Shadowstorm (Sorcery and Science Book 6) (12 page)

“It is,” she told Everett, adding to Cameron, “And it will work. I’m a Prophet with Triad tendencies already. The serum doesn’t have to give me abilities I don’t have; it just has to boost those that I do. I was talking to Silver recently about my abilities, and he thinks you, Jason, and I all have Triad powers just waiting to surface if given the right serum.”

“Jason wouldn’t want you messing around with serums,” said Cameron.

“Jason isn’t here.”

A calculated grin spread across Cameron’s mouth. “I promise not to tell him if you let me try out the serum too.”

“Deal.”

Jason was right. The two of them were magnets for trouble. Everett didn’t need to tell them that. The wicked sparkles in their eyes told him they knew that well enough.

“So what are you planning on doing with all of this?” Cameron slipped the necklace off his neck and held it out to Terra.

“I plan on annoying Aaron Selpe,” Terra muttered to herself.

Cameron frowned. “I thought you wanted to sell the jewels.”

“That will have to wait,” she said.

“Why?”

“Pretty as they are, it’s not exactly an easy matter to sell the Selpe imperial jewels,” said Everett. “They are too well known, even after all these years of being locked away. And there are few people crazy enough to risk taking on something so hot.”

“You knew that when you suggested we take them, didn’t you?” Cameron asked Terra.

She stared into the fire and said nothing.

“Oh, she knew,” Everett told him.
And she didn’t care.
He left that last part unsaid. “Fortunately for us, I happen to know a few crazy people. I think I can sell them.”

Terra braided her fingers together and grinned at them. “See? It all worked out perfectly then.”

Cameron gave his sister an exasperated look. “So now what?”

“Now we see what you can get from this,” Everett said, handing him the Xenen artifact. Like the other pieces to this puzzle, it looked like nothing more than a tiny hunk of smooth metal. It was hard to believe that so much trouble had come from something that to his eyes appeared hardly more threatening than a sculpture of modern art.

Cameron’s lip gave a nervous twitch, but he took the artifact. Holding it in one hand, he traced the other across its glossy silver surface, which gleamed with diffused red-orange splotches of reflected firelight. His eyelids dropped.

Everett expected they’d be waiting awhile—from what he’d seen, getting a ‘memory’ off of something involved a whole lot of waiting—so he was surprised when Cameron spoke almost immediately.

“It
was
Lady Cassandra,” he said, his eyes opening. They shone like ice-blue crystals. “She deposited the artifact inside the Treasury.”

“She brought a Xenen artifact to Elitia,” Terra grumbled.

The wind picked up, whirling fallen leaves into an agitated frenzy all around them. Everett wasn’t sure she was responsible for the sudden change in weather—but he had a feeling she was. She’d spent enough time with Jason that a few of the assassin’s quirks seemed to have rubbed off on her.

“Do you think your friend’s parents would mind having a few Xenen artifacts in their Treasury?” he asked her.

Ripples spread across Terra’s smooth forehead as she turned an icy glare on Everett. Jason would have been so proud. Everett bit back the words before they could spring from his tongue.

“Uh, I’m sure Lady Cassandra thought Elitions couldn’t tell the difference between Xenen and Selpe technology,” he said.

The blizzard storming in her eyes didn’t die down.

“Anyway… I have the Treasury log here.” Everett pulled a fat notebook out of his bag. “It says that Lady Cassandra dropped off the artifact and the sand slate only the day before the attack on Hope. Hmm, she brought them here the same day Decia was attacked.”

Cameron leaned over to read the log. “Art? She had the artifact and the sand slate entered into the log as ‘art’?”

“Are you getting anything off of this sand slate?” Everett handed the slate to him. “Is it paired to the one found at the Marsh hideout?”

Cameron brushed his finger across the dark surface. Exactly as the other sand slate, it did nothing. “No. I just get the same feeling that its match is too far away for me to precisely pinpoint.” He handed it to Terra, who nodded.

“I get the same feeling,” she confirmed. “The other sand slate we found is in Eclipse. If they were paired, we’d feel it.”

“So it seems like we’ve got two sand slates, each one linked to another slate really far away?” Everett asked them.

“Seems like,” agreed Terra.

