Breaker (Ondine Quartet Book 4) (23 page)

She stood a little taller. “I expect us to defend our communities, Prince Belicoux. We can use the time to figure out a sensible strategy for ending this war and when the time is right—“

“When will that be?” I held my arms out. “A year? Ten years? Fifty? Another hundred?”

“It will be whenever it needs to be.” She crossed her arms. “But the time is not now. We cannot run headlong into another possible disaster.”

I opened my mouth.

“Governor.” Jeeves appeared in the doorway, his mouth set in a grim line. “A word, please?”

“Honestly, Counsel Genevieve.” Barely tempered irritation flickered across Patrice’s face. “Can’t this wait?”

Her moment was being taken away and she couldn’t stand it.

Jeeves tilted his head. “Unfortunately, Marquisa, some things are more important than you.”

Nice.

I glanced at Tristan and caught the acknowledgment in his eyes. He’d handle the Council.

“Marquisa,” he began. “Ignoring the missing doesn’t seem like a viable long-term solution. I’m sure you’d feel the same if the missing person was someone you cared about.”

“But…”

I shut the door behind me. Jeeves was already halfway down the corridor, moving quickly without drawing notice.

I hurried to catch up. “What is it?”

“The Shadow has made contact and refuses to speak to anyone but you,” he said quietly. “Ms. Rossay is running a trace on him.”

Aubrey and Chloe sat before the same bank of monitors we’d used for Ian’s mission. Aubrey ferociously typed at her laptop, while Chloe stared transfixed at the image on the central screen.
 

 
A flattering light shone on Bastien. The camera was carefully positioned, so that his head and upper torso filled the screen.
 

It was impossible to tell where he was. Nothing was visible but him.
 

“
Sondaleur,
” he said easily. “A pleasure to see you again.”

His crisp white linen shirt was impeccably pressed and open slightly at the collar. Curly hair gleamed and his skin glowed, a perfect canvas for pale eyes the color of dying leaves.

He radiated calm, collected control.

A monster clothed in beauty.
 

I kept my temper on a tight leash. “Where is he?”

“I assume you’re referring to your dear friend, Ian MacAllister. He’s somewhere safe.”

“I’m the one you want.”

“Well, of course,” he agreed. “But I needed him to get to you.”

“You have me.” I spread my arms. “Let him go and we’ll talk.”

“Oh no, Kendra.” He gave a dismissive wave. “Everyone standing between us needs to be gone, too.”

“You don’t need Ian—”

“I’ve eliminated a few so far. Your mother, that friend of yours, Ryder. There was also Marcella and the voluntary departure of your uncle Gabe. I must admit that was unexpected.” He shook his head and chuckled. “Then there was your gardinel and your grandmother. The parents of the lovely Ms. Moreaux.”
 

Chloe stared at him, wide-eyed and gaunt, a mixture of revulsion, fear, and hatred twisting her pretty face.
 

“And now, of course, I’ve moved on to Ms. Rossay.”
 

Aubrey stopped typing.

She rose, placed her hands on the console, and leaned forward.
 

“If you hurt him, there is nowhere you can hide, nowhere you’ll ever be safe.” Her voice was devoid of emotion. “I will hunt you down.”

“Impressive, Redgrrl. You’re a worthy companion to Kendra here.” He tilted his head. “Tell me, did you cry when they cut off your arm? Or did you cry more for your perfect older sister, Noelle? You were smarter than her, but she was always the one that got all the attention.”

 
Aubrey stiffened.
 

“Are you able to turn off that mind of yours?” His voice dropped, became intimate. “It must spin at all hours of the day and night. Do you lie awake wondering what kind of fun I’m having with Ian?”

Aubrey paled.

“Shut up,” I snarled.

Bastien looked up and shrugged. “Who knows what people are capable of under duress? After everything he’s already been through, I wouldn’t even have to turn him. One does wonder how long it’ll take before his mind…” He snapped his fingers, the sound whipping through the air, “simply breaks.”

