Page 104 of Sonnets and Serpents
The pause did not bode well.
“In the healing hall,” Kerem said at last. “By the time I found her, the tissue damage was extensive, and it’s a miracle she was still breathing, but she’ll likely lose her leg. It may be the best-case scenario if that’s all she loses. The Casters have her unconscious, and treatment is in their hands now.”
A knot of guilt settled at the base of Silas’s throat. He hadn’t meant to encourage the cobra to aggressiveness—his only command had been toappearthreatening—but his own stress must have bled into his magic.
As if sensing his guilt, Kerem rested a hand on his shoulder, waiting for Silas to look up before he said, “No Affiliate has perfect control every time. There are environmental factors we can’t manipulate, and animals will always have their own disposition and instincts.”
“But I put it there,” Silas said quietly.
“And suffered consequences as well,” Kerem said with a meaningful glance at his leg.
The guilt eased slightly, but it didn’t disappear.
“What did Ceyda tell you?” Eliza asked.
Kerem lowered his hand. “Her father was part of Iyl Yvette’s team for constructing the prison. He laid the tunnels beneath the kuveti stronghold, instructing his daughter to use the hidden room in an emergency. It’s possible he did so without Yvette’s knowledge. However ...”
He trailed off uncomfortably, and Silas heard the unspoken.
Yvette was the strongest Stone Caster at the university, and her attention to detail was legendary. The idea that someone could lay a Cast directly under her nose was improbable at best.
“So she knew about the tunnels,” Eliza murmured in Loegrian. “That doesn’t prove she killed anyone in them.”
Silas looked at Kerem. “There’s more,” he prodded, “isn’t there?”
“It’s best to leave the details to Afshin. He’ll be thorough and fair in his inv—”
“Please,” said Silas.
Grimacing, Kerem shifted his weight. Finally, he said, “I went back to the tunnels and prison house, searching for Mazhar. I found a paper trail of arrests. All magic users. For weeks, thekuveti have been discreetly capturing targets and disposing of bodies under the employment of Yvette Sahin.” He held up a hand to forestall Eliza’s protest. “The kuveti may be amoral, but they are not unorganized. They keep careful record of who pays them.”
Just like that, Silas’s hope evaporated, leaving behind an empty hollow.
He had his conclusion.
And it was his worst fear.
When Kerem asked for the Artifact, Silas surrendered it without a word, but before the professor could return upstairs, Silas stopped him one last time.
“Iyal Mazhar?” he asked, dreading the answer.
Kerem shook his head. “I was too late.”
The silence weighed against Eliza’s heart, making each beat slow and painful. After Kerem’s departure, Silas quietly went back to the table and packed his supplies into his bag, like everything happening was just as he’d expected.
Well, it wasn’t what she’d expected. She hated it. All of it.
“Why would Yvette do this?” she demanded.
Henry and Gill looked lost, since the conversation with Kerem had been in Pravish, but they must have read the tension in the silence, because they didn’t break it.
“Why?” Eliza demanded again, trying and failing to catch Silas’s eye. “She’s a good person!” Her voice cracked, and tears stung her eyes.
She thought of her first visit to Yvette’s office, all the gentle compassion in the woman’s stern face as she examined the bracelets and asked,Dear Eliza, what have you done?She thought of the birthday celebration for Silas, the warm office transformed into a home. Baris’s booming laugh next to Yvette’s sly smile.
Real love is difficult, Yvette had told her,because it requiresthe most vulnerability two people can ever give, and the most forgiveness.
How could she talk about vulnerability and forgiveness while knowing someone was dragging bodies through a tunnel on her orders?
