of the first attack when he’d so stupidly thought that sleeping with Adalet would somehow slake his growing thirst for the girl he’d known since he was ten—his friend. His match. Taly would’ve had more than enough time to send a message on the scrying relay while he had been sitting at the bar, desperately trying to figure out how to weasel his way back into her good graces.

And if Kato had sensed magic clinging to her… “Say nothing of this to anyone until I have a chance to talk to her,” Skye finally said, a dark, gaping hole opening up in his chest.

Kato raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I may have overplayed my hand earlier—tipped her off. I think we need to move on this as—”

“No!” Skye snarled. Kato gaped at him, stunned. Taking a deep breath, swallowing back his anger and fear, his voice was remarkably steady when he said, “I will not allow you to start a witch hunt until I can verify your claims. There are perhaps… other elements at work here.” Like memory alteration, compulsion, or any of a hundred other ways someone could’ve forced their will on her. “Factors that we haven’t considered. Let me speak to her.”

Kato looked like he wanted to argue, but thinking better of it, he stepped to the side in reluctant surrender. “I’ll wait here.”

Skye nodded shakily, ignoring the pitying look he could feel boring into his back as he quickly exited the office. He counted his breaths as he marched across the courtyard. The rain had tapered off to a fine drizzle, but he was oblivious to the mist that clung to his skin and the mud that sloshed beneath his boots.

Too soon, he found himself standing in front of the door to their shared room. For the second time that day, he stared at the carved surface, and his heart pounded out a deafening rhythm in his ears. This time, however, the pulsating beat threatening to tear a hole in his chest was for an entirely different reason. Dread—thick and oily and all-consuming—clawed its way into his body, constricting his throat and making his stomach churn.

Please , he pleaded with whoever might be listening, not her . Let it be a lie. Let this be just one more of Kato’s tricks. Like the time his brother had dumped him out at the northern edge of their family’s territory during the dead of winter, luring him out there with the promise of teaching him how to hunt. Only five years old, and Skye had almost lost a toe to frostbite.

Before he could empty the contents of his stomach across the carpet, Skye forcefully shoved open the door, the thick slab of wood creaking on its hinges as it slammed against the wall.

One step, then another, through the antechamber and then Skye stood in the middle of the main room. Alone. Taly’s pack was gone. Her weapons, which had been strewn across the entryway table the last time he entered, were gone. Her maps, the clothes she had hung to dry in the closet, her journal that he had previously spied on the foot of the bed—all gone.

She was gone.

“No,” he whispered.

In a flurry of movement, Skye tore through the room, searching for any sign that his eyes might be lying to him. He ripped the blankets off the bed, his panicked mind thinking that she could be hiding there, and the door to the washroom groaned as he flung it open. His eyes took in the white marble walls and gilded furnishings, but it was empty. Her side of the sink had been wiped clean.

Nowhere. Nothing. Gone.

“No,” he mumbled, his hands tearing at his hair. Although her scent still lingered in the air, there was no trace of her to be seen. She had even put out the fire. “No, no, please… Shards, no…”

Stumbling over to the desk where she had been standing not even an hour ago, Skye’s eyes landed on the single snowdrop that had been laid to rest on a folded slip of paper. With shaking hands, he unfolded the note, that rift in his chest cleaving open even further when he saw her neat, loopy handwriting .

I’m sorry, Em, but I have to make this right. Don’t come looking for me.

-Tink

Skye’s shoulders started to shake, and it took him a moment to realize that there were tears welling in his eyes as he sunk to the floor. The note slipped from his fingers, and her words from that morning replayed in his head.

There’s one more thing, Em. One more thing that might change the calculus.

It has to do with why I left last year.

That’s when it started.

Shards, she had tried to tell him. When they were in the library, she had tried to tell him. But he hadn’t been listening. He hadn’t taken her seriously when she said that her reasons for leaving were important, a small part of him still thinking that her departure was the result of some childish tantrum. But what if it wasn’t? Would Taly still be here if he’d given her the priority that morning—pushed the meeting back so he could hear what she had to say? Would he have been able to head this off if he had read the signs better?

