16

16

I avoided Brecan the remainder of the day, though he checked periodically to be certain I was in my room. Mira came by to chat, but I wasn’t in the mood. Thankfully, she left me alone with my thoughts.

I was sure the person who’d shot at Tauren was a male witch. Fate confirmed with a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach, but it wasn’t a pleasant or reassuring feeling. It was a warning.

The witch was dangerous. But something darker, more ominous settled into my bones. My fingers and lips began to chill. My teeth chattered uncontrollably.

If I hadn’t sensed the arrow, Tauren would be dead.

That was far too close. I had to find the witch, and soon. Before he struck again .

There was one way to ensure that if the witch managed to slip past me and succeeded in harming the Prince, Tauren wouldn’t die.

It would require a dangerous spell, one I was happy to work if left no other choice. And unfortunately, my choices were being whittled away by the moment. This way, I might be able to find the witch if he returned to the palace to make another attempt.

I rummaged through my trunk and pulled out my pendulum, cursing for not having a map of this place. Then I remembered the map of the Kingdom on the targets.

Outside, the sky was gray and solemn. The first sprinkles of a rainstorm splattered the land. Droplets fell onto my arms and splashed the crown of my head as I hurried through the manicured yard.

“Please be there,” I whispered under my breath.

Thankfully, no one had taken the targets down. Tauren’s map was pierced in several places, but mine was pristine, thanks to my non-existent archery skills, as Brecan referred to them. I plucked the map from the bale of hay and quickly folded it to keep it dry.

Before I reached the palace again, the sky began to weep.

The door I’d exited from was locked. I ran to another to find it locked, too. No one was posted at it. I decided to run for the front door. I wound through garden paths and rushed down the sidewalk. When I turned the curve, I ran into someone, both of us falling backward from the impact. I landed hard on my hip.

Rain saturated the young man’s dark hair, and when he looked up at me, I gasped. It was Tauren’s brother. I hadn’t seen him since the Equinox .

“You must be Sable,” he said with an easy smile, chuckling as he winced, clutching his knee. “Tauren’s told me all about you.”

I doubted that, but still. “What did he say?” I asked, standing and offering him a hand.

“That you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life. I thought he was being dramatic, but I see that if anything, he understated your beauty.”

Tauren’s brother flashed a confident, roguish smile and clasped my hand. “Why are you outside in the rain?” he asked, water sluicing off his face in rivulets.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I challenged.

He gave a lop-sided grin. “I was headed out to meet someone, but the weather… it’s getting rather nasty. I doubt they would have ventured outside. I think I’ll head back in.”

The two of us jogged to the front of the palace, up the stairs, and to the enormous doors. They were unlocked, thankfully. Two servants scurried away to fetch towels as we stood awkwardly, dripping puddles on the pristine foyer tiles.

“My name is Knox. I’m sure Tauren’s told you all about me as well,” he hinted. I wasn’t sure what to say back, but didn’t have to worry long. Knox enjoyed dominating the conversation. “My brother is stuck with one of the women he’s not fond of at all. He’ll be sour after this hour is over.”

“Why does he bother?” I blurted.

Knox’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, at some point, he’ll have to cull the invitees. Why bother spending time with the women he doesn’t really like? ”

Knox smiled. “Strictly for the viewing public’s entertainment. Every sector cheers to see their invitee. Plus, they like to see him with each woman. They place bets on who he ends up with, who he sends back to their sector… they pretty much bet on everything, actually.”

When the servants returned with fluffy, warm towels, I wrapped mine around me and thanked them, apologizing for the mess I’d made. Knox thanked them as well, then waltzed into the palace like he owned the place. I suppose in a way he did.

Where has he been during the first two days of filming? I wondered.

As I approached my room, I saw Mira pacing outside, biting her thumbnail while Brecan pounded on the door of my room. “What are you doing?”

Brecan snapped his head toward me and blew out a tense breath. He was upset. His pale hair blew in a breeze that I couldn’t feel or see affecting anything else. I thought Wayra was the only one who had that ability, but maybe I’d just never seen Brecan this upset.

“Thank the goddess,” he breathed, the wind quieting instantly.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

Mira rushed to me. She looked immaculate in a sharp, black suit with a nude camisole peeking out from under the jacket. Her hair was arrow straight, the blue-gray tones shimmering in the hallway light. “We thought something had happened to you! You didn’t tell us you were going out.” Her eyes darted over me appraisingly. “You look like a drowned rat.”

“Thank you, Mira,” I teased .

“You have less than an hour before tonight’s festivities begin.”

