Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cypherion

The temple breathed an eerie stillness against my skin. A handful of searchers knelt in the main room, curtains drawn across nearly all alcoves. The usual pairs of guards drifted lazily down the aisles, mystlight flickering against gray stone where it stretched up, cradling a mosaic across the ceiling.

Everything was in order. I should have been grateful for that.

But instead, unease ticked away at my mind. Mentally, I took stock of my weapons, remembering where each knife was sheathed. The ones against my ribs would be the most discreet and quickest to pull.

The stained-glass windows cast pools of rippling blue light across the floor as I followed Vale toward the archives. Without a word, she slipped away to distract the guard again—a different one tonight, thank the Angels—and with the aid of two thin knives, I had the lock open within seconds.

Could this defense be any more pathetic? Why weren't these locked magically if they were truly to be kept secret?

Then again, numerous acolytes were allowed in here. Why have a lock at all if so many keys were given out?

Shrugging off the criticism of the Starsearchers, I ducked through the archway. My heart pounded as I waited.

When Vale finally slipped through the sliver of moonlight gilding the floor, I thought back to the way I'd surprised her last night when she arrived and how hard my cock got with only the gasp she'd elicited.

We didn't have time for any of that tonight, though.

Vale's gaze was dragged down that staircase, her hands flexing at her sides.

"How do you feel?" I whispered.

She may insist on returning, but if she froze again, I wouldn't hesitate. I'd get her out of here through whatever means possible. Whatever answers the archives held weren't worth hurting her.

She looked over her shoulder, eyes alert and jaw tense. "I'm fine."

She wasn't, though. Now that she'd admitted the pressure her magic had been exerting on her, the tells were clear. She blinked rapidly with a hand against the wall, like the power was trying to force her into the depths of the stars and she needed to ground herself.

But she wanted to be here, and she deserved that choice.

"Let's continue," I said, rolling my shoulders to dispel the uncertainty stiffening my entire body.

As she nodded and turned back, her cloak—the one I'd given her from the Castani market—slipped over her shoulder, exposing that silver tattoo. And even in the dim light, it pulled at me like a calling card, igniting the anger in my chest.

I pushed it away.

On light feet, we crept toward the mouth of the spiral staircase. Its descent was just as intimidating as it had been last night. Vale went first, hand clenched on the rail—much tighter than last night. Orbs dropped from the ceiling, the wavering mystlight within paling her skin.

The deeper we went beneath the earth, the more the magic stored in Gallantia's land wakened my senses. I kept my heightened stare trained on the Starsearcher before me, ears attuned to any unexpected noises. Nothing but silence echoed along the stone.

My gut tightened as we passed the first three levels without issue.

"Wait," I whispered on the fourth landing, gently grabbing Vale's wrist and pulling her to a stop.

I peeked around the corner. A labyrinth of shelves stretched as far as I could see, but no footsteps echoed between them. No acolyte was stationed at the central desk. Just pale mystlight bathing empty aisles and the flickering cracks of fires in the grates.

That couldn't be. Slipping my hand into Vale's with a slight shake of my head, I ducked down the nearest aisle and quietly wove through the rows.

But no matter how far we went—we didn't meet anyone. My weapons itched for me to pull them.

When we reached the end of the floor, I tugged Vale against a shelf and sank low to the ground. I met her eyes, and it was clear we were both wondering the same thing.

"There's no one down here," she whispered.

I peered around the end of the aisle, almost hoping to hear footsteps in the distance or the clink of a guard's armor. "Is there any reason the acolytes would be called away?"

"If there was a celestial event, they'd be called up to read." I turned back to Vale to meet her slightly-hazy eyes. When had that begun? "If it was large enough, they'd be in the courtyard beneath the open sky, not in the temple itself. But there's nothing tonight. Not unless there's a festival we don't know of or an emergency gathering."

"Even if there was an event, wouldn't you feel that pull, too?"

"Maybe, with the way my magic is behaving, I wouldn't notice the difference," she said, tenuously.

"What about the guards?"

Vale swallowed, and it took every bit of my strength to remain focused on the larger mission rather than the nervous bob of her throat. "They could be up there, too."

I dragged a hand through my hair, searching her face. The wide olive eyes and how she bit her lip to keep it from quivering.

"You want to keep going?" I asked.

"I need to," she whispered.

I didn't comment on the fact that that wasn't what I asked. That there was a difference between what she thought she should do and what she wanted.

