Page 94 of Death of the Glass Angel
All was quiet, save for the retreating footsteps of the others. Unfurling his injured hand, he tried to understand what that woman had done to him. It hurt like hell. It was raw and bloody. He gleaned little else.
Swathed in complete darkness, Talon retreated into his mind. Terror had brewed in his heart during their capture. At first, he’d presumed it had been a rational fear: a princess was in danger, and his duty was to protect her.
Now, he admitted the fear had been something else. Des could have been a nameless pauper, and terror would have plagued him all the same.
Songbirds could not court royals. They could seduce as a means to gain information or a needed closeness, but upon duty’s end, were expected to disappear. Through shared memories, the leaders kept rapt watch over the other songbirds. Every step of their lives was governed by others.
Talon’s memories, desires, and emotions had been bottled up and cast into the sea. These growing feelings for Des need be placed in that bottle, and locked away.
Exhausted, he finally rose and followed the others, pressing his uninjured hand to his cheek, where heat still lingered.
* * *
Valkyrie had suggested making a brief camp; the city was still miles away, and they were all injured. Janus sank gratefully onto a flat rock. Sheneeded time to process everything before being thrust into a nest of worried, hovering guards.
Across the fire, Valkyrie finished binding her ankle before unwrapping Talon’s rough bandaging to examine his wound. Bloody rags unwound to expose a section of cutaway skin, and Janus felt nausea brimming in her throat. Turning away, she tried not to look back.
“Ash and cinder.” Valkyrie quietly cursed. “How did this happen?”
“Ah.” Talon sounded remarkably calm despite his horrific injury. “So that’s what she was doing.”
Pulling a roll of gauze from her bag, Valkyrie quickly re-bandaged the wound before it bled him dry. After a few seconds, Janus allowed herself to look at Talon again, met his eye, and stared at the ground. She had not meant to hit him. She did not know what had come over her. Anger, betrayal, and something she couldn’t place.
Usually, she was the opposite of assertive. The slap had surprised her, too.
“That thing.” Valkyrie finished binding the wound and turned to Janus. “That’s what attacked you at the inn. Is it. . . human?”
“I think so.” Felsin mused, pacing around the fire. “It gestured for me to watch it.” He mimicked the motion, drawing two fingers from Janus to his own eyes. “And the way it acted. . . It’s not a monster.”
“If it is a monster,” Valkyrie said. “It’s one nobody’s ever heard of. So, let’s assume it’s a skilled evoker. Why didn’t it follow us?”
Janus reflected on the mirage evoker, remembering its mirrors and phantom hands. How strange, simply trying to imagine a memory. Was this how non-evokers recalled events?
Water, ghostly tendrils, collapsing stone. All effortless. Perhaps this evoker was even more talented than Gemellus.
“I don’t know.” Janus finally answered.
“What about the men?” Valkyrie said. “You said one interrogated you. What did he want to know?”
“He. . .” Janus trailed off, sifting through her mind. Des had been interrogated, and her answers had been quite different from what Janus would have said. “He wanted to know about Eros.”
“Eros?” Valkyrie’s eyes narrowed, and she looked at Talon, who frowned. “What else?”
“Um. . .” Janus swallowed. “He asked about Gemellus. About my father.”
Valkyrie’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say much else and dodged all my questions.”
Talon cleared his throat. “The evoker. The man. I’ve seen him before. He works for Heras.”
Upon hearing his mother’s name, Felsin froze in his tracks. “What makes you say that?”
“I, um. . .” Talon rolled his tongue in his mouth. “I peered into your maevruthan, watched some of-”
“You what?” Felsin said, appalled. “You’re a cefra; shouldn’t you know the sanctity of-”
“I’m well aware.” Talon hissed. “I needed answers.” He waited for further protest and continued upon its absence. “As I was saying, I watched some of your mother’s memories. She spoke to that man about Eros’ death. It’s not a coincidence; I’m sure of it.”
