Page 66 of Kiss of Smoke

After months of work, and defeating the Ghosthand Killer, I was finally getting the agent training I’d wanted so badly.

I wheezed at Robin one more time, then began jogging down the street for my fourth lap.

Gwyn was already far ahead of me, but I didn’t mind. We all took the course at our own pace, and despite the ache in my legs and side, it was refreshing to just blank out my mind and run.

But there was still a sliver of fear in me that a mortal, or even Carabosse herself, would jump out from the shadows and grab me, so today was the day we put those fears to rest.

All of Avilion had had time to come to terms with the new peace; I was the only one who had been asleep during that entire period. The events of last year still felt as fresh to me as yesterday.

My legs felt like they were about to ooze into puddles of jelly by the time I finished my requisite laps and made it home to the shower, and I got dressed quickly, anticipating the next stop.

“Ready?” Robin asked. He straightened his tie, and then ran a hand through his dark hair, ruffling it up and ruining the look of total perfection.

I was wearing the leather clothes and boots I’d grown accustomed to. It made me feel a little more armored against the world. “Ready. Let’s go, Jack.”

He appeared in the living room at the sound of his name, then glanced at his desk, where a coffee cup that wasn’t his had somehow made its way there, and at a manila folder that was askew.

Jack straightened it, frowning. “Keep your mess on your side of the room, Goodfellow.”

“I didn’t drink coffee this morning,” Robin said loftily, but Gwyn came thundering down the stairs in a new band tee.

“Yeah, that was me. Sorry, not sorry.”

Jack wiped an invisible speck of something off his desk, glaring at Gwyn as Thistletop retrieved the mug.

We decided to walk to Mothwing Falls this time instead of taking cars or bikes. I looped my hand through Gwyn’s, following Jack and Robin as they talked about work and feeling almost absurdly peaceful.

These days, the sky over Avilion wasn’t just blue or gray. There was a constant faint shimmer in the background, more noticeable if you turned your head just so, no matter whether you were above the city or standing on the docks.

The Veil had been completely drawn down, enclosing the city and cutting it off from the mortal world. Robin had told me that most of the remaining humans who were permanent citizens had been evacuated before it dropped entirely.

It was also the reason I had healed in only six months instead of taking a year. With the Veil down, the natural magic of Avilion was beginning to gather instead of dissipating.

This meant a lot of electronics had gone on the fritz. Many Fae had resorted to the old ways in the interim, but the elves of Acorn had quickly put out a magic-dispelling prototype of their phones, and mechanics were already building new cars and engines that wouldn’t break down in the middle of the street on a whim.

Robin’s cars had done that more than once since the Veil was brought down, but Gwyn’s bike, which ran on wild magic, had apparently been the only reliable vehicle they’d had for a solid two months.

Still, despite the efforts to remain modernized, I had plans for building a network of pixie informants just in case my shiny new magic-resistant Acorn ever decided to turn into a brick in my hand.

As we drew closer to Mothwing Falls, my insides tightened in a knot.

“We don’t have to do this,” Jack told me.

I tried to force a cheery smile on my face. “Sure we do. I need to say hi to the twins anyways and make sure they haven’t killed themselves with their own cooking.”

I made myself look at Carabosse’s apartment as we approached.

The windows were boarded up, but there was a banner stretched across the door:Froud’s Bubble Tea, Coming Soon.

“They’re turning it into a tea shop?” I asked, appalled.

Didn’t they know there were tunnels branching out all under this building? Bodies in the earth beneath us? It was bad enough that the twins had refused to move, but who would want to live and work here?

“Come with me.” Robin took my hand, approaching the new door of her apartment.

It opened easily, showing a nearly-gutted interior.

Walls had been knocked down and were being rebuilt, and the floor was halfway done with being tiled in a shimmering bright blue.

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