Arwin met Eira’s eyes. “You…you know the way. Go.”
“What?”
“The court…they’re going to be attacked.” Arwin grimaced as Alyss smeared a particularly potent salve into her wounds. “You have to warn them.”
Heart racing, Eira spun. She’d been right. And she hated it.
Cullen caught her arm. “I’m going with you.”
“You need to stay here.”
“I’m coming too,” Noelle declared.
“Both of you—”
“There’s no time!” Arwin snapped. “Go!”
“I’m going to stay with her,” Alyss declared. She met Cullen’s eyes, and then looked to Noelle. “You two, look after Eira for me.”
At least Alyss would be spared from whatever fallout Eira would have to endure from the Specters. Arwin fumbled in her shirt, producing a bar of iron. With a pulse of magic, it transformed into a key.
“Here, take it and go. Warn them. The whole court has been compromised.” The statement drew a sharp inhale from Eira. Arwin nodded slowly. “They have to leave…”
“I’ll do it. You recover; they need whatever information you have.” Eira spun and dashed through the common area.
“Someone want to tell me what the Court of Shadows is?” Cullen asked as he followed.
“Oh right, you weren’t there.” Noelle cracked her knuckles, flames dancing around them. “You’ll see soon enough. Just keep up.”
Eira pulled on the hidden lever, opening the door. Cullen was next and Noelle closed it after her. Eira caught the confusion, fear, and touch of wonder on his face in the light cast from the mote of fire hovering over Noelle’s shoulder.
“The Court of Shadows works for Lumeria,” Eira said softly as they descended. “They’re friends.”
“And you’re involved with them?” Cullen asked, worry edging into his voice. “These were the people you mentioned after you returned from the Pillars? The group you were involved with.”
“Yes, Iwasinvolved. More or less.” Eira nodded. “But not anymore.”
“They were being utterly unreasonable,” Noelle said. Eira focused on the path ahead, rather than objecting. But that didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate her friend’s defense of her.
About halfway down the path, a strange echoing sound rose up to them. Eira slowed, trying to listen.
“What’s that?” Noelle whispered.
Cullen pressed his eyes closed. Eira could feel his magic radiating outward from him. It floated on the air, filling the pathway, soaring ahead.
His eyes snapped open. “We…we should turn back.”
“What did you hear?” Eira knew that Windwalkers had an affinity of the self that allowed them to place their consciousness beyond their bodies. She wondered if that was the magic she’d just felt.
“It’s not safe.”
“Of course it’s not.”
Cullen grabbed her by both arms. “I don’t want you to keep running into danger.”
“I have to see this through,” she whispered. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.” The little wounded bird was still in Eira’s mind. The feeling of living in Marcus’s shadow. The girl she had been, wanting nothing, longing for everything, oblivious to the world. “I can’t go back, Cullen, there’s nothing there for me. The only way ahead is forward.”
“Be ready, then.”
