Into whispering shadows.., p.31
Into Whispering Shadows (Darkened Skies Book 2), page 31
Astrea sucked in a shuddering breath as Eliana asked, “Delia and Posan?”
“I’ll tell you later, Ellie, I promise,” Jin said. “But right now, I’m more concerned with how this actually works. Will you show me, Az? Please?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Astrea whispered.
Astrea couldn’t do that to Jin, could she? It had been so painful. But as orange anxiety vibrated around him, Astrea knew she had to. Knowing that this ability could be used against most of them without any notice was terrifying. What if they made Commander Lucian mad and he decided to retaliate?
“Alright,” Astrea finally said. “But on the condition that you let me ease the pain after.”
“You’re not—” Jin started, but she shook her head.
“I am. That’s the only way I’ll agree to this.”
“Fine, but I don’t like it.”
Cressida, Adi, Eliana, and Nicos moved to one side of the lakeside path as Jin and Astrea moved onto the soft grass. Doing this with an audience was somehow worse than just attacking Jin, but Astrea tried to shake off the feeling.
“I need you to remain open,” Astrea told Jin. “No walls. I only know how to do it if you let your energy out. Whatever you were feeling about Lucian before, think about that.”
Jin’s shoulders heaved as he sucked in a breath. The faint rage that had stayed around him flared bright, as did anxiety and concern. The crimson, orange, and dark green pulsed around him in a steady rhythm.
“Ready?”
Jin nodded.
Astrea wasn’t sure she was ready, but she latched onto her own fear before reaching for Jin’s energy. She closed her fists, then pulled back, just as she had with Lucian. But she couldn’t force her energy toward him.
“I trust you.” Jin’s voice strained with the words. Discomfort bloomed in her chest, just a whisper of what he was surely already feeling. “Do it, Az.”
The sooner she started, the sooner this would be over. Astrea pushed her fears of hurting him and of her magic toward him. He grunted and stumbled back a step. She pushed her fear of the Paragon, and her silent rage at Lucian, right into Jin’s body. As soon as his knees hit the grass, Astrea dropped her fists and thought of everything good she could: how gentle he’d been with Helena and Leo, how good it had felt to hear him say he was serious about their relationship, how nice it was to wake up with his body curled around hers. And then Astrea ran to his side.
“Well,” Jin said, his hand splayed across his sternum, “that definitely fucking hurts.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, already tugging on her magic as she laid a hand on his back. She pushed the healing energy into him, and that ghostly pain emanating from him doubled in her body. Jin gently pulled her hand away. “You said I could heal you,” Astrea protested.
“And you took the edge off.” He smiled at her as they stood, but it wasn’t convincing. “I promise.”
She would not do that to Jin again, not even if he asked. Astrea wasn’t sure she could do that to anyone. It had felt awful attacking Lucian despite his taunts.
“How do we protect ourselves from this?” Adi asked.
“My barrier protects me from it,” Astrea said, then explained what she’d been working on with Lucian. “You all need barriers, too.”
“We’re not Lightbringers, though,” Eliana said. “I definitely can’t feel how far out my emotions are going.”
“Jin, you’re hard to read most of the time,” Astrea said. He nodded. She’d told him, weeks before, that he often seemed to be surrounded by a wall. “How?”
“I’m not trying to make myself hard to read. I just try to keep myself calm and controlled,” he said, as if it were truly that simple.
Astrea glanced at the rest of their friends, whose confusion, curiosity, and anxiety were bright. “Even if it is some rare Lightbringer talent, I don’t like the idea that someone could turn it on you all.”
Adi smiled. “Sounds like it’s time for a lesson.”
“I’m supposed to meet Ysabel this morning to discuss some of my plans,” Eliana said. “Can it wait?”
“After lunch,” Jin said. “We’ll meet after lunch, and Az is going to teach us whatever she can.”
Chapter 30
“No, not like that,” Astrea said. “I can still see your emotions.”
