Page 85 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
Cian nodded. “Fair assessment.”
“But I did it because it hurt so much to hear Petra’s story. I couldn’t let it go.”
Again, Cian nodded. “And what about the way humans are treated by the Orders? Can you let that go?”
Harlow couldn’t help it; she looked around, worried to voice something like this aloud, even here. “No, I can’t. I’ve waited my whole life to find a way to do the things you’re doing with the Knights. It doesn’t matter what happens with me and Finn on a personal level. We have to find a way to change things.”
Now Cian’s grin was positively feral. Harlow had the sudden impression that she wouldn't want to have to fight them, for anything. She was tempted to ask averyrude question, but she held it in. The Trickster’s Chosen hated to be asked about their alternae, but she desperately wanted to know what creature lurked under Cian’s humanoid form. She had the feeling they shifted into something magnificent. Cian’s grin spread wider, and Harlow’s heart nearly stopped as their pupils disappeared and an image of an immense silver beast covered in scales filled her second sight.
“You’re an Argent?”
Cian chuckled in response, linking their arm through hers. “Aren’t you a clever girl?”
Harlow was nearly stunned into silence.Nearly. “How… How is that possible?”
Heraldic shifters hadn’t been born for over five hundred years, as the Illuminated had exterminated them in massive campaigns, since they fought against them in the War of the Orders. The Argent were the fiercest of the firedrakes, and the most deadly. Even one could lay waste to legions of Illuminated soldiers.
“We are not as rare as you might think. Of course, we must be careful who knows our secret.”
“I wouldnevertell,” Harlow said, squeezing the shifter’s arm.
“I know that,” Cian said softly. “I wouldn’t have let you see otherwise. There is a world beyond what you know to be true, Harlow. Tonight is just the beginning.”
They’d reached the front door and Harlow took a deep breath. To think there were mysteries she hadn’t uncovered yet, even after twenty-five years of being a sorcière, gave her a thrill of joy. Curiosity and deeply held interest lit a flame in her heart so bright that she felt sure she might catch fire. As she put her hand on the door Cian pulled her back.
“Do you know that the Striders fought with the Heraldic shifters in the war?”
Harlow shook her head. “No, I don’t know much about them at all. Didn’t everyone who fought against the Illuminated fight together?”
Cian let out a small huff of frustration. “Well, of course, but I mean the Striders actuallyfoughtin our units.” The way Cian said “our” made Harlow wonder if they’d been there. If they were possibly that old. Her breath caught as Cian continued, “They fought in our units because they too could shift shape.”
Surely, Thea would have told her this already if she’d known, wouldn’t she? “I haven’t heard anything like that before.”
Cian leaned one narrow shoulder against the house. “You wouldn’t have. We kept it a secret. It wasn’t all of them, mind you. Many of the Striders couldn’t shift. But some could.”
“What were their alternae?” Harlow asked, using the Order of Masks’ word for their non-human form.
Cian sighed. “They were the Feriant.”
Harlow hadn’t heard that word before, but played with the etymology in her head.To strike, to kill, to slay, all possible roots. “I don’t know that word,” she finally admitted.
The Argent pushed past her, opening the door to the house. “You will, in time, I believe. I learned it was best not to tell Striders their business a long, long time ago.”
The note of finality in their voice as they walked into the house indicated that they wouldn’t be moved to answer more questions, so Harlow tucked the information away for later. From the sound of things, her entire family, plus Enzo and Riley Quinn, were talking loudly in the kitchen.
Before Cian disappeared into the thick of things, Harlow pulled them back into the hall. “You know that Riley Quinn is with the Rogue Order, right?”
Cian nodded. “Yes, we know. Finn is hoping to use tonight as a way to extend goodwill to the Queen. Perhaps form an alliance.”
Harlow breathed a sigh of relief. “They seem like a good person.”
Cian nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, many of the Rogue joined for the same reasons the Knights were formed. They are much more willing to create chaos than we have been, but perhaps we need that kind of energy now.”
That wasn’t anything Harlow knew much about. She’d spent a lot of her adult life just trying to get herself under control. She knew nothing about how to fight for justice or make societal change, only that she wanted to learn, and she hoped her efforts now weren’t too late to change things for the better, for humans and immortals alike.
Cian joined the group around the kitchen table, and as they did, Finn caught sight of her lingering in the doorway. His hair was mussed as ever, and her heart did flip after flip as he approached. The street vendor’s t-shirt looked good on him, tight around the arms, draping over his muscled chest. She knew he probably didn’t mean to do it, but he had his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans and his forearms flexed in a tantalizing fashion that had her reminding herself what she was here for.
“Hey, Harls,” he said as he approached. She could swear he moved in slow motion, every beautiful thing about him amplified as he drew closer.
