“Calder, what you are playing with is dangerous. Where did you find the book?” It was the question that had been burning inside him since the moment he knew Calder had it.
“Did you tell him? Does he know I have it?” All of Calder’s bravado dropped away and in its place was a strange sort of desperation.
“The conversation didn’t make it that far.” He considered his brother. “Why do I know you have it and he doesn’t?”
Cal shrugged. “You know how uncle is. He cares about it all and at the same time doesn’t. I thought I would wait until I had all three.”
“And you think one of the Marudas sisters is the vessel,” Icarus supplied.
“No, IknowAra is.” Cal’s orange burst seemed to glint with mischief. “What is your association with the youngest Marudas, anyway?”
Whether it was panic or irritation that flared in Icarus’ gut, he couldn’t say, but the discomfort was all the same. “She is my student.”
“Mmhm. And the part where your magic intermingled? What about the way you look at her as if she’s unprecedented? Or maybe it’s that you know she’s different and planned on fulfilling our family’s legacy after all.”
Icarus fought to rein in his temper. If Cal saw, then he wasn’t doing enough to smother that part of him that couldn’t exist.
“They are actual people, Cal. You can’t just use them. Arabella trusts you and you are exploiting her.”
Cal stood straight, his lackadaisical posture gone. “I wouldn’t use her. She’s different, and she knows how important this is.”
Icarus was filled with a sudden urge to let loose a barrage of magic, anything to get this mounting pressure off his chest. If Cal thought Arabella would help him, then it meant things were more dire than he had previously known.
“If you care about her, don’t bring her into this. Mother–”
Cal stalked forward, fists clenched at his sides. “Don’t you dare compare her to Mother or me to Father. In fact, don’t speak of Mother at all. When was the last time you even went to visit her? I checked the logs, and your traitorous name hasn’t been there in months.”
The guilt that flooded him was consuming. “I’ve been busy.”
They both saw the lie for what it was. He avoided Willow’s Keep and their healers because it was too difficult to watch his mother look like herself, but knew that nothing was in there. She had no thoughts of her own, no desires, no fears. She was alive only to never live. It was a fate worse than death.
Silence stretched between them as the same thoughts crossed his brother’s mind and his eyes took on a haunted appearance.
“I asked Uncle to send you away so you wouldn’t meet the same fate as Father,” Icarus whispered.
Cal stepped back as if physically struck before his cheeks turned crimson and his face hardened. “I have the book. I’m further than any other Darkmore has ever been. The only fate I am worried about is the one where I have you as a relative. Turns out that was the only fate Father couldn’t survive.”
The blow landed just where he’d intended it.
“Calder. Let me help you.”
“Were you not just listening? I don’t want your help.” He reached for his own augere and theeavesspell around them dissipated. “Maybe I’ll pay Seren a visit and warn her against the dangers Calami has to offer. Goodbye, Icarus.”
Icarus watched as Calder turned his back and strode down the stone floor as if he hadn’t a care in the world. At least one good would come out of tonight and that was that he had no reason to return to Mistral Hall again. So it was with relief that Icarus walked into the evening storm even as his heart felt heavier than it had ever been before.
Chapter nineteen
Seren Marudas
Theembraceofnightand gentle darkness settled over the hearth-warmed dormitories of Calami Tower. Outside, the autumn storm raged with the wrath of war gods and harpies, but inside, students slept soundly in their beds, tucked into dreams filled with magic and wonder.
All students but one.
Seren Marudas could not quiet her mind. Rain and wind hissed against her window and shadows danced along the stone wall above her. Turning this way and that way, she tried desperately to get comfortable, to calm the racing thoughts plaguing her to no end. She envisioned Icarus from the night before at her trial, the way he’d bent down to speak with the infuriatingly beautiful Professor Callahan. She pictured how they’d slunk off into the dark together, and the thought had her burying her face in her pillow, muffling an irritated groan.
Why did it matter? Why should she care?
She told herself it was because a distracted Icarus was a useless Icarus. She needed something from him. Answers—a more complete tale. She needed the stories that were lost, buried, and it seemed most of the teachers in Calami Tower preferred them to stay that way, which made her want to know them even more. She couldn’t shake the stolen glances that had passed between some of them during her trial. The words hidden just beyond their tongues. If she was being honest with herself, it irritated her to no end that Atwood was so hot and cold. He’d given her curious stares, attacked his own brother when he’d taunted him with her name, and defended her in front of the others at the risk of his reputation,but. . . proceeded to walk away as though she meant nothing at all. Maybe less than that, if it were possible.