Rusty annoyance flashed in the guest house’s parlor as Eliana clenched her fists in her lap. “What do you mean you can still see them? I’m pulling them in, like you and Jin said!”
After what happened by the lake, Astrea had insisted on still training with Adi. She hadn’t been able to focus, though, as her mind just ran in circles around the issue with Lucian and her questions about General Kanakos. Eventually, they’d returned to the guest house, and not long after, Eliana had returned from her meeting with the grand duchess.
Now, Astrea stood with Jin in front of the parlor’s fireplace, the others all perched on the soft armchairs and sofa. Teaching her friends to rein in their emotions was not going smoothly. Astrea had again explained what Lucian taught her about creating her own barrier, though as she’d anticipated, that hadn’t helped her friends much.
“Focus on making the emotions smaller, Ellie,” Jin said. “Contain them. Imagine them as a ball that you make smaller and smaller.”
“Easy for you,” she muttered, more of that rust spiking in the air. But finally, Eliana’s aura shrank back toward her body. The color dimmed.
“Better,” Astrea said. “Imagine surrounding yourself with a wall or a shield.”
“This is hard.” Eliana flopped into the sofa, her colors exploding to full brightness again.
“Don’t you like hard things, Ellie?” Cressida quipped, then squealed as Eliana chucked a decorative pillow at her head. Amusement tickled Astrea’s nose.
“Well, keep practicing. You almost had it.” Astrea watched Adi’s aura dim and waver before exploding back out again. Nicos was the only one having more than marginal success.
“How do you do this all the time?” Cressida asked. “I don’t like it. It’s uncomfortable.”
“I know it is. Keep practicing.” Astrea had been making the same complaints to Lucian just days ago, and though it was still difficult for Astrea to keep a tight grip on her energy all the time, it was getting easier.
“Are we sure it’s necessary?” Eliana asked. “I mean, if nobody knows this Lightbringer secret except for a few people in the world, surely we’ll be alright.”
“Do you really want Lucian knowing all of your business?” Astrea asked, her gaze flicking to Nicos, then back to Eliana. “Besides the obvious potential danger.” Eliana huffed as her aura first expanded with magenta embarrassment, then shrank and dimmed again. “Better, Ellie. Keep working on it.”
“And you say I’m ruthless in training,” Adi quipped. “We’ve been at this for half an hour already!”
“Which should be nothing for you, Adi,” Jin said. “Zephyrine would hate to know you’ve gotten soft.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he muttered.
As the others continued practicing, Jin uncrossed his arms and reached for Astrea’s hand. “Can we talk for a moment?” he asked quietly. “It’ll be quick.”
“Sure.” Astrea led the way to the closed parlor door, then called over her shoulder, “Keep going. Don’t forget I’ll be able to tell if you give up!” All four of their friends groaned, and Adi yelled something about her being “worse than Zephyrine” before she and Jin stepped into the foyer.
Jin closed the door behind him. Even from the middle of the foyer, Astrea could feel the ebb and flow of everyone’s energy in the parlor. Their frustration was like sandpaper against her skin.
“You could’ve told me about Lucian,” Jin said when he joined her. “There I was, carrying on and flirting with you like nothing had happened. I feel like an ass for not knowing.”
“You’re not an ass. And I was going to tell you . . . I just wanted to forget it happened for a few hours first.”
“Fuck, I hate this.” He sucked in a heavy, almost defeated breath as he ran his hand through his hair. “Just when I thought we were getting somewhere with the Novarians, one of them has to have their head up their ass. You’d think the commander of—”
“Wait,” Astrea said. Just at the edge of her magic, something changed. A heavy wall pressed against her, but it wasn’t from any of the four in the parlor. “I think he’s coming.”
A moment later, the front doors swung open. Lucian strode in, Marko by his side. Astrea pulled her magic back, back, back toward herself as Jin faced the Novarians.
“Good, you’re here.” Lucian sized up Astrea, then Jin. “Where’s your sister, Prince Varojin? There are things we need to discuss.”
Jin was silent for a long moment, then asked, “What’s this about?”
