Page 40 of Until the End of Ever
“Wait! Please, Lady—Cassiopea,” I caught myself just as I reached her, a bit out of breath.
Surprise filled those beautiful eyes, and then she smiled. “Kleos Valesco.”
I blinked. I wasn’t aware she knew my name.
“I hope our trick succeeded?”
“It did—thank you for that. I healed Isla just fine. Well, not her ankle, because it couldn’t have completely healed on its own that fast, so I would have been caught—” What was it about this woman that made me suddenly launch on my bloody life story? “Never mind that. There’s a problem. I was hoping to catch Lucian, but perhaps you could help.”
“Oh? You couldn’t contact my son?” She tilted her head, seemingly surprised.
“I—I don’t have my phone. Anyway, there’s a child. A teenager, really. A team brought him—along with Lucian—earlier today. He’s classified as Dangerous, and I think they’re going to mark him, track him, maybe imprison him. He’s, like,fifteen.”
I was wrong.
So, so very wrong.
Cassiopea wasn’t warm. She wasn’t kind. She didn’t hug and kiss everyone. She was the sea, sometimes gentle waves, other times as cold and implacable as the cruelest of gods.
The eyes I’d thought sea green were ice and storm, power crackling in the air around her.
She spoke calmly. It made me wonder why I’d ever feared my mother’s shouts. “Lead the way.”
17
LUCIAN
“This place is a bloody maze,” I grumbled as I joined my mother by the large column in the entry hall of the Hall of Truce.
Before she’d texted me, I’d walked to Gideon’s office, finding it empty, unless one counted his new partner—which I didn’t. Also, had it always smelled like a particularly sweaty rat died in there?
Next, I checked the trainee center, suspecting I’d find Kleos with Silver—but of course, neither were there. When Hendrix, adorned in a fresh pair of pants, mentioned they were checking on their friend in the healing ward, I was back up there again, feeling foolish and frustrated.
I had Kleos’s number, but she didn’t answer her phone.
I would have headed home, fairly certain she’d follow after, but I was still deeply uncomfortable with the idea of leaving her alone, even in broad daylight. Even between the Guard and the Hall of Truce, surrounded by warriors. Perhaps even especially not here.
The Hall of Truce might now be the heart of the vale’s political center, but at the core, it would forever remain a temple.
And gods could enter temples unbidden.
She was fine. She had to be. I would know if she wasn’t.
It occurred to me that I never got around to talking to her about emergency situation procedures. Yes, I’d installed a contingency, but what good did it do if she didn’t know how to use it? I hadn’t brought it up, because, well, how does one say, “See that specific thing I wrote on your skin? That’s my stalker button. Use it and I’ll know exactly where you are.”
Just like that, I supposed.
I couldn’t hide my surprise when my mother called to inform me she waswith Kleos, waiting to get back home.
I ran all the way, knowing that every second could be another toddler story told, or worse yet, a formal betrothal contract presented to the poor, unsuspecting chick. Yes, I hadn’t revealed Kleos’s name to my mother. No, Cassiopea was not an idiot. I was certain she knew who I had ensconced in the manor for the last week—if only because Ronan and Cassius are tattletales.
“Hey, kid,” I said to the boy between my mother and Kleos, both flanking him like bodyguards.
I recognized the look—scanning anyone getting too close, narrowed eyes, always angling their bodies to ensure his was protected, magic already called, ready to attack or defend.
I was just not certain why it was necessary here.
“Are we dropping you off?”
