33. Raven
Consumed with thoughts of Chace, of Chace touching me, kissing me, I hid in the shadows between the trees and pressed my fingers to my swollen lips. We’d revisited that kiss, and I was already eager for yet another revisit. Hopefully a longer one.
My gaze traveled to the crow-lined terrace marking my palace apartment.
Would Chace find a way to visit me there later? Tonight, or possibly another night?
I whipped my head from side to side. I really shouldn’t entertain such thoughts at present. My mindset needed to remain focused on what I had to do next.
I glanced through the open doors to the sea of colors swirling on the dance floor, then raised my gaze to the large clock on the wall. Half past midnight approached. Only twenty minutes to go. Which meant the royals and all their guards would be preoccupied for a bit.
At least, I hoped they would.
With their announcement…and whatever else they participated in with regard to the birthday bash.
Music and laughter escaped through the open doors of the gala carrying song through the garden.
But I… I didn’t need to be humming the tune blossoming in my heart.
I needed to concentrate. So I sucked back a deep breath, then released it slowly, taking care to shove all noise from my head.
In other words, any thoughts that wouldn’t best serve me during the upcoming task.
I pushed away from the trees and paced back and forth in front of the open doors, focusing on the gentle swish of my skirt while keeping an eye on the royal box…waiting.
Lucas had informed me that the royal family would make an appearance at half past midnight, and I had no reason not to believe him.
Was the queen a punctual ruler? Or did she treat her schedule as flexible? I hadn’t had nearly enough interactions with her to feel confident in any answer I might give to that question.
A couple ran past me, dashing from the garden back into the gala, squeals of flirtatious delight ringing from their lips.
I shifted deeper into the shadows at the side of the door. Soon, I would begin my hunt for the tower door Myla had depicted in her drawing, and I didn’t need anyone trying to drag me into the party or asking me questions. Like why I stood alone in the garden.
Only not too long ago, I hadn’t been alone. But that was then, and this was now.
My attention flickered to hushed conversation moving along the nearest portico outlining the garden.
The queen and Winter’s parents moved toward the gala, escorted by a thick circle of guards.
Valen’s old coreaper and the birthday boy impersonator were not among them.
Instead, another male who appeared to be playing the part of Winter’s brother was present.
Curious.
To avoid detection, I pressed even farther into the shadows, thankful for the color of my dress.
I could shift to mist, but… Not here. Not now.
The group disappeared through a door at the end of the portico, to what I assumed would be a private staircase that would eventually lead them to the royal box.
Stepping lightly into the moonlight, I surveyed the crowded gala. Caught glimpses of the people I knew—Lucas, Neive, Camilla, Aoes…
Where had Aoes been earlier? I hadn’t seen him. But I’d been rather wrapped up in Chace. Chace, who was with Winter and had yet to return. If the queen expected Winter to make an appearance with his family, I had to assume the two guys would be back soon. Very soon.
I best get moving.
To quiet my steps, I removed my shoes and set the shimmering black heels with my forsaken gloves and mask at the edge of the planter. Then, prowling into the garden and I made way for the tower.
Above, exceptional colors shimmered in the aurora borealis effect of the citadel’s mystical barrier―a blend of fuchsia, violet, sapphire, and aquamarine. The holes in the barrier, through which the crows flew, softly blended with the night sky beyond.
The moon was full, strengthening the magic in the air and adding much-needed illumination to the grounds. The lanterns lining the footpaths, highlighting the walkways and flora, did little to assist the wanderer who deviated from the route. As I intended to do…and did do.
Night and shadow heavily cloaked the tower, appearing every bit the ominous structure I assumed it to be, with its morphing darkness around the high window and candlelight always flickering within the highest window.
No clear path existed to the entrance of the tower in question. Easy accessibility appeared to have been erased, possibly to deter curious onlookers rather than actually stop anyone from getting too close. Since no official path existed, the way was not lit.
But the door was visible―large, but nothing grand, wood and iron, and not heavily barred. One merely needed to hop over a few low-lying bushes, walk across the grass, and open the door.
Struggling only briefly with my feather-covered skirt, I crossed the distance and tugged on the handle. The door opened on silent hinges.