“The Paragon have struck again.”
“What?” Astrea whispered. But . . . she hadn’t left the palace. They hadn’t gone anywhere.
Behind Lucian, Marko shifted from one foot to the other.
“Let’s just discuss this as a group, shall we?” Lucian suggested.
Jin guided Astrea in front of him as they walked toward the parlor door. Just as she opened it, Eliana yelled, “You should’ve warned me that controlling—” The words died on Eliana’s tongue as Lucian strode in behind Jin. “Oh, Commander. Hello.”
“Let me get straight to it,” Lucian said. “Your Imperial Highnesses, there has been another murder. Two victims this time, both with void magic found on their bodies. Both near a hotel in downtown Talmaris. Obviously nobody from your group was there this time, and there was no note demanding we turn Astrea over. We don’t yet know the purpose of these murders, but they appear to have happened last night.”
Astrea’s stomach sank. If she’d agreed to be bait for Lucian, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe they would’ve already had answers. Or maybe you’d have learned nothing at all, her mind argued.
“Thank you for coming all the way here to tell us,” Eliana said, her voice surprisingly flat. “Is there anything you need from us while you investigate?”
“No, my team will be handling it while we’re in the mountains,” Lucian said. “I just thought it was important that you were made aware.” He glanced at Astrea. “You’re trying to teach them to hide their emotions away?”
“I—” Her first instinct was to deny it, but Astrea lifted her chin. “I thought it was important.”
Cressida shifted in her seat, and Eliana’s jaw tightened. Please don’t say anything, she thought at them.
“I see.” Lucian surveyed their group, then nodded. “I assume you’ve told them.”
“Of course I did. It seemed like poor judgment to leave them vulnerable.”
“Wise, considering the circumstances. We aren’t the only two in the world who know how to do this.” Lucian crossed his arms behind his back. “I’m sure the lot of you think poorly of me, and Astrea, I owe you an apology in particular. I should not have handled that lesson the way I did.”
Even a couple months prior, Astrea would’ve accepted Lucian’s threadbare apology and tried to move on. She still wanted to. But she pushed against the instinct. Why was Lucian apologizing now when just that morning, he’d been irritated by her hurt feelings? Had Eliana said something to the grand duchess? Or could he sense her friends’ distrust now? Astrea wanted to let her magic expand, but she couldn’t make herself.
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Jin finally said. “I spent more than a year getting nasty trainers out of one of our programs back home. What you did crossed a line.”
“And unfortunately, I cannot uncross it,” Lucian said.
“Can we speak outside, Commander?” Astrea asked. She didn’t need Jin stepping up for her, nor did she want an audience for this.
Lucian said nothing as he returned to the foyer. Astrea followed him and pulled the door closed behind her.
He regarded her, his expression neutral and impossible to interpret. Was he annoyed? Angry with her again? Angry with her still, especially considering the two new murder victims?
“What is it, Astrea?” The words, while direct, held no malice.
Astrea’s heart thundered all the way up her throat and into her ears. “You were wrong to do that to me with no warning.”
“I know. I apologized just a moment ago, didn’t I?”
“You said you owe me an apology. That’s not an actual apology.”
Lucian let out a long, slow sigh. “Splitting hairs, isn’t it?”
Astrea swallowed. “No.”
Pushing his shoulders back, Lucian said, “I’m sorry, Astrea. I was in the wrong. I still think it’s something you needed to learn, but I will not be so forward again. We’ll go at your pace.”
That wasn’t exactly the world’s best apology, but when Lucian offered her a small, tight smile, she nodded. She had a feeling it was the best she’d get from him. “Alright. Thank you.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Actually, there is.” She’d been pondering the question for the last day and still didn’t have an answer. “How would that even help us fight the void mages? I told you they’re hollow, like there’s no energy to pull from. Doesn’t that exercise become useless?”
“We’ll find a way.”
How? It wasn’t like they knew any friendly void mages they could practice with.
“When we’re back from the mountains?” she asked.
