I’d just be able to kill him.

  But there were feelings tangled up in all of this. As much as I hated to admit it, none of this was as black and white as I wanted it to be. Don’t get me wrong, I was a far, far, way away from forgiving him. I didn’t even think I would be able to forgive him for what he did to me. For what he allowed his family, his friends, to do to me.

  At the same time, Draven’s success against Valoel was my success too. I needed him to survive, I needed him to do his job and come through for the many people who can’t fill his shoes—or my shoes.

  In the end, the choice made itself. The armlet may have had Draven’s scent all over it, his essence, but the truth was I was nothing without the stone, and people were counting on me. I needed to be at my best, the armlet would make sure of that.

  Besides, it looked awesome on my wrist.

  I fastened the straps to my arm and made sure I’d be able to move around with it attached to me. The thing was virtually weightless. It didn’t slow me down at all. With my new piece of equipment strapped to my arm, I made tracks toward the vault, retrieved my stone, and held it above the socket where it was supposed to go.

  The stone hummed lightly as I held it. My wings manifested at my back, filling the room with light that highlighted the patterns on the armlet. They were only a shadow of what they once were, but I could at least get to look at them. I held the stone close to the socket and felt a strange pull against my hand, as if the stone were drawn to the opening. I let the stone go, and it slapped itself into place perfectly, slotting into the socket with a click.

  My power moved through me like an electric current. I took a deep breath and flexed my fingers, feeling the energy as it filled my bones, my muscles. Quickly I turned around, aimed my hand at the vault door, and yelled “Veshrim!”

  Magic spilled from my hand like an energy beam and struck the vault door, blasting it open and making a huge echo that ripped through the vault.

  “Fuck yes,” I said, flexing my fingers. The power made my fingertips tingle.

  Without wasting another minute, I rushed out of the vault and made my way back to the courtyard where Felice had asked me to meet her. Already something was different inside of me. I could tell my wings to disappear, I didn’t have to fight with them to make them go away.

  At the same time, I felt… powerful. Like a freshly cut diamond that couldn’t hold the sun before, but could now focus its energy into a fine point whenever I wanted to. I hadn’t noticed until I’d almost reached the courtyard, but there was something different in the way I was walking, too.

  There was confidence to my steps, like I knew what the hell I was doing—even if I didn’t.

  “Just where in the hell do you think you’re going?” Fate asked. She had her hand on her hip and a frown on her face. She’d intercepted me in the hallway just a I was about to reach the courtyard. Behind her was Ness, and also Felice. It was an ambush.

  “To fight…” I said, staring at them. “What are you doing here? All of you?”

  “Felice came to find us,” Ness said, “She didn’t tell us anything… I mean, she didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already, uh, know… you know, about what happened today… with Draven. Why am I still talking?”

  I felt my jaw clench. “She shouldn’t have come to find you. Any of you. This isn’t your responsibility.”

  Fate approached, still frowning. I thought she was going to hit me at first, but then her eyes softened up. “I’m sorry…” she said, her voice low, almost careful. I realized then she hadn’t been given a chance to talk to me after what had happened, and she probably wanted to.

  Now wouldn’t be that time.

  “I don’t need you to do that,” I said, maybe a little more stiffly than I should’ve.

  She hugged me tightly. “I know, but let me anyway.”

  I took in a deep breath as she hugged me, almost like I wasn’t sure whether I should accept the embrace or not. My body felt rigid, tense, and when her hands brushed up against my shoulders, it was like my muscles were reminded that something was missing. The sensation sent a shudder rippling through my body.

  “Don’t worry about it, okay?” I said, “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not, and I’m probably the only person on this planet who really knows that… but okay I won’t make a big deal out of this until it’s all over.” Fate pulled back and stared at me. “Because this will be over soon, and we’re all gonna be okay.”

  I nodded. “I still don’t think any of you should be here. None of you asked for this…”

  “Are you kidding me?” Felice asked. “None of us asked for this, yeah, but we’re all here right now, and the best thing we can do is rally as many people as we can and storm that meeting in force.”

  I shook my head like I hadn’t understood. “Wait, what exactly are you suggesting?”

  “You heard me. I say we round up all the silver and gold prospects and go down there. If we want a shot at catching Valoel, we need to go down there with as much firepower as we have.”

  “Felice, Valoel is really dangerous, and we don’t know what kind of entourage he’s going to have with him. People could die. In fact, the more people we take with us, the more people will die.”

  “Pretty sure most of us are okay with that, right?” Ness asked, “I mean, I know I am. Besides, all anyone ever talks about around here is how they’d love to get some time away from this place. Why not see if they wanna come with us on this crazy, insane mission?”

  “Because it’s dangerous, and because they don’t owe anyone anything. It’s not like we’re going to take them to dinner and a show; we’re going into a warzone.”

  “How about you let them decide that for themselves?” Fate asked. “This whole time I’ve known you, one of your biggest things has been not wanting to let go of control of a situation. It’s almost like you don’t trust any hands that aren’t yours. I’m not saying this is gonna work, or that anyone will even wanna come. All I’m saying is, be open to this idea. Let them decide.”

