Page 45 of Blood Currents
“The best things usually are.”Aurora stood, our magical warmth dissipating as she prepared to leave.“Sometimes the complicated things are the most worth fighting for.”
She headed for the stairs but then paused.“Be careful out there.The council isn’t just corrupt.They’re scared.And scared people do desperate things.”
I remained on the patio after she left, letting the cold bite deeper and trying to think.
21
Keane
Marigold was pacing again asElio and I watched.
The glass dome of Elio’s sanctuary caught the Saturday morning light, casting rainbows across the stone floor as she traced the same worn path between the couch and the windows.Five steps to the left, pivot by the wooden chair, five steps back.Scout perched on her shoulder like a tiny sentinel, his claws gripping tighter with each sharp turn.
“You’re going to wear a hole straight through that rug,” I said, watching her restless energy from my spot on the couch.Wisp sat next to my feet, her tail curling and uncurling around my leg.
“I’m thinking,” she muttered, which was obvious from the way her brow furrowed with concentration.
“Darling, you’re making Scout seasick,” Elio drawled from his perch on the old desk.His illusions flickered around his fingers like nervous butterflies—tiny silver threads that formed and dissolved without pattern.He looked polished as always, but something brittle lay amid his perfection today.The mask was in place, but it didn’t quite fit right.
“Come here,” I said, patting the cushion beside me.“Sit.Tell us what’s actually bothering you.”
Marigold hesitated mid-pace, her dark eyes flicking between Elio and me.The space felt charged with unspoken tensions—her hurt, his distance, the careful way they weren’t quite looking at each other.She finally sank down beside me, her shoulders rigid with the kind of tension that came from carrying too much weight.
“Winter break starts Wednesday,” she said, her voice tight.“What if it all goes wrong?”
“The mission will be fine,” Elio said, his tone carrying that smooth Lightford confidence that could make anyone believe in impossible things.But I heard the doubt underneath—the same fear we all carried, wrapped in silk and presented like certainty.
Marigold’s gaze landed on him briefly before sliding away.The silence that followed felt sharp enough to cut.
“This isn’t just about the mission.Is it?”I asked softly, studying her profile.
Her lips parted and then pressed together again.She looked between us like she was standing at a crossroads with no map, no clear path forward.“I don’t know how to deal with this.With any of it.”
The words hung in the air, heavy with implications.The mission, yes, but also the complicated web of feelings that had grown between us all.The way her caring for multiple people at once felt both natural and impossible at the same time.
“Then don’t decide yet,” I said simply, letting my shoulder brush against hers in quiet support.“You don’t have to figure it all out right now.”
Elio shifted, his expression smoothing into careful neutrality.He wore the same mask to council affairs—perfect, untouchable, empty.Marigold noticed; she always did.But instead of calling him out, she just looked away, hurt flickering across her features before she could hide it.
Before either of us could address the growing tension, the sanctuary door opened with its soft whisper of displaced air.
Cyrus entered like he owned every space he walked into, his cousin Aurora close behind him.His amber eyes swept the room in one assessing glance—me on the couch, Marigold beside me, Elio sitting deliberately apart—and something tightened in his jaw.The charge in the air shifted, became electric.
“Good,” he said without preamble, his voice carrying the crisp authority that came naturally to Raynoffs.“You’re all here.Aurora’s agreed to stay behind and keep watch while we’re gone.”
Elio’s illusions flickered sharply, his careful composure cracking.“You told her?”The question came out with an edge that could cut glass.“Everything?”
Marigold blinked, turning toward Aurora with surprise.“Wait—stay behind?”
Aurora stepped forward.Her golden magic pulsed gently around her, warm and steady like sunlight.“Someone needs to be here,” she said reasonably.“If things go wrong tomorrow, if you don’t come back right away… Keane shouldn’t be alone.”
“Don’t need a babysitter,” I said automatically, though I was already seeing the tactical value in her offer.
“It’s not babysitting,” Aurora said with patient calm.“It’s strategic support.If you’re all gone and something happens here—if the council figures out where you are, if there’s another attack—someone has to hold the line.”
“She’s right,” Cyrus said, his voice firm but carrying an undercurrent of tension.Like this was one more weight he didn’t want to bear but would anyway.“We can’t risk leaving Keane undefended if they discover his location.”
The protective instinct in his voice might have been flattering if it weren’t so obviously about more than just my safety.I caught the way his gaze lingered on Marigold, the careful distance he maintained despite the pull I could see in his posture.
