“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Milord,” Commander Ka replied. “General Demitrovic is en route to Ithreac to speak with the Lord of Clay abouttheirdisappearances.”
“Unfortunate,” de Laurent replied. “Is there anyone else I can speak with on the matter? I would like to know the latest details. Anything that I can brief the Pyrhhan Guard about to help tighten security would be appreciated.”
“Our Scouting Captain is probably the most knowledgeable on the current state of things, sir,” Hanjae explained, and I blanched. “Vistarii! Come, brief Lord de Laurent on the latest we have on Jerricks and Gillespie.”
Oh, godsdamnit.
Even from the second floor alcove where I currently stood, I could see de Laurent’s lip curl with disdain. That motherfuckerhatedme.
The feeling was mutual.
“Certainly, Commander. I’ll be down in just a moment.”
As I came up behind de Laurent and his attendants, I shot Hanjae a dirty look. Commander Ka didn’t like the leader of the Atlassian Courts any more than I did, and this was definitely his way of avoiding spending any more time with him than necessary.
I ran the High Lord through all of the latest information my men had gleaned about the disappearances, keeping things mostly surface level and taking care to avoid revealing any of our sources that might draw suspicion to just how deep my network of spies ran across the continent. Still, the intel I was providing would be of use to his men. I had no interest in seeing the peopleof Pyrhhas suffer, regardless of my personal feelings about their lord.
To his credit, he and his men asked clarifying questions and managed to keep things respectful, despite their obvious discomfort as tension crackled between us.
That was, until we wrapped things up in the war room and I prepared to take my leave. As his assistant began to gather up their maps and notes from the meeting, the pale, regal looking man turned towards me and leaned in close.
“Oh, and for the record, Captain,” he hissed under his breath. “I’m well aware of the state you and your men left one of my citizens in before his release. Whether Corvus is convicted in the future or not, it would serve you well to know your place.”
My palms prickled, eager to show the arrogant asshole exactly where my place was, should we ever go toe to toe again. But I kept my temper in check, not in the mood to get flayed alive by my commander for assaulting an honorary High Scholar of the Arcane Studium… especially considering he was arguably the most powerful man in Atlas. Even if he was an over-privileged little prick.
The whiplash between my serendipitous encounter with Arken and my less-than-fortunate foray with the Lord of Embers left me feeling vaguely unmoored for the rest of the afternoon. There was a strange taste in my mouth. A familiar restlessness. An urge to escape.
Fuck it. You’ve got time to kill.
Sometimes, it was a comfort to simply slip back into the Shadows. I had a number of quiet, hidden places throughout the city where I could easily disappear and observe, and I often chose to do so whenever I was feeling...off, like this.
One of my favorites, though, was not a place that I had discovered, so much as one that I hadcreated—and had done so before I ever became a guard. Back when I was still studying at the Arcane Studium, my brother and I used to climb an old, gnarled oak tree. It just so happened to be near the Elder Guard’s headquarters, but tucked away snugly against one of the city walls. The ancient oak was tall enough that you could see nearly half of the Administrative Quarter, if you knew where to sit.
Though my brother and I were no longer on speaking terms, I still came back here from time to time. Something about it helped clear my head—and godsdamn, did my head need clearing right about now.
My mind was a seasick, swimming cocktail of frustration and temptation. Lord de Laurent never failed to raise my hackles.
It would serve you well to know your place.
The urge to wring his pale, pedigreed neck had yet to fade, so I focused on the lesser of two evils: The temptation.
After discovering that the freshling from the Wyldwoods was the godsdamned Light Conduit, I had resolved myself to leave her the fuck alone. Hanjae had made himself clear: A new Light Conduit in Sophrosyne was a big deal. There hadn’t been one in over twenty years, and some scholars had even started to fret that Light Resonance was a dying gift. Shadow Resonance was rare, too—but not like that. There were at least a handful of new Shadow Resonants who turned up every year to take their entry trials. But Light Resonants? Practically unheard of in my time here. It was no wonder the Elders themselves had requested we keep an eye on this one.
If only she weren’t so easy on the eyes.Gods, she was gorgeous. I had tried to forget it, honestly. But then I had to go and run into Arken at the bakery this morning. And the moment I was in that woman’s presence again, I forgot all about myendeavor to avoid her. I had been drawn in yet again, and that string of profanity she let loose when I startled her? Source be damned.
Arken fucking Asher.
It was far too much fun to tease her. Watching that pretty, filthy mouth of hers twist in irritation was just…
The musky scent of wyldweed drifted past, distracting me from my wicked reveries before they could even begin. That was probably for the best. I really, really needed to leave that poor woman alone.
A pair of younger guardsmen had just strolled up to the tree at a lackadaisical pace. I didn’t recognize them, which meant they weren’t in my unit, so I resisted the urge to bark at them both when I realized they were the source of that dank stench, exchanging hits off a joint, clearly attempting to remain unseen.
“Pretty ballsy if you ask me,” one of them was saying with a smirk, in between a deep inhale. As he spoke again, wisps of blue-green smoke bled from his mouth. “I’d expect that shit from a more tenured student, not a pair of bright-eyed, pretty little freshlings.”
I rolled my eyes. They had better be on break.
“So they were just up on the fuckin’ roof of the Biblyos?”