I take a step, immediately hit with the soft scent of leather and burning wood from the fireplace near the entrance. “When did you move here?”
“About two months ago.” His feet pad softly on the rug in the main living area, a tasteful dark green and tan pattern matching his light furniture. “Would you mind…” He gestures towards my boots, stopping me from moving past the entryway.
“Of course.” I remove them as he makes his way down a hall to a small kitchen, where I hear him rifle through a cabinet. I pull the notes out of my pocket, laying them on the dark wooden coffee table before I peer around at the decorated walls. Art hangs in golden frames, and a tapestry that depicts a night sky with moonlight dancing over the water is tacked to the wall across from me.
Daje returns with two glasses of water, setting mine on the table and then taking a seat in the dark brown leather chair to my right.
“Whose idea was it for you to leave?”
He lifts a shoulder as he crosses an ankle over his knee. “Mostly mine, but he certainly had no qualms about it. It was something that was a long time coming. Living with him began to feel suffocating, and I could no longer pretend that I was separating the father from the councilman.” He scratches at his jaw. “Not that there had ever really been a difference.”
I nod, unsure of how to respond. Harping about the havoc his father is causing within my own family certainly doesn’t seem like the right thing to do.
When a bout of uncomfortable silence lingers, he asks, “What do you want to talk about? You mentioned Elora?”
I reach to grab the notes I stole, handing them over. “I was in the library waiting for Elora to show up when I stumbled upon this in one of her desk drawers.”
He looks up at me, arching a brow. “You stumbled upon them while they were tucked away in a drawer?”
I wave my hand as I roll my eyes. “Semantics. Look at what they say.”
His gaze lingers on me a beat longer than necessary before he blinks and focuses on the notes, taking the time to read them carefully. The farther he gets, the more tension forms between his brows. By the time he’s read it all, his fingers are trembling. “This… This makes it seem like she figured out Rhea wasn’t from here.”
My fingers curl into my palms. “And that she told Councilman Arav.”
“I never—” He tosses the notes back to the table before bracing his elbows on his knees, holding his head in his hands. “Gods, am I really this terrible at reading people? Elora andRhea were friends. I saw them interact. I saw how Rhea lit up when they were together. No, we have to be missing something. Have you spoken to her yet? Or to Nox?”
“No. I didn’t want to confront her in case she tried to run and hide after being found out. And Nox is too wrapped up in Rhea being gone to think rationally at the moment. I was afraid that if I told him—”
“He’d go into accusation mode. Yeah, that’s an accurate assessment.” It’s my turn to lift a brow at the way he sounds almostfamiliarwith that sort of behavior from my brother. Daje gives an airy chuckle. “I may have accidentally walked in on them using the Mirror because I thought they were speaking with you. Turns out, it was King Dolian on the other side. Nox wasnothappy about the potential risk of Rhea being outed to the council—not that I blamed him then or now—and he threatened to kill me. Even brought out his shadows and everything.”
“You’re kidding.” I’veneverseen Nox use his shadows on anyone, certainly nothing beyond practicing with them, and even that was…rare.
“Yeah, it was honestly incredible, even if it scared the shit out of me.” I hum at the lightness in his voice, this comfortable familiarity between us like nothing ever changed. As if having the same thought, Daje clears his throat and gestures to the notes. “Though I would have to assume that if Nox was worried about Elora at all, he would have brought it up to both RheaandElora. I’d speak with him before confronting her. Just to be sure.”
I nod, folding the notes and pocketing them. I don’t know why I say what I do next, why I let the anxious words tumble from me. “I’m worried about him. He left without telling anyone, Daje. Then he gets dumped on the palace steps, like someone returning an escaped animal. His magic is stillbroken, and—” Icut myself off, emotion clogging my throat as I stare up at the wooden ceiling.
“I saw him earlier, talking with my father. His signature is stilloff. I can’t imagine how that feels for him to suddenly be cut off from his power, to know that something isn’t right with it.”
I look back at him, folding my arms over my chest. “I just can’t help but feel like change is coming,” I say softly, shaking my head, “And I don’t know what my life—my family’s life—is going to look like by the time the dust settles.”
Daje watches me intently from where he’s hunched over his knees, his gaze softening just slightly. When silence once more invites itself between us, I take that as my cue to leave, standing and slipping my boots back on.
“I’ll always support your family any way that I can,” he says once I’ve opened the front door, the cool night air nipping at my cheeks.
I look back over my shoulder at him, and offer him a weary grin. “I know.”
The next day, I find myself once more fuming inside the council room. Councilman Kallin has again taken my father’s spot at the head of the table. I eye the rest of the council from my seat, my parents positioned to my left. Leaning lazily against a wall like a shadow himself is Nox, his gaze lost on something down at his feet. I had heard him leave his room late into the evening last night and had fallen asleep while waiting to see if he returned at all. When I knocked on his door the following morning, it was clear he already left again. Or hadn’t returned back to his room at all.
I lean in towards my mother, my fingers resting on her arm to get her attention as I look around the table and whisper, “IsCouncilwoman Mora still sick?” Gods, she’s been absent for a few months now.
She keeps her gaze on Daje’s father, speaking only loud enough for me to hear. “I have questioned everyone who has come in contact with her—from her personal aides to her friends and neighbors. The only consistent story I’m being told is that she hasn’t been seen inmonths.” I jerk my head back.How can that be? “And that her home is empty.”
“Could she be the mole?”
“I don’t know, but I’m afraid something isn’t adding up between both her and Barron missing. We must remember to tread lightly, especially with what they are getting ready to announce.”
“What are th—”