"Okay," I said.

As we stood, I pulled her closer to me, cupping her cheeks with both hands and kissing her. Her mouth was warm, her lips finally stopping that trembling for just a moment. And for a few seconds, I reminded her—and myself—that neither of us were going anywhere.

We wound back through the eerie fourth level and continued to spiral down the staircase. The lower we went, the more the magic pressed on me. Mystiques were not guiders of magic like Starsearchers. We didn't use it in the same way, but we were still beings wrought of ether and connected to the earth, as all warriors were. Our blood was laced with that call.

Here, though, deep beneath the surface, it was almost like a great beast was stirring. Like it turned its head toward us.

We descended past the fifth level, past the chancellor's secret office on the sixth, where Vale didn't even stop to check that the coast was clear, before flying down to the seventh, and finally hit the eighth. Stronger power crawled along my skin, but still, we saw no one.

Despite the void, I didn't dare speak. Instead, as we crept down that final staircase—Vale practically floating—I considered the way my senses were awakening.

All magic stemmed from the mountains, seeping from the rocky cliffs and peaks all the way into the earth. It had wound its way into the Labyrinth and the pit in Mindshaper Territory, where Ophelia had been challenged for Thorn's emblem, and we were much deeper now than we had been then. It made sense that the further we journeyed underground, the more that power would stir.

My boots were silent as they hit the ninth-floor landing.

The imbued ink used to etch the Bond on the back of my neck reared its head, and those threads I'd barely been able to reach lately woke. They were searching for their cause, their source of magic to guard and the network of warriors I was tethered to.

As we paused with our backs to the cold stone wall, I couldn't help but indulge the Mystique legacy pulsing within me. I pulled a small dagger from under my cloak, desperate to feel the steel in my hand.

Vale tracked the movement slowly, gaze lingering on the metal for a moment. Then, she lifted her stare to mine.

And what lay within nearly sent me to my knees.

"Vale," I gasped.

The green of her eyes was almost entirely fogged over. Through the haze, galaxies swirled.

She only blinked at her name, her movements slowed. Less present than they'd been even on the fourth level.

"We can't do this." I searched the aisles beyond her. "Just stay here, and maybe I can—I can?—"

But what could I do? I wouldn't know what we were looking for in the archives. She was the one who held the malfunctioning magic and connections to the Fates. I was simply here to protect her.

"We have to see this through," she said, voice chiming against rock. We'd be caught for sure. "The Fates demand it."

My hands fisted. The fucking Fates and their entitlement.

"Are they pulling at you, Stargirl?"

She nodded, galaxies swirling with every blink. "They're louder than ever."

And though fear turned my stomach over, this was what we needed. The Starsearcher at the fighting rings had said the ninth level of the archives held Vale's answers. The Fates speaking to her now had to be a part of that. They had to be leading the way to whatever it was we needed.

"Follow them," I told her.

And without even looking that the coast was clear, Vale turned the corner and floated onto the ninth floor.

I hurried after her, scanning the scene. Every damn level looked the same upon first entrance, no identifiers to tell you how deep you were. It was disorienting and would be easy to get lost down here if you weren't paying attention.

But Vale drifted past endless shelves without concern.

My eyes snagged on the untitled books. I supposed that was a different form of defense for their private information. An intruder from a foreign clan wouldn't know where to look for what they sought.

Unless they had the Fates to guide them, like I did through Vale.

Her hands ghosted over each shelf, fingers gently draping across wood and rifling the open books topping the tables at the end of each aisle.

"Where are we going, Vale?" I asked, voice low. The Bond prickled at the back of my neck, the power surging through my veins. My hands tightened around my dagger.

"Just ahead," she said dreamily. A groan worked up my throat at the lack of control this magic forced upon us.

"Hurry the damn Fates up," I mumbled under my breath.

Vale answered in a chilling voice, "The Fates will not be rushed by the impatience of mortal warriors, no matter the promise they retain in their star paths, Mr. Kastroff."

I froze at the way she addressed me.

Speeding ahead, I cut her off and gently grabbed her shoulder, ducking to meet her eyes. Only a swirling force of stars looked back at me.

"What's going on?" I accused.

"It is fine," Vale said, removing my hand. "She is fine."

I didn't get out of her way. "Who?"

It wasn't Vale who answered. "The woman you love."

She didn't give me a chance to respond before sneaking around me and turning the next corner.

