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"Did you get any sense of whose body it was?" Cavan asked. "Thoughts that weren't your own?"
I considered his question, but eventually shook my head again. "No, it was me. Just…not me. I didn't think to look down at myself or anything like that. I'm not sure I was able to. I think I could only look where they were looking. Whoever's body I was in."
"The people you saw didn't see anything out of place?" Cavan asked.
"They were too busy being angry with each other." I shrugged. "But the griffins and the mountains would seem to track with all of this." I gestured towards the maps still lying on the table.
After a moment I added, "There's something else. I didn't get the impression they were the same timeframe. The battlefield on the mountain didn't happen at the same time. I think one was the past and the other the future. Or the present maybe?"
"Let's hope the battlefield was the past," Ryze said. "If that's the future, I'm going to be really, really pissed off."
"That might be the first thing you've said that I agree with," Cavan said. "I suggest we get to Havenmoor now. Take a look at that map before it's too late."
"I think we should take Hycanthe with us," Khala said softly. She sighed and started to explain.
20
Khala
"Ican't believe youfucking told them," Hycanthe snarled. Only Jezalyn's hand on her arm kept her from lunging at me. She looked ready to scratch my eyes out.
Perhaps it was the proximity of two High Lords, the Commander of the Winter Court army, the master of assassins, and Dalyth that stopped her. All of them were watching us with varying degrees of interest or amusement. Or annoyance, in Vayne's case.
"I didn't have a choice," I said regretfully. "You put out that wind, didn't you?"
Hycanthe leaned back and glared at me. "I don't know what you—"
"You might as well tell her," Jezalyn said softly, her voice only loud enough for the three of us to hear. "Dalyth was there too."
Hycanthe gave her a glance that bordered on resentful before she exhaled loudly.
"Fine, yes I did. I got a burst of magic and somehow managed to put a bunch of warm air under the wind and force it up. I don't know how I did it, I just did. And then my magic went back to normal after that."
"You're tied to all of this," I told her. "You and Tavian. Ryze and Cavan. Maybe the rest of us too. Do you want to understand what's happening to you?"
"Do I have a choice?" she snapped.
"Of course you do," Ryze said. He stepped over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You can stay here and let us figure it out, if we can. Or you can come with us and help us. I have a feeling what we find may be enlightening. You might be much more powerful than anyone realises."
She was clearly unsure whether she liked that idea or not.
I had to remind myself she'd been through the same thing I had, at around the same time. People deal with traumatic events in different ways. The only person she was sure she could trust was Jezalyn.
She’d trusted me enough to tell me about her magic and I'd betrayed that. I regretted hurting her, but not being forthcoming.
Cavan was right, keeping secrets was getting us nowhere. We had to be open with each other and work together to figure this out. The alternative was waiting for Hycanthe to speak out for herself, or asking Jezalyn to order her. I'd rather Hycanthe hated me than herself or her alpha.
"Aren't you at least a little bit curious about what we'll find?" Ryze asked. "Lost courts, forgotten magic." He grinned like a little boy.
"What if they don't want to be found?" Hycanthe asked. "What if the wind and that lightning bolt, or whatever it was, was a warning to stay the hells away?"
"Taking aim at my court isn't the best way to warn me off," Ryze said. "On the other hand, it's a really good way topissme off. Either way, we’re going. You can come with us, or you can stay here with Dalyth. Or you can go back to the Summer Court. Perhaps Cavan will lock you in the atrium again."
Cavan grimaced, but didn't rise to the bait. Evidently a hundred was enough times to say he only did it for our own good.
Hycanthe and Jezalyn stepped back and spoke in whispers for a minute or two. Finally, Jezalyn stepped forward.
"We're coming with you. But no matter what happens, Hycanthe and I stay together."