I paused. Could this be too easy?
“Raven?”
My gaze snapped to the call of my name. Valen approached.
Where had he come from? What was he doing here? And shouldn’t he be at the birthday ball? Or maybe in bed, given the hour? Also, how could he even have seen me in the heavy shadows while dressed in all black?
I glanced at the now-open tower door, the soft light slipping out over the grass, and frowned.
“It is you,” he whisper-yelled. “What are you doing? Don’t you remember what I told you?”
I remembered. Do you wish for death?
He had suggested death would come to those who dared venture beyond the door, but he was clearly trying to intimidate me.
I might not wish for death, but nor would I cower from it.
Sure, he was now hot on my heels, but I could think of no better time when the royals and the palace guards would be otherwise engaged, and I needed to stop any further specter attacks.
Myla, the child seer, said this was where that could be done, so I was going.
Valen would come to understand.
With a grimace on my lips, I slipped into the tower, then shut and locked the door.
The front room was meager in size and hosted nothing more than a single table set beside a winding staircase that wound up and up and up.
Aside from the main entrance, two doors occupied wall space.
One that likely led to the rest of the main floor, and another beneath the stairs.
That was the one Myla had instructed me to use.
I glanced at the main entrance behind me. Valen should have made it to the tower by now, but he had yet to bang on the door. Was he afraid to get too close? Afraid of his own story regarding the tower?
I hummed. Maybe it wasn’t a story at all, but the reciting of a curse.
Unsure why, I tentatively reached for the stair railing. Something called me upward. Was it the sight of the morphing black around the uppermost window? Or the exchanges between me and Chace about said window?
Before my fingers touched the wood, a nightmare slithered over my soul, and fear clutched my heart. I yanked back my hand.
A story or a recited curse?
No time to give power to such thoughts.
I swung around, opened the door beneath the stairs, and started my descent into the awaiting darkness.
The steps coiled round and round, deeper beneath the castle. The shadows grew heavier with each claimed step. Visibility diminished, and I pressed my hands against the outer wall, guiding my progress.
Reaching out with my reaper senses, I identified where each advancing step waited, but I couldn’t detect the end.
I spiraled down until I was certain I had reached the underworld.
When I began to believe my path would continue forever into the earth, my feet stumbled, finding no more steps to tread upon.
“Finally,” said someone buried in the darkness.
The voice raked over me like nails down my spine and through my skull.
Sconces burst to life, illuminating the space, as I spun toward the owner of the voice―Watcher. The one the twins called the lady. And… I soaked in our surroundings and her cleaned up reaper-isk attire… I highly suspected Valen’s old coreaper Chiara, controller of the specters.
I stood opposite her at the edge of a large circular chamber, with the stairs behind me and an exiting tunnel, blanketed in black, at my right.
The sconces lining the perimeter cast wicked shadows across the stone walls, softly illuminating a symbol drawn on the floor, anchored with stones and bones.
Even with Myla’s drawings, finding Chiara had been too easy. Did she want to be found?
She sat on a wooden bench pressed against the wall and had one leg crossed at the knee. The flickering light highlighted her outline while hiding her finer details.
Her leg bounced with what I took as impatience. “When I left the tower door unlocked for you, I never expected it would take you this long to get your feathered ass down here.”
This can’t be good.
If she had been expecting me, then things had gone completely off course and spiraled into Tartarus before I could even get started.
“Sorry to disappoint,” I deadpanned and crossed my arms.
I fought the urge to adjust the bodice of my gown because that would likely result in the loss of reaper creds.
“Yes, well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” she said with a sigh of annoyance. “By the way, what is that you’re wearing? Did you go to the birthday ball dressed like a crow?”
They are raven feathers, not crows!
A retort I chose to keep silent.
“Rather creative,” she added. “Let me guess, that little mother of twins made it for you. She’s pretty handy with a needle and thread. Her daughters are even handier with their magic, as limited as it might be, given the circumstances.”
“About that.” I took a stride forward and stopped.
The magical marking on the floor was two steps away, and I didn’t want to do anything that would make things worse. I needed to approach the task carefully. Properly.