"Here," Vale's voice that wasn't Vale's said as she reached a tall door crafted of smooth, polished silver.

"What's in there?" I asked, sticking close to her side.

Vale turned the handle, and the door swung open without even a creak. The chamber ignited with mystlight and?—

"What in the Spirits?" I muttered, following Vale as she floated in.

Wherever we were, the ceiling had been constructed to mirror the night sky. Starlight swirled above as if it was a true window, not nine levels below ground. It reflected off the pristine marble floors and through the oval chamber, almost like the heart of a star itself.

Or the heart of a Fate.

In the center of the room, an aged book lay open, incense already wafting around it. The lilac scent was potent.

Vale glided to the center of the thin cloud, kneeling gracefully before the book.

I pulled another dagger, both hands armed now, and scanned the circumference of the chamber as I followed. Once I was sure we were alone, I glanced over the yellowed page Vale studied. I couldn't read it, but I recognized it.

"Do you know Endasi?" I asked.

Vale had never mentioned speaking any language other than the common tongue. I supposed the Fates spoke to her in their own, but that was internal, something born within her. Not a translation to learn.

"Of course I know the ancient Angel tongue," Vale said in that other voice, flipping the page. "I was there when it was created."

Chills danced down my spine. There was no way…

"What does it say?"

She pulled the book into her lap and was quiet for a long while. My nerves twitched more with each minute.

Finally, Vale's fingers tightened around the leather, and her eyes flashed to mine. Relief crashed through me to see the greens of her irises pushing through the starry haze.

But a hand pressed to her sternum, and with crushing defeat, she whispered, "I have to read now."

My heart pounded against my ribs as if it was trying to jump right out of my chest and reach out to that look of haunted isolation in her eyes.

I crashed to my knees next to her. "Not here, Vale. Remember? We need to get out. Get back to the inn." My weapons and the book clattered to the marble as I gripped her hands and pleaded, "Let's take it with us. Let's take the book and go where it's safe."

Because we didn't know what would happen when she read, but with the way this place was already affecting her—with an impossible voice communicating through her—it was clear the magic was beyond her control.

She shook her head, and while it tore through me, at least it was her eyes looking back at me—her I was talking to. "It won't be safe anywhere, but here it's strong and controlled."

I breathed heavily. There had to be a way.

"Move back from the incense, Cypherion," she said softly but decisively.

The haze thickened around us, coming between us. I shook my head.

"Please," she whispered, determined.

"You're not alone, Vale," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm right here."

"I know." But she let go of my hands.

I rose slowly, retrieving my weapons and stepping back outside of the ring of incense. As the fog swarmed around her, I muttered to the eddying lilac waves, "I'm here, Stargirl. Us against the Fates."

And her head lifted, olive stare locking on mine for just a moment, before stars swirled in her vision once again, and her eyes fell closed.

I prowled along the edge of the dense circle. The incense reached curling tendrils to the walls and up toward the starry ceiling where Vale's face was aimed. A mingling of woody and bitter scents layered in now, too.

She'll be fine , I told myself.

She had not begun seizing yet. This was like the first few times I'd seen her read in Damenal. Lost to the Fates but orderly. Controlled.

This was not the stricken version she'd become in the Labyrinth.

Regardless, I gripped my weapons tighter, not even sure what good they would do. I wished I had a sword or my scythe. Something to channel the power mounting in my veins this far beneath the world.

Vale had been under the reading for agonizingly long minutes when her hands began trembling.

"By the fucking Angels," I growled, sheathing my daggers and diving to her side.

"Vale?" I asked, panicked but gripping her face gently. "Stargirl, can you hear me?"

She didn't respond, lips moving minutely.

Her whole body started quaking. She was too deep. Too far gone.

Panic formed a vice around my throat as footsteps echoed from the main chamber of the ninth floor, and the door creaked open. Darting to my feet and swiping a dagger from my waist, I sent it flying toward the newcomer before I could even think or see who it was.

The man ducked at the last moment, the blade barely skinning the top of his ear. The metal clattered against the stone wall. And when he stood and grinned at me, a growl rumbled in my chest.

"Great to see you again, too," he said, straightening the cuffs of his tunic. "The capital is beautiful this time of year."

Behind me, shock pulled Vale to the surface. Her gasp pierced the fog, soured with betrayal. "Harlen?"

His name barely left her lips before she toppled to the ground.