One giant eye opened up and stared at her. Child, why are you interrupting my slumber?She held up a hand as she tried to catch her breath. “I need… to talk to… someone.”Talk to a human and do not bother me again.“My visions,” she gasped out. “They keep happening, and they’re getting stronger. I need to find out how to control them or stop them or at least what they mean. You said I was a harbinger. That I am strong in spirit magic, but I don’t know what to do, Gelryn. Please, I beg your assistance.”Gelryn’s eye had closed once more, and she thought that he had gone back to sleep. That all of this had been for nothing. But then he breathed out a wave of heat through his nostrils.Let us leave this place.“Leave?”Climb on my back, and we shall depart.“Are you… are you sure?” she whispered reverently.The last thing she wanted was to insult Gelryn, who had lost his bonded dragon rider and never taken another, but she had to be sure.Maya , do not ask me to repeat myself.She nodded
Slowly, the anger that had unfurled from him was washed away by the storm. “I didn’t expect this either.”They stared at each and something sparked that hadn’t been there before. She’d always found him attractive. She’d just never allowed herself to go past that. She hadn’t wanted to think beyond that. He was dangerous and deadly and yet…he was protecting her. And he’d gotten mad at her accusations. Her heart thudded in time with the pounding rain and felt the tension grow taut between them.Finally he nodded. She released her breath, and they continued forward in silence.The address was an old flattop building that might have once housed food stores. The brick facade was crumbling, half of the windows were broken and boarded up, and the front doorway had scorch marks on it. The entire thing looked like one stiff breeze would bring it tumbling down. It was either the perfect place for an illicit weapons deal or a death sentence.They scouted the surrounding area and found four of Rah
But when she returned to her rooms, Theo r was seated on her bed.“Hey! What are you doing here?”She sighed and held up a piece of paper. “Dozan has me sending missives now.”“I thought you were a card dealer,” she said, taking the letter from“I am, but he knows that you trust me. So, here I am.”Kerrigan waved away the note of concern and instead broke open Dozan’s red wax seal—an arrow through a capital R.The letter held an address and underneath that:Tonight at midnight.Do try not to get killed, princess.—D.R.She scowled at the letter. Princess. She hated everything that he called her, but princess was a joke. A stupid joke. Oh, how she regretted confiding in him all those years ago.“What have you gotten yourself into?” Theo asked.“There’s a weapons deal happening tonight,” Maya said. Magic flared to life at her fingertips, and she burned the note to cinders.“So?”“So, I’m going.”“What? Why?”Maya sighed. “Someone tried to kill me the other night. It was the same person
Not again.“Please no,” she whispered.But the man didn’t even balk at her whispered words. He just came for her. His first hit was clean, right to her temple. Her vision blurred and wavered. Everything swam. The second knocked into her stomach, and the air whooshed out of her lungs.She coughed and sputtered, spitting blood on the“Rahllins,” a man said, stepping in the room and momentarily halting the beating.“You dare interrupt!”“It’s just that the delivery to Black House was interrupted.”Black House. Maya swallowed down blood, just thinking about the name of the haunted mansion. What could possibly be delivered there?Clare growled. “You stay here and work on the interrogation. I’ll deal with them.”Clare stormed from the room, ignoring Fordham’s shouts of protest. The weasel-faced man stepped inside. For a moment, Maya thought he might be better than having Clare, the vicious snake, but she was wrong.“Now, why did the Society send you?” he asked, dragging over a stool and sta
“This way,” he said and then charged down the hallway.She followed after him, peeking her head into doorways. Everyone they passed was crumpled and unconscious. They didn’t have to fight a single soul as they fled the building.They both halted when they exited and saw the sun rising bright on the horizon.“The tournament,” Fordham gasped.“Shit,” Maya spat.“We’ll have to run back to the arena.”“Can you make it?” she asked him, gesturing to his side.“I’ll have to,” he said with fierce determination. “Where the hell are we?”Maya assessed their surroundings and then shook her head. “I’m not sure exactly. Still north valley. They must have moved us to a more secure location. But we mountain just have to follow the mountain.”She pointed to Draco Mountain looming in the distance. Far, far in the distance.Fordham straightened his shoulders and took off at a jog. She could hear him wheezing as she followed after him. Broken rib. If not multiple. Under no circumstances should he be run
She opened her mouth to argue, but Maya gasped, cutting her off.Darrid of Herasi, the competitor that Fordham had humiliated in the last task, was sneaking up on Fordham from behind as he dug through one of the boxes on the platform. Fordham stood, a look of triumph on his face as he slid the third piece of his medallion into place. Then Darrid was there. And just like in her vision, everything fell apart.A shove, a scream, hands reaching out.And then Fordham was free-falling toward the arena water below.His body moved past one, two, three platforms. His momentum carrying him faster and faster and faster toward that impending water. The water that would push him out of the tournament forever.Maya could hear cheers and boos from the stands. Some who were mad that Darrid had pushed Fordham. Others who were delighted to see the prince of the House of Shadows fall. But she was focused on him soaring through the air. He had no magic. He couldn’t buffer his fall. He couldn’t slow himse
That night, five years ago, when she had been beaten in the alley and had her first vision, her magic had exploded like that as well. She had been the one to knock out the Fae who were going to kill her. And all along, Dozan had let her believe that he had saved her. That she’d been about to die and he’d killed everyone to keep them from hurting her. Dozan… who had never done anything magnanimous in his entire life. Now, she knew the truth. He’d done it because she had power… power that even she didn’t know what it was or how to control it. And then she had been stupid enough to tell him about her vision that night.“What is it?” Theo asked, reading her face all too well.“Nothing,” she said with a shake of her head. “But we have to go to Black House.”Maya cringed even saying the words. She knew what Theo response would be, but it was her only lead from the weapons deal. Her only chance to find out who the assassinTheo paled. “You can’t go in there, Red.”“Well, not until Fordham is
I covet you,” he said baldly.She laughed at him. “You want my powers. Nothing more. I’m just another instrument of the king of the Wastes.”“Is that so bad?” he asked, closing the distance once more. His hand came up under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. “Is it so bad to be wanted? For your powers, for exactly who you are, Maya? I don’t want you to be anything else. You don’t have to change for me. You can be as brilliant as you are, right here, with me.”His lips dipped down toward hers, but she wrenched back before he could finish. She was not going to fall helplessly into Dozan Rook’s arms. She didn’t want to play thatShe slapped him across the face—hard. “Don’t you dare presume to kiss me.”He grinned like a Cheshire cat. “I do love your fight.”“You lied to me. You want to use me. You’re a scoundrel and an asshole.”“I am what I am, Maya,” he whispered her name like a prayer, holding his hands out in front of him.“I’m done,” she spat at him. “I’m just done. The