Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

Cypherion

"What are you doing here?" I forced between gritted teeth. "We left you back in Lumin."

"And by some miracle, I own a horse, Kastroff," Harlen responded, rolling his eyes.

"So, you followed us?" I tried to ignore the fact that Vale had fallen silent again.

"Oh no, I was always meant to return here."

" Return here?" He lived in Lumin. He told Vale he rented an apartment in the city and had built a life for himself.

Harlen slid his hands into his pockets, scuffing a heel against the marble floor. "My work brings me to the capital infrequently, it's true. But I'd been requested to keep an eye out for her in Lumin," he said, glancing over my shoulder, "and to race here if I had any important information, such as that stunt in the fighting rings."

Harlen's brows furrowed as he tried to see through the fog and dissect what was happening to Vale. But I shifted to the side to block her from view. Though, truthfully, the haze was so thick in here that he probably couldn't even see her.

How was he unaffected by it, anyway?

"And who requested you to keep an eye on her?" I asked, though I was certain of the answer. There was only one man who cared that deeply—twistedly—about Vale's movements.

"Chancellor Titus, of course." He smiled as he said it, and anger flared deep within my chest. It roared through my veins, fueling the power that had festered there since we traveled so far underground.

I charged before Harlen saw me coming.

No blades, just my hand clutching his expensive silver-threaded tunic and my knuckles splitting as they cracked against his jaw.

Harlen's head rocked back, smacking against the wall, but I didn't hear the echo.

All I heard was the way he'd pretended to care about Vale in that orange grove. The way her voice had fought shattering as she grasped for a piece of her old home.

Gripping his tunic in both hands, I shoved him up against the wall, his feet off the floor. The edge of his jaw was red, a satisfying stream of blood trickling from his lip.

"Whose side are you on, Harlen?" I growled, shaking him. "Because you sure as the Spirit Realm had her convinced you truly missed her."

"You think I didn't know where she'd been all these years?" He spat blood to the floor. When he smiled, his teeth shone crimson. "All of us kids knew of the girl the chancellor rescued from our temple. I followed how she rose within his household, became his little pet."

"So, you were jealous?" I pressed my forearm to his throat as the haze drifted tighter around us. Spirits, the shit was overwhelming. "Because she was chosen by him over you?"

"No!" he spat. "I was angry because she was the only person who I thought loved me. I'm not as powerful as she is." I narrowed my eyes. "Oh, don't give me that naive look, Kastroff. I know she's special. She was given attention at the temple; even I was smart enough to figure out there's something different about her."

So, he didn't know about Vale's nine Fate ties. Despite recruiting him, Titus hadn't shared that with Harlen. Interesting.

"I was a gutter rat found by the temple masters," Harlen growled. "Orphaned and abandoned on the street, but as ordinary as any warrior. She was my only friend. And one day she was gone." He heaved a sigh, still pinned to the wall. "When Titus came looking for me in Lumin a few months ago and told me she was imprisoned by the Mystiques, and he thought you might bring her this way for negotiations—when he asked me to keep an eye out, to report to him, and in exchange he'd name me his newest apprentice—it was the easiest choice I've ever made."

Titus spun that fucking story to suit his interests. And named Harlen an apprentice in the process. I didn't want to think about how Vale would feel when she found out.

"Have you considered that perhaps he was only searching for her to hurt her?"

Harlen's eyes widened. "No. He saved her." His stare narrowed again as he pressed against my hold. " You are the one keeping her away."

I loosened my grip, letting him slide down the wall but not releasing him. "No. I'm not."

"What are you saying, Kastroff?" His hands dropped to his sides. I scanned him to ensure he didn't have any weapons. Nothing easily accessible at least.

"I'm saying?—"

"I believe that Cypherion Kastroff is trying to turn yet another of my warriors against me."

Harlen and I spun toward the door as it swung wide.

And Titus strolled into the chamber.

Silver robes adorned his body, shooting star pin tacking the garments closed at his chests, and square beard neatly trimmed close to his face. The well-groomed appearance as deceptive and poisonous as ever.

"Is that what I'm doing?" I asked, abandoning Harlen and drifting as casually as I could back toward Vale. My heart careened in my chest at the thought of her waking from her reading to the chancellor here. She was so vulnerable right now, and I was meant to protect her.

"Is it not?" Titus challenged, crossing his arms.

"I think we both know who spews lies around here, Titus."

He raised his brows, an impressed smile on his lips at my lack of formality. I'd sprout wings before I showed this man a modicum of respect ever again.

"I operate on what the Fates say," Titus said. "Are you accusing celestial beings of lying?"

Something about his words piqued my attention, about the way he'd structured that sentence. I operate on what the Fates say.

Not on what his readings tell him.

Not on what is shown to him.

What the Fates say.

It was an odd way for a searcher to reference their power. Vale always spoke so personally of hers, like each session—even those that ended poorly—was an intimate experience. Like they were the cosmos woven in the sky, laden with complex mystics and futures that weren't fully understood unless you were the one to see them.

Titus spoke analytically, as if the Fates could be coldly classified. Another clan's magic perhaps but not how one typically spoke of their own.

"Titus—"

But before I could raise any questions, something pinched my neck.

I reached up, finding a small needle in my skin.

And I collapsed to my knees as the chamber faded.