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Shouldn’tbeing a very iffy thing.
Kit nodded and locked his focus on Deacon, as if trying to hurry for my benefit. “She received it as a gift from a friend of her mother’s. Have you seen anything like this before? It was kept by her bedside.”
Deacon offered a single quick nod. “They used them in the North Tower. They were a hell of a lot different back then, but I wouldn’t forget a crystal that looks like that.”
“What is it?”
He sighed. “I’m no scientist, and the ones there didn’t like to talk to us much. They kept one in one of the central rooms, but it wasn’t like this. It was six-feet-tall and took up almost a whole wall. They’d bring us in and make us do some of our lessons in there. I’m pretty sure the purpose was to expose us to source rifts and see if they could force a change.”
“That makes sense,” I said, thankful when the crystal stopped emitting the power. It seemed to come and go in waves, though I wasn’t sure how often they happened. “They’ve been trying to make shades for a while. If they can figure out how to make one, they can figure out a way to unmake one.”
Hera hadn’t added to the conversation, her gaze locked on the crystal.
It wasn’t hard to guess her thoughts there.
This crystal had changed her entire life. It had altered her course, had turned her into a shade and stolen everything from her. While becoming a shade wasn’t easy for anyone, it was normally just bad luck. It was nothing more than the universe deciding to screw over a person.
It was the difference between losing someone to a horrible accident and losing them to a well-planned-out murder. One couldn’t have been avoided, but the other could have, which made it harder to come to terms with.
“So I really was changed on purpose?”She signed.“The Warden did this to me?”
Deacon answered, his voice soft. “Yeah. No other academy has as much research as Larkwood, and this is the exact method they were working on. Clearly, they made a lot of progress since I last saw it, but between what you overheard from the Warden in Medical and this? Yeah, I’d say she had that lamp put into your room. It explains your high source numbers and late changing.”
Hera stared at her hands, and I could almost see her questions. Turning into a shade hadn’t just changed where she lived—it had been the catalyst that had stolen even her ability to speak. She’d lost Aaron, her family and her future. It had all happened because of the Warden.
That wasn’t the sort of thing a person could easily shake off.
I wanted to wrap an arm around her shoulders, to pull her against me, but I knew better. I needed to keep my hands on the crystal, which left comforting her to someone else.
And the one to step up to the plate? Knox.
At least that means they’ve worked their shit out.
In fact, now that I thought about it, Knox looked a lot better. After the previous fight, he’d been in one hell of a mood and had moved slower. He’d been a fool to think no one would notice the way he’d walked slower or the way he favored his left side. Clearly, he’d taken a hit or two during the fight that hadn’t healed.
And when he pulled her against his side without any flinching, I had a feeling he’d fed from her.
Why did that make me so happy?
Maybe because I’d watched them struggle, because I’d had a front-row seat to how terrified of his other side he was. He’d helped me through my insecurities, yet I’d had to sit back while he’d struggled with his own.
Which meant the sight of the two of them having come to some understanding made me feel as if I’d found solid ground as well. It made us, as a group, stronger. Upon escaping Larkwood, one thing I’d discovered was just how much we needed one another.
We’d gone from a random rag-tag collection of strangers to a group, to a—somewhat—cohesive team who all moved toward a common goal. It meant as we settled into our roles, as we worked out the relationships between us all, we grew.
“What does that change?” Kit asked.
Knox looked back, his eyes hard. “Excuse me?”
“We already suspected she wasn’t changed naturally, so what does knowing it for sure change? Does it alter our plans at all? Does it change what we need to do?”
“You really want to be so blunt?” Knox asked, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.
“Why not?” Kit stared back, his expression blank as if often was, as though none of this mattered.
Of course, I’d seen the real him, the one who had tried to stop me just before the escape. He’d been panicked then, even if he didn’t show it like others.
Knox narrowed his green eyes to slits, and I got the feeling that if Hera wasn’t there, they’d have had a serious issue between them.
