Page 33 of Crown of Wrath

Da gives me a smile, but it’s broken, and he turns away from me. I don’t know why, but I’m a little afraid to leave. And then I feel Cole behind me.

When I turn to face him, his expression is as serious as it was when we fought the Nothing. His friends are taking risks, and he needs to reach them the moment they call.

I nod, and this time, it’s my shadows that spill onto the ground around us. Moments later, we’re plunging through the darknessinto the void, and I focus on Darian’s chambers to pull us back into the physical world.

It all happens in the span of a heartbeat—faster than Cole could shadow walk that distance, faster than I’ve ever done before. Right now, I feel alive in a way I haven’t in months, and that makes everything easier. The past few days have invigorated me. Seeing my Da, being filled with shadows again—it’s given me a vitality no amount of solitude or combat ever could.

When we slip out of the shadows, Darian and Lee are standing in front of us, both of whom are wearing House of Steel uniforms. Darian frowns when he sees Cole without the Shadowed Cloak on. Lee is staring at me.

“What’s going on?” Cole asks immediately. “Have you learned something?”

Both of them look at Cole as if he’d asked how to milk a rooster, but I know they’re just seeing how much we’ve changed. “Things are a little different,” I say, addressing the shock in their eyes. “I’m more like I was before I received the Painted Crown.” They don’t say anything, and it occurs to me just how terrible I’d been to them. I realized how I’d treated Cole, but Darian and Lee have been far away. I hadn’t… Memories flash through my mind of the way I’d talked to them, of the fact that I’d nearly killed them both.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my eyes becoming downcast. “Both of you deserve so much more than the person I’ve been. I… I hurt you. I nearly let you both die and treated you like you meant nothing to me. You’re my friends… at least, I hope you’re still my friends. I’m so sorry.”

Lee doesn’t hesitate. Instead of saying anything, she just moves to me and wraps her arms around me. “I missed you, Maeve,” she whispers.

“You remembered what it was to be human?” Darian asks without moving.

I nod to him as I embrace Lee. “I did.”

Cole chimes in. “She also found out that her father is still alive and well. He was just taking a nap in the void.”

“For fifteen years?” Lee pulls away, and the look on her face is one of pure terror, which isn’t surprising. The void kills people. It is terrifying and the idea of being stuck there all alone for fifteen years would send most people into convulsions.

“He was asleep,” I say. “My mother protected him, but I pulled him out, and now he’s in Aerwyn teaching Rivertail how to cook steamed fish.”

Everyone pauses for a moment, and then Darian just starts laughing. It doesn’t take long before Lee’s fear turns to laughter as well. I glance at Cole, and he’s just as confused as I am. The twins just laugh harder and harder, and I’m reminded of when Cole looked like he was going to burn us all alive on the road to Draenyth when he lost control.

Finally, Darian tells us why they’re laughing. “We’ve been terrified that one of you would have broken completely since you left and didn’t come back.”

Lee continues, “We were sure that no one would have answered when we called for you. Now, we find out that you’re better than ever? Thanks for the information. We’ve only been on the verge of giving up completely for three days.”

I can’t help but smile at them. I can see the instantaneous regret on Cole’s face. He put his friends through hardship, and that obsidian tower is anything but stable. I reach out and take his wrist. “It’s fine. They’re fine.” He looks at me and takes a deep breath, letting it out in a soft hiss.

He’s looked so much better since I started his healing, but this just reminds me of how unstable he still is.

“I apologize,” he says formally to his friends. “I should have told you. We got a little lost, I guess.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re just glad you’re okay.” Lee’s words help. She’s still smiling, and when Darian pats his friend on the shoulder, I can see the happiness in his eyes.

They’d been worried about both of us. This whole time, they’ve been watching us both fall deeper and deeper into our own despair, and they were powerless to stop it. Now we’re getting better. There’s no doubt that we’re both still very fragile, but we’re better. We’re going to make it.

Lee turns to Darian then, and they both get very serious. Darian says, “We have news. You were right about Casimir being unable to keep secrets to himself if I just talked to him. Genius approach, actually.”

He pauses, and I feel like he’s trying to be dramatic, but before I can say anything, he says, “Gethin thinks he can create new bloodlines. Well, not bloodlines exactly. He thinks he can use objects from each House to tie someone to the Throne. Then he’ll be able to control all the Thrones and still keep the world alive.”

I frown and glance at Cole, who looks just as confused as me. “What do you mean? What kinds of objects?” Cole asks.

“Things like the Shadowed Cloak,” Lee replies. “Each House had artifacts made for it, most of which were hidden by the original leaders of each House, and they all give some kind of power to the wielder. More than anything, they hold the power of the dragon who gave itself to the House. Inni created the Burning Brand before she became the Throne of Flames. I don’t know the others, and Casimir doesn’t either, but he’s sure that Gethin knows them and possibly even where they are.”

Everyone knows the power of the Shadowed Cloak. If there are other weapons just as powerful, then Gethin could use them not only to control the Thrones but also to wield the powers of all the Houses.

“We can’t let him get a hold of all of them,” I hiss.

Everyone seems to agree with that statement, but they’re looking to me for direction. I glance at Cole before saying, “Keep getting information, Darian. But Lee, I have a different job for you. We need to find out more about these artifacts. We need to find out where and what they are. There’s a book that my tutor had calledA History of Magic and Dragonsthat I’m sure has that information in it.”

Lee opens her eyes a little wider. “You want me to find a book?”

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