Page 25 of Shadows of Perl

“It took my brother months, but he’s found the Sphere before. I saw him crack it with my own eyes.”

The Dragunhead stills. “Your brother did this? You hadn’t mentioned that before.”

“My apologies. It was in the report. I assumed you knew.”

“And the girl?”

“She wasn’t with him then. But she’s with him now.” My heart knocks against my ribs. “I will assemble a team immediately and find them.”

“No. You will focus on the Sphere. I will get you a record of coordinates of its last dozen sightings, some Sun Dust, and my best brains on sun tracking. We will put everything we have behind you on this.”

It’s not enough. We’re not equipped. Yagrin can track the Sphere so well because he studied it intensely for years. Quell is bound to toushana. She will be able to track the Sphere faster than any of us here. If I tell him that, he’ll know I’ve kept something from him. The ruby pendant shines on my necklace. I allowed her betrayal. He’s my brother. It should be me.

“Sir, trust me on this. If the Sphere cracks, magic is gone.”

“I’m well aware of what’s at stake. But Jordan, you are my new Dragunheart and this is of the utmost importance.” He leans forward. “The balance of power in this Order is hanging on by a thread. I need you, my best Dragun, on this. Not tracking your brother and some girl.” His mouth quirks. “I know you will always put honor and duty above family, but not everyone does.” He rears back in his seat, clasping his hands. “You will protect the Sphere by finding its location. I’m assembling a team of engineers who can hopefully enhance its existing defensive mechanisms.”

“But—”

The Dragunhead picks up the pendant on my chain, and I can feel the Order, our future, Quell, slipping between my fingers. “Make finding the Sphere your one and only mission. I will put a team on hunting down your brother and the girl. But I need my best man protecting the Sphere. Find it, keep it safe at any cost, while I prep the engineers and sort out this House of Marionne mess. Are we understood?”

“Yes, s—”

My heart squeezes as a wave of fear—fear that is not mine—skips through me. I sink into my seat, feeling for the source of the tightness. The Dragunhead’s talking, but the world in front of my eyes shifts. I can see Yagrin running furiously, looking over his shoulder. I stand.

“Jordan? Are we clear?”

“I—yes, sir. I need to go.”

His brows dent. “Very well, then.”

I thank him again, exit his office, and barrel my way into the elevator and up to the hotel lobby. I hold the sense of Yagrin’s location tightly in my mind until I’m in an alley. It’s not disobeying orders, not technically. If the Dragunhead knew Quell was bound to toushana, he’d understand. This is how I protect the Sphere. I have no choice.

“To Yagrin,” I whisper, and Headquarters disappears.

My feet slam the hard ground, and I inhale the cold night air. The dark thicket of trees rings with the patter of footsteps. I hold still, listening. They are here somewhere. Chills scratch all over my bones as I cloak, the toushana disintegrating my body into shadowed pieces. Gusting through the trees, I hover along as a cloud of darkness until I spot him. Yagrin runs as if he’s almost out of steam. His long dark hair is slick on his head, and his rain-soaked clothes stick to his body. My head begins to throb as the cloaking magic begs to be released. I hold on tighter, scanning the forest for long brown curls. But there is no sight of Quell.

Yagrin suddenly halts and glares in my direction, his red mask sloped across his face. I urge my weight to the ground until my feet are firmly planted and I am whole again.

He pales. “Brother.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s not here, Jordan. I’m at this alone.”

Yagrin’s racing heart simmers beneath my skin.

“You were never a good liar,” I say, looking around again, careful to not take my eye off him for too long. “I’m here under orders from the Dragunhead. For the sake of the Sphere and the integrity of this Order, I demand the truth. Where is she hiding?” I scan every shadowed crevice of the thicket of trees around us.

He clutches his chest, where the light of my kor disappeared so many years ago. “You’d sense her if she was.”

I look around again. The night is as silent as death. He’s right. She’s not here.

“Where is she?”

Yagrin folds his arms in that way he used to do when we were little, whenever he was determined to be as stubborn as a mule.

“Does she know what you are? Who you are? That you’re a manipulative, lying snake?”

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