“Alright,” he said. “It’s best to focus on what comes next. We can discuss this more when we’ve returned.”
“Do you need to tell Eliana anything else?”
“No. I’ll see you tomorrow for the flight.”
As Lucian called for Marko and led the younger guard out of the house, Astrea rubbed her hand over her face. Two more murders. Lucian changing his tune so quickly. Still no answers.
Tomorrow, she promised herself. Tomorrow, she would be on her way to the ruins. On her way to answers.
Astrea pushed her shoulders back and returned to the parlor. Her friends watched her, wary. “Well,” she said, “what are you doing? You’re supposed to be practicing.”
Chapter 31
The day had finally arrived. General Zephyrine Kanakos was set to land at a military base outside the city within the hour. Jin, Adi, and Lucian were already at the fort overseeing final preparations, and Marko was set to escort Astrea, Cressida, and the professor there.
With the delay in their original plan, that meant they’d be heading west instead of east so they could make it back in time for the dinner with the Grand Novarian Council. East, toward the Antare Mountains, would’ve been in the direction of the actual void reference they’d found, but Astrea was still excited to go west. Professor Shalysko had found the void language at ruins there, too.
Now, Astrea crouched on her bedroom floor in front of the wardrobe, sifting through the few pieces of evidence they actually had about the Paragon. There, with Mattina’s notebook, the sheets they’d taken from the void house, and the folios detailing the various murders, was Saros’s note. Astrea hadn’t touched it since that night they landed in Talmaris.
I’m trying, Uncle, she thought as she unfolded the note and reread his messy scrawl. I’m trying to find answers just like you asked me to. Astrea still wished she knew what visions he’d had of her. Maybe Zephyrine would have news from home. Something. Anything.
After setting the note back down, Astrea gathered the rest of what she needed: Mattina’s notebook, so she could compare the text against the sample at the ruins, and the mythology book referencing the monster in the mountains. She wasn’t sure if it would help, but it was worth reading over one more time before they landed. Then she stuffed everything into the canvas knapsack Jin had left her. Its dark gray material and leather straps made it look almost identical to the one he kept his military gear in. In fact, it looked just like the one he’d taken from their borrowed airship the night they landed in Talmaris nearly a fortnight prior.
Everything else was already packed and waiting downstairs. With the knapsack slung over her shoulder, Astrea smoothed the front of her dress and left behind the bedroom that had come to feel like the only safe place in the world.
A voice echoed up the stairs as Astrea descended. Kostas stood in the middle of the foyer, chatting about skies knew what. Enthusiasm danced over Astrea’s skin, light and electric. Marko, stoic as ever, simply watched.
“Ah, Astrea!” Kostas called as she descended the last few stairs. “Wonderful! Are you ready to go?”
“Ready.” Astrea shifted the bag on her shoulder.
“Have you ever been out to the Macadian Mountains?” Kostas asked. “It’s a beautiful place, truly beautiful. I think you’re going to really appreciate the site—”
“Professor,” Marko said, the word sounding more like an order than something friendly, “would you go check that the driver is waiting out front? Then I’ll begin bringing the bags out.”
“Oh.” Kostas glanced at Astrea, then Marko. “Of course.” The professor hurried off without so much as a single word, and for just a moment, brilliant mint sparkled around Marko.
“You’re relieved,” Astrea said before she could think better of it. Marko just chuckled and shook his head.
“Just wait until you spend the next few days with him. You’ll see why.”
Astrea hadn’t seen much of Marko since that incident at Kostas’s office. In fact, they’d exchanged little more than a few polite pleasantries and information about the Paragon.
“What makes you say that?” she asked.
“Babysitting is not how I planned to spend my week. The professor is . . .”
“Eccentric?” Astrea offered.
“Annoying,” Marko corrected. “Incredibly annoying. He doesn’t shut up.”
Astrea’s laugh echoed through the foyer. That was Marko’s concern? That the professor was annoying? “He can’t be that bad.”
“Prepare yourself,” Marko muttered as they went into the parlor. “Tonight’s flight will be trying.”
