19. Gossip Girl

After my fight with One, I sulk in the gym most of the afternoon. Lori's ominous warning is stuck in my brain, and Two doesn't seek me out, probably as pissed as I am. I bury several bolts in the hay mannequin, aiming right for the swirly black shadow I drew over its heart.

When my fingers are numb from reloading and shooting the heavy weapon, I run ten extra laps to cool off. The frustration and lack of sleep from my horrible night alone in New York drags me down, and I fail to mask a sigh when James joins me on the track.

The man falls into step with me with a kind smile. "I've heard about the switch."

"Ugh." I pick up the pace, afraid to let too many emotions show on my face.

James waits for a full minute before broaching the subject again. "Did something happen?"

"Why would you assume something happened?" I snap, immediately feeling guilty for my temper.

"Two and Mara are thick as thieves, so I figured the schedule change must have originated on your side."

He's not wrong, and I eye him sideways. His figure is more athletic than when we first met, and his gaze doesn't quite hug the ground as much as it used to. "What about you, are you still training with Three? You passed his first trial weeks ago."

"According to Lori, the triplets usually keep their pupils for three to four months, laying the groundwork for the more advanced lessons and allowing enough time for them to sprout."

We're no longer running but walking briskly instead, and I wrinkle my nose as I contemplate his answer. "I thought a seed became a sprout after he or she passed the first three trials? Wouldn't it be best to get them out of the way early?"

"Maybe that's what they decided to do with you, maybe they feel that you can take it. Three said that I had the right temperament for fantasies, but nightmares should prove most difficult for me. I'd be scared to wash out if I divided my attention like that."

"I'm no genius. One must have switched me for a different reason," I say quickly.

We circle back to the hub where five figures dressed in similar uniforms have gathered under the Hawthorn. The group is speaking loudly, and we come to an abrupt stop.

"Do you know them?" I whisper not to draw attention to us.

James shakes his head, looking timid and nervous again. "They're probably the hunters Lori talks so much about."

Soot streaks their arms, masks, and necks, and I glance around the courtyard. A few sprites lurk at the fringes of the gardens, their normal routine interrupted by the bustle, but none of them seem alarmed.

One steps out of the gym with his arms crossed over his chest and leans in the doorway. The bastard doesn't spare me a glance as I wave, so I tuck my arms firmly to my sides.

Mara and Two appear on the trainee's balcony and brace their elbows on the railing, listening in as the newcomers pass around a bottle of hard liquor and exchange loud quips.

A slender, blond man with a plain white mask raises the uncorked bottle in cheer. "We made it, bruh. No more labyrinths for me, thank you. Not for a lifetime."

"No? Are you growing soft on me, Cary?" A second man with dark curly hair and a thick, foreign accent steals the amber-tinted glass bottle from his grasp. "Color me disappointed." His ruby-encrusted mask twinkles in the sun.

"I'm overdue for a feather bed and some mindless fun," a third man grunts.

The one named Cary snickers. "You and Fi certainly had plenty of mindless fun last night."

A woman with flaming red hair marches over to the bottle for her share. "I thought we were gonna die. It doesn't count."

"You heard that, Mitch? You only got laid as a last resort."

The casual sex discussion throws me for a loop, and my cheeks heat up.

The fifth figure, a tall man covered in blood from head to toe, motions for his companions to settle down, his voice sharper than the rest of them combined. "Shut up, all of you. The king is here."

The Shadow King himself appears on the mezzanine a moment later.

Sunshine sparks off his golden mask, preventing us from looking directly at him, and I tent my hand above my brows to see better. The excited chatter dies in one breath, and the hunters all put one knee to the ground.

Caught up in the moment, James and I imitate them. One bows his head, but he doesn't kneel, and I catch Two rolling his eyes.

The tall man covered in blood and grime raises a bovine skull to the king. "We've come back from our mission, My King. I present to you what's left of the minotaur."

A shadow detaches from the skull—or the man's arm?—and flies off to merge with the king. His gloved hands rap along the railing, and he stands a little taller, the darkness that licks his silhouette now effervescent.

He finally nods at the leader of the hunt and whistles back inside without a word. I squint at the third floor balcony, trying to figure out which flight of stairs leads up there.

Lori runs out of the library. "Finally! I was beginning to worry. All these weeks alone with the rookies, with no one else around to haze them—" Her bright smile falters. "Wait—where is Drake?"

The leader discards the empty skull to the ground, and dried mud crusts off his back at the movement. "Dead."

Lori gapes at him, clearly shocked. "But—how?"

"He was sloppy."

I walk over to Lori and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. The others squint like they"re seeing me for the first time, and their gazes travel from me to James, then to Mara up on the balcony.

Cary tucks his mask under his arm and raises a brow. "Three new seeds?"

Lori nods quietly, tears glossing over her clear gray eyes as I hug her.

Two rubs his hands together, drawing the group's attention away from us. "Let's celebrate at dinner, shall we? After you take a quick bath, of course."

The hunters nod, and the crowd scatters in all directions. I turn around to steal a glance at One, but the knight is already gone.

A sense of dread settles in my chest, my muscles sore and my mind exhausted, but I don't want to be left out of the loop, so I follow everyone's lead and head to my room to change into a fresh tunic.

