Page 3 of Spark of Sorcery
“Youshould have insisted on healing her injuries,” Dray says, shifting from one foot to the other and peering up towards the top of the old rickety tower.
“I was asking Thorne,” I growl.
Thorne’s dark gaze meets mine, unrelenting and unperturbed.
I run my hand through my hair in frustration.
“You saw what she’s like,” I say. “Unreasonable, temperamental, damn bratty. She’s a fucking nightmare.” A fucking delicious nightmare I never want to wake up from.
“You should have told her the truth from the start.”
“It wouldn’t have made any difference. She doesn’t trust us. She doesn’t trust shadow weavers at all. She would have thought I was lying.”
Thorne doesn’t respond, just keeps on staring at me.
I won’t admit he’s right. The truth is, I don’t know if she would have believed me or not. If I’d been truthful from the start, would everything have run a lot more smoothly? With Briony Damn Storm who knows.
“Are you coming?” I say to them both. “We need to find out what the hell happened to her and why.”
“What do you mean?” Dray says, scratching at his cheek.
“She was in that maze for far too long and you saw the way she looked. They’re meant to fish them out when they’re struggling. It’s a fucking rule – no one gets hurt in the first official trial. It’s like a warm up – a baby beginner’s one. It definitely felt simple.” I kick at a loose stone with my foot, sending it hurtling across the pathway. “Something happened. And I want to know who is responsible.”
Dray scratches his cheek some more, thinking this over. Then he grins. “Sounds like fun. I’m in.”
We both look to our bond brother. “You coming?” I askhim stiffly. That remark about the girl has stung me more deeply than he realizes.
He shakes his head. “I’m going to stay here, ensure she’s safe.”
Anguish flickers across Dray’s face as he swings his gaze between us again, torn between his instincts to stay and protect the girl and go rip out the throat of whoever hurt her.
“Thorne has it covered,” I say. “Let’s go ask some questions.”
I march away and soon Dray is bouncing along beside me.
“Who are you thinking? Where do you want to start? Can we go tear Kratos’ nuts off?”
“Too many questions.” I wince. I’m trying to think this through in my head. The only ones who could have tampered with the trial – if that is what happened – are the teachers themselves. Possibly one or two of the officials from the Empress’s court. Both of those seem unlikely. Why would they be concerned with manipulating the trial of some girl from Slate Quarter?
Unless someone knows she means more to us than just a thrall and is using her as a way to punch through to us.
We have enemies. Inside the court. Inside Onyx Quarter. Inside the realm. Plenty of enemies. There are the other shifter packs, for starters. Dray has had run-ins with most of them. There are the other powerful shadow weaver families jostling for dominion, who may be taking the chance to swipe at a band of formidable brothers. And then there are the Hardies.
The Hardies are petty and stupid enough to do this, but that’s the problem – they are too stupid. They wouldn’t know how to begin to manipulate the trial.
The shifters like their revenge to be served hot and bluntly. If they wanted to strike at us, they’d come charging full pelt. They wouldn’t choose this devious route.
Which leaves one of the powerful families. While they might not be able to manipulate the trials directly, they may have connections and they certainly have money and influence. Bribery may even have been involved.
“Let’s go see the Titan twins,” I say. “They help set up the trials, don’t they? Maybe they know something.”
The head and deputy-head have rooms in the same building as the Great Hall. The rest of the teachers are consigned to a tower at the back of the academy where I suppose they can’t be disturbed by students. There’s a gated courtyard out front with a large sign instructing students to stay away.
Dray tuts at the sign and leaps straight over the metal fence. I open the gate and walk straight through.
We walk up the little path and find a sign listing the various rooms and their occupants. The Titan twins share a room that takes up the entirety of the first floor.
The front door to the tower is unlocked and we pass straight through, heading for the Titan twins’ door.
