Page 69 of Born of Starlight
Leaving the ruin of Fen’s childhood home and the charmed orchards beyond its walls, my breathing grew shallow.
I thought of Firose stepping through those orchards as though she owned them—what connection did she have to Fen’s family in order to take ownership of the estate?
The night we had taken the truth charm together, Fen had shared that he had old friends and old enemies in the towers.
It begged me to question which enemies he kept within my ranks.
* * *
The balconyof the Central Tower seemed smaller than it once had. When I stepped into the foyer, my cheeks heated at seeing the disarray I’d left behind.
I wasn’t used to having company in the tower, at least outside of the Sisters and the occasional delivery of necessities or a stray traveler.
“Didn’t think to clean up without me, did you?” I mused to the tower.
The tower began shelving books quickly, sweeping away dust from shelves and blooming fresh red roses in a vase on the table at the far end of the foyer—the hue brought color to the otherwise dark space.
My heart pounded. Awaiting Fenris and Emmerick to appear on the balcony, I left the door open for them as I tidied the foyer.
Fen had hesitated in that long hallway. It had been minutes since I had arrived. They should have stepped onto the balcony only moments after me.What was keeping them?
The thought of Fenris being so far away cast an uneasy feeling in my gut. It felt wrong in some unexplainable way.What is the worst he could do?Ward the Egress so that I couldn’t return and run for it. Emmerick would be no match to stop him, try as he might.
A gust of wind swept across the balcony. I turned toward the door as boots crushed dead leaves on the stone landing. My heart skipped a beat as Fen appeared in the doorway, but he hadn’t seen me yet. He glanced around, assessing his surroundings and looking out at the view of the central woodlands before stepping inside. When Fen’s eyes found me standing by the fireplace, his whole body relaxed.Had he felt it too, thatwrongness?
Emmerick trailed him, looking a bit green—he stood on the balcony behind Fen with his hands on his knees as though dizzy.
“I was waiting for Van,” Fen explained as he leaned in the doorway and rubbed the ink on his arm. I remembered the beast in the orchard and realized he hadn’t followed us inside.
My lips curved upward. Having him here—it brought me joy. What an odd sensation to want someone in my space.
“This is where you live…” As he entered the foyer, Fen’s gaze trailed up the ivy-covered iron arches and then into the greenhouse. “It suits you.”
Emmerick stayed on the balcony.
“I’m sorry for the mess.” I shuffled a few texts that the tower hadn’t yet picked up into neat piles and lifted them off the dark leather sofas to provide sitting space.
A book slipped from my grasp and landed open at the spine. A fierce blue flame burst from its pages.
“Oh, Sources.” I kicked the book shut with my boot. “Don’t open any of the books. Some of them have…experimentalsafeguards.”
Familiar female laughter filled the air, causing me to spin on my heels.We weren’t alone.My blood ran cold.
“And from whom, exactly, are you safeguarding your incantations, my girl?”
Amara stood halfway down the staircase to my bedchamber with crossed arms, leaning over the curved iron railing. She leveled a skeptical yet amused look in my direction. Her hair had been left to coil to its own will instead of pulled back as she usually styled it. Her appearance was somewhat haphazard, with a non-matching robe and skirt—neither looked neatly pressed.
I felt the blood drain from my already pale face. I hadn’t thought about what I would tell the Sisters when I returned. Especially Amara, who now nodded at our two guests as she rounded the steps down. She was going to need an explanation that I didn’t have.
Worse yet, I didn’t know whether I could trust her. The person who lovingly raised me from a babe into my adolescence in the South Tower seemed a stranger to me.
“Fenris, it’s nice to see you, my old friend.”
My eyebrows rose. “You two know one another?”
Amara. She was his friend.Did that bring me relief?I couldn’t be sure then, but it did take an edge off of my anxieties.
“Quite well,” Fen said as he crossed the room to take Amara’s hand and kiss her knuckles. “Always a pleasure to see you, Amara. Just as beautiful as always.”
