Chapter 37 Smoke and Shatter
SMOKE AND SHATTER
Iwake up feeling like I was hit by a bus. My body aches, and my mind is fogged with exhaustion as memories of channeling the Vestra’s powers and facing the wraith press on my mind with the strength of a migraine.
Beneath the exhaustion, there’s something new—a quiet certainty that I struggle to understand. I slip out of bed and walk over to the large paned windows that look over much of the backyard and lake.
Despite my inner turmoil and the fact that a mythical creature threatened to consume us, the grounds are untouched. Frost covers the backyard, glittering like powdered glass, the picture of serenity. Yet I search the sky for dark clouds and smudges of shadows between the trees.
It’s already mid-afternoon, the latest I’ve slept since catching their library on fire.
Restlessness gnaws at me, leaving my chest tight.
A soft knock at my bedroom door has me turning. Scarlet steps inside, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders in waves, blue eyes bright. Relieved. “Lief said they found the wraith.”
I nod, but my gaze slips to the window again, looking for traces of another threat.
Last night, I didn’t tell her about how they travel in packs, or the trails they leave, or even that I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep until the Vestra was back.
Instead, I gave an excuse about homework before she went to bed.
“I can’t believe one got so close to the capital,” she says, moving to my bed where she plops down, the decorative pillows scattering.
“I can’t believe they exist.”
She grins. “Since the guys are doing their secret mission stuff to see if anyone heard anything, want to head into town with me? I need to pick up a new tidecast uniform. We could grab lunch and wander around for a bit.”
My initial instinct is to say no. To beg her to help me hunt through books until we find an answer for how the Vestra’s elements called to me—went straight through me. To ask if bonds can carve themselves across bone and marrow.
“You’ve barely seen Wrenlow. Or any other part of Lowick,” Scarlet adds, reading my reluctance too easily. “And getting out of the house after yesterday will probably be good for you.”
She’s right. If I stay, every noise, shadow, and cloud will have my skin crawling. “Let me get dressed,” I concede.
She stays on my bed as I disappear into my giant closet, tugging on jeans, a soft sweater, and a pair of boots.
“Should we see if Kai or Griffin want to meet us?” Scarlet asks, pulling on a jacket as we descend the stairs.
“Kai?”
“You guys are becoming friends.”
The term feels foreign.
Is that what we’re becoming?
I shake my head as we reach the front door. I survey the woods and sky one final time before we head for her glider, frost crunching underfoot. The air bites my cheeks as our breath ghosts away in white curls.
“Do they want the address of where we’re going?” Scarlet asks, typing our destination into the screen.
I stare at her, my feelings folded more times than an origami crane. “Why should I tell them where I’m going? They never tell me.” I flip my crystal link around to show her I have no alerts. No messages.
“They probably told Lief and Gwen.”
“When have they ever hesitated to message me?” I huff out a sigh. “But I guess I can teach them how civilized Elementals behave.”
Scarlet chuckles as I open my thread with Griffin, preparing to message him.
A twang of guilt prods me, thinking of Daire.
Of Kai and I maybe becoming friends. Of Holden inviting me into his damn office.
I select all of them, even Lochlan who’s never messaged me, creating a group message before I can overthink it and talk myself out of it.
Scarlet and I are heading to town.
Holden: Stay in crowded areas.
Daire: Check in hourly.
Griffin: Have a good time, Bondmate.
I’m shocked that not one of them objects.
The ride into town is quick, the city unspooling from the forest like a mural. I recognize a few of the shopfronts from my first day.
The glider smoothly parks in a half-filled lot. Our first stop is a bookstore that smells of cinnamon and leather. Elementals mill around the books that climb to the ceiling, while others wait in a long line by a glass counter where sweets and espressos are being ordered.
I drift toward a table of hand-bound volumes with metallic titles: Notable Convergences, a Primer; The Seven Courts of the Western Reach; A Field Guide to Vanishing. I hover my fingers over them, wanting to stay here for weeks.
“No,” Scarlet says, bumping my shoulder with hers. “You do way too much reading as is. We’re strictly here for the coffee and sweet buns.”
I recently learned classes earn me a small stipend—proving Scarlet’s point about the importance of education here. I can’t imagine I’ve earned much, but thankfully, it’s enough to cover the coffee I order.
We pass through three more stores before Scarlet leads me into a boutique with silk scarves and ridiculous hats hanging across every wall. We giggle as we pick out hats for each other, posing in front of a mirror until it darkens, like it senses we’re wasting its time.
