Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
M y new bedroom is a library. Talan’s sanctuary crowns a remote tower of the castle. He led me on a labyrinthine path here, through dark, winding passages that seemed forgotten by time. Fortunately for me, Fey tradition means that royals often don’t share bedrooms with their spouses, so I can stay in here without raising any suspicions.
I peer out the mullioned windows. The tower is close to the castle walls, and I can see over them to a little tree-lined village on the other side. It’s the safest place in the entire palace, with fewer entrances to guard and no hidden doors to breach.
Outside the wooden doors to his sanctuary, Talan stationed his most lethal soldiers.
I pace across the flagstones. Sunlight slants in through towering windows, casting diamond shapes over the spines of the books.
I pivot and pace the other way. The library stretches up thirty feet high, with spiral staircases leading to a mezzanine that swoops around the whole hall. Under the mezzanine is a cozy little haven: a bed nestled against bookshelves, lit by torches. Curtains drape around it.
The whole place is enchanted. The books’ spines shimmer with golden text that whispers faintly when you get close. High above, constellations glow on the rib-vaulted ceiling, not ones I recognize from earth but starry configurations from the Fey realm. They twinkle and shift beneath the towering stone arches.
As I pass the shelves, a book whispers to me, “The things you will find in my pages, Nia…”
I freeze. The title gleams in Fey, Fallen Star , a collection of poems about a beautiful man cast out of Avalon thousands of years ago. When I open it, I find notes written in Talan’s handwriting.
The voice returned to my thoughts, beautiful as the moons of Brocéliande, welcoming as the night’s sweet embrace. She whispers strange truths, some as foreign as distant stars. She speaks of a world scorched beneath an oppressive sun, endless rivers of pavement cutting through sterile lands. She hungers for something real. She hungers for magic in a city with none. Her restless search for beauty is like a mournful melody echoing in my soul. She seeks unbridled freedom, and she yearns for storms that tear through cities. She puts the fire out, but sometimes she craves the raging flames that would burn it all down.
I snap the book shut, my heart a caged bird. Talan has heard my voice for years, just as I’ve heard his. He felt my memories of Mom, her cigarettes setting the furniture on fire. He heard my loneliness—my every secret wish to escape LA’s suffocating heat.
Shoving the book back onto the shelf, I start pacing again. Now, worries roil my thoughts. Outside, storm clouds roll over the sun, tinged with gold light. They remind me of Talan, powerful, volatile. This place hums with his magic.
He’s out there, hunting for his traitor. For me. Based on his notes, he knew my thoughts before I’d ever spoken them aloud. And now…what else can he learn if I spend enough time around him, or if I let down my mental shield? How long until he learns that I’m human?
I pivot again, retracing my steps on the flagstones. I need to escape. I need to warn Nivene, to contact Meriadec and his underground resistance. They need to infiltrate Lauron if this fragile web of lies is to hold together.
Things don’t often work out for spies. Plans change, agents get captured, spies end up on the rack. We live in a world of secrets, and no one remembers our names when we die in pools of blood in forgotten dungeons.
When the door opens, I jump. Heart slamming against my ribs, I turn to see Talan step inside, blood spattering his clothes. His power commands the room, raising my hair on the back of my arms.
My breath goes still as I stare at the crimson splatter across his shirt. “Whose blood is that?”
His gaze meets mine, icy and sharp. “I was searching for the traitor.”
“And you found one?”
He sighs. “Yes. I found a spy.”
My veins turn to ice, and I use every bit of mental energy I possess to keep my face a mask of calm. I breathe slowly, in and out. “Oh? Who was it?”
“I didn’t get his name, but I did manage to learn where some of his network meets.”
The floor tilts beneath my feet. “Where is that?” It comes out as a whisper.
“An old tavern called the Shadowed something. Unfortunately, that was the only thing I could wrench out of his wretched mind before he slit his own throat with a blade hidden up his sleeve.”
The blood rushes from my head. Slowly, I exhale a shaking breath. “I see. Where do you think the rest of them might be?”
He cuts me a piercing look. Under the light of the shifting constellations, shadows sculpt his high cheekbones and sharp jawline. “Why do you look as if you’ve seen a ghost?”
I turn away from him to the window, dread opening in the pit of my stomach. “It feels like there’s danger all around. There’s your father wanting me dead, and Arwenna, and the traitors’ conspiracies.”
“There’s no reason to worry, Nia. I have made it very clear that if anyone breathes wrong in your direction, I will slowly remove each one of his bones and fashion them into daggers for my collection.”
