Page 5 of Above Cursed Winds

Luna’s voice dragged her out of her spiral. “Maybe we can wrangle Nero into installing your cabinets at some point this week.”

Zia frowned, then glanced around her kitchen. Cabinetry was installed, but no doors had been attached, and no plates or cups would be loaded on the open shelves until then. Utensils spilled out of an open cardboard box on the dining room table only yards away, and a pile of paper plates were sitting beside it. Building dust powdered over unused countertops. A broom and dustpan lingered, unused, in a corner where she’d promised herself she’d hang up pictures. She simply hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

Now, it seemed like she never would. Compared to her mistake, everything seemed trivial. Her life would end in a mess, literally and figuratively. And she had no one else to blame but herself.

Zia returned her attention to the women across from her. Luna and Key sat at barstools around the island, diligently attempting to distract her from spiraling thoughts. Luna’s shock of crimson hair tumbled down her shoulder, the healer’s delicate hands braiding it as she spoke.

“Where is Myko?”

“Probably halfway between here and Maui.” A tense laugh escaped Zia. “Who knows at this point?”

“We promised you we’ll watch over him, and we will, no matter what happens,” Kiyonne offered.

Amid the deep honey color of her eyes, shards of white interspersed the golden hues, the streaks of light indicative of the Raeth’s near constant use of her powerful ability.

“Not too close, Key,” Zia reminded her, the chastisement soft but firm. “No spoilers for his future.”

“As I’ve very often been told. By everyone. For the past eight years.”

Zia was reminded of her own brush with Key’s foresight ability, of what the other woman had revealed about her future. The bare bones of the foresight—the glimpse into what would come to pass—had been a scant handful of words, but it’d effectively ruined any chance Zia had at finding happiness.

Why search for it when she already knew it would be doomed in the end? Key’s words had stomped out her hope for the future before she’d barely begun to dream of it, and the revelation had jaded her when she hadn’t been ready for it.

Sighing, Zia pressed her thumbs into her temples and closed her eyes. Following the Heat, it’d been one thing after the other, and she’d been spiraling beneath her clan’s escalating needs.

The stolen list was only the latest in a tragic slew of problems. It was, however, the most pressing, and had left only questions in its wake. She’d have to find out how it had happened, and more importantly, what their enemies planned to do with the list.

The Citizens had already proven themselves malicious. The terrorist organization targeted immortals in extremely violent attacks, whether small or large scale. Initially, it’d been personal, the loss of life limited to one immortal here or there.

In the last year, they’d escalated their tactics, targeting entire groups of people when they were at their weakest. It’d been a miracle the House they’d attacked in New York had escaped without casualty. The House run by the vampire councilman Lucius, by contrast, had not been as fortunate, sustaining significant loss of life.

Beside her, a displacement of air signaled Nero’s entrance. He gave Luna and Key a nod, then turned his attention to her, assessing her state.

“I thought as much. Listen to me, Zia: this wasn’t your fault. We aren’t going to a sentencing hearing. We speak about what we know—and discuss how to fix it.”

“Only you could be so positive about this, sovereign,” she replied.

All Zia wanted to do was curl up and let her sovereign take care of it for her. But she couldn’t—not only because this was her mess, but because she wasn’t a pushover. She was Nero’s second for a reason.

“Ready?”

She squared her shoulders. “As I’ll ever be.”

Just before the pair of them became weightless, Zia caught Key’s eye, which momentarily flashed entirely white. It was an indicator that the foreseer’s ability had taken the front seat. A smile on her friend’s face teased that the other woman held a secret that Zia could only hope to one day know.

They touched down in Nina’s territory on the outskirts of Lexington. While she’d been there a handful of times before, entering the home now, in light of what had happened, was unsettling.

An ominous sense of foreboding curled around her shoulders and weighed down every step. Nero strode toward the open double doors where voices argued and spoke over one another.

Every voice went silent when they walked into the room.

Too many eyes jumped to her, some narrowing with irritation, some remaining amicable. Despite the open criticism, Zia made no move to cower from the looks she received and followed her sovereign soundlessly toward a couple of chairs near a window.

Instantly, the double doors behind them slammed shut of their own accord.

“Thank you all for coming so quickly,” Nina greeted, and Zia was grateful that her ice-blue gaze held no animosity. “While I’d typically say introductions are in order, given our situation, time is of the essence. Nero, we need to know what happened.”

A nod from Zia’s sovereign. “We discovered the breach only hours ago. When Zia accessed the computer containing the stolen data, she noticed it was powered on when she customarily keeps it off. Our technopath, Vik, was able to confirm which documents had been recently downloaded. The list was among them.”

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