Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
A Second Chance
Irushed as fast as I could. Six bells signaling the middle of the night gonged steadily, barely audible in the Underworld but making its way through air vents and cracked foundations. I quickened my pace.
Conflicting thoughts banged around in my mind. I was desperate to see Darion but also angry and hurt by his deceptions. Had any of his affection been real, or had he simply been manipulating me?
As I ran along the tunnel leading to the massive cavern, chest heaving, I was sure he wouldn’t be there, certain that I had misinterpreted the message on the leaf.
But those worries evaporated when I spotted a figure sitting under the tree, patiently waiting.
Darion stood as I approached. I wanted to run up and shove him, force him to explain himself. I had so many questions that needed answering and too many swirling emotions. I didn’t plan on hugging him. And yet I ran right into his warm embrace, feeling an instant torrent of relief and comfort.
“I’m so sorry, Cas,” he whispered softly in my ear. “And I’m so happy you’re safe.”
“I’m happy you’re safe, too,” I said, clutching him tight. I wanted to stay that way forever and ignore the pricklier feelings building in me. But then hurt and anger punched their way through, and I pulled away from the hug.
“That day at the pond. And in the catacombs. And here under the willow.” I swallowed. “Was that just…part of the Trials? Was any of it real?”
“Yes,” Darion insisted, reaching for my shoulders. “It was all real, and it still is.”
“You were the thief in Orlik’s study,” I said, a statement rather than a question. Darion nodded, and the confirmation made me flinch.
“Why did you hide so much from me?” I asked.
“It’s complicated. I’m oath-bound by the Order of Emberlight. I’ll explain what I can, but first I have to ask you a question. Do you still want to complete the Emberlight Trials?”
“Yes,” I said emphatically. “I have to, now more than ever.”
“Good,” Darion said. “I wanted to be sure that hadn’t changed. I can tell you more when you finish the Trials. I’ve been bending the rules for you.”
“Why?”
He hung his head, eyes on the ground. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought that might be obvious,” Darion said. He looked up, his expression deadly serious. “I’m mad about you, Cas. I have been since the moment I saw you in that study.”
My pulse sped up as I looked into Darion’s eyes, which were filled with longing. I wanted so badly to kiss him again, but I wasn’t ready to forgive him yet. I cleared my mind of those thoughts and focused on things I needed to know.
“About that night in the study…what was so important about that book?”
Darion paused and looked around, then spoke in a soft tone. “The book has a list of known Emberborn and Orlik’s plans to capture and corrupt them.”
“Corrupt them?”
He looked around again. “We shouldn’t be talking about this out in the open. Would you be okay with going to my place? It’s not far.”
I was very interested in seeing where he lived. So much about him was a mystery. But I also didn’t want him to deflect what I wanted to know. “You promise you’ll answer my questions?”
“I promise to tell you what I can.”
That sounded like a half promise. But I understood the responsibilities that came with being honor-bound. How many lies had I told in the service of fulfilling my mother’s dying wish that I protect my sister? I’d have to take what I could get.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Darion led me out of the cavern, and we twisted through the Underworld’s back alleys.
Soon we came to a staircase that led to the Merchant District.
We reached an unassuming home, neither lavish nor run down, made from stone and mortar.
His house was sparse, with only a few furnishings and little in the way of decorations.
A lute sat on a stand next to a comfortable-looking chair by the fireplace, and various books were strewn about.
“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Darion said. “Now, ask away. We should be safe to talk here.”
“You said the book contained plans to corrupt the Emberborn. What does that mean?”
“Very few Emberborn have been convinced to turn on their own kind through normal means: torture, blackmail, coercion. So the Crown devised something more nefarious. Nobody knows exactly how it works, but it results in their minds being corrupted. Once it’s done, they become subservient slaves.”
“Dust, that’s horrible.”
“One of the Order of Emberlight’s goals is to figure out how and where they do this corruption. We’ve wanted that book for a long time.”
“How did you just happen to be in the study at the same time as me? That seems like a remarkable coincidence.”
Darion looked down. “We knew you were robbing Orlik that night. The Order of Emberlight has eyes everywhere.” Darion looked back at me with a pinched face, gauging my reaction.
“So you were trying to set me up to take the blame,” I said, the words coming out hot. This confirmed one of my worst suspicions—that I was being manipulated.
