Page 24 of Tangled Power
“The wind carries secrets,” Juliette sighed. “It’s one of the little-known traits of the Osten’s power. The more you strengthen your wind magic, the more I think this gift will come to you. It can be useful, at times.” Juliette paused and looked south toward the village. “Other times, it delivers information with which you can do nothing.”
“We heard the village being attacked?” Rose asked.
“We heard the desperate cry of a few villagers. Secrets only dance on the wind when there is particular passion behind them.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Would you have left me alone until you understood? Or would you have barreled in the dark until you found the danger?”
Rose gave Juliette credit. She would not have stopped until she understood what she heard.
“I thought so.” Juliette twined her fingers together as if unsure what to do with them. “Your plan to learn about our powers is the best we have. The best method to prevent”—Juliette hesitated, gesturing around her—“something like this from happening again.”
“We could have saved them, like we did at Compass Lake.”
“We are nowhere near close enough. We’ll barely make the village by the end of the day tomorrow. Even riding on the wind as I now believe you did to save Compass Lake Village, you wouldn’t have made it. Someone was already screaming. The Nebulus, Zrak’s agents, had already attacked. It was too late.”
Their gazes locked. It had cost Juliette to sayZrak’s agents. Rose heard it in the weight of his name on her lips.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The truth was now apparent. Not that Luc had doubted Rose when she’d returned last night, but it had been hard to process. A wall of shadow encircled the village they approached, just as they had experienced in Bury. And Rose had heard it happen—had heard it a day’s ride away. The dark gray mist hanging above the ground was evident even in the late afternoon light.
Luc glanced back at the others, pausing, before coaxing his horse over the mist line. He kept the loaned sword close in case they decided to go in. His gaze lingered on Rose. Solemn and focused, she rode between the other two. Anyone who saw her wouldn’t be able to guess she had only been Norden Point for a few days. She carried herself with strength that couldn’t be taught. It suited her. His pulse quickened at her approach. Shaking his head, he chastised himself. He was a fae leader, not an adolescent. But he couldn’t help his reaction to her, not since first meeting her. Dousing his romantic impulses, he focused on the next part of their journey as they approached.
He was unhappy to still be headed south. He searched the horizon as the sun gave way to night. A pit opened in his stomach, thinking about what lay ahead. The compass wouldturn them in another direction before the next village, wouldn’t it? What would Aterra and Aiden be doing in Loch? Either way, he needed to give Rose a heads up. But it was hard to find time to do so without Carter and Juliette overhearing. Surely, they were ready and eager to tell Rose every awful rumor of what had happened there.
It wasn’t as if he were hiding it. He would have told her eventually. This was just another reminder that they’d only known each other for a few weeks. Change was coming at him fast. He couldn’t even be angry, though, because it had brought him Rose. The others already knew the story and held it against him. In his heart, he knew Rose wouldn’t. But would this finally be what made her look at him with fear? His magic flared from the crevice inside him in disagreement. He hoped it was right.
His gaze locked on Juliette’s as the others approached. Her anger was palpable. If the air weren’t already thick with the mist plague before them, he’d think her rage was taking shape and poised to choke off his breath. Had she thought Rose wouldn’t tell him about the Osten power? Juliette seemed to understand Rose. There was no way she had miscalculated that poorly—no way she thought Rose would keep the information to herself—especially given her goals for the Compass Points.
He didn’t even think Rose told him because of their relationship—she told him because she was committed to honesty among the Compass Points. The fae courts’ animosity would only end when a better example was given. Rose was committed to being that example. It was one of the many things he admired about her.
Secrets on the wind. Luc ran his fingers through his hair as their horses lined up just outside the village. He couldn’t believe that power had been kept a secret of the Osten for so long. It made sense, he supposed. They’d been more secretive than most—they had to be if the rumors from the first Suden were true.
Luc’s fingers stretched and flexed as his hand fell back to his side. He knew Juliette held it against him, an event that happened over four hundred years ago when neither of them were even alive. The first Suden Point had tried to take over Osten house. Michael had spoken of the event with frustration. It tainted the Suden court’s reputation. However, Michael didn’t hide the fact that the first Suden had thought the Osten Point weak enough to challenge. He’d almost succeeded too. Luc wondered how much of that had to do with their not-quite-Lost God. It wasn’t something he had thought too hard about. He had never sensed anything but strength from Juliette. Of course, he knew he had more power, but her magic appeared comparable to Carter’s and stronger than Aiden’s during their required lake rituals.
He looked ahead at the part of the village just visible beyond the fog line. The mist was heavy in the air, but the bodies of villagers lying on the ground were visible. How much of this had Juliette been aware of? More importantly, how much of it could she have prevented?
She didn’t trust him. For gods’ sakes, she thought he was in league with Aterra. All the evidence in front of her pointed to Aiden as the now ex-Compass Point to blame, but Juliette still cast doubt on him—on his connection with Aterra.
“Are we going in?” Luc asked, gripping his borrowed sword a little tighter.
“Why should we bother?” Carter asked. His gaze bored into the ground. His disinterest in eye contact never bothered Luc, but this was a new facet. It was as if he was unwilling to look at the village—the humans and fae they were meant to protect—now lost to an unwakeable sleep. He looked…guilty, somehow. Luc must be reading him wrong. The only ones who should feel guilty were Juliette and her Lost God.
“I agree with Carter,” Rose said as she pulled her horse alongside Luc’s. “What do we expect to find? Sleeping villagers? Us unable to do anything for them?”
Luc didn’t have to think too hard about Rose’s response. He knew thoughts of Tara and the villagers she’d left behind in Bury were never far from reach. Surely, this brought them to the forefront of her mind, surfacing her own misplaced guilt. He had watched her shoulders tense and her jaw clench this afternoon as they had made it within sight of the village. He was learning to read her. And she was his favorite language.
“Okay,” Luc said. His gaze met Rose’s. “I think we should ride through on our way, but we don’t all have to go.” His sympathy was met with a small smile.
“I’ll go with you, Luc,” Juliette said.
That was unexpected. Before he could respond, Rose was offering Juliette her weapon. “I don’t know if you need it, given the strength of your wind, but it’s better to go with something we know works than risk it.”
And just like that, he was riding through a mist-taken village with the Osten Point.
“She told you,” Juliette said. Not a question.
