Page 96 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

Juniper scoffs and mutters, “Don’t be such a coward. No one knows what that is.”

That doesn’t change the fact that it’s forbidden.

I swallow and stare at the small book. How many Fae texts does Juniper have?

Is there a secret library built under her modest cottage that would get her killed the moment anyone, soldier or not, discovered it?

“It’s a diary,” Juniper provides.

My heart leaps into my throat. “My parents’?”

Her gaze softens. “Your mother left it with me, but no, it isn’t hers. She couldn’t read or write that language either.”

My shoulders fall, and I clutch the book tighter. My fingers itch to crack open the diary and use my new ability to read it. Any information is valuable, especially if it deals with the elusive Fae.

But not here. Not where the devout murmur prayers and the priest’s gaze glides over us like a blade seeking sin.

The chanting begins. I don’t join. Neither does Juniper. But no one notices. I press the diary to my lap, straighten my spine, and wait for this drudgery to end.

When the final prayer passes the priest’s lips, Juniper and I are among the first to slip through the temple’s arched doors.

Cool air slams into my lungs, clearing away the cloying incense that’s hovered in my nostrils for the last hour. The aroma is nothing like the spicy, enticing scent in Darius’s tent. Or the one that wafts off Rian whenever he walks by.

Men and women flow out of the temple, smiling despite their obvious fatigue. Some approach the stone statues set against the front of the aged pine structure, cast in shadows from the massive town hall set behind it.

They touch the Gods’ pedestals with reverence. Some leave dried flower circlets at their feet, heads bowed and lips muttering quiet prayers before they drift away, back to the sea of tents erected around the edges of town.

“Lara!”

I spin. Lev lifts a hand in the air, and my stomach churns.

We haven’t spoken since the tavern—the night something in me changed. Clicked? My magic now flows readily beneath my skin, eager to be called forth, to breathe free of the constraints of my body.

Juniper huffs, leaning heavily on her cane. “What does he want?”

“Be nice,” I murmur, though the conviction in my voice is absent.

“Not likely. Not after Ferria told me what happened.”

I swing my eyes to hers. “What?”

“The tavern.” She lifts her wrinkled brow. “How that boy let Steelvice speak to you.”

“Oh.” I look back at Lev as he walks away from the group of soldiers he was speaking with.

Each of them watches me with a mix of nervousness and blatant mistrust.

“The captain is his superior,” I continue. “He couldn’t interfere.”

“But the Fae could?”

My silence is answer enough.

“Oh, my dear.” Juniper sighs, pushing her spectacles higher on her nose. “When will you see your worth?”

My forehead creases. “I⁠—”

“There you are,” Lev says, stepping close.