Page 96 of The Shadow Wand

Curling my wand hand into a fist, I sit down on one of the cushioned chairs set by the woodstove and pry the slivers of pine from the carriage out from under my nails. Then I slump forward and press my palms hard against my eyes, my breaths coming in a tight, irregular rhythm as I struggle to keep hold of myself.

Calm down, Elloren. You need to be strong. What would your brothers want you to do? What would all your loved ones want you to do?

Diana Ulrich’s fierce image fills my mind, my Lupine sister always so courageous in the face of any threat. I cling to the remembrance of Diana’s unflappable bravery as my breathing steadies and my heartbeat tamps down to a more normal rhythm.

My savage yearning for wood slightly abated, I sit up and rest my wand hand, palm up, on my knee and take in the curling black fastlines.

My gaze flits toward the guards stationed just outside the windows.

If Lukas doesn’t return, I can slink out the window and crouch down behind the maze of shrubs and then flee.

And they’ll promptly catch me.

I clench my wand hand tighter, snared by desperation.

Will Vogel send you to find me, Lukas? What am I going to do if he’s sent you away instead?

I’ll escape is what I’ll do.

Ha! If the Vu Trin don’t kill me first! And if they don’t succeed, the Gardnerians will quickly figure out the Vu Trin aren’t after Lukas—they’re afterme.

I sit there, mired in a fierce back-and-forth war with myself, as the sound of a door opening breaks into my thoughts and my pulse speeds up.

Heavy footsteps thud into the sitting room that abuts my bedroom, and I bolt up from the chair and quietly creep to my bedroom’s door.

Lachlan Grey’s ironhard voice booms out. “You’re dismissed.”

More heavy boots sound as the guards just outside my bedroom door walk away, their steps growing fainter until the door at the far end of the sitting room closes once more with a firm thud.

Quiet descends.

“So,” Lachlan Grey finally says, his words slow and even. “You’ve been stripped of rank.”

“Temporarily.”

Relief explodes through me at the sound of Lukas’s unfazed voice.

Sweet Ancient One, he’s here.

I slowly unfasten the door’s lock, praying Lukas’s father won’t hear the soft click of metal disengaging metal. I open the door a parchment-slim crack and peer through.

Lukas is standing by the room’s crackling fireplace, its guttering light cast over the bookshelves and tree-supported walls. There’s a clink of crystal on crystal as he pours himself a drink from a bloodred carafe. He picks up the flask and casually rests one elbow on the fireplace’s black granite mantel, his side to me as he sips his drink and watches his father through hawk-steady eyes.

His father matches his son’s coolly casual demeanor, one hand on the back of a chair, the other loosely on his hip, but I can feel the pent-up anger coming off of Lachlan Grey in waves.

“May I ask you why you had Chi Nam’s rune stone?” Lachlan’s words are dangerously clipped.

Lukas shoots him a cagey smirk. “A trophy.” He pulls the stone from his tunic’s pocket and tosses it to his father, who deftly catches it.

Lachlan considers the small onyx stone, its imprinted rune activated to glow a soft, otherworldly sapphire, and I wonder if Lukas has been testing its sorcery. Lachlan’s gaze darts back to his son. “Vogel allowed you to keep this?”

“For now.”

Lachlan frowns and turns the stone over in his hand. “The Vu Trin moved on the Thirteenth Division forone stolen rune stone?”

“I’ve made three recent attempts on Chi Nam’s life. Mock attempts, mind you. To make a point.” Lukas’s eyes gleam with mischief. “It seems to have annoyed them.”

Oh, Lukas. You cool liar.

---