  I paused and stared at her. “You realize, if we do this, the cat’s out of the bag, right? Everyone will know exactly what the Order is up to, what they’re facing, what we’re up against. And I don’t know what I’m going to do when this is all over... after what happened tonight, I don’t know if I even want to come back here.”

  “Whether that happens or not, pretty sure if I was told I was going to die at the hands of some power hungry Aevian, I’d want to help make it so that didn’t happen.”

  Frowning, I glanced at each of the people around me in turn. I shook my head. “This is stupid. You’re all crazy.”

  “We also wanna live,” Felice said. “I feel like this is what we’ve been training for.”

  I nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

  Fate grabbed my arm. “What’s with the new hardware?”

  “Oh… Draven made it.”

  “Draven? When?”

  “Must have been before tonight…”

  “It holds the stone,” Ness said, “That’s pretty impressive. I mean, not that I’ve been able to study them or anything, but I can sense that thing’s power and it’s huge.”

  “Me too, I guess,” I said, “But I figured we could use all the weapons we could find, so I took it.”

  “You’re probably not wrong,” Felice said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “We should probably come up with a strategy. This meeting could already be going down. People could already be dead for all we know.”

  “I don’t think so. Knowing Draven, he’ll probably have wanted to stalk the place and wait for the right moment to strike. But we shouldn’t waste any more time. If we’re going to do this, we should gather the troops, anyone who will come with us. We have a party to crash.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Ringing the bell in the bell tower was the quickest way to get everyone gathered in the courtyard, so we rang the hell out of it. As soon as some prospects noticed us waiting for them there, the others fell into line around them creating a big gathering of faces; some new and fresh, others familiar and weathered.

  All of them scared.

  There wasn’t a single prospect in that crowd who didn’t look ready to fight for their lives. I had a feeling my little display earlier hadn’t helped things. They were all used to seeing Draven striding around the halls, king among them, the invincible black knight.

  Today, I’d almost run a knife through his throat.

  He deserved it.

  I was waiting specifically for Six, and the moment I saw her slink quietly into the crowd, I knew it was time to speak. She looked small, smaller than the others there. She made sure not to stand too near to anyone, or try to push her way to the front of the crowd. Doing that would get her noticed, and that probably was furthest away from what she wanted.

  What brought a smile to my lips, though, was seeing her wearing her black uniform. She didn’t have a colored collar like the others did, no prospect’s stripes to call her own, but it suited her somehow. She was the shadow. The dark horse. The underdog.

  Sensing that now was the time to say something, I climbed up along the side of the Aevian statue and let my eyes roam along the top of the crowd. Ferrum caught my eye right away, his orange hair seemingly blazing in the night. He was staring at me, his expression severe. I wanted to go down there and warn him not to run his mouth, tell him I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit tonight.

  I didn’t.

  “Where’s Draven?” someone called out, beating me to the first words.

  “Draven isn’t here,” I said, my voice echoing across the sea of gathered prospects. “Right now, Draven, Aaryn, and several other members of the Order are in the city about to attack a meeting between a mage and an Aevian. For all we know, that attack has already happened, and people are already dead. That’s why I need to keep this brief.”

  I swallowed hard, paused, then continued.

  “I’m not going to lie to you,” I said, “There’s a very real chance Draven and Aaryn are never coming back. If they fail tonight, I don’t know what’ll happen to this place, or to the Order. The reason why I’ve sounded the alarm is because I’ve decided to go and crash that meeting anyway. Draven saw it fit not to tell any of you about any of this, but I don’t think that’s fair. The men he’s gonna be dealing with are extremely dangerous and powerful, and I think he’s bitten off way more than he can chew. If he dies, if Aaryn dies, there will be no one left to stop the vultures from circling around this place and eating us alive.”

  Ferrum pushed his way forward, right to the front of the crowd. Felice moved to get into his path, but I grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.

  He watched us both, his jaw clenching. He didn’t have his minions next to him; right now, he stood alone and he seemed to be speaking for the rest of the prospects. “What exactly is the situation?” he asked.

  I flashed my armlet at him. “You can all hear the stone, can’t you?” I asked.

  The prospects nodded, Ferrum too. “What is it?” he asked.

  “It’s called a singing stone, and before anyone asks, no, I don’t know much about them. I only know that there are many, they’re powerful, and they’re dangerous.”

  His eyes moved across the surface of the armlet, maybe hungry to taste the magic inside, maybe ready to kill me for it. “So, why do you have one if they’re so powerful and dangerous?”

  I walked over to him, holding the stone facing his skin. He didn’t move at first, but as the stone’s glow touched his face, he started to back away. “If this thing touches you, you’ll probably get viciously hurt, or even die. I’m one of the only people who can handle the singing stones without losing my life.”

  “How do we know that’s true?”

  “Touch it…”

  Ferrum’s eyes flickered up at mine. The light from the stone danced against his skin, making the features of his face seem to shift. I could see the thoughts dancing behind his eyes, pro’s and con’s weighing out in his head. Did he touch it? Did he dare?

