Page 40 of Spark of the Everflame

Prince Luther’s sharp, calculating glare flashed unbidden in my mind. The reminder of him standing so close to me in that hallway, the way itaffectedme, the heat of his touch and the coldness of his gaze, made my heartbeat stutter.

“Yes,” I hissed.

She raised an eyebrow. “I take it you don’t like this person?”

“It hardly matters. I don’t imagine it will make much of a difference to my life.”

Unless future King Luther decides I need to pay my mother’s debt.

Leona paused her work and watched me for a long moment. “Since your mother’s not around anymore, let me give you a little maternal advice. Whatever opinions you have on this person, you keep them to yourself, you hear me? Put on a pretty smile and keep your mouth shut.”

A host of snippy responses rose to my tongue, but I needed this woman’s help, today and for years to come. I bit down hard and nodded obediently.

Leona didn’t seem to buy it. She skimmed the warehouse before leaning in close, her voice dropping to a harsh clip.

“Heed my advice, girl. These Descended may squabble with each other like dogs, but nothing unites them faster than a mortal who doesn’t know their place.” Her knobby finger poked my arm for added emphasis. “And don’t think your little mortal friends won’t turn on you in a heartbeat if the Descended come calling.”

I wondered ifshemight turn on me in a heartbeat if the Descended came calling. I wondered if this wasn’t so much advice as it was a threat.

I summoned an appreciative smile. “You’re so kind to look out for me. Don’t you worry, I have no interest in making any enemies at all, mortal or Descended.”

I hoped she read between the lines.

Leona’s eyes roamed over me in a sharp appraisal before she harrumphed and turned back to her work. “You keeping things together, with your mother gone?”

Gone.

A brutal question. I was grateful she couldn’t see how I cringed at the words.

“Doing the best I can with what the gods have given me,” I said almost robotically, parroting the words my mother had used a hundred times before. It was the right answer, judging by the woman’s grunt of approval.

“You hear anything yet about what happened to her?”

“No.” I asked carefully, “Have you?”

She shook her head.

I chewed on my lip and pressed further. “Did she mention anything to you about any trips she had planned?”

“No, not that I was aware of.”

“What about...” I hesitated. “Do you know of any work she might have been doing for one of the Descended? Maybe... a powerful one?”

Leona’s hands paused on her work, but her eyes didn’t rise to meet mine. “You mean healing work?”

“Or...otherwork.”

I held my breath. It was a big risk—especially after her warning—but a calculated one. If Luther was using my mother for something other than her healing services, it might have a connection to her time in the army.

For several unnerving moments, Leona stared at her stilled hands and said nothing. I forced myself to keep rummaging through the shelves, lazily filling my bag with supplies as if the question was only idle chatter.

Her shrewd gaze finally met mine. “What are you getting at, girl?”

My sad smile wasn’t hard to conjure. My despair over my mother’s loss was a tattoo permanently etched beneath my skin, invisible to the world but never far from the surface. “Just looking for answers wherever I can.”

A touch of sympathy warmed her features. “I wish I had something to offer. Sometimes we have to accept that there are questions we won’t ever find the answers to.”

Never. When it came to my mother, I would never give up searching.

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