“What festivities?” I asked, trying to suppress the shivers running over my body.

The palace had cool air pumped in somehow, but that wasn’t why I was cold. Fate’s warning was getting stronger. Did the would-be killer plan to strike again so soon? Tonight? Fate was quiet. He neither confirmed nor denied. Perhaps the plan hadn’t been decided upon yet.

Mira snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Dinner and then the play. Did you hear anything I said?”

I raised my brows. “Play?”

“Yes, play,” she chastised. “Haven’t you looked at your schedule?”

“I went to archery…” I hedged, but even then I hadn’t looked beyond the afternoon, and evening was closing in.

Mira stuck her hand in my vest pocket and plucked out my room key. “Let’s get you dry and dressed,” she said kindly but impatiently. “The rain storm should ease shortly and be gone by dinner. Hopefully the seating dries before the play starts.”

Brecan brooded, keeping his arms crossed and leaning against the wall outside my room. His eyes looked dark purple instead of the calming lavender to which I was accustomed. “Come get me when she’s ready,” he said to Mira, even though I was right there.

Mira closed the door behind us. “Don’t pay any attention to his moodiness,” she said softly.

“What did I do this time?”

“I think you scared him, or… ”

“Or what?”

She winced. “He thought you were with Tauren. He thinks Tauren is toying with you to see how far he can push your boundaries.”

“Why would he think that?”

She shrugged.

“Do you agree with him?”

She shook her head. “I don’t. Tauren looks at you like… Well, I shouldn’t say anything else.”

“How does he look at me, Mira?”

“Like you’re the one thing he wants and can’t have,” she finished. She guided me to the bathroom. “You could take a warm shower if you do it very quickly. I’ll get your things ready. It’s a formal event. Would you like to wear the gown we made for you the other day?” Her eyes glittered with anticipation.

“Would it be appropriate?”

“Indeed it would. And I promise that if you wear that gown tonight, you’ll see what I and everyone else does when Tauren looks at you, Sable.”

I’d seen it, or thought I had. Then again, he must see something in Leah. He may have wagered with me for a kiss, but he actually gave her one. How many of the other invitees had he kissed? Or gone even further with?

I scrubbed myself in the scalding water, leaving the safety and security of the shower before my shivers eased. Mira dried my hair and asked whether I wanted to straighten or curl it. I felt sharp, like the edge of a knife. “Make it straight.”

“We’ll match,” she chirped, her eyes twinkling excitedly. She ran to her bag on my bed and pulled out her straightener. Slowly, she ironed each piece until it was arrow straight and shone like dark silk, and every trace of the slight natural wave disappeared.

My hair was longer than I realized.

Mira seemed lost in thought as she worked a few drops of coconut oil into the strands to make it glisten before applying my makeup. I didn’t enjoy wearing it, but had to admit that when she was finished, I looked fierce. With dramatically dark eyes, pale, glistening lips, and contoured cheekbones, I could wear her creation with pride. If Bay wanted me to represent our sector, this dress was the perfect accessory.

Tauren asked to see me tonight, and I knew he meant privately. Which meant late, because this dinner and play were going to take forever.

I pushed the thought away as I slipped into the gown, the nude-colored silk slip softly whispering over my skin. Would Tauren truly look at me tonight the way Mira said he did? I would be lying if I said I didn’t want him to. Even though it could lead nowhere, if he truly had feelings for me, this dress would draw them to the surface. Then again, the other girls would be dressed in fine gowns, too; though I doubted any would be as intricate and personal as this one.

I didn’t know how Mira’s helpers managed to spin the black overlay so perfectly, with symbols of our heritage and those uniquely Fate’s scattered throughout. Wishbones lined the modest V-neck. There was a crystal ball, tea cups, lit candles, a human palm, the Lovers card, various bones, gemstones, herbs and flowers, and around my waist coiled an embroidered rope .

Mira, who’d stepped out of the washroom to give me privacy to change, gasped when she came back in. “It’s perfect.”

Her eyes became glassy as she took in her creation. I spun in a slow circle so she could see all of it. The back was gathered at the small of my back and spilled to the floor in a short train.

Her eyes caught on my feet. “I’ll get your shoes.”

“Do you have any that match with daggers in the heel?” I asked as she hurried away.

She glanced at me over her shoulder. “Of course I do.”

She returned with nude-colored heels that shone like glass, placing them on the floor in front of me.

They were like the black ones I’d worn here, with a small, silver dagger built into the heel. I slid one out, the metal raking against its sheath. “Perfect.”

She worried her hands as I pulled on each shoe, casting wary eyes around the room.