“The Order wanted to deflect suspicion. I hated the plan, and I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I thought you’d get caught. But it was still wrong, and for that I am deeply sorry. It’s my biggest regret.”
That stung. The only saving grace was that Darion had admitted to it. At least he was finally being forthright. But I wasn’t sure I was ready to accept his apology. I’d have to think about it.
“How did you know I wouldn’t get caught?” I asked.
“Are you kidding? The infamous Cas Nightbrook? You’re practically a celebrity in the Underworld.”
“I’m what?!”
Darion nodded. “Among thieves, you’re a bit of a legend. Think of that night as your first Emberlight Trial.”
“But it was a trial I didn’t ask for. I try to remain unnoticed for the sake of my sister.”
“And yet you chose to do the Trials,” Darion said, speaking delicately. “And you still plan to.”
That I couldn’t dispute. He was right, of course. I couldn’t claim I didn’t want to join the Order of Emberlight while continuing to do the Trials.
“We knew from your reputation that you were the best and that you’d escape Orlik’s house with a hefty sum,” Darion said. “It was a golden opportunity to keep the Order of Emberlight above suspicion. It seemed like a scenario where everybody would win.”
“Well, now Sentinels are showing up at the Charred Snake and chasing me through the streets of Analon,” I said, anger still just under the surface. “And also the Order invited me to the Trials? How does that keep them above suspicion?”
Darion flushed. “Well, that wasn’t exactly part of the plan.
A bit of improvisation by me. I wanted to give you more than just a fighting chance.
We protect our own. When I saw for myself what a skilled thief you were, I knew we had made the right choice.
Honestly, I’ve never met a thief as talented as you.
” Darion paused as if contemplating his next words.
“But something else happened that night that I didn’t expect.
The moment I saw you, I couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing you again. ”
That caught me off guard. The look on his face was so genuine, almost pained. My anger softened a bit.
“So following a recruit around isn’t a normal part of the Trials?” I quipped.
“Not at all. The most we usually do is watch them from afar. Some of the Emberlight Council hasn’t been happy about how involved I’ve been, but I’ve never stepped over the line.
I’ve let you interpret the clues and solve the problems on your own.
But I need to be hands-off from now on.” Darion paused, then smiled.
“Hands-off as far as the Trials are concerned, that is.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said. I was still upset. “I have more questions.”
Darion nodded, his smile fading. “I’ll try my best to answer.”
“How do you disappear?” I asked. “Is that your Ember?”
Darion raised his eyebrows. “I guess you know more about Emberborn than the typical Velmorrian.”
“I’ve learned a lot recently.”
“Apparently so. To answer your question, I have a connection to time. I can manipulate it,” Darion said simply, like it was the most normal thing to have said.
“What?! What does that mean?”
“I can do different things, like slow down time for everyone around me while it’s still normal for me. It’s how I snuck in and out of the study without you seeing me. How I escaped the alley and knocked over those guards. How I left you those notes. It’s called Chronothene.”
“So doesn’t that make you the best thief of all time?” I asked.
“It has limits. I can only do it for a very short time. Not long after using it, I’m exhausted and barely able to move for hours.”
Slowing down time should have been hard to wrap my head around, and yet I could understand it because I had felt it. Part of me understood his Ember in a way I couldn’t articulate.
“You don’t seem that shocked,” Darion said.
“It makes sense. I could feel it as you were doing it.”
“No one can feel it,” Darion said, eyes narrowing.
I paused. Knowing I was Emberborn was new to me, and revealing it should be a calculated decision. I didn’t know how people would react. But since Darion was being truthful to me, I at least owed him the same.
“I have Veilsense. I’m Emberborn, too.”
Darion’s face went ashen, and his jaw dropped as he stared at me, stunned.
“You didn’t know?” I asked.
“I had no idea.”
“The first time I felt it was with you in Orlik’s study, but I only just found out what it meant. That it’s my Ember.”
“I don’t know how that’s possible,” Darion said, still stunned. “You’re not on any of the ledgers. The Order of Emberlight has tracked the lineage of every Emberborn for the last twenty years.”
“I guess your ledgers are incomplete. When you use your Ember, I can sense it. There’s a smell, and I can even see it a bit. I can feel it. Same thing when Orlik’s bodyguard used her Ember. I can even sense it a bit in my sister.”