18

Darling

We find Vivian in the common room that’s been set aside for us. Apparently when you see a woman turn from a gryphon in front of your inn, special concessions are made. I asked the Barbs—even though Vivian says they became Flames when they pledged themselves to me, but whatever—to make sure that the innkeeper and his wife are compensated, and they returned saying that they only wished for me to unlock their grandchildren’s boons, should they have them. It seems that word of my exploits has traveled faster than even Adelaide’s tide-driven ship.

It is odd to be known. But I’m also happy to agree. Each boon unlocked is closer to—something. I’m not quite sure what, and neither the phoenix nor Chaos seems inclined to enlighten me. Hopefully I am not pushing us ever closer to our doom.

That is a problem for another day. Right now, I need to find Aurora so she can be brought to House Kraken justice.

And my best chance to do that is to figure out why Talon can’t find her.

Vivian has a piece of parchment that she is drawing upon, and I realize that it’s a map. When we approach, she looks up with a smile that dampens somewhat when she realizes Talon is right behind me. I understand how she feels. I am both repelled and attracted to Talon, my emotions seesawing from one moment to the next. I love him. I still do. But I’m so angry that it hurts to look at him.

“Vivian,” I say, taking charge of the conversation before Talon can say something and ruin any chance of Vivian helping. I don’t think she’s quite over Caspian stealing her family relic, even though she is now in a position to create her own gryphon claw dagger. “I need your help.”

“As long as you aren’t planning a murder, I’m happy to assist,” she says.

“You can see what is hidden. We need to find Aurora Falleau, the former Dragon seer. Can you feel where she’s hiding?”

Vivian shakes her head sadly. “My ability doesn’t work that way. I can’t find her, not from a distance,” Vivian says, standing with a frown. “But I can sense that something has been done to the War Prince’s boon.” She approaches Talon, walking around him as though inspecting a hog for auction. “It seems as though it’s been hobbled. But you should be able to tell better than I can.”

“I can’t sense the boon itself at all,” I say. “The Chaos is there but the spark of the boon …” Talon frowns, not liking that answer.

“I still have it, though,” he says. “When I search for Caspian, I can still find him, even after whatever Aurora did. And that’s how I found the sphinx, too. It does still work, only not on Aurora.”

“What did she do?” Vivian asks, her expression mild but a note of emotion riding her voice. I don’t know her well enough to sense it, and her face gives away nothing.

Talon explains once more how she escaped, and something that she did with a sigil and blood, and Vivian inhales sharply.

“Blood magic,” she says, spitting on the floor like a superstitious peasant and not the head of a house. “That would explain the nausea I feel whenever I look at you. But why are you looking for her? What did your aunt do?”

“She killed Leonetti,” I say, my tone flat. At some point the grief will overwhelm me, I can feel it waiting its turn, but for now I am more interested in finding Aurora and delivering her to Adelaide and Miranda. They deserve to give the woman House Kraken justice. “That’s why we need to find her.”

Vivian sits back down slowly and shakes her head. “You Dragons,” she says, her voice low and full of rage. “How much more pain will you inflict for your selfish whims?”

Talon visibly hardens himself. “You say that as though House Gryphon wasn’t supporting our actions every step of the way.” Talon’s tone isn’t as icy as it should be, but he does hold Vivian’s gaze.

“There is a ritual I read about,” Vivian finally says. “It was about strengthening boons, but half of it was missing. One of the necessary items was a phoenix feather, even though the creatures have been extinct for centuries.”

“I have feathers?” I ask, and Vivian shakes her head.

“From what I understood of the parchment, there were actual animals, phoenixes, fiery birds that nested in and around the central mountain range. Like the wild drakes that harass the countryside. But like the wild gryphons, they’re long gone.”

I tap my finger against my chin. “Perhaps the phoenix knows some way to unlock your boon,” I say to Talon.

“You talk to your empyreals?” Talon asks, looking from Vivian to me.

“It’s more feelings and impressions,” Vivian says with a shrug. “But that’s probably your best bet for finding the murderer. After all, her connection to Talon isn’t just through his boon, but also by blood. If you can somehow unlock whatever she’s done, it should be easy enough to track her.”

Vivian stands and stretches, and gestures toward the table. “I’ll give you two some privacy. Good luck,” she says, picking up her map and leaving us alone. The innkeeper comes in as she departs.

“Good evening, my flame,” he says bowing low to me. “War Prince. Can I bring you two something to eat and perhaps a refreshment?”

“Yes, whatever you have on hand,” I say, and Talon inclines his head in agreement. I sit at the room’s table and close my eyes, the sound of a chair scraping the floor a sign that Talon is doing the same.

I wait until the innkeeper has come and gone before I open my eyes and blow out the nearest candles. Before us on the table is an urn of a hearty stew, as well as soft white bread and a salad of dressed greens. I dig into the food, but Talon says he’s eaten already. Fine. A sweet juice that I cannot quite recognize goes along with it, most likely a berry native to Dragon lands. I could ask Talon what it is, but we aren’t in a place for casual conversation just yet, so I hold my tongue.