“And then we’ve got a whole bunch of creepy Xenen artifacts that can presumably be put together to make a creepy Xenen…something. A weapon?” Everett looked at Cameron.

“I’m not sure.” He stared into the fire, the reflected flames dancing and swirling inside his eyes. “But the Xenen pieces—and the sand slates—that you brought back from the Rev isles are definitely connected to these here.” He turned, and his eyes swept over the high-tech mystery piece lying beside the magical communication slate. “And it seems like they’re all connected to the attack on the Revs.”

“Everett’s friend Ryder thinks whoever attacked them did so to retrieve the pieces,” Terra told him.

“I’d guess the Selpes found some Xenen technology, and they sent it over to their scientists to tinker around and try to figure out how it works,” said Everett. “Then the Fourteen Phantoms, not knowing its worth but clearly harboring a death wish, stole it from the Selpes and brought it back to the Marsh hideout. The Selpes found out and used that theft as an excuse to bomb the Rev isles.”

“Maybe it was the Selpes. Or maybe someone else,” Terra said. “There are many groups who would have seen a use for Xenen technology. What I find odd is that twice we found a sand slate with Xenen parts. Elition-enchanted objects are the absolute opposite of high tech. Who could be planning to use both?”

“The Crescent Order?” Cameron suggested.

That order of assassins was known for their use of magic
and
technology. Even so…

“It doesn’t quite match up,” said Everett. “They’re assassins. They kill from the shadows. Not with big bombs. Nothing like what happened at Decia.”

“There’s one more piece of this Xenen device out there, right?” Terra said. “If we can find it and put them all together…” She gasped, not looking like she treasured the thought. “Putting the item together might help us figure out who would want it and why.”

She’d only just stopped talking, and Cameron’s hand was already on the Xenen piece. His eyelashes dipped nearly to his cheekbones, then shot up again. “I’ve got it. A partial memory. The last piece is in Lear. The buyer was a man with a shotgun and a giant hat dangling…beaded tassels?”

“And the seller?” Everett asked him.

“A man with a Rev tattoo. And another tattoo with the name ‘Trixie’ in black ink over a red rose.”

Everett groaned. “Fark. One of the Fourteen Phantoms. I should have known. What he’s lacking in discretion he has tenfold in greed. I’ll bet his selling of that piece was what tipped Lady Cassandra off that the Fourteen Phantoms had stolen the whole batch of Xenen parts.”

“So our next stop is Lear?” Terra asked.

“Think you can get us there?” Everett teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Everett Black, I know you’re not doubting my skills as a guide.”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t want to end up stuck in a bog again.”

Cameron was laughing so hard, he nearly fell off the log he was sitting on.

“But you might want to put those sparkling jewels away.” Everett looked at the bracelet Terra was smiling at. “Or the Selpes will surely see us coming from half a continent away.”

“Should we drop them off in Eclipse?” Cameron asked.

“We’ll bring them with us to Lear,” said Everett. “You know all those crazy people I told you about? Well, a few of them are in Lear. When we get there, I’ll go look them up. I’ll have the jewels sold in no time.” He hoped. Emperor Selpe’s jewelry collection wasn’t just ostentatious; it was heavy.

“And if you can’t?”

“Don’t worry, Cameron,” Terra said. “Let’s just get to Lear. I have the perfect hiding spot for those jewels.” She stood and began to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Cameron asked.

“To sneak into the Sundrop Loop sand pit,” she said. “I have a message to send.”

“What kind of message?” asked Everett.

“To Ariella. These Xenen artifacts are way out of my expertise and yours too. But Ariella knows someone who can help us.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

~
Enchanted Sunset ~

527AX January 10, Zephyr

THE FAINT TASTE of saltwater bit at Ariella’s tongue, blending with the nutty forest flavor. They weren’t far from the Zephyr coast now. Beside her, Davin walked in silence, his eyes staring straight down the trail. He wasn’t seeing the giant red trees that blocked out the sun and shaded their path. He didn’t notice the birds looping and diving between branches, the leaves shuddering as they flew by.

Ariella didn’t know what thoughts were keeping Davin trapped inside of his own head, but whatever they were, they consumed him. He’d hardly spoken more than three words to her since they’d left Sundrop Loop. And that was three words more than he’d said to her during the preceding four weeks combined. Something was going on with him. She just didn’t know what.

