Page 76 of Starchaser
“Goodness, you’re a mess!” Leo says, taking me by the arm and lifting me upright with surprising strength for someone of her stature. “A few more steps and you might have drowned in your own bathwater.”
I groan, rubbing my eyes. “Who let you in my room?”
“About that,” she says, biting her bottom lip. “I came through the window. The doors to your balcony were unlocked, and I didn’t see you in your bed.…”
“The window?” I was certain I locked my balcony doors behind me, but I suppose I was distracted by Titus and the hidden passageway in my flooring. Maybe I should have checked them again. I straighten, suddenly wide awake, searching for the medallion. The tension in my shoulders loosens when I find it in my pocket. At least I had the good sense to store it there before the exhaustion finally overtook me.
“I was out for a little climb—to clear my mind, get some fresh air,” Leo says, as if what she’s saying isn’t totally insane. “Windwalkers are particularly fond of heights.” She shrugs. “Well, most of us are anyway.”
This is the first I’ve heard of it. Then again, other than Annie, I haven’t met very many windwalkers.
Except for Owen.
“Here,” Leo says, fishing something out of her satchel. She tosses me another cloak. “Put this on. We have plans.”
“Plans?”
She nods eagerly, her eyes lit with mischief. “The Holy Winter’s market in Jade. It’s magnificent.”
I get to my feet, shaking out the cloak. “You climbed hundreds of feet in the air just to ask me to sneak out so we could goshopping?”
Her easygoing expression falters. “I overheard something,” she admits. “A shipment of humans is being brought in tonight—to the castle. I thought we might be able to intercept them at the harbor in the city.”
I search her face—scanning for any sign that she might be lying—but if she isn’t telling the truth, I can’t detect any insincerity. And if she’s right, and we can save these people from the terror that awaits them in these dungeons…
I drape the cloak over my shoulders and pull the hood over my head. “Lead the way.”
Scaling down the ancient stone facade of Castle Grim is nothing like climbing the rigging of theLightbringer.
“Isn’t this grand?” Leo shouts, her voice nearly swept away on the wind.
She insisted she could carry me, but I didn’t believe her until she hoisted me onto her back with such ease even Charlie would have been envious of her strength.
“You do this for fun?” I ask, clinging tighter to Leo than I’ve ever clung to anyone or anything in my life. I made the mistake of looking down a few stories up, and I nearly lost my dinner.
“I thought you’d be more reckless,” Leo shoots back, her playfulness evident in her voice.
“I thought you’d be more… sensible!”
Leo laughs, and my heart squeezes as I realize Titus was right—her laughteriscontagious. Despite the ache in my chest, I find myself laughing alongside her, and soon enough, we reach the narrow, rocky shore that rims the base of the castle.
For the first time in all my years, I’m tempted to kiss the dirt beneath my feet.
“Now what?” I ask, somewhat breathless as I adjust my cloak.
Leo smiles impishly, clapping her hands. “Your turn!”
I stare at her, feeling as if I’ve just missed something vitally important.
She knits her hands together, somewhat nervously. “I”—shebites her bottom lip—“I know about your…” She makes a vague gesture at me, then the water—huffs a sigh. “I know your secret.”
I know your secret.Those four words send me reeling.
I take a step back, my spine pressed to the stone wall, and reach for my dagger.
“No, Aster, don’t,” she hurries to add, her eyes wide with panic—and hurt, I think. “Tonight, when I came into your room—your clothes were dry, but I could still smell the sea on you. And when you woke, the bathwater…” She winces. “Well, it sort of…” She motions with her hands, waving them around like two tendrils of water. “I’ve been around bloodletters my whole life. I put it all together, and, well…” Her face breaks out in a grin. “You’re a Nightweaver!”
My heart beats wildly in my chest. I’m supposed to uncover Leo’s secrets—not the other way around. And if she was able to figure it out, how soon until someone else sees something they’re not supposed to?
