“Then why can we still write to Barrett?” Cypherion asked in his most commanding Second-to-the-Revered voice.
“Because Echnid does not want to destroy warriors,” Meridat said. The Soulguider Chancellor folded her hands on the table, stacks of bracelets clinking against the carved edge. “He wants to empower us. He needs a tight leash on his immediate surroundings, but demolishing our lines of communication would only cause an uproar and, potentially, strife between clans. This is a calculated move to allow us to address the shift we all felt, to see the good he’s doing while he keeps those in Damenal under his thumb.”
“Why does he need Damenal, though?” Vale asked.
My stare flicked between them all. Was this seriously what they were taking from this? “None of that is what’s most important.” I turned to Santorina. “How are they? Is Ophelia…”
Hurt? Caged?
Angels, please just let her be safe. Jezebel pushed to her feet beside me, balling her shaking hands into fists.
“She’s fine,” Rina said. “They both are. I don’t have many details since the shells don’t allow that much communication, but they’re both okay.”
A sliver of tension unknotted in my chest. She wasn’t being harmed. She was okay.
“We’re going to Damenal, then,” I said, stepping around my chair and making for the door.
But Rina stopped me with a hand on my chest. “We can’t.”
“What do you meanwe can’t?” I sneered those last two words.
Grim lines bracketed Rina’s mouth as she stood taller, forcing me back a step. “We cannot go to Damenal.”
“Why in Damien’s name not?” Jezebel lashed out from behind me.
Rina looked between us. “Ophelia said they’re staying for now.”
Well, that sentence didn’t make any sense.
“Staying where?” I growled.
“In Damenal. She and Malakai are staying to figure out what Echnid is up to.” Her eyes flitted between mine, as if she was trying to decide if she should keep speaking. I didn’t know what she found, but apparently it was desperate and tormented enough to convince her I needed more information. “Echnid wants her, Tolek.”
“That’s why we have to save her!” I yelled, the tattoo on my back burning, the words ripping through my guilty heart.
I love you, baby brother.
“She doesn’t need saving,” Rina assured me. “Echnid wants to work with her. I don’t know what it means, but he wants her happy.”
Still in her seat, Vale scoffed and crossed her arms. “That sounds familiar.”
It did sound hauntingly similar to how Titus, the late Starsearcher Chancellor, had proposed their relationship. Santorina gave her a tight-lipped nod. “I thought the same, I assure you. But Ophelia swore this is their choice. They want to learn his plans—to see if he is a threat or an advantage to the warriors.”
“She has a point,” Cypherion said. Vale and I both swung shocked stares on him. “We don’t know what Echnid is going todo. He maybenefitwarriors, but the only way for us to know is to wait. Let Ophelia and Malakai figure him out, then we go in.”
So levelheaded. So rational. So Angelsdamned infuriating.
“No,” I asserted.
“I’m with Tolek,” Jezzie said, planting her hands on her hips.
“Cypherion is right,” Rina swore. “We need whatever information they can uncover. This isn’t a battle we’ve ever fought before. This is thegods.”
“Echnid may truly have the warriors’ best interest at heart,” CK added, eyeing me carefully.
“Then why did hekidnapthem?” Jezebel shrieked. She panted, and when no one responded, she sighed. “Forget it.” And she tore from the room.
“I’ll write to the other clan rulers and update them,” Meridat said. That solidified whom she’d sided with. As a chancellor, she was considering the best interest of her people. Not actingrashlywas her choice.
