He straightened, keeping me settled on his lap, and said, “You’ve got it.”
“Yes,” I said, leaning forward to kiss him again. “Yes, Logan. I think that’s it.”
I jumped to my feet. “Come on, let’s go find Emily.” He stood, hand still in mine, starting for the door. “Wait,” I said, jerking him to a stop.
“What is it?” he asked.
I glanced down at my bare feet in the carpet. “Shoes first. I’m not going anywhere without shoes.”
Chapter Eighteen
Threads
We found Emily with Aern in their room. They’d kept the suites Aern had used before he’d left Council, a modest set of rooms done up in earth tones with a window facing the south lawn. Aern had just woken, and he stood behind Emily, hands on the back of her chair, not a sign of injury visible anywhere.
“So, what,” she asked, “I’m just supposed to find Morgan and zap his power away?”
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “I only know what will happen if you don’t.”
Aern leaned forward. “And how exactly do we know if it’s successful?”
“I hadn’t gotten that far,” I said. “I guess we’ll have to try it on one of your men.” I shook my head. “It’s the only thing I’ve got, Aern, and it feels right.”
Emily shrugged a shoulder. “Okay, then I guess we should get started.” She held her hands out to me, palms up.
“I don’t think that will work,” I explained. “I think I need you to touch Aern.” Her hands drew back; she glanced at the table, then me. “I’m not going to do anything to the bond, Emily. I just need to see it, to understand how our connections work, and I think it will be easier if you’re in contact with him.”
Aern pulled out the chair beside her, sitting across from me at the table, and took Emily’s hand. She slid her free hand over to mine. “This is very séance-y.”
“Well,” I said, “if this works, the whole thing’s about to get a lot freakier than this.” I closed my eyes, taking a long, deep breath as I searched out the connections that were so different than the ones I’d found in the others. I’d felt them in Emily before, but I’d believed them to be unique ties to Aern, nothing more than her bond, the prophesied union. But I felt that push, and I knew they were more. They were a representation of our power. It wasn’t some mystical force that tied Emily to Aern. It was that she’d decided, that she’d chosen to link herself with him, and he’d accepted it. It was like the pulse, but stronger, more solid. Unbroken.
It was her power. And if I could free it, she’d be able to tear a man down just as easily.
Aern cleared his throat. “Should I feel that?”
Emily’s hand twitched, but she didn’t pull away. “What?”
My eyes stayed closed, testing the strands, comparing the threads to my own.
“That,” Aern said.
“I don’t feel anything,” Emily countered. “Brianna, why don’t I feel anything?”
“Because you,” I said evenly, “aren’t of the Seven.” I opened my eyes. “And you’re not simply human. You’re a shade.”
Her gaze flicked to Aern, and I could tell she was checking the bond.
“I didn’t do anything,” I told her. “I couldn’t if I wanted to.”
Her eyes narrowed on me. “And why would you want to?”
I shook my head. “I don’t, Emily. I’m just saying.” I wet my lips, glancing at Logan instead of remembering the vision, remembering Aern and the fire. “Your bond protects him, I think. Makes it so another shade couldn’t reach his power unless you allowed it.”
“Another shade?” Aern asked. “Brianna—”
I held up a hand. “In theory, I mean. All of this is a guess. I’m sorry, it’s not like I have a manual or anything. This is all new to me.”
Logan placed a hand on my shoulder, prepared to say something, but my body convulsed as a vision slammed into me.
Morgan, standing in front of a group of men, hand outstretched as he turned them with his sway. The dark-haired man, the one that looked like a model out of GQ, stood beside him, his mouth twisted at the corner in a knowing smirk. I had the strangest feeling he knew I could see him.
“No,” Emily screamed, “this isn’t like her. She doesn’t just fall down and convulse, Aern. You’ve seen her. We have to wake her up. Now.”
I’d apparently missed a line or two of their argument. I tried to move my hand, to let her know I was okay, but it wouldn’t cooperate, I couldn’t quite break free.
“Brianna,” Logan said from my other side. “Brianna, you need to come back to us. Can you feel my hand?”
I did then, feel his touch in my hand, but I couldn’t make out what had happened. “I’m all right,” I mumbled. “I just need to sleep.”
“Pick her up,” Aern said. “We need to take her some place safe until—”
“No,” I said, opening my eyes as Logan lifted me from the floor. “No, I’m all right.”