He stared at me for a long moment, all traces of arrogance fleeing his expression. “I’m saying it’s an unsolved mystery that holds a variety of possibilities, including ones involving you.” He held out the papers and shrouded us in a wall of mist. I opened my mouth, ready to ask him what he was doing, when he softly said, “I need you to accept this internship, Claire. Not just because of what Elana can teach you, but because of what you might observe under her tutelage.”
My eyebrows lifted. “You want me to spy on Elana?”
“And anyone who crosses her path, yes.” A blunt reply, one I could appreciate. His gaze drifted to my tree and then back to me. “She mentored your mother. Now she wants to mentor you. I find the correlation between the two to be suspect, don’t you?”
I hadn’t until now. “I thought it was my access to all the elements that intrigued her.”
“Oh, most definitely that. But the question we need to ask, little queen, is why? Wouldn’t you like to discover the answer? Because I know I would.” He leaned closer. “Someone powerful enough to subdue my brother is holding him hostage, and as powerful as Mortus is, he’s no match for Exos.”
“But Elana has the ability to overpower him,” I translated in a whisper.
“Indeed,” he replied, studying me intently. “Did you sense her in his spirit?”
I shook my head. I hadn’t, but I wouldn’t know what I was looking for even if I tried. “She exonerated me,” I said instead, confused. “Why would she do that if she wanted to hurt Exos?”
“A better question would be, why didn’t she use her gifts to exonerate you before?” he countered, arching a brow. “Something isn’t adding up, Claire. And this internship provides you with an opportunity to learn more. If you’re up for it.”
“If she’s the culprit, isn’t giving her access to me dangerous?”
“Yes.” No hesitation. “Which is why a guard will escort you to every session.”
“Yeah, but if she could subdue Exos…”
“They don’t stand a chance against her,” he finished. “But it might give you just enough
time to escape should you require it.” He sighed then, leaning back against my tree and gazing upward at the branches. “It’s all conjecture on my part, Claire, but I have to consider everyone as a suspect. And you’re the only one being provided direct access to Elana. She’s very likely innocent. However, I learned a long time ago not to trust anyone except family.”
Which meant he didn’t trust me, either. Hence his comment earlier about all the possibilities of the plague.
I’m a suspect in his eyes. How many others felt the same?
The icy gaze that fell upon me said he knew what I was thinking and refused to put my thoughts at ease in any way. “What’ll it be, Claire? I’m late for a meeting.”
Did I really have a choice? If Elana had Exos—which I strongly doubted—then I had to at least try, right? If anything, I’d learn more about myself and my mother and the history of this world. And maybe I’d garner stronger control.
Nothing to lose, really.
I cleared my throat and nodded, taking the documents and his pen. “All right.”
“Good girl.” He eyed my tree again and snagged a peach from a lower branch. “Thanks for lunch, little queen. I’ll see you after the Council meeting.”
I signed where indicated and handed the papers back to him. “Council meeting? Like the ones Exos attends?”
“Mm-hmm.” He smirked. “I’ll take you one day. You’ll hate it.”
“Are you going to tell them about Exos?” I asked, hopeful that maybe they could help us.
His gaze shuttered, darkness shadowing his light eyes as the watery wall collapsed around us. “Absolutely not.”
With that, he disappeared as quickly as he’d appeared, leaving a trace of mist in his wake.
How did he do that?
Cyrus
“What news do you bring us?” Elana asked, her place at the head of the council table brimming with power.
I’d debated all day if I wanted to announce Exos’s disappearance and ultimately decided against it. With Mortus sitting across from me, it seemed even more prudent I say nothing at all and play along. They all believed I’d tasked my brother with something spirit related, temporarily taking his place by the Halfling’s side.