“We’re almost there,” she said to break the heavy silence.

Drawn out of his trance, Davin turned his eyes from the path and looked at her. “And you’re sure you have no idea why
King Fathom and
Queen Crystal wish to speak to me?”

There were many reasons why her parents, the rulers of the Elition kingdom of Zephyr, would want to speak to King River. But Davin? The only reason they’d have to speak to him was if King River were unavailable. And as far as Ariella knew, the high king of Elitia was still sitting in the Assembly Chamber at Laelia. At least, that’s where he’d been when Davin had received the invitation from her parents this morning. Odder still, they hadn’t invited him to meet them at their palace in Sundrop Loop; they wanted him to come to their house at Resonance Canyon, half a day’s hike from there.

“No, I don’t know their reasons.” Ariella grinned at him. “Maybe they’re planning a revolution.”

Davin snorted. “If so, they’re barking up the wrong tree here. I’m not crazy enough to take on my father.”

“Neither am I.” King River was a good fighter, but his talents were wasted with a blade. Strategy—that’s where he really shone. He’d see a revolution from years away. “But I was just joking.”

“I know.” He took her hand, squeezing it once—then dropped it. “I’m glad you’re here, Ariella. To be honest, I’m more than a little nervous at being summoned by the rulers of Zephyr.”

She’d come because the path to Resonance Canyon was nearly impossible to find if you hadn’t been there before. “You’ve met with heads of the kingdoms before.”

“Yes, in my father’s place. But I’ve never been asked for
by name
.”

She looked upon his easy smile, one that betrayed no hint of anxiety. He looked as gorgeous as…no, calm. She meant
calm
. The fact that he could dissolve her with a single glance of those enchanting teal eyes was beside the point.

“You don’t get nervous,” Ariella said.

“Sure, I do. I’m just better at hiding it than most people are.”

His smile was too knowing. Yes, she was an open book. She couldn’t hide anything. Everything she thought—everything she was—it was right out there for everyone to see. Which meant that Davin knew how she felt about him, and he hadn’t done anything with that knowledge. Or was she supposed to do something? Or say something?

You’re overthinking this
, Ariella told herself. She was too much of a coward to make the first move anyway. She’d rather fight off a dozen mechanical menaces than utter a single word to Davin about her feelings for him. She reached back to squeeze the hilt of her Serenity sword.

“Getting ready for a fight?” Davin asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

“No.” She dropped her hand. Touching
Starsoul just calmed her. Drawing the sword would have been even better, but that was teetering dangerously close to melodramatic. And even she had to draw the line somewhere.

“You and Terra are a lot alike,” he said, the thoughtful forward stare sliding over his eyes once more.

Davin didn’t say anything else. Neither did she. He hadn’t mentioned his sister since she’d run off from Orion last month. He’d hardly spoken of her since it had come out that she was his sister.

They continued on, the brief respite from the silence soon no more than a memory. Half an hour later—though it felt like days—they stepped out of the forest. The feathery leaves of the underbrush slid across Ariella’s cheek in a gentle farewell kiss.

Davin stopped and stared. Just past the meadow where they stood, two sheets of rippled rock rose up from the earth, the walls sparkling in the late afternoon sun. Pink and blue and gold and silver—and a thousand shades in between—they shimmered like they’d been coated in the dust of a pulverized rainbow. A cool breeze slithered across Ariella’s skin, sweeping over the meadow toward the canyon. As the wind slid through its mouth, the walls began to sing. Not wail. Not moan. Sing. Beautiful and melancholy, the magical song poured out of the canyon and wrapped itself around Ariella. It soaked through her pores. It drenched her heart. She drank it in with every breath that she drew.

And then, as quickly as it had begun, the song ended. The final echoes faded out, and the canyon walls were quiet once more. Ariella turned to look at Davin, whose eyes were wide with wonder. That’s how everyone looked the first time they came here.

“Welcome to Resonance Canyon,” she said.

“This is a magical place. An enchanted place,” he replied, his voice hardly above a whisper.

“It’s one of the most magical places in all of Elitia.” She waved him forward. “Come on. The house is just up ahead.”