She ignored him, her heart beating too wildly.
Something inevitable was coming, and she had the foreboding feeling it was already too late to stop it.
23
“What did that Magister say to you?” Nikos demanded the moment they were clear of the market.
The cold snout of his gun dug into Audrey’s back as they made their way through the village alleys. Smoke stuck to the high walls. Every doorway looked like a threat.
Audrey’s breathing sped up. She didn’t answer right away. She didn’t want to admit how deeply that old woman had seen her. The words still reverberated in her head.
Golden aura. Rare even among triads.
She’d thought about running into the market—God, she’d ached for it—but too many observers and too many hands keen to drag her back. If she ran here, the Separatists would catch her, or others would turn her in. A mistake she couldn’t afford.
No, she’d wait. The right moment always came eventually. There was always a crack somewhere if you stayed alive long enough to see it.
“I…” She faltered. “What’s a Magister?”
“A shaman. A speaker with spirits. Someone who reads auras and emotions, deals withpnévmas, confirms bondings, overseestests.” His eyes pinched to slits. “You’re born a Magister, not made.”
Pnévma. The word glimmered in her mind.
“She mentioned mypnévma,” Audrey murmured. “What is that?”
Nikos stopped dead. Everyone froze with him.
“Yourpnévma?” He glared at her. “Exactly what did she say?”
The cuffs still bit into Audrey’s wrists, vibrating lightly. They had muted her mind to a blur for days now—but not perfectly. And since the Magister touched her, the power under her skin had stopped feeling buried. It felt cornered.
“Why are you angry? You could’ve stopped me from talking to her,” Audrey shot back.
“I let her speak because I wanted to know what she saw. I couldn’t risk getting too close in case it scared her away.” He raised the gun. “Now. Tell me.”
“She said I had a powerfulpnévma,” Audrey said, the words small in her mouth.
“Shit.” The word left him like steam seeping through a crack in stone.
Audrey’s teeth ground. “Tell me what it is.”
Nikos rubbed his bare scalp, as if he might smooth away his irritation. “Your mother really told you nothing,” he muttered. “Apnévmais the spirit inside every Voírían. It takes an animal shape when we’re not on Nepra. Gives us our abilities. Sometimes overrides us if we lose control.”
Audrey’s breath stuttered.
Her monster.
She had always sensed something prowling inside her.
Was that what it was? It wasn’t a fantasy or a metaphor for something else. This was a literal beast that sometimes took over her body.
“What else did she say?” Nikos shoved her, gun ready, though his power alone was a threat.
“She said…this is the year.” Audrey winced, immediately regretting the truth.
The reaction was instant.
Nassar grasped her shoulder. “What? Did she mean the Conscription? Did she?—”
