Page 73 of Fire Touched

I have worried about if Killian will want to separate. It’s probably why I’ve waited until now to say anything. If Ella hadn’t prompted me, the words might have simmered even as we mounted the horses, staring at the map tomorrow morning.

Moira looks at me with sympathy. ‘When do we tell them?’

Ella waits on the threshold.

‘Tomorrow,’ I say. ‘We tell them tomorrow.’

Chapter Thirty-Six

Killian

Panic surges in my chest. Shit. I never expected him to be in here. Why couldn’t Haldreg have known that? Or did he? Was this some sort of trap? Perhaps he wasn’t helping me at all. I swallow hard. ‘I—I was looking for you.’

‘Ah.’ Prescott settles back in his chair. ‘I was going through my documents, looking for our information on Ventalis, how far it is. You know, I’ve never actually been there. Apparently, it’s freezing.’

‘Ventalis?’

‘Air Pack territory,’ Prescott clarifies. ‘Most people don’t speak the name, a little superstition that it brings bad luck.’ A shadow passes over his face. I wonder if he follows that superstition, too. ‘Shouldn’t you be packing?’

His desk is covered with maps, papers. My eyes dart about the room. Aside from his desk, the chair in which he sits, and one in front of him, there are two small bookcases, on which sit folders labelled civil complaints, census, weather anomalies and crop and livestock licenses. There, behind him, is a small, locked filing cabinet. It must be in there.

‘Uh, yeah, but, I was just, uh, hoping to talk to you.’ I jerk my thumb behind me, hoping to get him to leave. ‘Are you on your way out? We could walk.’

Prescott sighs. ‘Unfortunately, no, not yet. I hadn’t realised how out of date these maps are. I should have looked at them sooner, but, well—’ His eyes flick up to mine. ‘I’ve been busy.’ I know he’s referencing Timmen’s attack. On me. For whatever part my father had in a massacre I know nothing about.

I gesture to the chair. ‘Do you mind?’

Prescott waves me in. ‘Not at all.’ After a moment, he meets my gaze. ‘I’ll be sad to see my son leave again, but I’m glad he was home for a while. I got to meet you, his friends. And his mate.’ A smile curves his lips. ‘They’ll be a good family. I hope he settles here one day. Unless Moira wants to return to Cinder.’

‘I doubt it. Katherine was her home there. Not the place.’

‘That’s sad, but I hope she would be happy here.’

I nod absently. I hope that, too, but I can’t help thinking about Katherine. I need to go home to Cinder, but I don’t think she wants to. I think her path lies toward Ventalis. My heart hurts just thinking about it, so I push those thoughts to the back of my mind. I lean forward to look at the maps. ‘How far is it?’

Prescott turns the map. ‘I’m not sure. There are no scales. I’ve never travelled that far north before, so I don’t even recognise these landmarks, if they even still exist.’ He sighs, gathering up his papers. ‘My best bet is to ask Verron. His father travelled these paths. He might know more than I do.’ All the papers gathered up in his hands, he nods at the door. ‘Care to join me? I’m getting a little frantic about the time—’ He starts to move around his desk, and half his papers flutter to the ground, strewn all over the room.

‘I’ll get it.’ I jump up. ‘Go on down to Verron’s office, I’ll clean all this up. I’ll be right behind you.’

Prescott sighs. ‘Thank you, Killian.’ As he passes me, he sets a hand on my shoulder—shuffling the remainder of his papers awkwardly—and meets my gaze. His eyes are identical to Elijah’s. ‘It’s really been a pleasure meeting you, getting to know you. I hope you don’t take offence, but you’re not like your father. You’re a better man than he.’ He nods to himself. ‘I do hope we can part ways tomorrow as friends.’ He smiles and exits the office, leaving me feeling about two inches tall as I close the door and make about breaking into his filing cabinet.

The lock is easy to break and there’s exactly one black folder inside. I let it fall open on the desk. As I read, my heart twists painfully in my chest, and my mouth drops open.

I take the pages out of the binder and fold them up, pressing them into the back pocket of my jeans, then quickly return the folder. By the time he sees the lock it will be too late, anyway.

I gather all the mapping documents and step out into the hallway. I dump the papers on a table next to Verron’s desk—barely hearing Prescott and the alpha talk to me as I mutter, ‘Packing to do,’ and get out of there as quickly as possible.

When the fresh, night air hits my face, I inhale deeply. At a glance, the guards have put out the fire I started in the woods, but smoke still stains the sky. The same, I suspect, as it did eighteen years ago. Taking cover, I hurry to the edge of the forest, the trees at my back, the moon giving me just enough light to read by as I settle down against the trunk of a tree, squatting to read.

Incident reports. Dozens of them. Certificates of death. Funeral notices.

I read the longest report. In Verron’s handwriting.

Last night, our guests sought to attack us. Three emissaries from the packs of Water, Fire and Air joined us at our table in the great hall in an historic attempt at peace. I raised my glass to toast a new friendship, but before I’d sipped my wine, a fireball was hurled at my head. The rest joined in; the night turned to chaos. Only a handful of details stand out to me now. The Fire alpha kept shouting. It wasn’t until I was in my bed later, my daughter curled in my arms, that his words rung clear. ‘Killian!’ The infant son he’d brought with him, proud and eager to show us all. Terran has been betrayed. We do not know if the packs came here intending to work together, or if they all followed suit as soon as the first fireball was thrown.

I’ll never forget the looks on their faces when their attempt was quickly thwarted.

My little girl, just two years old this month, has inherited her mother’s abilities, far greater than we expected. When she perceived the danger I was in, her eyes lit up, bright silver, and burned our foes with the power of a thousand stars, my Starlight heir.

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