When I get to the banquet hall, the tables have been rearranged to form a big circle—except for the Shadow King's throne, of course.

Lori waves me over to her. "Thank you for earlier…they were acting like nothing bad had happened, and it sucked."

"Was Drake a good friend of yours?" I ask softly.

"Not really. I mean—he was a bit of a loner, but that doesn't mean I wanted him to die." She covers her face with her hands. "He was our healer, and a great one at that. If only I'd been part of the hunt…" her voice cracks.

"Do you usually go with them?"

"I was on stupid library duty because I broke the rules, but it was all for nothing—" She braces her arms over her thighs, shaking like a Hawthorn leaf in the wind. "And now Drake…"

I cover her hand with mine. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

She opens her heart-shaped mouth like she's ready to tell me the whole story when Mara slumps down on the empty seat next to me, startling us both.

"What's up, bitches?"

"Hey," Lori sighs regretfully.

There's no assigned seating, but I'd planned to save the seat for James. I glower at my fellow seed and search the room for her mentor. "Where is Two?"

"He's running late. He had to get the dead guy's body and bring it back to Faerie."

Lori turns green. "See you later."

Mara sniffs the fish on her plate suspiciously. "What's with her? She looked like she was going to be sick."

"Her friend just died—" I start, but I don't have it in me to explain common decency to a woman that keeps putting her foot in her mouth and doesn't seem to care.

Mara isn't even listening, pushing aside her plate in favor of her wine. From the inattentive way she holds her glass, I figure she's already drunk.

Her tongue darts out of her mouth, and she licks her lips. "I bet the Shadow King isn't as handsome as the legends say. His knights on the other hand…" Her gaze is glued to the triplet's table.

The three Fae are playing a card game with a couple of hunters on the opposite side of the room. They gamble for money and trinkets, and Two curses under his breath as Three pulls all the winnings towards him with a provocative grin.

"You cheated," Two growls.

Three's chest vibrates with laughter, and he angles his palms to the sky. Prove it.

One sits back in his chair, distancing himself from his brothers. The weight of his gaze tightens my skin, and I arch a brow that asks, "Did he cheat or not?"

One bites his bottom lip not to smile and gives me a small, almost imperceptible nod.

"How old do you think they are?" Mara slurs in my ear.

I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about it. "Late twenties?" I answer, keeping the truth for myself. I've seen One's eyes. They were not the eyes of a twenty-something man.

The redhead raps her long, black-painted nails on the table. "Three never eats, did you notice? I heard it's because he does…other things to sustain himself."

The way One stares at me from the other side of the room sparks a fiery storm in my chest.

"Other things?" I ask absentmindedly.

"Fiona said he's cursed and can only eat when he fucks, otherwise food tastes like dirt to him."

What the?—

Mara eyes me sideways. "You must be the no-sex-before-marriage type. Sucks for you."

I grit my teeth, uncomfortable with the way she leers at Three. "Sex before marriage is unthinkable in Demeter."

She raises both brows in disbelief. "For women, you mean."

"Well…yes," I concede.

"It used to be the same in my world, really, but we've gotten past that bullshit." She lowers her voice like she's about to confess something scandalous. "I also heard that the knights aren't even allowed to marry."

My heart skips a beat, and I consider Mara with renewed interest. Judging by One's reaction yesterday, I knew I'd struck a chord with my jab, but I didn't think he was forced to live as a bachelor.

"What do you mean?"

Her tongue rests at the tip of her canine as she pauses for effect. "Rumor has it that, as long as the Shadow King remains single, the triplets can't take a wife of their own."

"The Shadow King never married?" I ask, surprised.

She raises a brow as though I just called her a liar. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"All my research points to the fact that Fae royals love to marry. It strengthens their magic, so most queens and kings have to marry to keep their crowns. They keep witnesses around for the consummation part, and the Winter King even turned his nuptials into some sort of competitive pageantry."

"Wow, you've really got your nose stuck in a book, Old World. No…Oh! I've got it!" Mara slaps my upper arm, her eyes wide from the liquor, stuck in the inebriated phase where all your ideas are gold and you love yourself more than ever. She slaps it three times. "I bet they're doing it."

"Doing what?"

"Sex."

I roll my shoulders back, concerned that Mara is taking advantage of my naiveté. "Who's having sex?"

She glares at me like I'm dense. "The king and his knights. If they can't marry, it means the king has them all to himself."

My brows furrow. "But that's not—That doesn't make any sense."

Men don't have sex with men. I'm almost sure.

Mara laughs, but it's louder and lasts longer than any laugh should, and the difference makes the sound rather unkind. "You're kidding, right? Just look at Cary and Misha."

The two men smile at each other, in the secret way lovers do, but I've never seen any of the triplets look at the Shadow King with adoration—or even admiration. If anything, they always seem a bit…put off by their monarch's presence.

People with secrets think of gossip as an enemy, but it's actually the opposite. Gossip dilutes the truth, rips it to shreds, and scatters it in the wind of a stranger's breath until it"s lost for good.

That'll teach me to listen to the musings of a drunk tattler.