Page 216 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

Lee chuckles to herself and draws another card. ‘Men.’

‘What’s waterborne?’ Kade asks.

‘Created and controlled by a Sway,’ she explains, pulling a final card before sitting back and studying them all. Vasily refuses to sit even after Lachlan has calmed him down.

He turns away and goes to stand near the wall.

Riley comes to look at the cards. ‘What do you see?’

Kade, despite himself, moves closer to look too.

It’s the closest he’s been to Riley since he found out they’re brothers.

‘I see tricks, traps and blindfolds,’ she explains darkly.

‘That doesn’t sound good.’

‘There is an obscuring element in place. I would need to leave Varrow to clear my head, but this close to the full moon, I cannot risk it.’

‘Why the full moon?’

Riley and Lee both look up at him.

‘You really do need to tell him,’ she says to Riley.

‘I will. Just not here.’

‘Hmm. Very well. Had you managed to bring me the book, this would potentially play out differently, but…’ She sighs, shrugging. ‘We all make mistakes.’ She gathers her cards, stows them in a velvet bag and then slides off the table. ‘Last Light are at your disposal for now, but I want no crossover between my girls and the Front. Understood, mon trésor?’

‘Of course. Thank you, Céliane.’

‘I will return soon.’ She cups Kade’s face, winking. ‘Sois sage, mon cœur.’

He kisses the inside of her wrist. ‘Toi aussi, chérie.’

She leaves the way Kade came in.

Lachlan watches her go. Only when she’s been gone for a solid thirty seconds does he turn to Riley. ‘You can’t trust her.’

‘Thanks for the advice.’

‘Jules, I am sorry,’ Vasily sighs. ‘I did not mean to be rude.’

‘No, you… you’re fine,’ Kade says, not even bothering to acknowledge how strange it is to be accepting an apology from the leader of the Moroz Front. ‘That was pretty intense. Can we recap?’

‘Good idea,’ Riley says, staying close to Kade. ‘Then I’ll bring you up to speed on everything I know, OK?’

‘Everything?’

Riley finally looks at him. ‘Everything.’

‘OK. I’ll go first. I’m a Sway, not a Brightling—’

‘You definitely have Brightling traits,’ Lachlan interrupts. ‘Sorry, but you do. I know what I saw while in the Estate.’

Kade glares without heat. ‘As I was saying. I’m a Sway. My real father wanted to possess my body, probably especially because of this. There’s a bubble around Varrow City preventing some of us from leaving. It’s been there for seven years?’ he asks Vasily, who sits down again.

‘As far as I know, yes.’