The air filled with static electricity as Oren spoke, his long hair lifting to float around his shoulders, and Leap felt the hair on his own arms stand on end. Leap might be powerful, especially for a fae of his age, but even unbound, he was no match for his uncle. Oren was centuries old, and he wore three primal stones practically bursting with power in the silver torque around his neck. He had more magic in his little finger than Leap had in his entire body.
And yet, hestillwanted to punch the insufferable bastard in the face.
“If you know where I’ve been this entire time,” Leap said, forcing each word out from behind his still-clenched teeth, “then why have you waited so long to bring me back here?”
Lord Oren sighed. “Because of your involvement with Adara, of course.” His raptor gaze sharpened as he steepled his fingers beneath his chin, studying Leap with a critical eye. “My spies informed me you helped her break into the air temple, and also assisted her in King Aolis’s assassination. But aside from that,” he admitted, an uneasy expression flickering across his face, “I lost track of you when you fled Wynth and disappeared into the mountains. My spy feared the harpies had killed you. But when you resurfaced again in Wynth with Adara and her friends, I knew it was only a matter of time before you came back again. So, I put the guards on high alert for a fae matching your description, then sat back and waited.” He raised an eyebrow. “I must admit that I didn’t expect you to return so quickly. Why did you?”
“Just wanted to pay my cousin another visit,” Leap said, nonchalant. “Shame she wasn’t there, though. The guards made it sound like something bad happened to her.”
“Quye is perfectly safe,” his uncle said. “I merely moved her as a precaution given recent events—and actually, it was your initial infiltration of the Air Temple that inspired that decision, so thank you.”
Leap bit back a groan at that. He’d expected the temple to tighten security after his and Adara’s shenanigans, but he hadn’t imagined his uncle would actuallyremoveQuye from her home. “It seems counter-intuitive for you to take her away from the winds,” he pointed out. “Seems to me that with the political landscape shifting so much, you’d need her visions more than ever.”
“True, but it’s not as though Quye can’t listen to the winds when she’s outside the temple,” Uncle Oren said. “It will take longer for the visions and whispers to reach her, but better that than for her to be killed, or worse, fall in enemy hands.”
Leap rolled his eyes. Of course his uncle would list those two fates in that particular order. Radiants forbid that Quye use her talent for anyone else’s benefit than his own. What little hope he had of asking his uncle to speak to Quye in person fizzled out. He knew he couldn’t so much as hint that he was still trying to get to Quye. If he did, his uncle would move her again, and he would make sure that Quye remained in the dark about the location so she couldn’t send Leap or Mavlyn any hints.
“All right, enough of all this,” Uncle Oren said. “Tell me about Adara and her dragon, the events that transpired at Kaipei Castle, and the little earth fae spy you’ve thrown your lot in with.”
“That ‘little earth fae spy’ ‘s name is Mavlyn, and she is Adara’s best friend,” Leap snapped. “She also knows more about the events at Kaipei than I do, since she wasinsidethe castle—I was only involved in the attack from the outside.”
Uncle Oren’s lips thinned. “Very well.” He ordered the guards outside the door to bring Mavlyn to him. “While we wait for her, you will fill me in on the events leading up to Kaipei.”
Leap did so begrudgingly, delivering the details in a toneless-but-professional voice, like a soldier might to a commander. The secretary took notes as he spoke, quill scratching away at an endless sheet of vellum. He might hate his uncle, but he needed to at least appear like he was cooperating if he wanted Oren to let his guard down enough for Leap and Mavlyn to escape.
As expected, Uncle Oren objected at certain points of the narrative, specifically the fact that Leap had joined forces with the harpies, had allowed Storm to blackmail him into stealing the fan, and that instead of coming to him for help, he’d sought out Quye instead.
