Page 18 of A Thread of Breath and Bone

Ryker stands looking around the table. “Try harder, guys. You aren’t fooling anyone with that obvious staring.” He winks and smirks at me. “Ciara, Tate.” With a nod, he disappears to the head table.

Someone whistles low.

“Lucky bitch,” Britta mutters.

I sit in Intel, wanting to scream. Professor Manaea either isn’t very good at his job or his Intel is wrong.

“The strange weather patterns seem to have calmed down. Reports around the system show that for once, everything is stable as it should be.” He shakes his head, muttering. “Just a fluke.”

I roll my neck and tap my tablet pen on the desk. I know what fear can do, but this is irresponsible. Why aren’t they seeing what we are? Can’t they tell that the Veil is broken? We were supposed to have more time. Instead of looking at our planets, we should be looking at the barrier.

“Hey, you okay?” Tate asks, leaning toward me.

I shake my head. “No. I⁠—”

“Lord Kinnuenen,” Professor Manaea interrupts. “Would you mind reading the intelligence that came in this morning from Khyreth?” He hums, his silver, bushy brows lifting in question.

Tate mutters something as he swipes through his tablet, pulling up a single report from the Kadora Protos. “Report delivered by Commander Ren Cassidy. To be delivered to all seven kingdoms.” Tate mutters the facts out loud as he scrolls. When he finds it, he clears his throat. “As of 0400 this morning, on a routine mission from Terria to Hraun, we noticed a momentary flash of light originating from sector 12 along Ateria’s borders near Khyreth, moon seven.

“We were unsure if there was an explosion or what it could have been, so after several attempts at scanning the grids, we went to scout. Upon arriving at Khyreth, we were able to capture recorded footage of the strange black cloud moving under the typical atmospheric clouds that cover Khyreth. We have alerted King Alexi and Ateria’s command, and have not heard back.”

I’m pretty sure I stop breathing. Ateria has to be where the Veil is missing. Could the shadow forces have already moved in? I need to talk to Ryker.

Now.

I stand, grabbing my bag and shoving my tablet inside. “I’m sorry. I need to go.”

Professor Manaea is about to protest, but I don’t give him time. I rush out the door and across the yard back to Taeolyn, where Ryker is currently in Ethnography class.

I knock once on the open doorframe, and all heads swivel toward me. “Sorry Professor for the interruption⁠—”

Ryker is out of his seat in an instant, abandoning his things and walking out of class with me. Once we are in the hall, we find an empty study room. I relay everything we learned in Intel. He scrubs a hand down his face before pulling his Prism out of his back pocket. When I glance out of the room, Ezra is back, catching up with Rune.

“I need reports on Khyreth now. I want them by end of day. Hold off on sending anyone in, but I need surface images.” Ryker wraps an arm around me, tugging me closer. “Yes. No open channels. Hand-delivered as soon as possible.” With that, he tucks his Prism back in his pocket and pulls me in for a real hug.

“Do you think we’re too late?”

His hand runs down my spine. “No. It could be nothing, love. For now, there’s nothing we can do. Once I have the reports, we should know more.”

“I can’t go back to class, Ry. I can’t pretend everything is okay. Something is wrong. Aolyn hasn’t called. Ateria’s Protos aren’t responding. What if they’re here?”

He sighs. “I don’t know. Dammit.” He drops his forehead to mine. “It’s going to be okay. We will come up with a plan later. For now, let’s go see Professor Ainslyn. If they are here, you need to practice so you can protect yourself. It's clear that it's you they want.”

Professor Ainslyn canceled combat classes for today, and now we are standing somewhere in the Delomere Mountains, just below the freeze line. I’m shivering, but the Professor wants me to practice summoning my starlight. He’s about halfway up the mountain in a transport, watching safely from a distance.

I was able to control it last time—kind of.

It doesn’t matter. This is better than sitting in class. I close my eyes and find that well of power within me. I know this is the source of my magic, but I still haven’t figured out what to do with it. I yank open the lid that I constructed to keep it at bay and find the molten heat bubbling deep inside.

Great.

“Any day now,” Professor Ainslyn says into my earpiece.

“I’m trying. I can see it, but how do I get it to do anything?”

Of course he doesn’t respond. Okay. That’s fine. I can do this.

The last time I manifested, I was angry and scared. More than I ever had been in my life. It was a response, not something I had to make happen.