Chapter 30 #3
Yes. Two ways, actually. The first one isn’t really an option, though.
We’d have to put you in front of Old Veracious—a sword on the main ship that tells its handler the absolute truth about the person before it.
It’s how we verify the identities of anyone new who boards the ship, make sure they’re not enemies in disguise.
I shuddered.
So if I had come with you all those months ago, if I had boarded the ship, they would have put this sword in front of me—
—and discovered if you were Dyonisia’s daughter for themselves right then and there.
And if I was Dyonisia’s daughter, they would have killed me immediately with that same sword: an act Steeler would have had to watch, maybe even partake in, because of that creepy oath-bound shit.
No. A growl had erupted in my mind, and even the others at the table paused as Steeler seemed to bristle in his chair.
I am not an official part of the queen’s military yet, and as for the others…
He flexed his fingers against the table.
They might have tried to kill you, but I wouldn’t have let them.
Keeping you from that ship was more for their sake than yours.
A cold, creeping calm had trickled down his face.
You mean…?
I would have had to turn them into piles of bones and guts, of course. And then the queen would have put a target on both of our backs. Not a situation I wanted to put you in.
I found myself swallowing thickly.
Okay, so Old Veracious isn’t an option. What’s the second one?
I needed to know. Needed to finally have that truth about my birth and purpose in my hands. Needed to have an idea of what my innate magic might be once it finally exploded into form.
I have an older friend on the ship, Steeler started haltingly.
He’s… very close to Nara, the one who makes the pills for us.
In fact, he helps her formulate a variety of medicines with his power of Magnification—an ability to see the very smallest of details down to their chains of chemical compositions.
Sounds fancy. That wasn’t even sarcasm. The more I learned about other types of powers out there, the more intrigued I became about the seemingly endless possibilities. What would he do, look at Dyonisia and me side by side and tell us if we’re related just by our… our particles?
Steeler leaned back with folded arms, obviously impressed.
That’s exactly what he’d do. Except you don’t need all of Dyonisia by your side. If you can just steal one of the hairs on her head…
My mouth fell open. Was Steeler actually asking me to pluck a perfect, glistening hair off of our Good Council leader’s scalp?
I’d do it myself, he said casually, but even if I could Walk straight into that prison—which I can’t—I think it would be a bit problematic if I just appeared right in front of her face, don’t you?
My heart sank a notch. He was right. If Dyonisia found out about his Walking power, then it put our entire situation in jeopardy. It was our one secret from her, the only thing that gave us the upper hand.
Plus, for some reason, I didn’t really like the idea of him anywhere near someone who wanted him dead—especially someone who would wrap him up in a web of her antipower as soon as she saw him.
Steeler’s eyebrows shot up. I’m around you all the time, and you want me dead.
That’s different, I snapped, annoyed that he’d heard that little slip-up in my thoughts.
Oh? His lips quirked. How so?
I can want you dead, alright? But nobody else can.
The declaration was as ridiculous as it sounded, but Steeler nodded with those damned lips of his still twitching.
I’m your prey, no one else’s. Got it.
“Are you two done with your silent conversation now?” Dazmine asked. “Or are you going to sit here and suckle each other’s eyes for another few minutes? Because if so, we can give you privacy…”
Garvis choked on his bite of dumpling. I stomped on Dazmine’s foot beneath the table.
Smirking, she stomped back.
“Women,” Terrin muttered.
“Are fabulous,” Felicity sang even though he couldn’t understand her. She put her hand over her mouth and whispered to Dazmine and me through hairy fingers, “He’s just jealous because he’s not the one touching Dazmine’s feet.”
A laugh bubbled out of me even as Dazmine rolled her eyes, but it was short-lived when Steeler propped up an eyebrow and I remembered what I’d touched in his mind merely an hour ago.
It didn’t count, I tried to convince myself. It was technically just our imaginations running a little wild together, that’s all. Almost like a dream.
If that’s the case, it was the best wet dream I’ve ever had, Steeler joked in my head.
I scowled at him.
Are you always eavesdropping on people’s most intimate thoughts and feelings, or just mine?
Just yours. They happen to be unnaturally interesting, after all.
Dazmine was right. I definitely needed to shove Steeler out of my head before my hackles actually rose like a hissing cat’s.
I just had one more question for him before I did.
How am I supposed to get one of… of Dyonisia’s hairs? I refused to call her my mother until we were absolutely certain. It’s not like she hangs out around campus. And I don’t think it would go over well if I left the Institute to go knocking on her door at Bascite Mountain either.
Steeler’s smile—both in the outside world and inside my mind—jolted right through me with its intensity. With its vicious humor.
Like I’ve said before, little hurricane, you’re more devious than I ever imagined possible. He passed me a mental image of his finger flicking my nose. Go figure it out.