Page 45 of Great Falls Cadet
“Yes. Your own ear. Touch it.”
I feel as if I’m moving through molasses, focusing on Coal’s still, calm face.This is a nightmare,some part of my mind shouts.Just a nightmare. But a nightmare on repeat, four times, five times in one night, each iteration forcing me closer and closer, making me relive each moment.
Coal reaches for the bottom of his ear. I capture his hand, redirecting it toward the pointed tip.
No! Don’t!I scream at myself, almost watching from above. But I don’t listen. The Lera lifting Coal’s hand doesn’t know what’s coming.Wake up, wake up, wake up,I beg, knowing it’s no use.
Coal’s strong hand is trusting beneath my touch as he makes contact with the proof of his fae heritage—and screams in agony. The pain in his voice tightens my chest, making bile rise up my throat.
I pull away.
Coal rocks on his knees, his head between his hands, his body shaking as I’ve never seen. His glazed blue eyes see nothing.
“Coal!” I take the male’s bare shoulders, now blazing hot as if with fever. “Coal!”
Sitting up in bed,I inhale lungfuls of cold air.Coal is all right,I tell myself, as I have all night—but I’m an awful liar, even to myself. Coal doesn’t scream in pain from anything short of torture in the dark realms. And yesterday, from me.Stars.The male might recall nothing of the episode, but I remember enough for us both.
Marking the rising sun, I slip to the floor and pull on my gray uniform. Stable duty. Right. Trudging across the Academy courtyard toward the stable, I listen to my footsteps echoing off the stone walls in the cool dawn air. My veil amulet swings dully against my chest, feeling extra heavy this morning. I haven’t been able to take it off while sleeping lest Arisha wake up and catch sight of me in the night, and my mind is longing for a rest from the magic-spun half-truths.
In fact, everything feels heavy this morning. The irony isn’t lost on me. Once, mucking stables in Zake’s estate was my life—right up until Coal, River, Shade, and Tye rode into my world and turned it on its head. And now I am right back at it. At River’s orders no less. The irony would be morbidly funny if memories of Zake didn’t still make me break out in a sweat. If the thought of getting on the wrong side of River again didn’t frighten me so much.
As if summoned by thought, I note the male watching me from the edge of the courtyard. Even from this distance, River’s broad shoulders, commanding height, and square jaw take my breath. With hands clasped behind his ramrod-straight back and his hooded gray eyes trained unblinkingly on me, River wears strength and responsibility with the same casualness that others wear coats. Beside River, Shade’s predatory perfection coils beneath a sharp-boned face framed by black hair and piercing golden eyes—though my sharp fae vision notes deep shadows under those beautiful eyes. Shadows that I could smooth away in another life, but not here. The sight of them together sends heat pooling between my thighs even as I quicken my pace.
This is what normal people must feel in the males’ company. When the magic bonded us, everything happened so quickly that I never truly felt the full weight of their power before seeing past it—before becoming friends and lover. Mates. To me, River has always beenRiver.But he isn’t. He is the king of one of only three Lunos courts, a commander of legendary warriors whose centuries of battle-honed nerves and minds are matched only by their physical allure.
Now that I see them from beyond the walls of intimacy, the distance between us feels insurmountable.
My foot catches a loose cobblestone, and I wince as I hope to keep my balance. After spending half a day with Coal running me into the ground and the rest shivering like a sapling—with one notable exception that most certainly did not give any of my muscles a rest—I hurt. My arms hurt. My legs hurt. My shoulders hurt. I think my eyelashes hurt too, but keeping my eyes open is so great a chore that I am not quite certain.
Slipping into one of the paths through the thick shrubbery wall separating the Academy’s east and west sides, I hear a familiar voice calling my name and frown. Gavriel. What could the librarian want with me at this hour?
Cutting over toward the sound, I find Gavriel in one of the small round alcoves. Seeing me, the man rises from the crescent stone bench, his leg unusually stiff in the morning chill. Despite the obvious soreness, Gavriel’s brown eyes lively are too lively for this hour of the morning, his tattered robe fluttering behind him in the cutting breeze.
“I heard I might find you here, and here you are,” he says, holding out his hands in greeting. “Though I must say, this stable-mucking business is highly counterproductive to our needs. River certainly didn’t force such a time waster on his star athlete. Perhaps I can speak to him about an alternative—”
“I’m fine with stable duty, Gavriel,” I say quickly.So long as I’m not late for it.“And good morning to you as well. Is there something you needed?”
“To discuss tonight’s mission with you, of course.” Gavriel beams at me, mouth opened in a wide grin to reveal slightly crooked front teeth—as if offering rare wine instead of a way to get me killed.
I stare at him. “Because the last one ended so well for me?”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Gavriel pats my shoulder. “You’ll get the hang of it soon enough, I’m sure. Now then, tonight—”
I put out a halting hand, stopping Gavriel midsentence. Heat seeps into my blood and I draw a breath full of earth and sap and pine. Yes, Gavriel and I have plainly been talking past each other these past days, but pushing away the one person who knows the truth about me would be unwise. Still, after what happened yesterday I need to steer us to a different course—preferably without making me late for stable duty. Closing my eyes for a moment, I gather the clearest words I can find. “We need River, not me, leading the charge to close the magic’s leak. If you wish to help, then work out how to get the males’ memories back. I tried to force it yesterday, to make Coal feel the top of his own ear and… it didn’t end well.”
Instead of the expected curiosity, Gavriel’s eyes widen for a moment. “No, I wouldn’t imagine it would.” The man’s brows pull together as if chastising a belligerent child. “Good stars, Leralynn. What made you think it wise to meddle in magic you don’t understand?”
“Because I needed to show Coal what he is.” My chin rises. “I thought evidence of his origins would push Coal to override the amulet’s illusion.”
“And instead the veil attacked him,” Gavriel snaps.
Bile rises up my throat as I shove down the phantom echo of Coal’s agony-filled bellow. Attacked. Yes. That is what happened. When challenged, the amulet flooded Coal with pain until all traces of the attempt were ripped from his mind. I rub my face. How does one go about apologizing to someone who remembers nothing of the incident?
Gavriel sighs, his voice softening. “It sounds as though the veil’s magic is fighting for its own survival. You are fortunate that—this time—your experiment ended with only a bit of pain.” Gavriel straightens his sweater which does little for his overall appearance. “I must point out that I’ve been telling you to forget the males all along. I do hope you’ve learned your lesson, Leralynn, and are ready to listen to the parameters of today’s mission.”
My eyes narrow, my heart thudding against my ribs. “That’s it? Your solution to the veil’s attack on Coal is to ignore it?”
“Coal isn’t the Protector,” Gavriel says with exaggerated patience. “You are. Now, I expect clear skies tonight, which you will certainly wish to take advantage of to…”
