Page 81 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
“Brije—”
“No arguments this time.” She swept the cloak over his shoulder, telling him it was an invisibility cloak. He already knew how to invoke its magic, and nodded.
But before he kissed her goodbye, before he pulled the hood of the cloak up and disappeared, she saw the familiar determined glint in his eyes, the one that made her chest swell with pride. She saw the powerful, skilled knight he had always been, and the creative artist who had raised and protected her, but mostly she saw the worry he still had for her mother. And in the tilt of his head, she saw the certainty he possessed that only he could save her. And maybe he was right. He was a man who loved deeply and beyond reason. He couldn’t help who he was, and really, she didn’t want him to be anyone else.
Free. He was free now.
CHAPTER 61
Pengary soared high above the palace grounds, circling for the sheer joy of it, reveling in every enormous bone of the beast within him, feeling the strength of his expanded rib cage, the crisp wind gliding over his wingtips, the air filling his wide nostrils with the scent of clouds and freedom. He roared, a burst of flame jumping from his throat, the powerful sound scorching the air, his heart truly alive again. He couldn’t wait to eat something, to swallow it whole and feel it tumble down his long throat. He had almost given up hope—until she passed by. Her voice was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. The scent of her blood had pricked him from his numb existence, and even when he was pushed back into his pillar by Cully, he knew she would return to help him.
He peered down at the palace and nation he had once served. Never again. He banked to his right and beat a straight line to the northern isles.Home. But he wouldn’t forget his debt to Miss Keats. His kind never did.
The meeting in Lir Rotunda was just adjourning when Kasta hurried through the door. She nodded to Tyghan, indicating she had what he wanted.
“Go on,” he told the others, “I’ll review this alone with her.”
No one had questioned him when he had returned to the rotunda meeting earlier, but now as they filed out, Madame Chastain stopped and pressed a finger to Tyghan’s cheekbone, ordering him to hold still. “You two,” she said, shaking her head. “Always at it.” Tyghan reached up and felt his cheek. He had healed Cael’s wounds, but in his rush to return to the meeting, he had neglected to heal his own. “There. Done,” she said. “Still a bloody mess, but I’m not going to wash you up too. I’m assuming he looks worse.”
“I cleaned him up,” Tyghan answered, “but he got my message. He won’t be leaving his room again, even with glamour.” She nodded and left, but Tyghan noted that Eris had already left without her, and he wondered what his rush was.
He and Kasta pulled out chairs and sat side by side at the huge round table. He liked the peace of the rotunda when it was nearly empty, the small echoes almost like whispers of the gods. With only him and Kasta, there was no shouting across the table, only soft agreements as he reviewed her list. “Good,” he said, reading the choices and balance of skills. “Very good.”
He finally slid the roster back to Kasta. “Nice work. Let’s get them outfitted. We’ll do a dry run tomorrow to make sure everyone knows who is who.”
Kasta smiled, but she didn’t look happy. Her face was drawn, as though she had been awake for days. “Tailors are ready and waiting. I’ll let them know immediately,” she said, her voice strangely flat. “It’s a brilliant idea. I’m sorry I questioned you when you first proposed it. More fawning nobles in their bright party clothes to witness his ascent will make Kormick fucking giddy. When he—”
“Are you all right?” Tyghan asked. “You seem off.”
She sat up taller in her chair. “Of course, I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind. I—”
Someone pounded on the rotunda door, and Kasta jumped like she was expecting a monster to burst through it. Instead, the door flew open and a young cadet rushed in. “Your Majesty! Forgive the intrusion, but Commander Maddox—” The cadet bent over, gulping for air.
Once he caught his breath, Tyghan said, “Go on.”
“She wanted me to inform you immediately that an avydra was spotted flying directly over the palace. She saw it herself. It circled several times, but it’s gone now. It was last seen flying north.”
An avydra? Surely there was some mistake. As far as Tyghan knew, there hadn’t been an avydra in Danu in decades. The creatures knew to stay clear, so his next thought was the winged creatures from the Abyss.Hyagen. They had pointed wings too, but Maddox was well versed in both. She wouldn’t make such a mistake. “Thank you,” Tyghan told the cadet. “Perhaps it was blown off course. As long as it has moved on, that’s all that matters, but I’ll check on it.”
The cadet left and Tyghan rose to leave too, but then he noticed Kasta leaning forward with her hands pressed between her knees, like she was about to implode. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“Then go rest, Kasta. Or go blow off some steam. You’re wound as tight as Eris on a bad day. I’ll check on the sighting.”
“Pengary,” Kasta murmured to herself as Tyghan walked to the door. Her thoughts flew out of control.It was Pengary. She fucking let the wrong one out. What if the beast had killed and eaten her?
Tyghan turned. “What?”
She gaped at him and reached for a lie. And then another. But all she saw was a long swirling tunnel of lies, black as the Abyss, and she was being sucked into it. It would never end, not now. Kierus had lied to her again. He did tell someone. And now Kasta would always be under Bristol’s thumb. How long before she was back, blackmailing Kasta again with another demand?
Her breath seized in her lungs. “The avydra is Pengary.”
Tyghan’s expression darkened. “He has centuries to go. You know that. What’s really wrong with you?”
A lie. Tell him another lie. But instead, she whispered, “I did something.”
Tyghan sat at the table, listening, and Kasta talked. He stared at her, trying to absorb it. Her eyes reddened as she confessed things in broken sentences, things he had never suspected, especially not from his trusted First Officer.