Skye felt numb, his body moving of its own accord as he raced down the stairs and back through the massive archway of the main building. He could just detect her scent clinging to the carpets, and he followed it, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he might still be able to catch her. She had taken the servants’ stairs, but, just as he feared, the trail ended in the courtyard, the rain having already washed it away. He questioned the guards at the main gate, but neither could recall having seen her leaving the keep. As it was, she could have easily slipped past with one of the teams that had been sent out to salvage scrap.

Skye skipped the aether lift, choosing instead to take the stairs back to the commander’s tower office—to Kato, who was still waiting.

“Well?” Kato asked before Skye had even managed to close the door and rearm the wards.

Skye stood there for a long moment, taking in his brother’s slightly flushed appearance, the tense set of his shoulders. Kato knew he was right. Although Skye beat him in terms of sheer amount of power, Kato was by no means weak. If there was magic clinging to Taly, he was more than capable of sniffing it out.

The words were out of Skye’s mouth before he’d even managed to process the response. “It’s nothing. You were wrong.”

“What?” A sharp retort. Kato’s eyes widened, shock distorting his features.

“You were wrong,” Skye repeated, louder this time. More confident. “About Taly. She’s not a part of this.”

“But I felt magic,” Kato burst out. “Shadow and water and—”

“I’m aware.” Skye strode across the room, pretending to study something on the desktop. Breathing deeply, he made a conscious attempt to slow his heart, to school his features into dismissive boredom. “But I already knew about the spells.”

Kato followed him, refusing to back down. “Why would she have had spells cast on her?”

Clasping his hands behind his back, Skye turned to meet Kato’s questioning stare, hoping that his brother couldn’t see the desperation in his eyes as he searched for a plausible excuse. “Taly had a run-in with a harpy several weeks ago. She lost a lot of blood, which exacerbated what the healer said was an allergic reaction to the harpy venom. In the three weeks leading up to today, she’s had countless healing spells cast on her. That’s most likely what you felt.”

“I felt shadow magic, Skylen. And water. Not earth,” Kato snapped, a dangerous edge to his voice.

Skye nodded. “The beasts on the island get a little out-of-hand this close to the Aion Gate connection. It can make traveling with active enchantments a little tricky, but Taly was getting so stir-crazy, I told her I’d figure something out.”

“Really?” Kato asked dubiously. “And this solution of yours involved both a high-level water glamour and aether suppression spells? All to mask the scent of a few healing spells?”

Skye shrugged. “As you well know, earth magic is much more pungent than any other school of magic, so we had to get creative. I cast a few aether suppression spells, but that didn’t fully mask the scent. Not naturally. So, I enlisted the help of Ivain’s niece. She’s a water mage and very talented when it comes to glamours, so that’s probably why you had such a difficult time getting beneath the overlaying enchantment to see the spell matrix underneath.”

“And the memory alteration spells?” Kato made no effort to mask the suspicion behind his words.

“Nightmares,” Skye replied automatically, the story coming to him much more easily than he expected. “Taly was having nightmares about the harpy attack, and she would wake up thrashing. Her wounds kept reopening, so Ivain cast a memory alteration enchantment to help her sleep at night.”

A neat, airtight explanation—everything in its place.

Kato looked at him pointedly, his lips curling into a sneer. “And you didn’t mention this before because…”

“Because we can’t be too careful.” Skye turned to look out the window. As he channeled just a little more aether, the shapes of the people milling about below came into focus. Even though he knew she wouldn’t be down there, he still searched for Taly among the nameless faces in the crowd. “Someone in this compound is working against us. If it was Taly, then we needed to know, my personal feelings aside. But it’s not. I sat down with her, examined the spells—there’s nothing out of place.”

Finally, a flicker of doubt, perhaps even relief, flashed in Kato’s eyes. “Where is she now? I’d like to speak to her.”

“That’s not possible.”

Kato raised a single brow, his face becoming impassive. Unreadable. “And why is that?”

