Erador stared at the open witch book that was propped open on his chest. The information flooded his mind like rain creating a new lake. Orbid—crystals that prevented Harians from using their elements—were also utilized to make witch magic and Erador had one in his bed.

  He peeled the sheet off his sweaty chest and picked up the gray crystal. The candlelight on the dresser glowed around the edges. As he traced the cracks, he counted each one to try and cope with the sadness that bled into him.

  He spent thirty-six years not knowing these tiny crystals could store elements Harians possessed. Knowledge waited outside these walls but none of it was for him. His dreams of reaching it were as far as his father finding Paradise. The thought of endless possibilities resting in his palm made him sick.

  Erador shut the book and set it beside him. He looked like he hadn’t aged a day since his early twenties, a blessing of being a Harian. Though he could live double that of a human, the agonizing realization of his life wasting away was too much to handle. He wanted to do something different after more than thirty years, but regret rolled in when he turned his right forearm toward the light.

  The sunflower mark represented equality and peace, but it felt like shackles forcing him to stay in a place he didn’t belong. No matter where he went, he could never remove Lucrethia from his blood. The Raven doomed them and now that witch may be trying to bring them to their end.

  He wouldn’t let her.

  The last three weeks with Yuni had been agonizing. Her chipper demeanor was like a mask to hide her secrets. Loma hadn’t found any information on the green crystal. It had to be something. He refused to believe it was an accessory.

  Erador rolled onto his side and shut his eyes, trying not to think about witches or Yuni. His body relaxed as he dozed off; one of the only moments he found peace. His dreams were interrupted by a shadowy figure that shifted by his bed. Erador’s heart pounded as he tried to move but couldn’t. The creature inched closer, but he couldn’t see the face, only the tall slender figure that resembled Slen. Pressure on his chest made it hard to breath as it felt like something hot slipped inside of his skin. It wasn’t cold like the lurkers touch. His body temperature rose and felt like he was sitting close to a fireplace.

  As he tried to ask Shade for help, he stirred awake. His surroundings were dim; the candle on the dresser flickered. Erador’s gaze searched his room but nothing was here. He scratched his chest and was relieved when the pressure on his chest wasn't there. It wasn't real.

  A knock rapped on the window and Erador jumped.

  “Who’s there?” he asked.

  “It’s me,” Aminria said.

  His heart rate settled and he wiped the sweat from his forehead. Could his night get any worse? Erador got up, unclipped the dark curtain, and lifted the black-painted glass. Aminria wiggled her fingers, her eyes as silver and round as the first moon. Her hood tamed her red curls. The freckles on her milky skin had no pattern; they were scattered across her cheeks and nose like the blood that sprayed from his father’s mouth onto the white aprons.

  “What are you doing here?” Erador blurted harshly in hopes she would leave, but Aminria wasn’t as easy to get rid of as Shade.

  “I wanted to talk.”

  “About?”

  “What has been going on.” Aminria rubbed her arms and looked off the balcony. “Specifically rumors.”

  “Hold on.” Erador shut the curtain. He moved the book under his bed and slipped the crystal beneath his pillow, then called Aminria in. The warm breeze threatened to blow out the candle. Shade’s pleas ruptured through his brain.

  “I swear, Shade.” Erador glared as the dark shape slipped into his shadow. “I can’t get a moment alone.”

  “We could blow out the candle?” Aminria said.

  “Don’t. You’ll upset him more.”

  “So.”

  “Then he won’t let me in.”

  “I will.” She bit her thumb, her seductive eyes moved down Erador’s bare chest and lingered at his crotch.

  “Sorry.” He slammed the window shut. “You’re too warped for me to fit.”

  Aminria rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t take a compliment.”

  Shade zipped under the doorway, leaving into the hall. It felt like a wall was placed in his mind between him and Shade. Erador wasn’t going to give him attention for acting this way.

  “Let’s get to what matters,” Erador said, clipping the curtain. “Where have you been? The meeting was tonight.”

  “I was... busy.” Aminria played with a sunflower charm on her bracelet and dropped it. “Those rumors are becoming worse.”

  Erador pulled on his shirt and buttoned it. “What about them?”

  “The followers think your father is willing to sacrifice himself in his given state. But you...” Aminria said, untying her cloak, “are preventing him from doing that.”

  “They think I’m manipulating him?” Erador burst out laughing.

  “I wouldn’t be laughing. Those rumors could become serious and if your father dies...”

  “They have nothing to negotiate with.”