“And what if my attacker is the king himself?”
He shrugs slowly. “I have my own plan for him.”
My throat tightens. “Bone removal—is that what you have planned for the traitors?”
He steps closer to peer down at me. “It’s really the threat that’s more important than the act. By the time I have them in my control, it’s already over for them. But you’re perfectly safe, Nia. You have the protection of the most dangerous person in the kingdom.”
My breath catches. “And what makes you so dangerous?”
He leans down, whispering by my ear. “Darling, don’t you know I’m a monster?” At this final word, lightning cracks the sky outside, and thunder rumbles so loudly, it shakes the glass.
I turn to look at the darkening sky outside, and another bolt of lightning spears the clouds.
Hugging myself, I remember what Darius said all those months ago. I’d suspected it for a while, and I’d seen it when we’d fought the basilisk. There are rumors that Talan can not only control dreams, but the weather.
I cock my head. “Tell me, Talan. Why would anyone keep a primal power a secret? Everyone thinks they’re gone from the world, but you control the weather, don’t you?”
A flicker of surprise crosses his features. “The weather responds to my magic. I wouldn’t say I have much control, and if I did, I would most certainly keep it a secret, just like you tried to hide yours from me.”
“Right, because we both know what happened when you discovered mine. Now, I’m your plaything.”
His eyes glitter like dark jewels, and his gaze sweeps down my body, then up again. The dark, velvety feel of his magic wraps around me, making my pulse race. “Not nearly as much as I’d like you to be.”
I stare up at him. “You and I don’t exactly go together.”
“And yet here we are, the only two people in the world with primal powers. And I think you like me more than you let on. Even if you know I’m evil down to my bones, some part of you wants a taste of my poison. Underneath your pretty little uptight farm girl exterior, you hunger for chaos. You crave adventure. You want the freedom to make bad decisions.” His voice drops low, and a dangerous edge slides through his words. “And what’s a worse decision than me?”
I swallow hard, trying to ignore the resonance of his words. After years of trying to balance my mom’s bank account and make enough rent money for both of us, sometimes I wanted to break everything. Burn it all down.
“And what led you to that conclusion?”
“You always had to be the responsible one, didn’t you? Taking care of your drunkard father, an adult before your time. Your sister didn’t seem like much help.” He arches an eyebrow. “So much responsibility for one girl. You walk along a precipice, hungering for the dark embrace of the abyss. I must say, I find you intriguing.”
My gaze lingers on his full, gently curved lips. “You’re intrigued by an uptight farm girl?”
“Very much. And sometimes, you remind me of a ghost I’ve been chasing for years. Someone whose thoughts twined with mine, though her voice hasn’t haunted me for a long time.”
My breath falters.
His gaze brushes down me again, and he lowers his face to mine, a faint smile curling his lips. “You claim to hate me, but the reaction of your body tells me otherwise. Deep down, you crave a monster like me to send fire through your veins. Deep down, Nia, I think you are begging to be set free.”
His lips hover so close to mine now, and the wild thrum of his power skims over my body. This close to him, heat dives down into my core, and I lick my lips. His gaze flicks down, watching the movement.
Nia, stop. Don’t fall under his spell.
My heart slams hard. He is dangerous, and I need to put the walls up right now. I’m here to kill this man, not let him seduce me.
My jaw tightens. “But this is all fake,” I say sharply, panic raking at my thoughts. “I’m here as your wife because I had no other choice. That’s all. There’s no lust here. I know what you are—a monster—and I reject everything about you.”
He straightens and flashes me a smile of heartbreaking beauty. “Is that right?” A burst of thunder rattles the windowpanes. “Well, I do like a challenge, but I’ve got work to do.” He turns away from me. “There’s plenty of reading here to keep you occupied.”
“Work?”
He casts one last look over his shoulder. “I’m going to find the traitors and make them wish they’d never been born.”
My breath comes in short bursts. I’m desperate to get out, to warn Nivene about him. “And I’m just supposed to stay in this library?”
“Even if reason has entirely deserted you, and you have so decidedly rejected me, you’re not my prisoner. You can leave here when you want for social occasions. The soldiers will guard you. No matter how poor your judgment is, and no matter how fake our marriage is, I will not let my wife die.” He turns away from me, heading for the door.
The door closes behind him, the sound echoing through the large hall.
Holy shit. He’s too close to the truth. Too sharp. And if I don’t move quickly, he’ll unravel every secret.