Reena rose from the armchair, lithe as a wisp of smoke, then perched herself next to Cassandra on the couch.
Cassandra grabbed her satchel from the floor—Tristan had retrieved it before they’d left August’s chamber—and pulled out the documents she’d collected.
She spread them across the table and Tristan let out a low whistle as he examined the map and the diagram of the strange weapon.
Reena plucked up the singed note, holding it to her face.
“Can you interpret those symbols?” Cassandra asked. “Do you know what it says?”
“It’s been a very long time,” Reena said softly, scrutinizing the strange markings. “This is a cipher that the Teles Chrysos used. My parents used it to send me letters while I was an acolyte of Adelphinae.” She turned to Tristan. “Got something to write with?”
Tristan pushed off the couch, then rummaged through a drawer in the side table and handed her a pencil.
She spread the note onto the table, and Cassandra watched her furious scratches with rapt attention. She seemed to be merging the top half of the first symbol with the bottom half of the last symbol, performing the same combination as she moved towards the center of each word.
What she wrote out was still indecipherable to Cassandra, but she did at least recognize the Aramaelish letters that graced glowing street signs all over Thalenn.
Tristan leaned over Reena’s shoulder to read the decoded message, then cut a wide-eyed glance at Cassandra.
“What?” she asked. “What does it say?”
Tristan traced his fingers over Reena’s pencil strokes. “The necklace has been delivered. Prepare for the next attack.”
“Necklace?” Cassandra breathed out. “But that means—”
“August was working with the fire-wielding Windrider who burned down our ship,” he answered.
“So they’rebothmembers of the Teles Chrysos?” she asked.
“It would seem so,” Tristan answered. “Ronin told me this evening that Maksym was a member of the organization at one time as well.”
“Whoisn’ta fucking member of this group?” Reena snarled.
Tristan shook his head. “Maksym was kicked out years ago. They didn’t approve of his attitude towards humans. His plans were wholly his own.”
“But they approved ofAugust’sattitude towards humans?” Cassandra barked, incredulous.
“Maybe they weren’t aware of his extracurricular activities,” Tristan answered softly and Cassandra shuddered, clamping down on the memories that slithered through her mind. He ran a gentle wing down her back.
“Did Ronin know that August was working for the organization?” Cassandra asked.
“He didn’t. Their membership is still cloaked in secrecy. He said he hasn’t even met the leaders. Though he claims their numbers on the continent are vast, maybe even more numerous than my brother is aware of. He asked me to join them.”
Cassandra gasped and Reena let out a small snarl of protest.
“You can’t seriously be considering it,” Reena barked. “Are you?”
“He did make it sound rather tempting. Claims that they’re after peace between the species. An end to the hierarchies, and the promise of a more equitable world.”
“And you believe him?” Cassandra asked.
“Reena, can you give us a minute?” Tristan said.
“I’m out,” the tiger bi-form answered. “Need to get back to my boy toy anyways.” She placed a hand on Tristan’s shoulder. “Be careful, old friend. I’m not sure this is a game you can win.”
“Gotta keep immortality interesting somehow, right?” Tristan answered with a strained smile before Reena left the bungalow.
Cassandra pulled a knee onto the couch, removing the silk scarf she’d put on to hide his mark. The fabric tickled over her shoulders.
