Terms negotiated, the palace guards open the gates to allow Devran and his right-hand woman inside as the few wisps of clouds in the blue sky swiftly turn black, drawing together into one fearsome thunderhead.
I don’t have to look to know that somewhere nearby, Kasmira is working her magic despite her weakened hands, wrenching water from the sky to vanquish the remnants of the fire before any more harm can come to the garden.
Raindrops mix with the tears on my cheeks, diluting their salty taste, erasing any trace of my longing for the Karthia I used to love. As for this new Karthia, the one that now seems to be resting on the shoulders of Valoria and a young man with a jaunty walk I don’t like, I’m not sure what to make of it. Only time will tell.
***
With the fire reduced to a few smoldering remains, we all go our separate ways: Kasmira and her crew back to theParadise, Jax and Simeon to the school to check on the students, and Valoria to talk alone with the rebel leader, leaving Meredy and me to return to our room. It takes all our self-control not to eavesdrop outside the throne room instead.
“I need to unpack, anyway,” Meredy announces as we reach the door and let our beasts enter before us—Nipper in the lead, of course, followed by her giant grizzly friend. “Dessa, if you help me, I’ll make it worth your while...”
“Is that a promise?” I ask, my heart beating a little faster.
But all thoughts of what we might do on top of Meredy’s clothes vanish as Nipper bats something across the floor under Lysander’s nose, inviting him to play. The crystal rolls across the boards, leaving a trail of chalky marks.
“What’s that?” Meredy asks, swiping the crystal away from Nipper. The dragon bares her teeth warningly, but Meredy, knowing the little pink creature is more smoke than fire, ignores her. She sits cross-legged on the bed, cradling the rough blue stone and watching me, evidently waiting for an explanation.
It takes a moment to get my mouth to work, but when it does, I sit beside her and tell her how I found the crystal, and what happened the one time I used it. I can barely look at Meredy as I fumble my way through the story, but when she forces my chin up so she can study my face, there’s no judgment in her gaze whatsoever.
Only curiosity and, I think, a bit of hope.
“We have to try it. Right now,” Meredy says, her eyes bright and eager.
“But it’s... it might not work again,” I insist, less confident now that she looks so hopeful. “Fine. We’ll try it.”
When she and I each have a hand on the crystal, just as the old man instructed, she asks, “Ready?”
I nod, even though I’m not. It’s like every time I decide I’m ready to move forward without Evander, something drags me back to the painful place where all I do is miss him and relive the worst days when his absence was fresh and raw.
I count my breaths until they’re slow and even, letting every thought that’s not of Evander slip away. The crystal twitches, sending a tremor up my arm.
Heat sears my palm. Gritting my teeth, I tighten my grip on it despite the pain and finally open my eyes.
“Evander?” I ask hesitantly as the crystal begins to glow. I feel silly. Maybe I only imagined the voice on the ship. After all, I was feeling at my lowest then.
Nipper chirps curiously, jumping onto the bed and trying to force her way between me and Meredy, but I ignore her.
“Hey, Sparrow. Hey, Mer-bear.” A warm voice, a voice that sounds very much alive, fills my ears. “I was beginning to think you two had forgotten me.”
It’s a good thing I’m sitting down, or I might fall over at the sound. “Never!” I declare, shame burning my face as I wonder whether I’ve been selfishly keeping Evander, the real Evander, from talking to Meredy—and me—for days.
Meredy gives me an awed glance, her eyes filling with tears.
“Tell me everything I’ve missed,” Evander prompts in the silence. His voice is like an embrace, more than making up for the pain in my hand from holding the hot crystal.
I shake my head at Meredy. A little voice in the back of my mindstill isn’t buying this for some reason. I open my mouth to ask him a question, something that will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the little voice is wrong, and he’s really speaking to us. But what comes out is “Van, there’s something you should know. Meredy is my girlfriend now.”
For a moment, silence hangs over us.
Then Evander’s voice says softly, “Moved on a little quickly, didn’t you, Sparrow? I... I don’t know what to say. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re doing well, and I know we agreed we’d have to love again to go on living if something happened to one of us—nature of the job and all. It’s just... so swift and sudden, I suppose. I’m sure our friends feel the same. Have you noticed them whispering without you?”
Meredy’s eyes are wide, and when she blinks, tears fall onto her cheeks.
I pull the crystal out of her hand and throw it across the room as hard as I can, breaking our connection to the magic.
Tears fill my eyes, but not because of what Evander said. Meredy takes my hands, both of us wincing at the rawness of our burns, but we don’t let go, not even to stop Nipper from batting the crystal around in another attempt to get Lysander to play.
It’s only after I’ve been holding on to Meredy for a while that I can speak. “Thatthingin the crystal... whatever it is... it’s not Evander. I’m sure of it. It was just echoing thoughts I once had, but in his voice. Not that I still have any doubts about us. Not at all,” I add quickly, as Meredy winces.
