“Two?” Talen asked, likely wondering if the second was for him.
“It will nullify much of his magic, but he’ll still be able to warp perception. He can’t get inside my head and twist my own thoughts if I’m wearing a collar—he can’t make me dream. If I’m going to face him again, I’ll need that protection. The second collar is for him. He’ll capture you, Kellee, thinking it was his idea. He’ll tell me I have to give myself up for you and then demand I remove the tek.”
Talen nodded. “How do we get Kellee away from him?”
“That’s where you come in.” I smiled at the fae, knowing the grin wasn’t entirely friendly. “He doesn’t know you’re here. While I’m pretending to operate on him, you’ll find and release Kellee.”
“You’re going to kill Eledan, right?” Kellee asked.
“Yes.”
Kellee gave me a pointed look, not entirely believing me. He was right to be suspicious. I would kill Eledan. I’d made him a promise, and I was going to keep it.
“To get a collar on him,” Talen added, “you’ll have to get close.”
“Getting close has never been a problem. And inside Arcon, we’ll be surrounded by metal. He won’t notice the iron until it’s too late.”
They fell silent, probably considering all the things that might go wrong.
“So, we’re going to Arcon?” Talen asked.
Kellee sucked in a breath. “Arcon? Are you sure?”
He was really asking if I was ready, and I wasn’t. I never would be. But the time was now. “It has to be Arcon. Natalie said—” Kellee flinched. “She said it was empty. I think he’s there. It’s familiar territory for him. I don’t want him anywhere near the people here. With this well Crater found, he could have people dancing to his tune. They’ve been through enough. Arcon is far enough away to keep them safe.”
“And the cruiser in orbit?” the marshal asked. “If it’s his?”
“I don’t think Eledan wants any of the fae knowing what’s going on down here. Once we’ve dealt with him, we can figure out what to do about the cruiser.” I held Kellee’s weary gaze. “I’m going to get everyone off Calicto—for Natalie.” For you.
He nodded tightly, tearing his gaze from mine. He couldn’t know I had watched his friend die. But I knew, and the guilt was eroding my focus. I, at least, had an opportunity to honor her memory.
Kellee strode to the door.
“Kellee?” I started after him.
“I just need time—”
“Let him go,” Talen said, turning back toward the screens.
He was already gone anyway. The door swung shut behind him with a final clunk.
I spent the next few hours studying maps of the mines and the nearest biodome, where Arcon’s abandoned complex waited. Eledan would be inside, waiting for me.
Talen called me to the monitors, and we watched the downtrodden people of the once-shining Calicto say their farewells to Natalie. Kellee was with them.
“He knew her well,” Talen remarked. In the screen’s glow, his eyes shone a little brighter.
Did Talen care, I wondered. Did he care about any of this? Or was he just going through the motions because he had nowhere else to go?
“Kellee will attack Eledan,” the fae said, leaning back in his chair. “The first chance he gets.”
I folded my arms and stayed quiet. There was no need to reply. We both knew it was inevitable. “Eledan would expect nothing less from the last surviving vakaru.” I dug into my pocket and handed Talen a comms. “That’s why it’s up to you to get Kellee out.”
Talen took the little comms unit in his hand. He would have to wear it to communicate with Kellee after he was captured. The thought of wearing the device didn’t sit well with him. He was tek-resistant, but it would still hurt him.
“He freed you,” I said. “Now you get to repay the favor.”
He lowered his hood and pressed the comms behind his pointed ear. “You care a great deal for Kellee.”
“I do,” I admitted, almost wishing I didn’t. “I can’t make the feelings go away just because they’re based on a lie. What about you?” I leaned a hip against the console as the fae looked up at me questioningly. “You like him too.”
“I’ve known him a long time. There’s comfort in familiarity.”
A fae far away from Faerie was hardly a fae at all. I saw some of Eledan’s need to go home in Talen’s cloud of loneliness. When all this was over, if we survived, I might ask him why he couldn’t go back.
“I would like to give you more of my magic, but I fear he’ll notice.”
That hadn’t gone so well last time. I squirmed at the thought of having his hand on me, pouring the delightfully maddening fae magic back into my veins. “I appreciate the offer, but I need to think clearly and you…” I circled my hand in the air between us. “You’re distracting.”
He stood, reminding me how damn tall he was now that he was suddenly very close, and touched my chin with two fingertips. “If I may?” he asked, his politeness startling.
For a terrifying heartbeat, I thought he meant to kiss me on the lips, and panic took a hold of my instincts, but in a blink, he planted a chaste kiss on my forehead and drew back, looking down into my eyes. “Don’t die, Kesh Lasota. I’ve become quite fond of you.”
Will he look at me like that when he knows the truth?
“I’ll do my best.” A smile found its way onto my lips. Only a small one, but it was real. And I could use all the real I could get.
I entered a long, low-ceilinged space, stepping into sweltering heat. Molten metal hissed and bubbled in a cauldron-like vat. Of the four forges, only one was lit, spewing out orange flames.
Kellee stood with a man I assumed was the metalworker. He had his back to me, but I’d recognize the solid cut of his shoulders and short, messy ponytail anywhere. His friend saw me first, nodded my way, then left us alone.
The marshal had summoned me here, using the comms, and now that I had moved closer, I saw why. Two circles of metal lay on a table beside the forge. Each had a hinge and latch. They weren’t the crude, heavy collars saru wore. The metalworker had added a gentle ripple allowing them to sit comfortably on the collarbone—or as comfortably as iron against skin would ever be.
Kellee killed the switch to the forge, and the fire spluttered out, plunging the room into a settling quiet. Equipment ticked as it cooled. I ran my fingers along the nearest circlet. Ignoring their purpose, they were almost beautiful.
“What do you think?” Kellee crossed his arms. “They’re still heavy, but any less iron and his magic could seep through.”
“They’re perfect.”
Pride shone in his eyes.
“You made them?” I asked.
“Right over there.” He gestured at a row of anvils, one with a hammer resting on top. “The metal is stronger if forged and quenched, not poured. Eledan could break poured metal.”
Looking at the marshal’s late-twenties exterior, it was easy to forget how old he really was behind all that sass. These handmade forging techniques were an art, one rarely found in Halow, and it showed in the twin circlets.
“You really are full of surprises, Marshal.”
He picked up a circlet and let it fall open. “May I?”
I lifted my chin. I had been collared as a child and again under Eledan, but this was different. I’d chosen this.
Kellee stepped closer and hesitated. Doubt crossed his face. His people had probably been collared long before the saru were conceived. He had similar memories to mine.
I touched his arm. “I trust you.”
His gaze lifted from the circlet, and I knew from the pain in his eyes that he had worn collars and bore all the scars that came with them. The pieces of my heart ached for him.