  Which meant the followers could turn over the guilty Paradins to New Akthelia and Odinaty to get what they wanted. Erador shivered at that thought.

  Aminria turned to the desk, examining the stack of books. She picked one up and rifled through it. Erador cringed at the sound of her turning pages. He fought himself to tear it from her filthy hands.

  “So boring.” Aminria snapped the book shut, carelessly placing it back on the pile. He straightened the book, and aligned the spines. She lifted a jar filled with liquid and a preserved reptile floated inside. “Now this is interesting.” She shook it and he pried it from her hands.

  “Don’t touch anything,” he threatened.

  “So touchy.”

  Aminria plopped into the armchair in the corner. She kicked her feet up on the footrest as Erador scrubbed her finger prints off the glass with his sleeve. He examined the jar. The creature’s eyes bulged and he pictured it as Miraline. Her head floating in the liquid as a satisfied smile pulled at his lips.

  He set the glass down as it was, and stomped around the bed to the dresser and hit the wood. “Dammit, Miraline. I never should have bothered with her.”

  “I told you she wasn’t any good.”

  Erador smirked and looked at Aminria’s reflection. “Like you?”

  “You ass,” she said, throwing a pillow at his back. “At least I’m not a crop contaminator.”

  “Great...” He let his hand slide off the dresser. “They think that too?”

  “Uh-huh. After your spat with Oliver.”

  Erador sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Another thing to look forward to.”

  “Why don’t you use Shade to steal food? It could clear your name.”

  “They’ll think it’s poisoned, if it comes from me.” He poked at fallen specks of dust on the varnish. “Any way to make me look guilty.”

  “It was a thought.”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Aminria tapped her fingers on the armrest. The sound drove into his skull. His mind wandered to the crystal under his pillow. He wanted to throw her out and continue reading, but like Shade, he would hear it from her later.

  The end of the white button-down shirt collected in her lap, and the long sleeves extended from her cloak and draped over her hands. It was far bigger than what she normally wore. Two of the top buttons were missing, where the frayed string remained. She stopped her fingers and met Erador’s scrutinizing eyes, pulling her cloak over her shirt.

  “I heard your father has a new assistant,” she said.

  Groaning, Erador dropped his head. “Don’t remind me.”

  “What’s wrong? I thought she was going to help him?”

  “I don’t trust her.”

  “Well, he’s desperate.” Aminria examined her pink nails. “What else can he do?”

  “Not rely on people who sabotage Lucrethia.”

  Aminria’s eyes flicked up. “You mean Gillian?”

  Erador relieved a sigh. “I don’t know how you put up with her.”

  “Oh, she’s not...” Aminria winched. “Bad.”

  Erador raised his thick eyebrows. “Really, Aminria?”

  “Who else does she have to turn to for guidance?”

  “Oh, right.” Erador slid his tongue across his grinning lip. “I’m sure you’re a wonderful role model with your choices.”

  “Screw you!” Aminria said, slapping the armrest. “People can learn a lot from me.”

  “Like how to steal, undermine, and bully. No wonder I don’t like her.”

  “For your information, I do that to people who deserve it. Gillian doesn’t do that. She’s...”

  “Na?ve?”

  “To put it nicely.”

  “What about her mission?” Erador turned and crossed his arms. “Do you know her plan?”

  “No.” Aminria rubbed her nails against her brown tights, her bracelet charms jingling. “Probably use her element again.”

  Erador moved to the bed’s corner and sat across from her. “Do you think it’s real?”

  “The blood?” She shrugged. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  He dipped his head. The witch book stuck out from under the bed trim. Aminria continued to scuff her nails against her tights. It gnawed at him, like it was trying to tear through his subconscious and pry out his secrets. As much as he fought to keep them in, he couldn't. Erador needed help. No matter how much he didn’t want it from Aminria, he didn’t trust many people.

  Erador lifted his chin, his words dragging off his tongue. “She’s a witch.”

  Aminria stopped her hand. “What?”

  “Yuni is a witch.”

  “Isn’t that obvious?” She judged him as if he were a fool for discovering it now. “Everyone’s been talking about it since the festival.”

  “And they don’t care?”

  “Not if Lord Judgment will get better. If he does, Lucrethia can be normal again.” Aminria sat forward. The light glimmered off her pink lips. “You need to get out more.”

  Normal? If only it were that easy. Lucrethia would need more than Judgment’s return to restore it.

  Sighing, Erador laid back in bed and rubbed his hand down his face. “I think she let the Raven free.”

  A heavy silence settled and the armchair creaked as Aminria shifted. “He’s... out?”

