Page 104 of Wings of Destruction

The wind steals his response. Flaming Ether, I need to hear him.

Once again, his attention skips over me, and the group takes off.

It’s too soon for relief to flood back. If I can hear them, then they can hear me. I force myself to be as small as possible, my curiosity my biggest liability. Slowly, quietly, they head out of the patchy moonlight to the next pulse of darkness, turning away from DragonSpear.

What are they plotting? And don’t I owe it to myself to figure out what’s going on, to see if they’re scheming?

Despite the queasiness in my gut, I keep going, giving in to the need to get closer.

I jog from one tree to another as quickly as I dare, holding my breath and testing myself with every foot forward. There’s no way to hear them now with the rush of the wind. My heart slams itself against my ribs.

Curling my foot to the side grants me another step forward until I land on an invisible twig and snap it like bone. Terror floods my throat like molten metal, burning away breath and sense alike, and I drag my gaze up to see if Kieran has stopped.

If he does, if he looks closely enough, he’ll catch me. I’m sure of it.

The wind dies down and I stop again. Up ahead, the path is clear. The group rounds one little corner and simply⁠—

Disappears.

Twenty-Two

Morgan

Istraighten, scanning the trail like I’ve missed something. Goosebumps immediately prick my skin. I must have somehow gotten turned around and only thought I followed their tracks exactly.

Because, clearly⁠—

People don’t disappear this way. Not unless they went lemming style off the side of the mountain, and I didn’t think we were close enough for them to miscalculate. Otherwise, there was nowhere for them to go.

Besides, Kieran does not make those kinds of mistakes. He isn’t brash and reckless. Not like me. I scan the dim light with my back pressed to the tree. Nope, they’re definitely gone.

The whisper of the wind has no secrets for me to discover anymore.

Kieran strikes me as the type who takes too much pleasure in control for a surprise to happen. He has his own secrets and he’s tight lipped about them.

Frost sinks into my bones. Only the creak of limbs overhead breaks the silence. There are no more clipped voices to follow. Panicked, I take a gulping breath and turn around to retrace my steps, the lines across my brow permanently grooved.

What do I know so far?

I know that Kieran and his buddies don’t want anyone to know what they’re doing. They met at night to avoid detection and snuck out of the castle when the mood struck.

What do they discuss? Are they trying to stay ahead of classes and hold their own training sessions?

If so, why didn’t they make use of his private gym? Surely they wouldn’t be interrupted there. Ether knows I haven’t been.

My fingertips skid across the rough bark of a gnarled aspen tree. Knots form where only smoothness should be and my touch finds the whirls inherently. I hold tight to the trunk and breathe through the adrenaline rush.

Maybe it’s a meeting of his devotees? I instantly dismiss the idea.

If that’s the case, then Evie would be right there, riding his back like Kieran is her mount. The picture in my head makes me giggle but the sound never makes it past my teeth.

Maybe they’re discussing new forms of torture, to crush those people they find lower than them.

Hmm, now, that has merit.

My blood chills further and ice pumps through my veins. I take a wide step and stumble, my fingers locking and a muscle in my thigh spasming. My breathing rushes faster on my way back up to the castle.

Without the presence of other people, even when they don’t know I’m here, the night takes on a harsher contrast, the shadows deeper and the wind hungrier. There are sounds in the darkness I hadn’t heard before and somewhere in the black sky, something roars.