He gave me a tight smile. I know, but it’s still best if people don’t see affection like that. His mental voice was a whisper.
I didn’t question his logic. It’d be easy for people to get the wrong idea. Damn, I didn’t understand our connection either. Only that it felt natural and pure. A mutual understanding. Although, I also got the sense he just wasn’t very comfortable being touched. I’d have to respect that. To remember.
Once at the bottom of the slope, we walked the last leg of the loop together. Frazer slunk off at the same time as two people broke away from the main crowd to envelop me in a hug. Smothered in red and gold hair, my friends’ relieved laughter rang in my ears.
“Thank the moon!” Liora broke away. “We didn’t know what had happened …”
Cai pulled back. “A ranger flew in and pulled Goldwyn aside. Then she announced the trial was over, just like that.” He clicked his fingers.
“Rangers?” I questioned.
Liora answered by drawing my attention to Goldwyn and a strange male deep in conversation. A gray hood covered the male’s face, but he was armed to the teeth and his wings were feathered—something I’d never seen before.
Cai was the one to answer. “Apparently, our instructors forgot to mention they had a group of Sami warriors watching us.”
I blinked. Wilder had warned me there’d be “helpers” monitoring us, but the Sami? They were a different breed of warrior, able to kill in three blows and move undetected even among the fae. Yet they hadn’t stopped Dustin’s attempt to sabotage me. Helpers, indeed.
Cai added, “Anyway, we should go eat while we have the chance. Goldwyn’s asked us to come back in an hour.”
Oh, gods.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Liora said quickly, reading my dismay. “They’re just going to tell us what the next trial is.”
“Oh.” I wouldn’t call that nothing.
Cai slipped his arm into the crook of my elbow. “While we’re walking, you should tell us why Frazer’s suddenly taken an interest in you.”
He nudged me toward Kasi, and Liora fell in beside us.
I shrugged it off. “We understand each other, that’s all.” There was time for explanations later. After food.
Liora looked curious, and Cai grinned, dimpling.
“Fascinating,” he said.
“Mm.”
He didn’t push for clarification. Although, it was clearly killing him not to. As we moved through the gate that marked the boundary of Kasi, Cai said in a rare moment of humility, “I can’t believe I made it.”
I nodded numbly.
“One down, six to go,” Liora murmured.
Rutting fantastic.
Chapter 14
Chosen
Cai, Liora, and I crowed in delight at the sight of the feast awaiting us in the food hall. Not many recruits were back, so we had the run of the place. And while eating and drinking our fill within a soundproof bubble, we shared stories from the loop. Cai and Liora went first. Largely uneventful. And then it was my turn.
I started by telling them about Dustin. After they’d finished cursing the male into oblivion, Frazer’s involvement and his willingness to protect me only led to more questions. I confessed to the mental connection we’d forged, but left out Auntie’s explanation. I hoped that as witches they might have their own answers. They seemed more baffled than anything.
Cai rubbed his chin stubble, frowning. “Mind reading is a rare gift. He really denied having the ability?”
I nodded.
“Maybe he was lying,” Liora wondered.
“I don’t think so,” I murmured.
Cai pressed on. “But for him to say his mental shields were up—that must be a lie, or …”
A note of uncertainty struck my ears. I could guess why.
“I didn’t lie.” Steel entered my voice. Then I relented. It seemed wrong to keep it hidden any longer. “But …”
“There’s a ‘but’?” Cai cocked an eyebrow.
Liora shushed him.
I gave her a smile of thanks and braced myself to tell them about the necklace and the voice. Once I’d finished, Cai rushed out in one breath, “Holyshitamazing.”
Liora passed a hand over her face with a rasping chuckle. “What he said.”
“I’ve never heard of a magical object acting like that. Burning courts … And your connection with Frazer. For him to hear and talk to you from behind his mental barriers …” Cai shook his head. “Unheard of.”
I tried to summon the courage to ask questions, but all I managed was a breathless, “Oh.”
“A witch from the crafting clan might know more about the necklace,” Liora added, frowning down at the table. “But for it to do all the things you’re saying, to lend you its strength and talk to you; to make it possible for you and Frazer to communicate—those aren’t the actions of a mindless protection charm. Whatever, or whoever—”
“Auntie,” I cut in. “That’s what I call her.”
Cai smothered a laugh. A prickly heat flushed my cheeks.
Liora continued. “Well, this Auntie sounds sentient.”
“Could I have a look at it?” Cai held out his palm expectantly.
My hand flew to the droplet; a protective instinct I didn’t understand.
“You wouldn’t have to take it off,” he said, gentler than usual. “I just want to hold it.”
Liora explained, “He wants to see if he can sense anything.”
I tried to speak, but my mouth had dried and reduced me to a knotty silence. I had allowed Wilder to touch the droplet. This should be no different. I did a quick scan of the hall to check if there were any eyes on us. There were more people now. The hall had steadily filled during my story, however, the recruits that had returned were either falling asleep where they sat, or too busy consuming vast quantities of food and drink to bother with us. I tugged the necklace from out of my jacket and gave him the go-ahead. Cai palmed the droplet and closed his eyes. I’d no idea what he was doing, but he held it for a while.
Finally, he let it fall back against my skin. “She wouldn’t answer me.”
I could’ve sworn he was pouting. Laughter sounded in my head. And it didn’t come from me.
He wanted to talk to you.
I know, Auntie replied, clearly amused.
“You said your mother passed it to you in her will?” Cai asked, staring at the necklace until I hid it back underneath my jacket.
“Mm.” I didn’t like talking about my mother. It opened too many doors in my mind—doors that needed to remain closed.
“Was she a witch, Serena?” Liora asked oh-so-gently.
“I didn’t think so,” I whispered back.
“I sense another ‘but’ coming.” Cai’s upper lip twitched in jest.
A listless chuckle rolled out of me. “She kept secrets from me. From my father. She wasn’t meant to have any family, but this is an heirloom. A magical heirloom meant to protect me. And she knew that. She must’ve known it had magic.” My heart bled at the idea. “Perhaps she was a witch. The people in my village liked to gossip about how she wasn’t normal; that she was unusual. I figured that was just because she didn’t always do things their way. Because she pushed against tradition.”
Doubts circled like a wake of vultures, eager to pick me and my memories apart.
Cai smiled broadly. “Well, she sounds like my kind of woman.”
“You don’t think …” Liora stopped and gnawed at her lip.
She wanted to say something. Whatever it was, a hollow pit in my gut told me that I wouldn’t want to hear it.
Liora finished her thought by saying, “The voice … could it somehow be your mother’s?”
The world grew hazy, and I spun at the possibility. At the idea. But that swell of hope flattened the minute Auntie whispered sadly, Darling— “I know,” I said aloud, cutting her off.
I didn’t need to hear. It would just hurt more.
My throat stuck with swallowed tears as my eyes found Liora’s. “I can still remember my mother’s voice … It’s not her.”
I could feel the emotion swelling, threatening to spill over. Thankfully, the sound of a bell spared me from more questions and guesswork.
“That’s the signal,” Liora said, sighing. “How long d’you think they’ll give us before the next trial?”