There is nothing but the sounds of my eating for a long moment, and when I’ve had my fill, I sit back and close my eyes once more. This time I am reaching for Chaos, or at least I think I am. I can sense the wells of it—in me, in the people in the main room drinking and whispering, and in Talon. But his is dim, muted, and I stand suddenly, startling Talon.

“I think maybe I can try and free your boon the same way I have for others,” I say. “Are you willing to try?”

“Anything to find my aunt,” he says.

I gesture for him to stand before me, and he does, an arm’s length away. The phoenix is annoyed by this, urging me closer, and as I step forward, flames leap from the front of my body to lick over Talon’s chest, the fire appearing from nowhere. I jump backward, eyes wide with alarm.

“Are you okay?” I ask, and he laughs.

“Yes. They weren’t hot. It was more like a caress,” he says in wonder. He raises a hand toward me but then thinks better of it and drops it back by his side.

The phoenix is not happy about that. And so I let the empyreal do as it pleases.

I step forward, nothing in my mind but finding Aurora and delivering her to justice. A strange cool fire erupts around us both, shading from orange to blue and finally a deep purple-black that seems to shimmer.

“Chaos,” Talon says in wonder.

I place my hands on either side of Talon’s face, the Chaos flames licking up his body. We are pressed together now, and it’s hard to focus on what the empyreal and Chaos want me to do, because all I want to do is kiss him.

So I do.

Talon goes deathly still as I lower my lips to his. It’s the kind of connection that sizzles every single nerve ending and leaves me feeling too warm and weak in the knees. I try to tell myself that this is to find Aurora, that I’m still angry with him, that nothing has changed. But my heart is a traitor, and calls me a liar.

With our lips connected, I can feel the Chaos of him, even that poor injured spot. It’s like a spot of mold on his boon, a creeping poison. Not as bad as the frustrated boons I’ve seen across the land, but similar. Whatever Aurora did, it’s bad.

And it’s inexorably linked to her.

That is when the Chaos flowing around us reacts, poorly, and I am thrown backward across the room, slamming into the wall with an echoing boom, like artillery on a battlefield.

“Darling! Darling, can you hear me?”

I come back to myself slowly, and Talon helps me as I sit up with a groan. He kneels next to me, unmoving and watchful.

I swallow dryly. “Is there any water?” I ask, my voice hoarse.

“Brigh,” Talon says, and there’s the sound of running feet. “Are you hurt?”

“No. Just … angry,” I say, because Chaos very much does not like what Aurora did to Talon. He yelps and dances back, and I realize that I am beginning to flare up. “I felt that one,” he says with a small grin, and I find myself smiling back.

A cup of water is pressed into my hand, and I calm my fire enough to take it and swallow it down. The innkeepers stand in the doorway, and I hand the cup back to Brigh. “Thank you. Talon, could you, ah, help me to my room?” I say. My legs are weak, and as he helps me to my feet, I realize asking for help was a good call. Whatever happened when I tried to reach out to his boon has left me shaky.

The innkeepers stand in the doorway, their eyes tear-filled. I’m not sure what has upset them so much, but then I look down at the floor. The tables and chairs have been thrown against the walls, most of the furniture ruined and little more than kindling. But most grievous of all is the floor. The wood has been burned, the outline of a fiery bird still smoldering in bright spots that twinkle deep purple. It doesn’t seem to be spreading, but then I realize that’s because it’s pure Chaos.

“I’m very sorry about your floor,” I tell them. “I’m, uh, not sure it will go back to normal.”

They shake their heads. “Don’t be. It’s an honor to host you, my flame,” the woman says with a bow, her husband following suit awkwardly. I nod and Talon helps me past them and up the stairs.

“I—do you think you could compensate them for the room I just destroyed?” I whisper to Talon. “I’m sorry to ask you, but I have no gold, and I don’t want to try and explain this to Vivian.”

“Darling, you realize that you just made them incredibly rich, don’t you?” he says incredulously. “They will be selling tickets to see the Mark of the Phoenix for generations. You gave them a gift.”

I sigh. “Well, I’m glad something good came out of that. I’m sorry I couldn’t unlock what Aurora did to your boon. Whatever it is, Chaos hates it.”

“It’s okay,” he says, as we take the last few steps to the landing to my room. “Are you sure that you’ll be all right, my flame?”

I look at him, trying to parse what he means by that. I realize that this is him telling me that every step we take will be my decision. Despite the kiss we shared—my lips tingle just thinking of it—he isn’t reading anything into our embrace.

Somehow, that makes me love him a little more.

“I will be quite fine,” I say. He hands me my goggles and I open the door to my room. “Good night, War Prince.”

“Sleep well, my … phoenix,” he says.

And then I close the door, and wonder how I am going to resist throwing him to the ground and loving him until Chaos devours us if we are ever alone again.

Neither the empyreal nor Chaos have an answer, either.