Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
PHOENIX
“Phoenix, please stop brooding over your tea,” Vera says to me, snapping me out of my thoughts. “What is up with you these past few days?”
I blink. “I’m not brooding.”
“Oh, Phoenix darling, you’re brooding like ninety percent of the time,” Jax says.
He’s picking at his nails using a sharp dagger with a diamond-encrusted handle. The urge to rip the blade out of his hand and stab his palm with it is hard to tame.
But I manage.
I deserve a medal for it, truthfully.
I glance between Vera and Jax. “Well, maybe I’m a brooding type. What’s so wrong about it?”
Vera takes an elegant sip of her tea. “Nobody likes a brooding General.”
I roll my eyes. “Whatever.”
Truth is, I may have been brooding. Have been since the Starless Night. How could I not? I can’t forget Daegel, our argument, and the hint he shared with me about what to expect during the first trial.
Worse of all—I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t tell Vera I know what to expect in the first trial, because she’ll ask how I know. But then…why doesn’t she know anything about the first trial?
She’s supposed to help me win, and yet.
“So, when is this Oka Oyo showing up?” Jax puts the dagger down. “I’m so excited to meet the legendary woman.”
Vera cocks her head to the side. “Who says you’re meeting her?”
Jax pouts. “Are you kicking me out?”
“If you’re annoying, then I’ll kick you out. You’re not very useful recently, Jaxy. My tolerance for bullshit is lower when you’re not useful.”
I snicker, cupping my warm cup of tea between my gloved hands.
“That breaks my heart, Vera,” Jax says with a dramatic sigh. “I’m at your service, at all times. Tell me what you want me to do to help Phoenix prepare for her first trial and I’ll do it.”
Vera clicks her tongue. “That’s the thing, there is nothing you can do. I don’t know what the Trial of Wisdom will throw at her. Our only hope is that training with Oka Oya will help; she might know something even if she won’t tell us. You have a week to prepare, Phoenix.”
“Does Noire not know what the Trial of Wisdom will be?” I don’t lift my eyes from the cup. “He’s the temporary Ezkai General, he served as the General’s second for how many generals—two or three?”
“All he could tell me was that the Trial of Wisdom is about testing how cunning the contestants are and how well they can make decisions in dangerous situations,” Vera says.
Well, that’s not much.
“So, handsome,” Vera says to Jax. “About your usefulness. Do you have anything to report on Daegel?”
I look up. Jax shrugs. “He hasn’t summoned me since the last time. I told you everything I know.”
Vera doesn’t look impressed. “Have you gotten to engage with the Talbots at all outside Daegel?”
Jax shakes his head. “I’m only dealing with Daegel, and his…personal henchmen. I have yet to meet the head of the family.”
Vera hums, tapping her finger on the table. “Do you think you can get access to Reizei Talbot? Or anyone in his circle other than Daegel?”
Jax purses his lips. “Not sure I want to. If Daegel’s father is even half as frightening as Daegel, then I certainly don’t want to have anything to do with him. These Caligos…That’s not your everyday criminals right there, but a whole-ass organization of highly trained, brainwashed psychopaths.”
Vera smiles. “What, are you scared? I didn’t peg you as a coward.”
Jax’s smile is crooked. “I enjoy a good gamble as any other handsome young Emerian, yet even I know my limits.”
I jerk my chin at Vera. “Why do you care about accessing Daegel’s father? How does it help me win?”
“It doesn’t help you win. But it would be helpful.”
“For what?”
Vera rises from the table. “All in due time, Phoenix. I have to head out for a while. So, you two meet Oka Oya when she shows up. I’ll be at Ri’s if you need me.”
I don’t like that Vera is secretive. She doesn’t reveal all her cards, but we’re supposed be allies. How can I trust her when she clearly doesn’t trust me?
Vera opens the door to leave, and halts. Oka Oya stands in the doorway.
“Vera D’Argent,” the old hag says and walks past her without waiting for the invitation. Her eyes land on me. “Feral child. And who’s this fucker?”
Vera chuckles. “Our little helper, Jax Kregger. Have fun, guys.”
She slams the door shut behind her. Kazh stares at me, and I want to hide from the intensity of her gaze. Training with her might be scarier than the damn trials.
Jax hops on his feet and bows at the waist at Oka Oya. “Madam legendary Decarios master, what an honor to be in your presence.”
She eyes him.
I clear my throat and rise. “Kazh, thank you for agreeing to train me. I owe you my life.”
The old woman snorts. “If you manage to survive the trials, I’ll take your true love’s heart instead.”
I blink. Is she…joking? Jax bursts into a laugh.
“Ah, for your own sake, I hope it’s an ex of yours who you dislike dearly,” he says to me, his eyes sparking.
“Mm-hmm,” I murmur. I turn to Kazh. “When should we begin?”
She walks towards the back of the studio and pushes the paneled glass door leading to the back garden open. “Now, you dipshit. You only have a week to get in shape before the Trial of Wisdom, otherwise you’ll die.”