  Erador propped himself on his elbows. “That’s what the meeting was about.” He reached for the gray crystal under his pillow and tossed it in her lap.

  She lifted it. “What’s this?”

  “A teleportation crystal. I found it in the cage.”

  Aminria looked past it. “You think Yuni gave it to him?”

  He nodded. “I didn’t tell Judgment. No one knows about it besides Hawth.”

  “Why not?” Aminria shook the crystal. “This means she could’ve done it.”

  “They’ll find some way to discredit it,” Erador mumbled. “Plus, I don’t want them taking the only evidence I have. I might need it to find more proof.”

  Aminria’s face scrunched in concentration, and she tossed it on the bed. “What would she want with the Raven?”

  “Besides having him kill us… I want to find out.”

  Aminria rolled her eyes as if she didn’t believe it. Maybe people had become too desensitized to the Raven after being safe for years.

  “And how do you plan on doing that?” She glanced under the bed. “With your book?”

  “No...” Erador nudged the corner under the bed trim with his heel. “What if… New Akthelia or any of these kingdoms sent Yuni to kill him?”

  “But witches are banned in Odinaty.”

  “We did just try to take their princess. They might not care about working with a witch if it means ending Lucrethia. The other kingdoms could know about her healing blood. What better way to kill my father by making him believe he can be saved?”

  Aminria pulled her feet off the footrest. “Could they believe in the blood? Maybe they’re afraid he’ll rise again and destroy them?”

  “Does it matter? Someone wants him dead.”

  “You know, I might know a thing or two about crystals.”

  “You’re kidding?” Erador studied her closely. She was from the North, where witch magic was legal, but she didn’t present herself as someone knowledgeable about crystals.

  “I said you could learn something from me.” She leaned forward a smirk pulling at her lips. The top of her button-down shirt dipped as she stroked her bosom. “Maybe you should try asking next time.”

  Erador looked away. “I think I got enough from my book for now.”

  A buzz pulsed through Erador as his mind was overcome with an image of a person’s silhouette by his bedroom door. Erador dove for the handle and ripped it open. He looked down the hall, lit by candles. It was empty. His foot touched a wet, soft substance and he recoiled. Shade circled a blood-stained cloth between his feet.

  “Who was that?” Aminria said, craning her neck.

  Erador pointed at the rag and shut the door as Shade slipped inside. “It was a caretaker.”

  “Which one?” Aminria covered her mouth. “What if they tell someone about the crystal?”

  More freckles seemed to appear on her skin as the color escaped. She tugged her cloak shut, moved to the bed and sat. It was possible the caretaker could tell someone and the information could spread throughout the Paradins and to the followers. The room seemed to cave in on him and his weak knees forced him back onto the bed.

  Erador forgot the disgusted feeling from touching the bloody rag. “If it spreads to the followers, they’ll say I’m trying to frame Yuni to get rid of her, so my father can’t be healed.”

  Aminria looked through the hair dangling over her face. “They don’t have proof.”

  “Do they need it?”

  Aminria shook her head, letting it fall into her hands. Red curls draped over her legs. “What about Shade?” Her head shot up. “Would he know who it was?”

  On the wall, Shade shook his head.

  “He can’t see,” Erador said. “Only sense another presence and not exactly who.”

  Aminria cursed. “What if you threaten them? You’re good at that.”

  “That doesn’t mean they won’t tell.” Erador groaned and dug his nails into his scalp. “If it was a caretaker that leaves only three people. I don’t think Sescina would tell anyone and Pia… she usually keeps to herself.”

  “Mikra probably won’t either.”

  Erador gave her a suspicious stare. “Why do you say that?”

  She shrugged. “He’s quiet. Keeps to himself.”

  “Hawth knows too. What if the town learns the Raven is out?

  Her lip cracked up. “We could do what I said.”

  “No,” Erador said, shaking his hand. “That’ll prove to the followers that I’m poisoning my father and trying to get rid of Yuni.”

  “They already think part of that.”

  “That’s why I need to prove that Yuni isn’t here to help him and prove I’m innocent before the followers discover the Raven escaped.”

  Finding out who Yuni was, would be like finding lost buttons. The information could be anywhere, scattered and needing to be stitched together. Or he could be left a fool, searching for something that was no longer where it once had been.

  Aminria bit her finger. “I might... know of a witch.”

  Erador cocked his head. “You do?”

  “I’m the troublemaker, remember?”

  “Guess I should’ve known.” He lifted his chin. “Where’s this witch?”

  “Around. I’ll show you.”