Restlessly, he shifted back to his feet and paced the chamber, form more corporeal than I had ever seen. Hewalkedacross the stone floors, though with his power, he did not need to. It was a choice. To feel solid ground beneath his feet.
He murmured, “We may still be surprised yet.”
I exchanged a look with Valyrie. “What do you mean?”
“She has power we did not anticipate. Power that has stirred things, and it gives her an advantage.”
I considered how she’d wielded the Angellight. First with only the emblems—now, more freely. It was never before seen, even with those long-banished foot soldiers and guardians. Even those kissed by Angels couldn’t wield the power of seven.
“We have seen the beasts awakening,” I began.
“Not only that,” our master said. “Two tales have merged to become one.” At his words, a surge of golden light burned across my skin.A memory, I assured myself. It was only a memory. “I knew the curse of Ophelia might spell our reign or our downfall, but I did not think like this.”
Stars had fallen from the sky, but was he saying two prophetic fates merged within the child? He had gone on about a fate millennia in the making, and I thought it had been gleeful rambling, thought it had been a reference to the chambers sealed around us finally cracking.
But perhaps it had been about that other unseen and unpredictable force. The beat of wings long clipped and the burn of magic long silenced.
Were the two utterly fused by the hands of the great mist and the power within a child’s blood? How…howwould that end?
Kissed by Angels.
I turned a hardened stare to my master, awaiting direction.
“She needs to learn of this power carefully, at our discretion to avoid the bridges it may open prematurely.” His milky eyes darted smoothly from Valyrie to me. “You will need to guide her.”
Valyrie, long silver hair stirring in a wind around her shoulders, asked, “And Xenique?”
“When the girl is ready, Xenique’s legacy will be our final piece. She already has it, but point her to the discovery now, you two.”
We stood, beating our wings in the golden glow from my own light, pushing the boundaries. Valyrie’s lilac ether spilled around our feet.
And our master flashed a gleaming smile. “Now…Fly.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Tolek
“Watch duty?”Lyria said, hopping up on the porch railing beside me as I nodded.
“Told Ophelia to get some sleep.” She probably wouldn’t until I switched shifts, but it was worth a try.
The door to the inn swung shut, Lancaster and Rina’s low bickering wafting out. “They’re getting along well,” I deadpanned.
“As best as we can hope,” Lyria said with a shrug. “I don’t know what to make of the fae.”
I blew out a breath. “Me neither. They appear to be trying to help.” Especially tonight, in the catacombs. They’d risked their lives. How much of that was only because their queen commanded it, though?
I yawned loudly as I considered it, and my sister guffawed at my theatrics.
“Go get some sleep, Tolek,” Lyria said when I failed to stifle yet another yawn.
“I’m fine,” I argued.
She leveled me a stare that reminded me of our mother.
“Angels, you look exactly like her when you do that. Ready to reprimand me for coming home with the knees of my pants torn once again or dirt smeared across a fresh tunic.”
Lyria stifled a laugh. “She did hate having to patch up our clothes.”
