For the first time since arriving in the citadel, Effie wasn’t the only one to sustain an injury during one of their missions. It was a relief in the sense she didn’t feel singled out as the weakest amongst them, but it also meant her friends were spread thin while visiting the others.
That left Effie with a lot of free time on her hands—time where all she could do was think. Being stuck with only her thoughts for company was Effie’s idea of hell. Her mind was a dark place filled with ghosts. Only a masochist would want to spend any amount of time wandering around in there.
Although, some of the darkness inside her had quieted since coming to the citadel. Effie’s new purpose gave her something to focus on besides the past. Well, that and a certain Guardian’s intense gaze, but thinking of him filled her with a different kind of restless ache, so Effie avoided that as well.
The only reason she was still in the healing wing at all was because the healers had threatened to chain her to the bed if she tried to escape before they released her . . . again. Lucian’s smug grin when they issued the ultimatum told her he’d help them do it.
Grunting, Effie plucked at the bandage wrapped around the bottom half of her leg. Her injury itself was minor once the poison was removed from her blood stream. The issue—and the reason she was currently trapped in this bed—was that no one knew if the poison would have any lingering effects due to the corruption.
After a restless night trying to sleep in the unfamiliar bed, and a half day spent failing to keep her mind occupied, Effie was fairly certain she was in the clear. If only one of the healers would come check on her so she could convince them of the same.
The door creaked opened and Effie sat up, her flicker of hope guttering at the sign of the scarlet robe. She hoped her face didn’t convey her disappointment.
“Why is it you only seem to seek me out when you know I can’t run away?” she muttered dryly, settling back into her pillows.
Smoke paused in the doorway. “Would you rather I leave?”
“No! I was joking.” Effie sighed. “We really need to work on your sense of humor.”
“Perhaps you need to work on the quality of your jokes.”
Effie gaped. “Are you teasing me? Are you even allowed to do that?”
Smoke’s answer was to move closer to her bed, although Effie supposed there really was no point answering such a question. He was part of the Triumvirate; he could do whatever he wanted.
“You aren’t here with happy tidings, are you?” she asked when he sat at the end of her bed. If he’s getting comfortable, this definitely isn’t an all-is-well kind of chat.
“How are you feeling?” Smoke asked.
Effie gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m bored.”
“Better than the alternative.”
“You mean death? Leave me in here staring at the ceiling a few more hours and I’m not so sure I’d agree.”
“Restless, Daughter?”
Effie opened her mouth to disagree, but thought better of it. Restless was one way of describing the feeling of unease that hadn’t abated since their venture into the jungle. It was certainly the easiest explanation.
“How are the others?” she asked instead.
“They’re worse patients than you.”
Effie snorted. “I didn’t know that was possible.”
“Neither did I.”
Unexpected laughter bubbled up in response to his sarcasm. “I had no idea you could be so witty.”
Smoke shrugged as if to say there was a lot she didn’t know.
“So if you aren’t here to tell me something I want to hear, why did you come?” Effie asked.
Smoke’s hood dipped as his voice filled her mind. “What you said about your most recent vision concerns me.”
“That I seem to be the main focus?”
He nodded. “I would like to work with you personally until we get to the bottom of it.”
Effie threw up her hands. “Finally!”
“That pleases you?”
“It’s only the one thing I’ve been asking you to do since I got here.”
Smoke cocked his head, reminding Effie of an inquisitive bird. If he had been anyone else, Effie would have guessed he was genuinely surprised by her reaction.
“Did you really think I would object?”
“It has been your tendency since you arrived.”
Her cheeks grew hot. “Not recently,” she said softly, picking at her blanket.
“You didn’t want to share your vision with us.”
Effie glanced up. “That didn’t have anything to do with you.”
“We are one in the same.”
“Not even remotely,” Effie said with a snort.
She could feel the weight of his stare even hidden behind his hood. For once, Effie was glad Smoke didn’t have a human face. It would be impossible to look directly at that kind of intensity.
Effie chewed on her cheek, trying to find the words she needed to explain what she meant because it was clear he expected her to.
“I trust you, Smoke, because you have proven yourself worthy of that trust. You are the only one who has shown any interest in getting to know me. Not just as your newest Keeper, but as an actual person. You were the only one to drop the mask of your title and use your actual voice to speak to me. You were the one that came, time and again, to check and see if I was okay. Just you.” Effie shrugged, not sure what else to say except, “You were the one that told me respect must be earned.”
“So I did.”
“It’s not that I have anything against the Mirrors, but if I have to make myself vulnerable, I’d rather do it with someone who’s proven they aren’t going to use it against me.” She gave him a wry smile. “I learned that lesson quite early on.”
A low howl whipped around the room, and Effie jolted before she realized it came from him. If the sound of rustling leaves was a sign of the Triumvirate’s amusement, then this was surely a sign of their rage.
“I Saw.”
Effie’s mouth went dry. She never knew two words could be so filled with anger.
“Well,” she said once she finally recovered, “then you understand.”
Effie half-expected an answer, but there was none.
When she’d first met the Triumvirate, she’d thought them unfeeling, like they’d sacrificed their humanity when becoming the beings that were responsible for overseeing the fate of the realms. Now she wasn’t so sure.
Perhaps it was not a lack of feelings at all. Maybe the Triumvirate closed themselves off to keep from feeling too much. Centuries of prophecies depicting countless paths, most filled with death and destruction, had to enact a terrible toll. Perhaps shutting themselves down was the only way to keep from going completely mad.
“Would you like to See my vision now?” Effie asked.
“If you’re up for it.”
Effie rolled her eyes. “I have a scratch on my leg. I do worse to myself stumbling around the citadel.”
Smoke stood and moved to the other end of the bed so that he was standing next to her. Effie didn’t flinch when his hand lifted, the dark blue rune in his palm filling her vision.
“What does it mean?” Effie asked, darting her eyes from his hand up to his hood.