“Because she’s gone,” Skye replied, allowing just a small amount of his own worry to surface. Kato would no doubt hear the spike in his heart rate, the slight elevation in his breathing. “She volunteered to go to the relay in Plum.”

Taking careful, slow steps, Kato rounded the desk, coming to stand next to Skye. “That’s suicide. You said it yourself.”

“And that’s what I told her,” Skye replied with a sigh. At least that part was true. True enough that he hoped Kato wouldn’t see the lie behind what he said next. “But her reasoning was valid. She’s quick, she knows the way, and since she’s coated in several layers of concealment magic, she doesn’t smell like aether. She won’t attract beasts or shades. All in all, she’s the perfect candidate.”

Kato was quiet as he stared through the hazy fog just outside the window. “Do you actually expect me to believe that you sent that girl to her death? Taly? Your Taly? Don’t play me for a fool, Skye. A blind man could see what she means to you."

“We are all having to make sacrifices right now,” Skye interjected quietly, letting every ounce of anguish he currently felt leach into his voice. “And this is not one that I made lightly.”

A pause, barely half a beat, and then, “Of course, I…” Kato shifted his weight, sensing the genuine heartbreak behind his brother’s words. “I’m sorry.” It looked as though he might say something else. His mouth opened, and his eyes took on a faraway look. Then, thinking better of it, he gave a half-hearted jerk of his head as he turned to go.

Only when the door clicked closed did Skye finally allow himself to breathe again.

What the hell had he just done? How much would that lie cost him? Sure, he had covered for Taly before… but this? This was a betrayal to his honor, a renouncement of his duty. She had turned against them. She had somehow become a part of something that had taken thousands of lives. Why else would she have just disappeared after Kato questioned her?

Pulling her note from his pocket, Skye ran his finger along the few lines of script.

I have to make this right.

No. There had to be something that he wasn’t seeing. He refused to believe that Taly was willingly complicit in this nightmare. After all, this was the same girl that hadn’t been able to kill a rabbit. There’s no way she’d be able to take an innocent life. And if Kato had been right about the memory alteration spells, who knew what else could have been done to her. She might not have a choice. She might not even know the full extent of what she was doing.

That day in the training yard, when you discharged the dagger in my hand, that was when I figured out that… that’s when it started. That’s what she had told him earlier that morning in the library.

What if someone had gotten to her? She had started going into town more often on her own last year, so it was possible. If that was the case, then maybe he hadn’t really hurt her when he discharged the dagger. Maybe he just destabilized the enchantments that had been placed upon her—just enough that she had become partially aware that something had been done to her. Enough to try to run. To spare them—Skye, Ivain, and Sarina—from something she didn’t understand. That sounded more like the girl he knew.

With a heavy sigh, Skye sunk down into the high-backed desk chair that had been rolled off to the side. The leather creaked, and the casters groaned as he leaned back. It was pure speculation. Without examining her himself, he had no way to prove Taly’s innocence. Nevertheless, he clung to it. He needed whatever small sliver of hope he could find. Taly was his friend. His best friend. But this risk that he was taking went far beyond that. Beyond friendship, beyond a few stolen kisses or some fledgling infatuation.

Infatuation. That word gave him pause.

Shards , he thought, his hand coming to rest on his chest, rubbing at the strange aching void that now seemed to linger there. I’m an idiot . How could he have not seen this? How could he have gone this long without figuring it out? This was Taly, and he’d have to be stupid to think that his feelings for her could ever be anything as insignificant and shallow as infatuation .

Something clicked into place. Something he’d known for a while now but had refused to admit to himself. The lie he had just told made it impossible to continue to overlook this glaringly obvious truth.

“Holy shit,” Skye muttered as he continued to stare out the window with unseeing eyes. “I’m in love with her.” He had been for a long time.

He still clutched her note in his hand.

Don’t come looking for me.

Her final request. One that he would not honor. Because he was going to find her. And he was going to help her. Then, when he figured out who had dared to lay a hand on what was his to protect, he was going to kill them. With their last dying breath, he would make sure they understood the gravity of the mistake they had made when they had come to his island and brought harm to his Taly.