“I don’t know.” Kiro took a sip of his coffee, and then gave me a nod of thanks. “But the possibility of an Adlin alliance with enemies unknown is something that scares me greatly.”
And if he was scared, then the rest of us should be damn well terrified. “The Adlin might now be capable of rudimentary weapons, but they certainly haven’t the knowledge to produce silverwork as fine as the bracelets Hedra, Saska, and Pyra wear. Whatever is happening, those bracelets are a part of it.”
Kiro’s gaze narrowed. “Why would you say that? What happened here between you and Pyra?” At my amused look, he rather dryly added, “After the seduction, that is.”
I gave them a detailed rundown on everything Pyra had said, then added, “Those voices are real, by the way. I heard them.”
“How?” Trey’s voice was flat and perhaps a little fearful—no surprise given he had an unlit daughter to worry about.
“It was just before she turned the wind on herself. I shifted to ease the ache in my legs, and my knife pressed into my right leg.”
“Your stained leg?” Kiro asked.
I nodded. “It was then I heard them—they were chanting, kill, kill, kill. I’d thought they meant you two, but I was, of course, mistaken.”
“Let me look at this knife,” Kiro said, voice sharp.
Trey motioned me to stay and got up instead. Two minutes later he was back with both my knife and Pyra’s bracelets. Kiro accepted the knife and rolled it over in his hands several times. “I have never seen its like before. Where did you get it?”
“From armory three. According to Jon, they’re called ghost blades, and were supposedly forged in the blood of the Irkallan. He doesn’t know where they came from, but there’s apparently swords and more kept in the older recesses of the armory.”
“Interesting.” He offered me the knife, hilt first. “Can you hear the whispers now?”
I put my coffee down then gripped the knife with my right hand. The glass was cool and oddly inert against my skin. “No.”
“Touch the blade to the bracelets.”
I did. “Still nothing.”
“Now shift the blade to your stained hand.”
I did so, and almost instantly the whispers started. This time they were chanting, retrieve, retrieve, retrieve.
“You can hear them, can’t you?” Kiro said.
I grabbed my coffee and took a sip, but it didn’t ease the sudden dryness in my throat. “But why?”
“At a guess, the knife is some sort of conductor, but one that taps into communication lines rather than being a recipient of them.”
“Which doesn’t explain why it only happens with it comes in contact with my stained hand.”
“No, but your staining is the reason your magic has gone unnoticed. Perhaps it also allows you to tap into other magic, but only if you carry the right implement.”
“That’s a whole lot of perhaps.”
“It’s all we have at the moment, I’m afraid.” Kiro paused. “What about the bracelets?”
I reluctantly reached for one; it was nothing but cold metal in my stained hand. “Saska told me that the queen would find her if she wore them, so maybe they’re more a tracking device than a means of communication. She said she still hears the voices even though she no longer wears them.”
Trey held out a hand. I tossed him the bracelet and then said, “The more important question would seem to be, what do those voices want the women to retrieve?”
“Hedra and Saska would be our logical targets to uncover that particular secret,” Kiro said. “But it might also be worth trying to get into Pyra’s suite and seeing if any information can be found there.”
“Her family is being housed in the Harkin house,” Trey said. “Which makes it difficult for either of us to get in there, given you’re not welcome and I have no reason to be there.”
“What, there’s no ladies of seducible age in that entire house?” I queried, amused.
Trey half smiled. “Pyra was Brent’s youngest and the others are all committed.”
And he would obviously never consider breaching such a bond—even at a festival like this, when the ties that bound were released for five nights, and the freedom to be with whom you wish, however you might wish, had the goddess’s blessing. “What about the Harken line? No uncommitted there?”
“Yes, but males, one and all.”
“And you are not partial to any of them?”
“Nor males in general, I’m afraid.” His gaze met mine and something warm ran through me. “I do have full appreciation of Astar’s many teachings, however.”
“Indeed, Commander? Perhaps that is something we might explore—”
Kiro cleared his throat. “Concentrate on the matter at hand, please.”
I laughed softly and glanced back at him. “But we are—or are you not planning to ask me to lure Pyra’s husband away from the ball?”
“Lure yes, anything else no. All we need is for you to ensure he takes you back to his suite. Once there, you can drug him, and be free to search both Pyra’s and Hedra’s suites.”
It mightn’t be as easy as that, and we both knew it. “And his name?”
“Ewan.”
I cast back through all the men I’d met over the last few days, and then said, “Is he a whip-lean, rather aristocratic-looking man with dark gray hair and pale blue eyes? I think he was wearing a horned mask of some kind.”
“Yes,” Trey said. “Why?”
“Because he just happens to be one of the many men who approached me on the first night.” He was also one of the ones for whom a gentle no had not been enough.
“Good. He’s taken a succession of masked ladies back to his suite over the last few days, so no one will raise an eyebrow at your presence there.” Kiro glanced at Trey. “I think our task tonight should be shadowing Hedra and Saska.”
“If the latter comes out of her suite.”
“Oh, she will.” Kiro’s smile held an edge of satisfaction. “It’s the night of the unmasking, and she’ll want to reclaim to her place by Marcus’s side rather than ceding it to his hetaera.”
“I wonder who whispered that possibility in her ear,” Trey said, clearly amused.
“Rumors do have a tendency to get around at events like this.” There was a gleam in Kiro’s eyes as he pushed upright. “I’ll see you both in a couple of hours.”
“You need to answer one more question, Lord Kiro.”
He stopped and glanced down at me, one dark eyebrow raised in question.
“What happens when all this is over? Will you, or will you not, report the change in my status?”
“I see no reason to do such a thing if you pose no threat to Winterborne. That is my priority, and has been ever since—” His mouth twisted and he glanced at Trey briefly. “Unless and until Winterborne’s safety relies on the revelation of such secrets, they will be taken to my grave.”
Relief stirred through me. He gave me a sharp nod and departed. Trey’s gaze swung back to mine; once again it was critical and decidedly nonsexual. Even the raw energy that surged between us seemed to be testing me, judging me. The earth mother was as concerned about the state of my health as Trey, it seemed.
“How are you feeling?”
“Weaker than a newborn, but otherwise healthy.”
He nodded. “You need to eat. Lots. Initiation tends to sap your strength for days, but we, unfortunately, haven’t got that sort of time.”
“Why are you both so certain there’s a time limit to whatever it is that is happening?”
He hesitated and then shrugged. “In my case, it’s nothing more than intuition. That, and the uneasiness in the earth.”
“So why isn’t she telling you what is going on?”
“I’m not sure, but I suspect there’s one or more powerful earth witches behind it. There could be no other reason for her reticence.”
“But Hedra, Saska, and Pyra are all air witches.”
“I know. But the other women who went missing held earth power, even if they were from a minor house. If Saska and Pyra survived being snatched, it’s possible they did too.”
“Then where the hell are they?”
“If we knew the answer to that, this mystery might well be solved.” He hesitated. “There’s one other thing Kiro didn’t mention—Hedra, Pyra, and Saska all bore children in the time they were missing. The latter two have had at least eight each, if not more, if the healers are to be believed.”