“Exactly, and if your parents don’t let Aisling finish at the academy? And keep her locked up in her chambers?”
“She won’t find her thunder either.” I pull on shoes and retrieve my phone from the dresser where Leopold places it when I go through the portal. I’m not ready to step back into my Earth business duties. Not yet.
“Exactly.”
“I’ve tried to convince them that by not having her at the academy, they are signaling that Crest Wing has something to do with it not being safe. They don’t get it. It’s like flying into the side of the mountain with them.”
“It might not matter. Raine might be the one.” Evander moves with me into the sitting room of my suite.
“She might be. But?—”
“We give candidates six months because it can take that long for the marking to appear on a human.” Evander crosses his ankles, his legs stretched out between the chair and the sofa.
“True, but the Elderglen thunder that?—”
“They found their mate while visiting Las Vegas, and her marking appeared instantly—without the ceremony—yes. My mother has brought that up more than once. Every time I go home, in fact. But that’s not us. Or rather, that’s not you. Can you imagine having our mate in the castle and sending her on her way after a few weeks?”
“We’ve sent candidates away that quickly before.”
“Yes, but not many, and just ones who wanted to go. Ones who were clearly not suited to us, nor us to them.” Evander puts his arms behind his head and closes his eyes. “And I’ve never had my marking ache like this. There have been a half-dozen times since my lightning. The moment I was tied to Evander, once in battle, and another time inLondon when all three of us felt it. We all felt it, but then it vanished.”
“Right, well, Raine’s never been out of America before now, and she would have been a child then anyhow.”
“I don’t know. You’re the expert at things like this.”
“I’m no expert at markings.” I’m the same as Evander. There have been only a few times my markings flared. The first week at the academy when Evander took a turn down the wrong hall and ended up in Crest Wing instead of Elderglen’s dorms, the lightning dropped us both to the floor. My father, the king, wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy that my thunder mate was an Elderglen, and more so that he’d woken from his lightning before I had. Then the next year, after we were taken out of the first-year corral and moved to the upperclassman dorms, Roark was in our flight class. It’s the only time I’ve seen him pass out.
We don’t talk about the other time.
Our phones buzz at the same time. Evander has his out already. “Roark’s back with Raine. They’re coming through the village now.”
We’re shoulder to shoulder, thudding down the main stairs.
“You’re sure you want to greet her in the parking lot?” Evander asks.
“I need to talk to her about what happened. I’ve been stewing for a week. I can’t wait any longer.”
“Right.” Evander leans on the fender of the Rolls.
“What?” I cross my arms over my chest. It’s a nice night, mercifully warm compared to the middle of winter back home.
“Don’t fuck this up.”
“How could I fuck this up?”
“I think you might want to reevaluate that question,” Evander says.
The town car crushes the gravel as Percy parks next to where I’m standing. I open the door.
28
RAINE
“Miss Fischer,” Kieren says, his voice low.
I’m not sure why, but I expect him to take my hand. Instead, he steps back, keeping clear of me, like touching me might hurt him. The week of waiting for him to talk to me hits me square in the chest. I wasn’t mad before—more anxious with a tinge of nerves—but seeing him looking so perfect, so royal, his hair slicked back, his suit perfectly pressed at six in the evening when I’m rumpled and worn from the almost five-hour round-trip. Agitation rises up through me. I’ve never liked an imbalance of power, and that’s what it is for sure.
I step onto the gravel, straightening myself, shoulders back, my neck as long as I can make it, the top of my head being pulled to the sky by an imaginary string. This brave woman isn’t who I am, but I can pretend to be Wren for a few minutes.
