Page 10

I peeked over my shoulder to make sure none of our classmates or any passing monkeys had spotted us before nodding. “Yep. Let’s go.”

We pushed the door open and closed it just as quickly behind us, turning to face the dozens of looming shadows in the dark. Not sundew anymore, but crates, cages, and tanks. It always took a while for our eyes to adjust to the low level of light that had filtered through the clusters of trees from outside the windows, but that was how we liked it.

Less chance of someone peering in to see what we were doing.

“Good news,” called a voice from a silhouette in the corner. “My magic seems to have kept them concealed overnight.”

As my vision adjusted, half of the smaller cages and crates in the center of the room popped back into their original objects: books. Piles and piles of books that definitely hadn’t come from any of the Esholian Institute classrooms.

Emelle beamed as Lander stepped into the dim lighting, rushing forward to melt into his arms. “You’re getting even better!”

“Apparently.” Lander dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. “I’ve never held a shift in my sleep before, but it was like I could feel them in my dreams.”

“That’s amazing,” I said earnestly, grateful that Lander’s Shape Shifting abilities added another layer of protection to our secret stash of books that Coen left us. Especially since all of them bore the Sorronian seal on their inside pages.

Dyonisia Reeve, I was willing to bet, probably wouldn’t be too happy to find her sister’s marked possessions within her precious dome.

Emelle, however, pulled back with a grimace.

“What’s the bad news?”

Lander sighed and massaged the back of his neck.

“We’re almost done with the last few books.” He nodded at the ones at the top of the pile. “And we’re not any closer to finding a solution.”

I already knew this, of course, but my chest sank at the words anyway. Lander was right—although Coen had flat-out refused to bring me into the palace of the faerie queen so that I could help him research the nature of oaths, I’d convinced him to steal all the translated books from the royal library and drop them off here for us to research in our spare time. No way in hell was I going to sit back and let him deal with this on his own, and my friends wouldn’t let me deal with it on my own.

So for the entirety of the dry season between our second and third year, Emelle, Lander, and I had been poring over these forbidden pages that Coen left us, searching for something—anything—that might erase that curse of a tattoo on his back.

So far, we’d found exactly nothing.

I couldn’t use my Wild Whispering power to tie him down with vines when the time came. The oath would imbue him with enough strength to overcome any physical barrier.

I couldn’t use my Mind Manipulating power to command him to disobey the queen’s command. The oath overrode any other kind of magical authority.

And I couldn’t have an Object Summoner try to pull the tattoo from the skin on his back. Its ink was immune to every type of removal.

“That’s okay,” I said now, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I asked Coen to bring us some more books, so we’ll have more to read soon. And until then…”

I grabbed one of the last books off the nearest pile, plunked myself down, and turned the page. Emelle and Lander did the same, and soon I was ten pages deep in a volume called—I checked the front cover again—Oath Guidelines: What You Need to Know Before Saying Yes.

It was all the same information I’d read over the last few months.

Page 10: An oath is a magical contract between two faerie individuals, usually a superior and a subordinate. Knew that already.

Page 12: The oath enforces obedience in cases where the subordinate does not wish to comply of their own free will. Knew that already, too.

Page 17: If the subordinate resists obedience, there are a variety of consequences. One: the oath may override muscle control. Two: the oath may override mental control. Three: in extreme cases of continued resistance, the oath may kill the subordinate.

I paused over those last words, my fingers shaking over the page.

If the oath ended up taking control of Coen’s body and mind, I had no doubt he could destroy entire villages with his sword and his Walking power alone. We wouldn’t stand a chance against the full might of him and his army.

But if he resisted hard enough, the oath would kill him.

As Emelle and Lander rifled through their own pages beside me, I closed my eyes for a brief moment, remembering the command that Coen had relayed to me as if it were engraved on my back, too.

You will bring me Dyonisia’s head within the next year, General Steeler. And within the same time frame, you will also kill every branded citizen under her rule.