Cold,metallicairbreathedout of the tunnels, brushing my face like the exhale of something alive. Xan was waiting ahead, slumped against the wall like he’d been holding up the stone itself. Cayden missed the last step. I reached out and steadied him as he came down hard. Instead of growling or throwing me off, he merely caught his balance and gave me a nod.
Cayden was a shell. I’d take his sharp mouth over this silence any day. We needed his fire, not another soldier.
Xan pushed off the wall. “Come.”
His first few steps dragged along the stone-and-gravel floor before he suddenly perked up. I assumed he ate his magic once more.
I’d managed a bit of sleep, but we were burning our own power—every step weaker, every breath tighter. It would take months to rebuild the muscle I’d worked years to earn and only days to lose.
But I shouldn’t complain. Xan looked like a corpse on his feet. Deep bruising ringed his eyes, a lacework of white veins spidering beneath the skin. Even strands of his baby-blue hair had gone stark white. He hadn’t rested a single minute since this all began.
The Architect had a long history of overusing his magic. We didn’t need an unconscious leader.
Our footsteps echoed until the train loomed out of the shadows. Its back half crooked on the tracks, ladders slouched like weary sentries, and half-welded metal jutted like broken bones from where work was abandoned.
My stomach twisted unhappily. I knew something was wrong with Quinn's sudden work study. I should have forced her to stay at my side.
My chest ached where Quinn’s second heart should be. I’d felt her every injury before—now there was only emptiness, and that terrified me more than the pain.
A ball of baby-blue mage light bloomed to life above Xan.
“You could have prevented all of this,” Cayden murmured.
The words barely rose above our footsteps; even knowing they weren’t meant for me, they landed like a blow to the ribs.
Xan didn’t respond. Unlike Cayden, whatever Xan was going through, he kept close to his chest. He was the Architect; he had to lead by example, and that meant staying strong. He needed our support, not our judgment.
“And I could have never pursued Angela.” I clenched my fist, well aware of the consequences of that mistake. “And saved myself a lot of bullshit. But I did what I thought was right. That’s the best any of us can do, right, sir?”
Xan sighed. “I swear to whatever deity is listening, Rowan, drop the ‘sir.’”
I smirked. “Yes, sir.”
Xan sighed again. “You and Quinn are going to be the death of me.”
I raised an eyebrow. Did Quinn call him sir as well? I shook my head. No. I couldn’t picture that, but she obviously called him something.
We lapsed into silence, and the train vanished into the gloom, allowing me to bury the memory of Quinn’s limp, skewered body back into the deep recesses of my memory. She was never doing shit alone again. Not on my watch.
Although we were underground, I was one of Ezra’s five, and my mental map of the grounds suggested we were nearing The Great Hall.
The hair rose on my arms moments before low static muffled our echoing footsteps. A hint of roses cut through the thick smell of grease and metal filling the train tunnel. Everyone in the family recognized this odor.
I looked at Xan’s back. He and Professor Holiday had exchanged a look before the ancient monster left the meeting. Oil coated my skin, and a feeling of unease settled in my gut. My elemental magic danced beneath my skin.
The ground shook, and the pressure dropped, causing my ears to pop.
Xan quickened his steps until we reached a section of the tunnel wall that appeared identical to the rest. He turned to Cayden and beckoned him forward. “Let me into your mind.”
Cayden flinched away, and his vacant gaze flickered with trepidation.
Less than two days ago, the three of us sat in the Alun. Cayden had been frustrated, angry, and wary, yet he had not once shown fear. What the fuck happened in his compound?
“He’s begun,” Xan said. “Cayden, I needed you here, with us.”
A glob of slime hissed on my leathers, burning through the hide and sending the reek of scorched flesh clawing down my throat. What had Xan unleashed?
Cayden took another step away from us.
