Page 91 of The Sorcerer of Shadowholde

Vita interrupted with a wave of her hand. “Please. I don’t need to hear it. I’m tired, Ver, and I want to sleep.”

“May I come in?” he asked, brows threaded with worry.

“No. I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day.”

That was an understatement. It was her first full day at Ad Noctua—the breakfast and lunch shifts—and she’d been on her feet for hours. Every bit of energy had drained from her body, an aching husk left in its wake. She’d grown soft while living at the palace, getting far too accustomed to a life of leisure.

After years of close friendship, Verian knew better than to argue.

“At least take this,” he said, placing a small purse in her hand. “For more nights. I’m still working on finding a place for you to—”

“Goodnight, Verian,” Vita said, reluctantly taking the coins and shutting the door.

The image of his frown burned in her brain, even as she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

CHAPTER 38

Vita

“YOU’RE GETTING GOOD AT THIS.”

High praise coming from Aurora, who was a strict teacher. Still, her methods worked.

Vita could conjure the arrows of light at will, aiming them with delicate precision as the electric energy burned through her palms. Her targets were small clay pots that had been set on the table in her room at Nocturnalis, shattering with each strike.

The flicker of magic burning within her that had once been so frightening now excited her; she could feel the power coursing through her veins like her blood was on fire. It required her utmost concentration, but she’d just about mastered the electric arrows, along with flame hands and illusory butterflies.

Vita had even discovered some new magics from tapping into different wells of power with the help of Aurora’s guided meditations. She could conjure a spectral shield—glimmering and near invisible—that blocked any attack, and could create a fog centered on her that made visibility almost zero.

The alternate plane was the only one she refused to explore. She had no eagerness to return to that strange place with the shadow creature waiting to pounce. Aurora didn’t push her, and for that, she was grateful.

Pride welled in Vita as they wrapped up practice for the day. She wanted to work on the large lightning bolts, the ones she’d conjured after the Edosal debacle, but the tiny room she now called home was certainly not a suitable location. The rose garden at the High Consul’s palacewouldhave been perfect, open space and the privacy to practice magic without fear, but Vita pushed those thoughts from her mind.

“Same time next week?” Aurora asked, collecting the shattered pots into a pile with a wave of her hands.

“I’ll be here,” Vita answered, still not quite sure where she stood on anything.

Aurora never pestered her about returning to the palace, never mentioned Renatus at all. But the High Consul simmered underneath the surface of every conversation, and Vita was certain the mage told him everything when she went back to her home.

A gentle hug from Aurora and she was gone, leaving Vita to prepare for work.

Ad Noctua wasn’t so bad.

Vita worked various hours, though her favorite shift was the evening one when the tavern grew lively with drink and dance. A bardplayed in the corner almost every night, the stringed melodies engrained in Vita’s mind after over a month on the job.

She was settling into her new life.

The work was tiring, and the small room at the inn was cramped, but she was content. Well, mostly content.

No matter how hard she tried to forget about Renatus, a small piece of her heart was cracked. He had wriggled his way in and crushed her with his indifference, leaving a part of her vacant like an empty vessel.

The situation with Verian was not much better. Things wereuncomfortablebetween them. He had stopped by the inn a few times, trying to talk, to spend the night, but Vita just didn’t have the energy. She didn’t have the energy for much of anything after a hard day of work. And she knew Verian was exhausted too, worked to the bone by the Praetor, dark rings under his eyes every time he tried to visit.

But she just wanted to be alone.

Alone, save for all the patrons of Ad Noctua she spent each evening with.

A familiar bellow of a voice broke her from her thoughts as she stood behind the bar, resting her chin on her palm.

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