Page 60

Loyalty to the people of Six who needed protection from the everyday corruption of mankind.

And loyalty to Hunter.

I’d go anywhere my brother went.

Hunter had joined The Guard when he’d turned eighteen, and I’d counted down the days until I turned eighteen myself and could join, too; we were so much alike, with our need to constantly push the boundaries life tried to confine us within, creating a sense of duty to each other, and to those who couldn’t protect themselves.

But now a new enemy stood before me: Decodons. Deks.

And Leo, the leader of his people, had asked me to stay with him. To fight alongside him, if that’s what I chose.

My honor told me I’d already made my decision: I would always fight against evil.

But would that be here on One? As someone I once was, in another life?

I felt somber with the weight of the decision I needed to make, and experiencing my first rainy day on One wasn’t helping.

I’d been keeping to my room, trying to keep a low profile, but like the five stages of grief, I’d reached the anger stage and wanted to drive my knee straight into Leo’s groin for not telling me the truth about who I was sooner. So, I left my room out of spite, not caring if I was seen, too keen on antagonizing Leo to stop myself.

Walking down an empty hallway in part of the castle I’d never been before, I ran my hand along the wall, the old stone rough against my palm.

This hallway was more decorated than the others I’d seen, with different colored banners draped high above me, representing the royal families of Esmerelda; Leo’s family’s banner the largest, with its silver dancing beast.

The sound of footsteps at the other end of the hallway had me instinctively crouching against the wall underneath the black banner, slapping my hand over my mouth to stifle my surprise at running into another person so quickly. Until I realized it was a guard and I was still in his direct line of sight, my crouching useless.

Bracing myself for confrontation, I stood, annoyed by how quickly I’d been discovered. But as the guard neared, he didn’t say a single word to me. Didn’t even look in my direction. Only passed by where I stood, walking in the direction I’d come from.

I felt the coolness of night dance across my body.

Leo.

I spun around, expecting to find him standing behind me, but the hallway was empty except for the retreating guard.

The night magic around me faded as the guard turned a corner and disappeared, Leo’s cloak evaporating into thin air.

Was he watching me somehow?

“Bryn, everything all right?” I jumped at the sound of Sigrid’s voice as she came out of a room nearby, closing the door before she approached me.

I’d watched from my window as she and Cal had returned to the castle grounds this morning after dealing with the Rogue.

“Yes, of course,” I said, aware of how out of place I must look, not knowing which part of the castle I stood in.

Sigrid nodded, her eyes slightly aglow with the embers of her magic. “The guys told me you know . . .”—she cleared her throat before finishing—“about who you are.”

She bowed her head slightly, out of respect to my unclaimed title, and looked at me with uncertainty.

“Rest assured, Sigrid, my anger is directed at the king.” I smiled and nodded to the door behind her. “Your room?”

She shook her head, opening the door so I could see beyond. “It’s our study, a library of sorts. Nothing grand, but a good number of texts about our histories, and a lot of fiction. Our people love storytelling.” She smiled at me. “You’re free to use the space to read, or to seek refuge from the king.” She winked.

I looked beyond her, my interest piqued.

The room was small for how many books it housed, neat shelves spanning two of the walls opposite each other. But the room was tall, offsetting the lack of floor space, making it feel grand. The shelving nearly twenty feet high.

I pictured Leo and Adrian in there as children, huddled together studying.

“It’s perfect,” I whispered.