“What’s the matter, Mira?”

“What exactly are you conjuring?” she asked, pushing her blue-gray hair out of her eyelashes. “I noticed your things are set up in the corner.”

“Nothing. I was just searching for something in my trunk,” I lied.

The crease between her brows didn’t fade.

“The necklace… the black necklace Tauren gave me. Would it look good with this gown?” I asked, attempting to change the subject.

She smiled. “It would! I’ll get it,” she whispered and ran to the bed, sliding her hand beneath the mattress where I’d hidden the box to prevent anyone from stealing it.

“How’s Brecan? Has he calmed down?” I asked as she clasped the heavy necklace around my throat.

“As much as he’s going to,” Mira said, a hint of warning in her voice. “He loves you, you know.”

“He thinks he does, but what does he know about love? Sneaking off behind the House of Air with any willing witch doesn’t make him an expert on the subject.”

“Nor does isolating oneself from peers…” she added gently.

“I didn’t isolate myself. I was told not to go near you. Any of you.” She opened her mouth as if to argue, but I cut her off. “I wasn’t even welcomed into the House of Fire to pay my last respects to Harmony.”

Just thinking about it made me furious. How dare the Priestesses and Priest pretend that I’d chosen not to be part of my own people? They were the ones who placed me in the woods, in a cabin, as a young girl. A child. They’d forbidden me from joining the others, from even speaking to other witches. Some defied them when they wanted their fate read, but many more were too afraid to step foot anywhere near me. They came to fear me.

Over time, I became like the House of Fate… something to hide from and peek at from a distance. To run from, squealing and shivering from adrenaline and fright. I became a thing, not a person, and certainly not a peer. While they honed their affinities, cheered on by those in their House, I had no one but Fate on which to rely.

Fate – who had begun to writhe in my stomach .

I clasped a hand over my middle. “What’s the matter?” Mira asked, her eyes flicking from my hand to my face.

“Something is stirring, and I don’t know what.” I did know that it was bigger than anything I’d felt from Fate before. This wasn’t some small nudge or even a warning. This was something darker. More urgent.

“Sable,” Mira gasped. “Your fingertips.”

I expected them to be blue from cold, for my lips to match them. But the tips of my fingers weren’t frosted. They were black. As if I’d dipped each into an ink pot and let the ichor dry on my skin.

My eyes met Mira’s frightened ones. “What does that mean?”

A shiver ran up my spine. “I’m not sure.”

I stared at my skin, watching the inky stain spread ever-so-slowly.

Two quick knocks at the door announced Brecan’s arrival. “I need gloves,” I whispered to Mira.

She nodded and pulled her glass spiders out, shoving the washroom door closed and sealing us in. The spiders knit black silky gloves over my hands, spinning them to my elbows. When they were finished, she whispered them to sleep again and tucked them away. “There,” she said, making sure they were situated correctly.

Fate’s voice filled my mind. From death, springs life.

My heart thundered as I pulled the washroom door open and ran across the room. Brecan caught me. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, but I want to check on him. Now.”

He flung the door open and took hold of my hand. “We go together,” he asserted .

I whispered a spell that spirited us to him in seconds, and Tauren was surprised to see us on the other side of his bedroom door. We’d arrived just as he opened it. I was just glad to see him alive. I pushed past him and checked every square inch of his room.

“What’s wrong?” Tauren asked.

Brecan told him to give me a minute.

I didn’t smell poison. No one lurked in the shadows. There were no weapons. No threat. “Where on earth are your guards?” I asked.

“They’re just outside…”

“No, Tauren. They aren’t.”

He was surprised to find his door unguarded. His muscles rippled beneath his starched, black jacket. The collar of his white shirt was a stark contrast to his dark hair. Pieces of it hung over his forehead. “I didn’t give them an order to leave.”

“Someone spelled them,” Brecan said, crouching down outside his door. “Black salt.” Particles of it clung to the pad of his finger. Traces littered the carpet.

Someone had used the dark crystals to form a barrier at the door. The guards wouldn’t have been able to cross it. Mentally, the spell and salt would’ve made them feel wrong for stepping across the salt line. And after a few moments, it would have repelled them altogether, which explained why the guards were nowhere to be found. They’d made their way as far from the salt crystals as possible. We might find them in another Sector if the witch who spelled them is strong enough.

Brecan’s pale hair hung over his jacket. He stood and brushed it off his shoulders, staring at me with a look I couldn’t decipher .

“This is getting dangerous,” he finally said. “I am afraid for you, Sable.”

“Me? I’m not the one being targeted.”

