Page 25

CHAPTER 25

Ash

I stood at the entrance to the Sacred Grove, leaning on the wall beside the stone-tree arch that announced the beginning of its sacred passages, fighting to stay calm.

I didn’t want to stand there waiting for Talon or the magister who Quill had contacted to free Sage from the artifact keeping her trapped in the Garden. I wanted to get back into the sacred pool’s chamber and find evidence that pointed to everyone who was involved in attacking Sage.

But waiting here was just as important. If the High Priestess kept Talon, the magister wouldn’t know Sage was in the Divine Residence and the night’s trauma would be drawn out, something my soul screamed was unacceptable.

I clenched and unclenched my hands, my muscles twitching, desperate for movement.

Shadow shit! Stay calm.

If Lark couldn’t get Rider’s wolf to calm down, I was going to have to step up.

Goddess, please, let Lark calm Rider’s wolf. When we’d left Phoenix’s office, he was on the verge of losing it… Hell, he’d been on the verge of losing it the minute we’d stepped into the sacred pool’s chamber and saw Sage hanging in the waterfall.

If the novices had pushed him to the edge, seeing what Wells, Crane, and those other men were doing to Red had thrown him over, and now I could only pray Lark could bring him back. We needed him. He was our leader. He’d always been our leader even before he’d become the Lord Commander of the Black Guard and we’d become his captains.

I knew he didn’t think he was a very good leader. He didn’t do feelings like Quill could, he couldn’t break tensions with a quip like Talon, and he claimed he didn’t understand complex motivations and subtext like me. He said he was too straightforward for that, and in a way he was. But he also understood his weaknesses, utilized the strengths of those around him, and encouraged a camaraderie among the guardsmen that the previous Lord Commander hadn’t been able to.

And that thought only made me worry more about everything else going on. The novices this year were a disaster and adding in the attack on Sage — and how none of us were going to let it go, despite the High Priestess’s warning — we were going to be wearing ourselves thin.

Sure, I was used to juggling multiple urgent matters at once. That was just the life of a spy, but Rider, Talon, and Quill weren’t used to that level of chaos.

Lark might help Rider, but that still left Talon, who could barely control his shadow, and Quill, who was currently holding it together, but now that court was involved, he was dealing with his mother’s machinations.

I jerked away from the wall and started pacing, unable to stay still any longer.

The situation with Sage complicated everything further. My connection to her was too strong, and it was clear the other guys were attracted to her as well, even if they didn’t want to be. And now the High Priestess was involved. This wasn’t going to end well.

A swirl of black smoke manifested a few feet away, coalescing into Talon’s form. The black smoke thickened, turning into his shadow, and lashed out around his body sending a wave of desperate need crashing over me.

My cocked hardened and I bit back a moan. Every aching need I’d felt while bringing Sage relief from her mating marks earlier that night slammed through me a hundred times stronger, and the urge to find her, bury myself in her slick heat, screamed inside me.

Then the shadow rushed back into him, making him gasp and stagger forward.

“Fuck.” He caught his balance and his gaze jerked around as if looking for witnesses before landing on me.

“We’re alone,” I assured him, my cock still hard and aching.

“And the magister?”

“Hasn’t shown up yet.”

“I hope this means he’ll have everything he needs to release the new arrival and this won’t get drawn out.”

“She has a name,” I snapped, unable to stop myself even though I knew not calling Sage by her name was a self-defense mechanism for him.

Out of all of us, he was the one who couldn’t get close to her even if he wanted to. He couldn’t risk her finding out about his shadow.

“What did the High Priestess say?”

He shot me a grim look. “Nothing good.”

I waited for him to continue but he didn’t, which made my chest tighten.

I wanted to know what they had talked about, especially if it had something to do with Sage — because anything to do with Sage and the High Priestess meant I had to protect Sage. But I couldn’t push him. He’d tell me if it was important. I had to trust that.

Still, my mind whirled with all the possibilities. The High Priestess wasn’t interested in Talon as a prospective mate for herself. She already had all of hers. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to use him for something else. She loved toying with people, playing her games, and it looked like Sage was now her new favorite toy.

And standing here stewing wasn’t going to help anything.

“I told Rider I’d do another check of the sacred pool,” I said, and I glanced at the sky.

It was less than an hour until dawn, and I was going to have to get back to the Black Tower soon. Sure, it was a lieu day, but Mikel and the others were eager to get to Lehyrst. And I needed to stick with them to maintain my cover.

Thankfully, Rider had restricted Sawyer from leaving the Gray so there wasn’t a chance of running into him, and it had sounded like everyone was going to treat him like a ghost from now on, but still, anything could happen.

“We’ll meet, first thing, like usual tomorrow—” Talon followed my gaze upward. “Tonight.”

He didn’t add that first thing was our only option because the others were soon going to be in the Divine Residence to protect Sage and I couldn’t follow, but I could hear the unspoken words hanging in the air between us.

All because the High Priestess liked to play games.

“Right.” I marched through the archway into the Grove and headed toward the sacred pool.

I’d be more useful, be able to share right away what I learned from examining the pool if it weren’t for the High Priestess and her cruel nature.

My thoughts leaped to Sage kneeling before Her Brilliance, her body curled tight even though her size no longer mattered — she’d already been spotted by the predator and trying to hide was useless.

The High Priestess was cruel to have dragged Sage in front of the court, and it was obvious how much all the attention had scared her.

It was bad enough Sage was an unmated woman, but then the High Priestess had to draw attention to Sage’s magic, which just made all the unmated men at court even more interested in her.

I kicked a small stone off the path, watching it skitter into the vines. The High Priestess had the ability to sense someone’s magical potential, and she would have dismissed Sage early if Sage’s spark wasn’t bright, not played out the whole game by asking about Sages family or by spirit linking her to West.

But no, she’d confirmed Sage’s spark was bright, making her an ideal mate, drawing even more attention.

The memory of all those hungry gazes fixed on Sage made me want to scream.

Sage was soft and shy and sweet. The attack had already shaken her to her core, and then to be thrust into the spotlight like that…

Goddess be damned! We still didn’t know enough about who was behind the attack. And now Sage had earned the High Priestess’s attention.

For a moment I wondered if the High Priestess had something to do with Sage’s attack.

Somehow the High Priestess knew almost right away about it and had summoned us. Although the more likely reason for the High Priestess being aware of the attack was because of her system of spies within the Garden.

Even I didn’t know who all of them were.

Still, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling as I continued down the winding paths toward the sacred pool. It could explain why the High Priestess had forced a soul link on Sage, binding her to an unmated, male stranger.

At least Quill was with her, even if I wish it was me.

Of course, once her shock wore off, she would undoubtedly be horrified by me. Maybe it was best that I was banned from entering the Divine Residence. My heart wouldn’t be able to take it if she outright rejected me.

Except what if she didn’t?