Chapter 52 Veils and Verdicts
VEILS AND VERDICTS
Morning comes too quickly.
Too quietly.
Daire and Griffin are still pressed against me, both awake.
I don’t open my eyes. Not yet. Instead, I soak in the safety, trying to remember everything I’m fighting for and everything I want to return to.
“That’s right,” Griffin says, pressing a kiss to my temple. “The strongest soldiers are those with heart and a reason to keep fighting.”
Daire’s hand contracts around my hip. “Yes. And you, Spitfire, are a fighter.”
Too soon, we have to get up and prepare for the early meeting.
Gwen has already laid out an outfit appropriate for the occasion: straight black dress pants, a cream-colored blouse, and black heels that make me frown until I slip them on and find myself admiring my reflection.
They’re beautiful shoes. For a few fleeting seconds, I admire the rest of the items in my closet, wishing I had tried them all on, wishing I had been confident enough to try.
When I step out of my room, Daire and Griffin are waiting along with Scarlet and Gwen.
“To help you remain calm,” Gwen tells me, pushing a cup of tea into my hands.
I expect a dozen last-minute reminders, warnings, and instructions as we enter the kitchen where the others are gathered again, but none come.
I try to eat one of the moonberry tarts Gwen sets in front of me, but it’s like chewing on sawdust, my stomach too full of nerves. I focus on drinking the tea, hoping it will help slow my racing heart.
Too soon, we’re leaving.
Outside, the cool morning air bites at my skin. Lochlan waits beside one of the three gliders.
“We’ll make pancakes for dinner,” Gwen says, hugging me tightly.
Lief nods as I turn to face him, my resolve for this moment sinking. “Mysthaven will be waiting for you.”
Scarlet gives me a crushing hug. “I hope they’re all wrong. I hope this meeting is five seconds, and a stamp, and we get to tease them relentlessly for their paranoia.”
I laugh, a dry sound that feels foreign after so many heavy thoughts. “Me too.”
I pull in a breath, trying to steel myself as I head down the stairs where all the guys are waiting. “Where are you guys going?”
“We’ll be close by, just in case,” Griffin answers, smoothing a lock of my hair. “We’ll see you in a couple of hours.” His kiss is too gentle. Too soft. And too brief. A slight laugh grumbles from his chest. “The rest is for when you return,” he whispers.
Daire pulls me into his arms, and it takes everything not to melt into him and beg him to hide me. “You’ve got this, Spitfire.” He places his hands on either side of my face and kisses me fiercely. A claiming kiss that has my blood warming for an entirely different reason.
Like everything else this morning, it ends too quickly.
“You remember the charm?” Holden asks.
I nod.
“We’ll see you soon,” Kai says, heading to the front glider with Holden and Griffin.
I take each of them in, memorizing details before turning to Mysthaven, and studying details there too, before shifting to Lochlan. His silver eyes are unreadable as he jerks his chin, motioning for me to get in the glider.
The doors slide shut with a soft hiss, a part of my heart remaining behind with those who have become my unexpected home.
My chest aches as the glider hums to life, ready to take us to Veridian, the capital.
Over the past ten weeks, I’ve trained endlessly for this day—for this meeting. For the past two weeks, countless plans have been made, only select ones have included me.
I wait until Scarlet, Lief, Edmond, and Gwen are out of sight, until the trees block Mysthaven, before turning to face Lochlan. He’s sitting across from me, dressed in another suit, only today, I see subtle differences. A strain in his jaw. A rigidness in his shoulders. Unease in his eyes.
“I want you to make an oath with me,” I say abruptly. The ancient promises are something I’ve only read a little about, but I know they’re impossible to break once sealed.
Lochlan’s silver eyes flash between mine. “Now’s not the time. You need to focus.”
“Promise me that if things go badly today, you won’t tell them until there’s nothing that can be done.”
He stares at me with hardened eyes. “What?”
“Wait until the building is fortified and they can’t reach me.”
He slips something into his jacket pocket. “Nothing’s going to happen.”
“Dammit, Lochlan. Make an oath with me.”
“It doesn’t work like that. Oaths take time and magic.”
I scoff. “Then promise me.”
“I won’t need to tell them. They’ll be able to feel your panic.”
“But you could block it.”
He blinks, turning to look out the window.
I push forward. “I know it’s asking a lot, but they’ll get over it.
” I have no doubts that Griffin and Daire will both be angry and feel betrayed.
They’ll want someone to blame, and Lochlan will own that.