He pinched his lips together. “Are you sure of that?”

“What do you mean?” Tauren interjected.

“What better way to turn the Kingdom against Thirteen than to accuse a witch of murdering the Prince?”

My stomach turned at the thought, and then Fate confirmed Brecan’s suspicion.

“Even if that’s true, what else can I do? Fate wants me here. He wants me to protect Tauren.”

“ Protect him? He usually sends you to redirect people or take their lives, not to save them,” Brecan argued. “Are you sure this isn’t what you want?”

“Why can’t it be both?” Tauren asked, glancing toward me.

Brecan growled. “This is becoming too dangerous for her,” he told Tauren. “Can’t you see that?”

Tauren threw up his hands. “What can I do?”

“Send her home.”

Fate sent fire up my throat. As I opened my mouth to argue, plumes of smoke erupted. “I can’t go,” I said around the ashy taste.

Brecan’s eyes widened in shock. “I’m so sorry. Sable, I’m sorry. I understand now that it’s Fate urging you to stay.” Brecan’s hand found my upper arm. “It’s okay. Calm down.”

Tauren took a deep breath. “Fate did this?”

I nodded, still unable to speak.

“He gives you wounds that aren’t real, but are. He singes you from the inside out… What else does he do? ”

“Worse,” Brecan answered snappishly. His lavender eyes drilled into mine. “Much worse.”

Brecan had seen what Fate was capable of, but he still didn’t understand. No one did but me. Fate never did anything to hurt me; he did it to direct me. If he wanted something done, it was my duty as his daughter to do as he said. I knew there were reasons for everything he asked of me. Some of it was for my benefit, some for his.

Fate eased his grip on me and the fire in my belly was extinguished. I could breathe again, even as the acrid scent of smoke lingered in the air and in my nostrils.

Tauren nodded his head. “I’m narrowing my choice tonight. Five women will remain. I’ll have to ask you to be one of them, if you’re still agreeable, but I’ll hurry this process along. It’s the least I can do.”

Tauren’s golden eyes met mine, a torrent of emotion swirling through them. I wondered if mine roiled to match. Because as much as I appreciated the gesture, it meant my time with him would be cut short.

“Thank you,” Brecan answered. I couldn’t bring myself to say the words.

“Would the two of you like to go ahead to the dining room?” Tauren offered.

“We should stay together,” I croaked. “You’re unguarded.”

He pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure he was truly unsafe in his home, I could tell, but he’d been shot at on these grounds today and his guards had disappeared. The danger was clear and present. It couldn’t be ignored or balked at anymore .

As we exited his room, Tauren locked his door as Brecan started down the hall. Tauren slid his key into my hand. The golden metal gleamed against the black silk of my glove. I was about to ask why he’d done it when he leaned in. “You promised to meet me later, after all this. Return it then.”

The metal warmed in the palm of my hand. He closed my gloved hand around the key and I tucked it into the small, right-side pocket Mira had sewn into the gown. In the left-side pocket was a thinly folded map and my pendulum. If the murderer struck again, I would go to him. I would find him and make him pay. The embroidered noose tightened around my stomach, comforting instead of painful.

When Brecan turned the corner ahead of us, Tauren grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop. “Thank you for once again coming to help me.”

“It’s what I agreed to,” I replied.

“It’s more than that to me.”

I nodded once. “You’re welcome.”

His eyes raked over me. “My God, you’re stunning.”

There it was. The look Mira described. Part pain. Part longing. Part lust.

My skin heated under his gaze.

“You’re wearing the necklace.”

The fingers of my free hand drifted to the facets of the largest center stone.

I slipped my fingers out of his. “Let’s catch back up with Brecan.”

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but I jogged ahead. Brecan waited impatiently at the bottom of the stairs .

The worst part was seeing Brecan wear the same look that Tauren had given me as he watched me descend the staircase with our prince.

Mira eased out from behind Brecan, her hair slick and shiny, grazing her shoulder. She wore a simple, but elegant black dress. As I passed, she bent her mouth to my ear. “My spiders are uneasy. Please be careful tonight.”

In that moment, a vision overtook me. I grabbed Mira’s arm to steady myself as I entered the mind of someone else. It was Rose, the redhead from Sector One. She stood in front of a mirror, applying more lipstick, pursing her lips again and again to even out the pigment. Then she turned her attention to her hair, even though there wasn’t a strand of it out of place.

She was talking with someone. In the mirror, I could see the girl from Sector Five with colorfully streaked hair. Her cuticles had been scrubbed, but vibrant splashes of paint still clung to them, refusing to budge because the hues were part of her. She was a painter, and a brilliant one at that. Rose suspected it was why she’d been invited.

