Emelia stiffened slightly and shook her head. “No. No news, no sightings.”
The warmth in my chest died along with my smile. No sightings. Not even Yazmin, assuming she’d been the one to deliver the package in the first place. Of course, there was always the possibility she’d sent a beast into the city, and with so many Charmers calling on their creatures at any given time…there was no way we would’ve detected hers among the crowd.
It also meant they hadn’t found Gaige. Bile soured my tongue, and I rubbed my jaw for a moment before letting my hand fall away.
“All right. Add a few more sentries to the watch. We had an unexpected development today. We’ll be back soon.”
They nodded in unison, and Emelia and Astrid immediately left in the direction of the communal tent, presumably to seek out more sentries to join those already stationed in the Kitska Forest.
“I’m off to find Calem and report back to Leena and Noc. Maybe you two should practice recovering from the ground.”
Raven glared at me so fiercely I swear she somehow pierced the shadows. But Iov leapt at the opportunity, cracking his knuckles and regarding Raven with excitement. She shrugged out of her coat and waved a goodbye over her shoulder, focus already locked on Iov.
As much as I wanted to share in their temporary reprieve, to feel the burn of muscles and beads of sweat along my skin, I couldn’t. My relief would have to wait. For now, I needed to find Calem and report back to our family. Knots formed in my stomach at the thought of that conversation, but they needed to know about this mysterious parcel and Gaige’s continued absence. Between the anxiety and pain this news would bring, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to return. But I had to. And I would be there for my family like always to shoulder whatever I could.
Twenty-Six
Calem
Kaori had dismissed the attendants stationed nearby the moment we’d hit the floor dedicated to the Crown’s quarters. Save for the ever-present crashing of water from the nearby falls that filtered through the closed window, Leena’s room was quiet. And so was Kaori. She’d placed the package on the low coffee table before the fire and sunk into the settee to stare at it. With light fingers, she absently tracked the mercury veining on her inner wrist.
“Kaori?” I tried, moving to her side. It killed me that I couldn’t touch her while shadow walking. Not really. I desperately wanted to grip her hands in mine. To give them a squeeze and offer her some of my strength. “What’s wrong?”
After a long moment, she finally looked up at me, but her gaze was somewhere far away. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” She’d always been a bit reserved. Quiet. But nothing like…this. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
I bit back a sigh. Her stubbornness was beyond irritating. “I don’t believe you. Something is up.”
She lifted one shoulder, but the action was stiff. “Yazmin is attempting to manipulate us yet again. Something is certainly ‘up.’”
Tossing my hands in the air, I rounded the couch to position myself in front of her. “Right. This is about the box.”
She blinked. “What else would it be about?”
“You’re as dense as Kost,” I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose before sighing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. He’s far and away worse.”
I’d hoped my jest would get her to smile. Just a small curl of her lips would’ve been enough. But she continued to look at me as if I weren’t really there, face devoid of emotion. Her fingers endlessly trailed along her wrist. My hand itched to clamp down on hers and stop their progression.
Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I scoffed. How could I get her to open up? To share with me when she’d done so little of that before? I owed Kaori my life. I valued her more than I could put into words, and yet most of our conversations had centered around our inner beasts. We’d discussed my triggers at length and how to rein in my temper and practice control. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized she’d never shared anything of herself with me. Nothing about her past. Nothing about her triggers. I’d been so focused on my own recovery, on learning to strong-arm the beast in me, that I’d failed entirely at asking more about her.
And the fact that I wanted to know more, beyond an amicable friendship or flirting, was startling enough to bring my fidgeting to a standstill.Get a grip. She’s family, that’s why you’re worried.Worried. That was it. I drew in a slow breath and pushed away my scrambled thoughts. Thoughts that had absolutely no place in my mind. Not now, not ever. Kaori needed support. And I could give that to her.
Crouching before her, I rested my hands on my knees. “Kaori, I need to know that you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” she responded all too quickly.
“No, you’re not.”
“Are you insinuating you know what I’m feeling?” A glimmer of annoyance colored her voice, and I almost jumped for joy. Anything was better than the statue I’d been dealing with moments before.
“No, of course not. But I’d like to know.”
She considered me for a long moment. Her dark eyes were full of emotions I didn’t have the ability to place, but one thing was certain: there was a storm brewing in her stare. One that wasn’t necessarily directed at me. There was an age-old hurt masked behind her wall of indifference. And gods if I didn’t want to know what’d caused it. Slowly, she dropped her gaze. Dug her fingers into her skin. When she sighed, her shoulders rolled forward.
“This is…difficult for me to talk about.”