“I’ll be a mere blip in your guys’ timeline.
Two and a half months that will be forgotten in a few years. We have to calculate the cost here.”
Something shines in his silver eyes.
“You’ve spent months teaching me to protect the Vestra,” I persist. “Let me do that now. If something happens, if Lyra finds something she shouldn’t, promise me you’ll keep them safe. Even from themselves.”
“If things go badly, I’ll have a murder list on my hands, so instead of this promise, let’s make another. You promise me that you’re going to focus and remember the charm in case it’s necessary.”
Our glider slows outside of a large building lined with columns, making me regret never seeing Veridian before this. The two other gliders holding the other four members of the Vestra pass by. I don’t know where they’re going, or what their plan is, only that they’re nearby.
My lungs feel like they’re filled with cotton as we approach the building.
“Your necklace is off, right?” Lochlan asks for the fifth time this morning.
I nod. “In my purse.”
“Let’s go.”
I step out into the waning winter day, the sun trying to kiss my skin. Spring is nearly here. I want to see it. Want to experience it so damn badly.
Lochlan slips beside me, adjusting his tie as his mask of composure appears.
It feels like we should be sneaking in rather than walking through the front doors, where we check in. We only have to wait a few moments before a pair of guards dressed in pale blue escort us through numerous locked doors to a room that is hexagon-shaped with a floor inlaid with silver runes.
“Councilor Seacore,” Lochlan greets Lyra with a respectful nod.
Her lavender eyes jump to mine. She’s younger than I expected, until I remember that no one here looks over thirty. She’s tall, with black hair pulled back into a severe bun, mouth tight.
Her gaze travels to the gap between Lochlan and me, and finally to him. “I wasn’t expecting a chaperon, Mr. Delecroix,” she says, her voice almost lyrical.
“A favor to one of our healers,” Lochlan says easily. Smoothly.
“Yes, well, Council has requested a standard clearance check for all accompanying officials.”
The slightest shift in his energy has my heart rate increasing, though Lochlan’s expression doesn’t change. “That’s not protocol for an Elemental classification,” he says.
She smiles. “New directive.”
Lochlan hums softly, stepping away from me to meet her at the desk. He extends a single hand, palm up.
She places her hand over his. The subtle ripple of power in the air makes me nauseous. I have no idea how I’m going to shield myself from her.
After what feels like an eternity, Councilor Seacore steps back and clears her throat. A male enters the chamber from a door behind the desk. His skin is so light, it’s nearly translucent.
“Thank you for your compliance, Mr. Delecroix. You may wait outside,” she says, straightening her jacket.
We knew this would likely be the request, but it still sends my nerves into freefall.
Lochlan nods, a hint of that tension from earlier back in his expression. He doesn’t look at me as he turns and heads out the same doors we entered, where the guards remain stationed. They pull the doors shut with an echoing boom.
Lay your memories. Now. She won’t warn you when she begins.
My minefield of memories is already prepared. I’ve memorized them. Dreamed of them.
“Please, take a seat,” Councilor Seacore waves at the empty chairs across from her as she tucks herself behind the desk, taking me in. “You look nervous.” She sounds almost giddy.
I swallow. “A bit.”
“There’s no need to be. The process is simple. I’ll review your background with a standard mindwalk, then ask you a series of questions to learn about your Soul Element. How does that sound?”
I nod, my throat too dry for words.
“Your hands, please.”
The formality, Lochlan explained, is unnecessary but a custom meant to let individuals know when the mindwalking is happening, but I already feel both her and the stranger she’s yet to introduce in my head.
Her palms sink against mine, intensifying the connection. I don’t know if it’s blatant or merely easier for her to gain access.
I nearly grunt.
Good, Lochlan says. Take a breath.
Which charms are yellow?
I’m not sure what you’re referring to, Witchling, but you should be focusing.
There’s a yellow charm across her desk. It’s very tightly knit and has small circles between the squares.
A pause. You can see charms?
…Can’t everyone?
No. He sounds exasperated. Annoyed. Are you fucking kidding me right now?
Do you want me to answer, or are you going to tell me what charm this is? Can you hear us out there?
Do you see any charms you’re familiar with?
A silencing charm is around the room, but it isn’t stretched across the floor or the back door that the creepy guy entered from.
You can see it? His voice is filled with shock.
I thought we already established this.
What else? Any others?
Dozens. She has a silver letter-opener thing with a red charm, like the ones on the doors at Mysthaven. An alarm?
He swears. Why haven’t you mentioned this before?