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It was her. It’s always been her.
He hands me the keyed charms, but I’m too numb to feel them hit my palm. He stares at me for a long, hard minute and then asks, “Are you well?”
If I mention her, he’ll get all possessive and growly. She’s an ancient faerie who stole the six most powerful creatures to walk the earth and bound them to her. She stole my magic. Taking her down won’t be a walk in the park.
“Yeah. These help.”
“Take my coat. It’s freezing out there.”
I let him slide his black brocade coat over my arms. It’s the same one he wore to the temple, is fur-lined, and smells like him. I deposit the charms in the pockets.
“Pet,” he murmurs, lifting my chin. But before he can say anything else, his eyes grow distant, as if someone else speaks into his mind.
“What is it?” I whisper.
“There’s been another attack.” He scrubs his face. A sigh. “We’re called out of the city to investigate.”
“All of you?”
He nods. “After what happened at Burn After Reading, Legion strongly suggests I’m not at the Nexus to draw attention.”
“I can see the wisdom in that. You might trigger someone’s memory.”
“We’ll be out all day,” he says, “but I’ll check in if distance permits.”
“You act like I can’t take care of myself.” I clench my fist around the gems. “But thank you for this.”
Chapter
Fifty
PUCK
My tailored leather loafers are ruined. The frost-encrusted lawn outside the Cabinet’s inner temple is wet, icy, and unforgiving. But worth it.
I crouch to collect one of the resonance recorder stones I placed around the temple earlier. It’s hot. So we had visitors, after all.
I hold out my palm and activate the stone. The air above it shimmers and fills with flickering light. The picture of the silver-haired Shadow flickers into existence. I watch as she exits the temple with a glass jar of wisps tucked under her arm. She becomes stuck halfway through the wards and almost drops the jar.
“Phew. That was close.”She exhales a shaky laugh.“The last thing we want is a thousand manabeeze floating in the sky, announcing to the guards that I just raided the queen’s Cabinet of Curiosities.”
I toss the stone into the air and catch it, then return to the palace, whistling a merry tune.
Chapter
Fifty-One
WILLOW
The brisk walk into the Nexus does the opposite of clearing my mind. I ache in all the wrong places from the training but all the right places from Fox.
Listen to my heart.
Right now, it’s telling me to help the Nothings. Both my parents and Rory instilled a sense of justice for the oppressed. They had different ways of going about it, but the point was the same. Not only do I have some charms, but I have news of a way to get back to Elphyne. This is a good day.
Focusing on that, I stroll into the registration building with my head held high, my hands in Fox’s coat pockets. Peablossom sits at the desk, leaning on her hands with a bored expression on her dainty face. Upon seeing me, she perks up with her usual mask of polite pleasantry.
“Oh. It’s you.” Her shoulders slump.