“Maybe we should have bought one,” I say, rubbing my palms together as we step outside. “It’s freezing.”
Scarlet laughs. “I’d rather freeze than wear one of those in public.”
I grab my crystal link and send a message.
Hourly update 1.
Daire: How do we know someone hasn’t stolen your phone? I think we need hourly pictures to prove it’s you.
I turn the camera to Scarlet. “Stick out your tongue.”
“Who’s this going to?”
“Does it matter?”
She flashes a grin as she pushes the tip of her nose upward and crosses her eyes.
I snap a photo and send it to the Vestra.
Griffin: Definitely compromised. I should go find our girl.
Lochlan: Not until you’ve met with Vaspier.
Over and out.
Scarlet has to try on her bathing suit, and the shopkeeper convinces her to try on four more. She looks amazing in all of them, but the coral one looks like it was made for her. I tell her as much. She buys all of them before we head into a café.
We order sandwiches and more coffee.
“We should do this more often.”
“Agreed,” I say, watching a tray of cakes pass us.
We eat every bite of our lunch, and then order two slices of cake, which I take a picture of and send for my second hourly check-in.
Kai: You better be bringing some of that back with you.
Daire: Both flavors.
Holden: Don’t let Gwen know. Hide them in my office.
“How do I know how much money I have?” I ask, flipping to the payment app that Holden pointed out to me when explaining the stipend. “They want cake.”
Scarlet leans closer, pointing out the series of buttons for me to hit until the words ‘no limit’ appear.
She squeals before quietly singing, “Bond behavior.”
Before I can process the funds or Scarlet’s reaction, our server returns, and I find myself ordering ten slices of cake to go.
“Are you having a mini freak out?” Scarlet asks as the waiter leaves.
I shake my head. “This is full-fledged freak out.”
She cackles.
I lean forward. “This is way more than clothes and fancy makeup.”
Scarlet simply shrugs.
“Can I separate my account? Is there a bank near here?”
“Maybe you should talk to them first.”
I shake my head. “I’ll tell Lochlan. He’ll fix it.”
“You don’t think he knows?”
“No way. This was Daire. Maybe Griffin and Daire.”
Scarlet doesn’t object, but she also doesn’t let me obsess, instead she asks me about classes as we wait for the cake.
We step out of the cute café with two bags of cake. I’m still debating if Scarlet and I are going to eat them upstairs in my room and avoid the Vestra tonight as a scream slices the square in half.
Everything happens too fast and too slow at once: an explosion, shattering glass, screams. Smoke blooms—thick and gray, making my nose, throat, and eyes burn.
Four black-clad figures move in perfect formation, each armed with a dozen visible weapons.
“Inside,” Scarlet breathes, pushing me back toward the café.
I panic, the fear of being trapped so strong, I nearly bolt. Nearly refuse. Instead, I grab her hand and sprint for the door. It slams behind us. Final.
“Veilbreakers!” someone yells. The word ricochets through the small café, eliciting screams and gasps as everyone moves to get down.
A male yells something in a foreign language, and three Elementals shove something heavy in front of the door. Scarlet pulls me to the back, but I want to stay in the middle. Claustrophobia presses on my lungs. I feel trapped.
The café has gone silent except for quiet cries as another explosion shakes the building. Screams follow, and then yelling. Scarlet squeezes my hand so tight, it hurts—but I want her to squeeze harder. I need the pain to remind me where we are and that we’re safe.
My crystal link vibrates with a message, and it takes entirely too much strength and focus to release my grip on the bag holding the chocolate cake to reach for it.
Griffin: An attack was just called in. Where are you?
The café across the street from where it’s happening.
Griffin: We’re on our way. Stay down.
One of the Elementals who blocked the door starts to stand, peeking out the window. I hold my breath, watching as he straightens. His shoulders slowly fall, and he turns, calling something in that foreign language that has the other two Elementals approaching.
They look out the window, and then the shortest one turns, facing the sea of terrified patrons. “It’s clear.”
A symphony of sighs echoes before everyone slowly begins to move, and then a new wave of sobs and frantic rustling as everyone begins calling loved ones.
“That was way too close.” Scarlet’s voice trembles.
“Do you think they found a Keystone?”
A frown creases her brow. “I don’t know.”
Daire: I’m right around the corner. Stay put, Spitfire. I’ll be right there.
The barricade scrapes against the floor as Air Elementals shift it back.
No one moves for several seconds, as though afraid to open the door and leave the protection of the café.