“How was your lunch with the Prince?” Rose asked. Her eyes cut sharply to the girl. I didn’t know her name, but Rose looked at her as if she were nothing more than a sheep being cornered by Rose, a wolf.

“It was nice.”

Rose gave the girl a pout. “Oh, that’s too bad,” she said pitifully.

The girl’s brows kissed. “What do you mean?”

“At this point, the date must be stellar. I bet you’ll be sent home soon. ”

“Mind your own business and I’ll mind mine.” The girl made a crude gesture toward Rose and stormed out the door. The girl was certainly no sheep. She had teeth, too. I decided I liked her.

“Sable,” Tauren said. When I blinked again, I was back at the bottom of the steps.

“What?”

“Thank goodness,” he breathed.

Brecan snorted. “I told you she was fine. It may happen periodically, so you should get used to it. Just make sure you stay with her if it happens when we aren’t here.”

“What did you just experience? What was that?” the Prince asked.

“It was nothing.”

He shook his head. “That wasn’t nothing.”

“It’s the residue. That’s all.”

“Residue?”

“That’s why she usually wears gloves in crowds,” Brecan explained. “When she reads people through touch, sometimes the effect lingers for Sable.”

“Until the residue wears off,” I added quietly.

“Which will be when?”

“I’m never sure,” I answered.

He paled. “I’ve asked you to read so many.”

“It’s nothing,” I brushed it off.

“I’ve asked too much of you,” Tauren realized, concern creasing his forehead.

A servant rushed down the hall. “Prince Tauren, your parents are waiting for you.” The man waved the Prince forward, and we followed him down the hall and into a dining room I’d never seen. The walls were silver, trimmed in white, and each shimmered beneath the chandeliers that were positioned in a spiral that expanded across the ceiling.

A cluster of round tables was arranged around the space in a curling pattern. The royal family would sit at the center table, where the Kingdom’s palace was located. From there, each girl and her escorts were positioned at the table representing the location of her sector. We made our way to the farthest table, representing Sector Thirteen.

Brecan pulled my chair out and then Mira’s. She sat to my left and he sat to my right. “Why such large tables?” he grumped.

Mira evaluated each girl’s gown, hairstyle, and accessories, as if each one was my competition. Each wore a different color, some still clinging to the pastels they’d been wearing, while some donned bolder hues. She ultimately dismissed each one as inferior, and when she’d finished her perusal, gave me a satisfied smirk.

The room went quiet as the royal family was announced.

Tauren entered the room behind his father and mother, Knox walking a step behind him. Tauren’s eyes found mine, holding them for a beat too long before looking around at the swirl of tables and the women they held.

My cheeks stung as if reality had backhanded me. He was the Prince and I was a witch from The Gallows. Not even Fate could change that.

The women would be culled, just as I suggested, but now I hated myself for doing so because it brought him closer to choosing one of them; one step closer to marriage and binding himself to one of these women until death parted them.

Like his father, he would love the one he married. He would give her his heart, his life, and his energy. I didn’t know who she would be, but couldn’t help but hate her for it. Tauren had claimed to be jealous, but he hadn’t seen the bold shade of green my envy bore.

The royals encircled their table. Everyone in the room stood as they took their seats and sat again once the King gave a nod. Tauren didn’t touch the drinks poured for him, but when his meal was brought out, his eyes found mine. Brecan’s hand found my arm and I spelled the room, slipping away from his touch and moving toward the Prince.

Bitterness filled my mouth and cascaded down into the pit of my stomach, which began to spasm. Poison , Fate whispered.

A cold sweat pebbled across my skin, along with a blanket of goosebumps.

I sniffed his plate. It was untainted, but his wine was not. Someone had slipped nightshade into it. The sickening flavor was almost able to hide within the woodsy aroma.

I took his wine glass and glanced around, catching movement in my periphery. A girl with sandy hair pushed out the door. I removed the pendulum from my pocket, along with the map, and ran after her down hallways, through doors, until I spilled into one of the gardens where nightshade grew.

She’d disappeared.

There was no way she had worn the boots that left the prints in the Prince’s bedroom .

She was petite like Mira, but she was lithe and fast.

I let the pendulum swing over the map, the wind rattling the paper. It turned circle after circle, searching for her as I commanded, but never found her. If she wasn’t in the Kingdom, where was she? The Wilds?

Or did she perform a blocking spell to conceal her whereabouts, so I couldn’t drag her and her little friend back by their throats?