“You’re very welcome.” Lavette was the one to speak. She had an easy expression, but vacant stare. Was Cullen killing her, too, by a thousand cuts? In that moment, she was equally upset on Lavette’s behalf.
Eira walked away, giving a tilt of her head toward Alyss as she headed for Ducot and Olivin. She needed a distraction from Cullen and there were more important matters to discuss anyway. Alyss caught the wordless message and came over as well.
“Mind if we sit?” Eira asked the two men. “I’d love a word with you both.”
“Are you done dancing?” Olivin asked, expression still difficult to parse out.
“For a lifetime.”
“Shame, I rather enjoyed my dance with you,” he said with a slight smirk. The expression was coy, but his voice was nothing but sincerity.
Eira willfully ignored the remark and sat. Alyss did as well.
“See, I told you she was telling them everything,” Ducot leaned in to say to Olivin. “Her own little Court of Shadows.”
“My friends whom I trust with my life,” Eira insisted. “I assume you’ve both been talking about this.”
Eira took a quick glance around. There were still attendants, but nowhere near them. The draconi hadn’t been seen since the end of the game and everyone else was distracted. As inconspicuously as possible, she slipped the piece of metal out of her pocket. It had been calm since she’d picked it up off the floor of the clinic. But now it was back to wriggling and the sensation was almost like what she imagined holding a centipede to be.
“Where did you find this?” Ducot whispered, taking it from her. Eira was glad to be relieved of it and wiped her palm on her pants, trying to rid herself of the sensation.
“In my uncle’s drawer in the clinic.”
“What is it?” Alyss asked, staring in awe.
“A shift key.” Ducot shook it, as though he were trying to shake off excess water. Eira could feel pulses of magic rippling through the air. With one particularly rigorous shake, the metal flopped like a piece of ribbon and then went perfectly rigid in the shape of an actual, normal key. “There it goes.”
“That’s incredible.” Alyss reached over and Ducot held the key out to her. It didn’t wriggle or writhe, but maintained its shape.
Eira held out her hand after Alyss had an opportunity to inspect the key. It looked and felt like a normal key on the surface. But, perhaps in part thanks to her practice with Cullen, Eira could feel the shifting magic that rippled all around it. It was fighting to go back into its previous shape. Ducot was exerting much more force over it than he was letting on.
“It’s as if the key itself is more magic than metal,” she said.
“An astute observation.” Ducot took back the key. “To make a shift key requires a lot of power, and a complex understanding of ancient shift techniques.”
“Can you tell who made it?” Olivin asked.
Ducot shook his head. “But I know who can. Rebec.”
“You’re welcome to take it to her,” Eira pushed aside her worries and tensions with the Court of Shadows to say. The most important thing was thwarting the Pillars and keeping everyone safe. She couldn’t be stubborn if working together was going to help that happen. “But I want to know what you find.”
“Absolutely.” Ducot frowned. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a way to get it to her.”
“Not even in your other form?” Olivin looked as surprised as Eira.
Ducot shook his head. “Champion Village is all new construction. There are no cracks, or small places I can get through. I tried by going through the portcullis. The first time, one of the guards saw me and tried to step on me. The next time it was a worker. I went around the whole arena searching and found nothing… I swear they were patching up even the tiniest of cracks with that goop just to spite me.”
“They had stressed security about these games and no one getting in or out of the village. It would stand to reason they’d consider how a morphi might try to sneak in or out,” Olivin mused.
Eira pursed her lips. “If there was a way I could get you out, you could get to Rebec from there?”
“Yes, but—”
“All right, follow me.” Eira stood. “You’re about to find out why I’ve stopped hiding things from my friends.” She turned to Alyss. “If it’s all right with you, we’re going to need your help.”
24
No one paid the four of them much mind as they stepped away and slipped into the Solaris house. Eira kept a close watch, but the rest of the competitors were sufficiently distracted with their drink and dancing. The few attendants that remained were focused on cleaning up the table. Behind closed doors, she moved with purpose, back to the common room.