Pure unadulterated rage pumped through my veins. “You fuc—“

“You want him back?” Bastien leaned in close, his eyes dilated with pleasure. “Come and get him, Kendra.”

“Where?”

He smiled. “Sing me a story about princesses and moons, of lakes and mountains and five balloons.”

The monitor went black.

Silence expanded, choking the air out of the room.
 

“I couldn’t get him.”

Aubrey’s words were a mere whisper. She stared at the blank screen in disbelief.

“I…” Her prosthetic hand flexed. “I was too slow. I couldn’t trace the signal fast enough…”

Chloe gently touched her trembling shoulder.
 

“What did he mean?” Jeeves murmured. “That last part?”

“I don’t know.”

It was a clue. Another piece of the puzzle in this diabolic game.

My hands clenched.
 

Who knows what people are capable of under duress?
 

“What just happened stays in this room.” My voice sounded like ground glass.

Aubrey stilled. Chloe glanced back at me, her face sharp and raw with pain.

“Governor, I don’t think —“

“That is a direct order, Jeeves. No one here will speak of this message. This didn’t happen.”

Aubrey spoke, her back to me. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want anyone in Haverleau running interference.”

I returned to my office, raging despair painting the Governing House a bloody red.

The imposing desk and chair still felt like Rhian, formidable symbols that fit me poorly.

How could I have so much power and be utterly helpless?

Through the windows, the sweeping splendor of the Royal Gardens extended to the coast. A sea of rich colors danced, bright enough to forget the grey of the skies.

My mother couldn’t change me into her. Neither could Rhian.

And beneath expectation, obligation, and conditioning lay the inescapable, absolute truth.
 

My friend was gone and I wouldn’t leave him behind.

We had an army of chevaliers and gardinels who’d sworn an oath to protect elementals with their lives.

But there was only one person who’d sworn to protect Ian.

Me.
 

I made the call. He answered on the third ring.

“I’ll return the favor. On my terms.”

A long pause followed by a cautious response. “I’m listening.”

I took a deep breath and started talking.

THIRTEEN

I lean back and rest my hands on the cold ground behind me.
 

Salty air coats my skin. The onyx sea roils, its rhythm matching my heartbeat. Beyond it, the horizon stretches, unyielding and absolute.

“Where are we?”

A flutter of wings disturbs the air.

“Not where. When.” The Elemental brand on my chest pulses, his rumbling voice tugging at the thread of old magic. “It is the start of another day.”
 

The Armicant tucks in his gossamer wings and settles his massive, monstrous body beside me. Colossal white paws, endowed with curved claws, dig into the patchy grass. His heavy, fin-like tail curls behind my hands, restlessly sliding back and forth.

“My friend is gone,” I say softly. “I need to find him.”

“The nix.”
 

I nod. He shifts, the scales on his torso delicately brushing against my skin. Gentle heat eases the chill encasing my insides.

“The Shadow leaves me nothing but riddles.”

Unblinking topaz eyes peer at me. “Then you must use the right key to unlock them.”

Ray said the same thing in Merbais. “What if I can’t find it?”

His jaw opens, revealing a fiery tongue gated behind a forest of serrated teeth. “You are looking in the wrong place. Most mortals do.”

“Do you know how all this will end?” I glance at him. “What I’m supposed to do?”

“Why do you speak as if there is an answer? Endings do not exist. There are only choices leading to other paths.”

Fading stars slip back into their hidden homes beyond the clouds. The sky pales, inky dark blending into the moonlight.

It matches the color of his scales.

I move closer, rest my shoulder against the soft, reassuring heat of his body. “Why did they call you the Silver Sun?”

“Watch.”

Night retreats and dawn emerges. Indigo blends with pink and orange into a painting more majestic than anything mortals could ever produce with their own hands.

“So beautiful,” I murmur.

“It is terrible.”

“Why?”

“Because the night must say goodbye for the morning to say hello.”

Dawn strengthens, claiming the world with each passing second.
 