“I am very impressed you took on the outer castle defenses on your own, though,” Uncle Oren said. He shook his head, looking both amazed and flabbergasted. “You could have been well on your way to leading your own squadron by now, Leap. Why did you run away? I know life wasn’t always pleasant for you here in the palace, but if you had waited one more year, you could have enrolled at the Lightning Rider Academy. Besides, it wasn’t as if you had a terrible life here. Yes, I pushed you hard, and your studies were intensive, and you and Ryker had your fair share of scraps, but—”
“Wasn’t pleasant?” Leap cut his uncle off, ruthless laugh ripping from his throat. “Uncle, you have no idea—”
The door banged open, and Leap whirled around, heart hammering, palms sweating, his body already knowing who was there before his brain could catch up. A tall, broad-shouldered male with slender, elegant limbs and shoulder-length white hair sauntered into the room, a predatory gleam in his raptor-yellow eyes as they landed on Leap.
“Well, well, well,” he said, his mouth widening into a vicious grin. “Look who the thunderbird dragged in.”
Leap’s knees threatened to buckle. He barely noticed Mavlyn filing into the room with two guards in tow, his entire field of vision tunneling to the fae standing in front of him. Shame and resentment filled the air between them, and every inch of Leap’s body screamed for him toget outof that confined space, to throw himself out of the nearest window and run as far and fast as he could.
The way he’d done all those years ago, when he couldn’t take it anymore.
His mouth was dry as desert sand as he stared back at his tormentor, who waited, arms crossed over his slender chest. Leap knew he was looking for a response. But he couldn’t seem to make his mouth work.
“Ryker.” Uncle Oren’s voice snapped Leap out of his horrified trance. His tone was flat, lines of displeasure bracketing the sides of his mouth. “I don’t remember inviting you to this meeting.”
“You didn’t,” Ryker said airily, “but I couldn’t help myself. It’s been so long since I’ve seen my dear cousin.” He slung an arm around Leap’s shoulder. “I’ve missed himsomuch.”
Leap’s body went wooden as Ryker pulled him into his body. The moment their torsos made contact, dark memories of Ryker’s punishing hands crashed into Leap’s mind—slamming into his stomach, yanking his head back by the hair, smashing his face into the wall—
“Lord Oren.” Mavlyn’s rough velvet voice brought Leap back to reality like an icy bucket of water dumped atop his head. He’d completely forgotten his uncle had sent for her. “Under better circumstances, I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but…” she trailed off, holding up her manacled hands, and then shrugged. “You know how it is.”
“I do indeed.” Uncle Oren said. He sat back in his seat as he studied Mavlyn, and Leap sidled out from beneath Ryker’s arm. His cousin smirked, seeing the escape attempt for what it was, but Leap ignored him as he went to go stand next to Mavlyn instead. His stomach was in knots, his heart palpitating, and he was thankful he hadn’t eaten breakfast before he came, or he would have thrown up all over his uncle’s carpet.
He’d known being near Ryker again would be difficult. But he hadn’t expected it to be likethis.
“My spies had very little to tell me about you, Mavlyn of Fenwood,” Uncle Oren said after a moment. “I’m told you grew up in the same village as Adara did. And that you are also a distant relative of Lady Mossi, though not powerful enough to be a member of her house.”
Mavlyn snorted. “I don’t know that I’d want to be a member of House Ithir at this moment, considering where their loyalties lie right now.” She folded her arms. “When Adara fled our village, I told her to go to Lady Mossi, mistakenly thinking she would help. Instead, Mossi tried to trade her to Aolis in exchange for one of her hostages. I could have stayed at home and minded my own business when I found that out. Instead, I left my family and traveled all the way to the Gaoth Aire to find her, then did everything in my power to help her get to King Aolis so she could rescue her mother and defeat the king.” She swallowed, tears shining in her eyes for the briefest of moments before she blinked them away. “Maybe I’m a traitor to my realm. But I’m loyal to my friends. And I’m definitely no spy.”
Lord Oren chuckled. “There’s no need to defend yourself so. Quye spent copious amounts of time assuring me you were not a threat to my realm.”