Page 23 of Rose and Shadows
“Hey,” she greeted me warmly.
I smiled. “Right on time.”
“Well, I get that you need to time this just right or it’s going to be a no-go.” She scanned the immediate area, then asked me worriedly, “Are you sure Lazriel isn’t near?”
“I’m sure. He was just texting me and from the Dining Hall. He’s headed to his class now, a class that Cassius is teaching over on the other side of campus, so we’re good.”
She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Good. I’m finally at peace with him, but doing this… I don’t want the notorious Halfblood Houndmarkingme as an enemy again, you know?”
“I won’t let that happen. No matter what. You’re my friend. That will be emphasized if this does end up coming out.”
Right now, Lazriel thought that I’d been staying away from Kelsana since I’d gotten back because of my trauma response toward her being endangered when Sorin had attacked atVantiqe.But I’d ensured he hadn’t seen the two of us together because his instincts and intuition were off the charts, especially now he’d fully embraced his vampire side. He would have been able to clock that something had been going on, that she and I were working on something secret.
I shoved my hand through my hair. “Bet you’re wishing you hadn’t seen all my notes about this situation when you came to my dorm room the other night, hmm?”
“Actually, I’m glad I did see it.”
I arched an eyebrow.
“So you don’t have to do this alone.” She winced. “But I also get why you need to do it without your men. At least for right now. You’ve died twice—they were all there witnessing the second time. Then with the Morien attack, they saw you on theverge of tasting death a third time. It’s a lot. Like you explained to me, they’re hanging by a thread.”
Yeah, they were. I hadn’t seen the aftermath reaction from Sylas because he was in the Shadow Tunnels, but things were definitely coming through from even his texts. Lazriel’s reaction to me losing it when we’d been fooling around had made that clear as well. He was so incredibly worried for me and he’d been pushing for me to see Brandise. And then there was Cassius. He’d barely reacted to me almost dying again—or even him almost dying. And with Cassius, it meant one thing to me—it was coming. In a major way.
Kelsana went on, “And that massive personal stake they have toward you, in your wellbeing, can cloud a whole lot. Just like the fact that it needs to be you who does this thing today and it can’t be any of them in your stead, or even anyone else.”
“I really appreciate you helping me to re-establish the connection needed for today.”
“Well, you can’t go back into the Dark Fae Realm. Alarms would be set off all over the place—literally as well.”
“You were discreet?”
She smiled, knowing what I was really getting at. “I’m fine. I didn’t endanger myself or put myself on the radar of the Royal Fae Court. But once this thing happens today, the proverbial noose will definitely tighten, and I’ll be implicated.” She lifted a shoulder. “I’m fine with it, honestly. I hate going back into the Realm anyway. And things with my parents… well, I told you what they’re like. With me trying to change and to be better, severing my ties with them will actually be a good thing, conducive to that.”
“Even with that being true, you’ll still be in danger. I can’t allow that.”
She frowned. “You want me to stay here, just give you the address of the meeting I set up between you and the group?”
“Yes.” I held out my hand.
She stepped up to me, urgency spilling from her. “Velra, this isn’t just your fight. What those Dark Fae acolytes of Morien Morgrave did, what the ones who allied with that Puritas army that attacked Sylas and Lazriel did, and what all these mind-meddling supporters in general have done, has dragged the reputation of all Dark Fae beings through the mud. Pretty soon, all anybody will see when they think of the Dark Fae is that we’re underhanded, power-hungry, irredeemable demons.”
“Kelsana—”
“I know. I understand the danger of it. But I didn’t exactly help the cause myself, did I? My actions back at Maven Academy gave Dark Fae a bad name in that space too. I need to fix a lot of what I did back then. And here and now, getting in on this fight, is my way to fix this specific aspect. Or at least try to. I don’t just want to go along with you today to meet with them. I want to become a part of it. I’m in, no matter the danger.”
As her words hung heavily, I caught sight of an eruption of fuchsia magic outside the gates where four security guards were stationed, magically-imbued swords at the ready, even clad in shimmering armor.
A woman with short, feathered jet-black hair materialized. She was a petite thing but the way she carried herself gave her a commanding, yet somehow gentle edge at the same time. She was dressed in pink from head-to-toe, a cropped blazer giving way to a pair of wide-legged pants.
Just the way Nyx had described her.
Brandise Parker. Healer and Trauma Specialist.
Any student who’d returned to Wraeven had been locked down and wasn’t allowed to leave the campus through the intensely reinforced wards, so anyspecialists—or feeders in Lazriel’s case—could only access those who needed their services by coming here in person and making house calls.
I stared at her as she approached the security guards and began the process of identifying herself and undergoing their security check. She had a definite disarming presence about her. And this was me seeing her from a distance. Up close, that would be all the more intense.
It had me shifting my weight uncomfortably. It was a good thing I wouldn’t be making it to my session with her today. Being disarmed… wasn’t that just another way of being lulled into a false sense of security? It was worrying, I knew that much.
