“In a way, I do, but in another way, I don’t. Like me, the Caemorn I knew kept people at a distance, because they were dangerous to him. Dangerous to care for, because they could be used against him and he didn’t trust them in any case.” She shrugged. “Connections that were anything other than for power or favors later were simply not considered worthwhile to take a risk on.”
“He would argue now that they still are dangerous to him, but worth it all the same,” Christian said. “It’s more that he fears he isn’t worthy of our friendship and love. If by not looking at his past as Roan he has allowed Roan to harm us, he feels that weighs on the scale against him.”
“Caemorn has taken more responsibility for himself than any of us,” Fiona answered bitterly. “The fact that he didn’t want to look deeply back at what a sadistic bastard Roan was is not something for him to be criticized for.”
“I agreed with you, but you know how he is.” Christian gripped the soul gems in his palm.
Grayson knew that at some level he understood Caemorn’s anger at himself. Failing to look with cool reason at his slices had potentially caused this one to cause havoc now. But even if he had looked carefully, would it have really changed anything? Regardless of the existence of Roan, none of them had thoughtthat they were in the clear. Even if it hadjustbeen Legion and the other War Children, they had plenty of enemies out there. Yet they hadn’t been able to stop them from attacking.
And Seeyr didn’t warn us of any of this. Not because she didn’t see it, but because this is how we’re supposed to handle it. I’m sure she told Daemon.
“The real question iswhythe Kaly slices are here and doing this. It’s likely a diversion for some other purpose,” Grayson murmured. His eyes narrowed as he thought of the many potential reasons that the Kaly slices were in Nightvallen. It wasn’t just to kill him. Though that had been a large part of it. If the Ecthrois were released that meant one or more of the Kaly slices had gone to the palace. “What do you think Roan wants in the Kaly Palace that he was willing to announce his presence like this?”
“It can’t be good,” Christian said simply.
“No, it can’t be.”
“But Caemorn will know what it is, won’t he?” Fiona’s arms were crossed over her chest.
“They’re in the passageway to the palace now,” Christian said. “Legion and Roan went that way. Hopefully, they’ll stop them.”
“Both of them are here and together?” Grayson lifted an eyebrow, but immediately stopped as his head ached from simply tightening the muscles on his face. “It must be something very important they are looking for. Or…”
“Or they were here all along,” Fiona suggested. “Up until recently, Nightvallen was the safest place to be if you didn’t want to be found. Julian and Ryder found that dead human in the outskirts so they’ve clearly been living here for some time.”
“Could they have been beneath the city? Even somewhere underneath the Kaly Palace all this time?” Christian asked.
“Unnerving, but I suppose they could be. Roan is Kaly. The palace wouldn’t reject him. It would serve him just as readily as it would Caemorn,” Grayson agreed.
“And it wouldn’t rat him out to Caemorn either. The palace would have to serve them both equally, in a way,” Fiona said and shivered. “I’m going to go through every inch of mine after this. I was taking my time, assuming I had it, but now…”
“Caemorn isn’t staying at the Kaly Palace,” Christian pointed out. “He stays at the Eyros Palace, only going over to his own palace to gather things he needs to continue his work at the lab that Balthazar set up for him.”
“He wasn’t exactly a favorite as Caemorn with the Bloodline,” Fiona said with a faint grimace. “I don’t think he truly likes any of his descendants terribly well so I don’t blame him for keeping his distance from them.”
“You seemed really close to the Wyvern you brought with you,” Christian pointed out.
She nodded and smiled genuinely. “I didn’t mean that about my own. Just the Kaly I’ve known are very individualistic. They don’t want to be liked. Keeping secrets is what a Kaly does from each other and from us. That’s why I know that it’s not that Caemorn has purposefully hidden some world-ending device in his palace, but…” Her voice dropped.
“He might not just lay out everything he has there?” Grayson finished for her.
“Right,” she nodded.
“Then he’ll know where to look first,” Christian said loyally.
“Yes, he will,” Grayson agreed.
The window was suddenly filled by the face and chest of an Ecthrois. It slammed its four fists against the glass, but there was no sound. The protection offered by the dorm kept it from getting inside. Still, all three of them jumped. Grayson saw the creature try to phase through the glass. There was an electricspatof energy and the Ecthrois was thrown clean away from the building. It lay smoking on the ground.
“I wish the rest of the students were as safe,” Grayson breathed when it finally swung away, looking for another way in. “Now that we know anyone in the building is safe, perhaps you would reconsider going to get my roommates and the others students–”
“No.” That was said in unison by them both.
“I was just going to say–”
“No.” Again, Christian and Fiona spoke as one and they turned to him, smiling.
“Very good try, Grayson, but we have been asked to protectyou. My people are already out there helping in the Ecthrois hunt,” Fiona said.