  He swallowed hard and shook his head. “If you say it’ll kill me, then I believe you,” he said. Ferrum turned his head around, as if he wanted to make sure the crowd was watching, then he looked at me again. “We’ve had our differences in the past.”

  “Understatement…”

  “But what happened to you was bullshit, and what’s happening right now affects all of us. You can count on me to do what needs to be done.”

  “Alright, where’s the real Ferrum and what have you done with him?”

  Was that a smile I saw on his face? It suited him. “You’re leading this mission, right?”

  “I guess so, but only because I know who we’re dealing with. Valoel, the man who escaped from the fortress, the man Draven is trying to stop tonight, is my brother.”

  A murmur moved through the crowd. Prospects glanced at each other, then back at me. I wasn’t sure what they were saying exactly, but it looked like I may have just lost a couple of trust points with them.

  “Your brother…” Ferrum said, cocking an eyebrow.

  “Half-brother. Trust me, I don’t care for him. But he does have two of these stones. My priority is making sure those stones come back here with us, where we can keep them safe. As long as they’re out there, we’re all in great danger. I’m not going to force any of you to help us deal with this threat, but I am going to ask you to join us…”

  This time there were no murmurs, only cold, silent stares. I looked across my shoulder at Fate, her mercury eyes sparkling even in the dim light. She nodded at me, at the same time offering me comfort and her support. Ness and Felice did the same, but it was Ferrum I needed; Ferrum who spoke for the rest of the prospects.

  He took a deep breath. “We’re with you,” he said. “Whatever you want us to do, let’s do it, and make sure these sons of bitches don’t get what they want.”

  Grinning, I nodded at him. “Alright,” I said, “We’ve gotta move fast. I want everyone who thinks they’re good fighters lined up on this side, and everyone who thinks they’re good thinkers on the other side. If you think you’re equally good at both things, line up in the middle.”

  The crowd started moving like a living, breathing animal. It was the gold prospects who moved into the fighting side more than the silvers, though I noticed a couple of hot-shots silvers lining up next to Ferrum. I turned around and gathered Ness, Fate, and Felice to give them their instructions.

  This operation was going to have two parts. The first was going to be an attack on Valoel and his people; the second was the defense of the black fortress. For all we knew, Valoel was counting on something like this happening tonight, and he had people ready to attack the fortress while we were distracted.

  I wasn’t about to fall for that trick.

  Ness and Fate were only silver prospects, but between them I knew they could organize the defense of the fortress if it came to it, so I asked them to stay behind. With Siren’s help, they’d make sure the fortress was ready to defend itself if it got attacked tonight.

  Felice and Ferrum, along with some of the best fighters we had, were going to be leading the attack together. The plan was, they’d teleport right into the thick of things and start fighting anyone who didn’t look like they were members of our Order. It was going to be fast, and bloody, and for that reason we decided they should get geared up before they left.

  When Felice was ready, she gathered her people and lead them into the armory where they’d find weapons and armor to use. We were fighting against the clock here, and every second was precious, but I noticed something just as Felice moved away from the courtyard and the crowd of prospects started thinning.

  I turned around to find Six standing there. She looked petite, slight, like a strong wind could send her hurtling into the clouds, but her eyes were low and sharp.

  “I wasn’t sure where you were,” I said.

  “I wasn’t sure if I was going to stay,” she said.

  “But you did…”

  Six nodded, then brushed her hair out of her face. “I have nowhere else to go. Home is not home anymore. Neither is this place, but it’s the best I have right now.”

  “You don’t have to do this… you don’t have to fight with us.”

  “Do you say that because you don’t trust me to fight alongside you?”

  “No, that’s not it.”

  “If you don’t trust me, I need you to say it.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not that. I promise you, it’s not that.”

  Six’s eyes flickered from me to the other prospects still gathering in the courtyard. “It’s them…”

  “Six…”

  “I know they don’t trust me. I hear what they say about me. But I’ve never been the kind of person to sit and wallow. I want to show them what I can do. I want to show them, I can fight on their side.”

  I nodded. “Okay. Then let’s do it.”

  “Where do you need me to go? With Felice?”

  “No… I want you with me. I have a plan.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The teleport orb crackled to life, exploding into a tunnel of swirling light. Felice and her group had left a heartbeat before I had. They were going to make as much noise as possible and get the battle started. All I had to do was find Valoel and take him down.

  I took a breath, counted down from five, and stepped into the light gripping my dagger as tightly as possible. I wasn’t nervous. My head was entirely clear, my mind focused into a razor-sharp edge. I knew what I had to do, and the fact that I’d have to see Draven again in only a few seconds wasn’t going to throw me off.

  I navigated the portal’s shimmering tunnel, searching for my exit point. I was heading for New York, moving between the many low and high-rises at the speed of thought, hurtling through them all and toward the sea.

  By the time I reached my destination, Felice’s portal had touched down and the Order’s troops were fighting. I held back another heartbeat, another breath, giving them a second to introduce a little chaos, then I made my move and anchored the portal.