“The moon and sun shall never share the sky together.” Valeil ruffles his wings. “Without them, no day would pass. Yet despite their importance, both remain servants of time, cursed to an eternity alone. And so they continue to wait for the other. Every dawn and dusk they have a moment of companionship within infinite moments of solitude.”

Just before the last faint glow of moonlight dissolves, dawn’s pink rays reach for the ivory beams.

They tangle in an intimate embrace, a tender kiss between lovers, in a strip of sky that holds yearnings both perfect and impossible.

“I bind the past to the present and future. I am that moment when silver moonlight meets the bright arms of the sun. I am Valeil.”

His words reverberate with the ache of enduring loneliness.

I opened my eyes. A phantom warmth lingered on my skin.

“Dream?”

I turned on my side. His dark eyes were soft, mouth slack with sleep.

“No.” I wasn’t sure what that was.
 

He cupped my neck and brushed his mouth against mine. “Ian?”

When I’d called Ancelin, I’d steeled myself for what needed to be done.

I knew how to fight through pain, how to survive the darkest despair through will alone.
 

But the depth of trust and care now reflected in Tristan’s eyes was something I didn’t know how to deal with.

The last trace of heat from the dream dissipated, leaving behind an icy emptiness.

“I’m going to find him.”

“I know.” He brushed a lock of hair away from my forehead. “I’m sure Aubrey knows that, too.”

The weight of that mistake lies with the Governor.

I rested my cheek against his chest and wished her words could vanish from memory. He tucked my leg between his, wrapped his arm around my waist, and drew me into his warmth.
 

“I don’t have to go,” he said roughly. “With everything going on—”

“No. Your people need you.” I swallowed back the guilt. “And you can’t avoid your father forever.”

He pulled away slightly. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“A little.”

Eric’s ghost still loomed large. Tristan continued to bear the invisible scars of his brother’s death, while Ancelin struggled to reconnect with his remaining sons.
 

“Maybe you’re right.” He stroked my back. “But I don’t want you to deal with this alone. What do you need?”

“The Council on our side.”

“I’ll work on it.” He glanced at the clock on the side table.
 

“Go.” I forced myself to pull away first. Leaving his warmth snapped the icy ache back. “I have a meeting anyway.”

His scent lingered in the air, on my skin.
 

“Now?”

I tugged on my jeans. “I have to talk to Jeeves.”

He looked at me, dark, silky locks falling forward, naked and beautiful and so much more than anything I could’ve ever dreamed.

I wanted to crawl back under the sheets with him, enjoy the simple pleasures every normal couple had.

But normal had never belonged to us.

He raked his hair back. “About what?”

“Paperwork I’ve been putting aside for a while,” I said evasively.

Silence.

I pulled on my shirt and faced him. “What?”

“What are you not telling me?”

I managed to look indignant. “Nothing!”

He studied me for a long moment, his gaze flickering over my face as if searching for an answer.

“Resilient,” he murmured.

I raised my brow.

“That’s what I thought when I first saw you in that San Aurelio alley.” His mouth curved. “You were resourceful, clever. Someone who relies on herself to pull through.”

My stomach fluttered at the praise. “Not bad for the
sondaleur
.”

“Yes. But it doesn’t work for a relationship.” The gentleness of his tone eased the sting of criticism. “You can’t take everything on yourself, silently gritting your teeth and bearing it. That’s not how partnerships work, how any kind of relationship works.”

Her voice revisited me again, an echo of the past.

Relationships are weaknesses.

“It’s not that simple,” I said stiffly.

“I know. That’s why I —“ He rubbed his jaw. “I understand, Kendra. But I can’t read your mind. If you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I can’t help.”

The sincerity of his voice undid all the frozen locks inside me and in that moment, I almost told him everything.
 

Do you lie awake wondering what kind of fun I’m having with Ian?

My insides clammed up. “I’m a little overwhelmed right now. The Council, Ian… I’m doing everything I can.”

“I’ll do everything I can to swing the Council.” His expression softened. “We’ll get him back, Kendra.”

I hated lying to him. I hated manipulating him.

But Tristan always put others before himself. His entire life had been spent fulfilling duty.