Calla's Story

Chapter 25

Twenty-Five

I freeze, listening intently, but it’s definitely Chase. His voice has that deep, self-assured tone I’ve quickly become familiar with. A thrill races through me—he’s here!—which I attempt to stamp down immediately. I peer between the woven branches, swinging my seat slowly around until I find him. He’s standing with a woman beside one of the floor-to-ceiling windows, a clear one that provides an excellent view of stars glittering against a dark sky. He looks delicious in his well-tailored but understated suit—no feathers, sparkles or ribbons for him—and the woman looks equally elegant.

Did you seriously just use the word ‘delicious’?

Shut up.

I push aside my internal argument and notice that the woman is the same one I saw when I traveled back to the scene from Chase’s past. Her hair is shorter now, sleek, dark waves resting on her shoulders, but it’s definitely her. Confident posture and alluring smile. She looks fabulous in a form-fitting red dress and black lace gloves that are prettier than mine.

I don’t like her.

“Are you sure he’s coming?” she asks before taking a sip from her drink and surveying the room over the rim of her glass.

“Yes. He went to great lengths over the past two days to secure himself an invitation.”

“Are you going to tell me how you know this?”

“No.” Chase pushes his hands into his pockets. “You don’t want to be part of my team, so you don’t get to know my sources.”

She pouts. “You know I don’t play well with others.”

“And yet you always agree to help me when I ask.”

She looks away, and I can barely hear her when she says, “You know why.”

You’re eavesdropping, I tell myself. You’re definitely eavesdropping. But I got here first, and it isn’t my fault they’re speaking loudly enough for me to hear. I shouldn’t have to move, should I?

“Do you really think he’ll tell me what he’s after?” the woman asks.

Chase turns and looks out the window. “You’ve convinced many men to tell you many things. I have no doubt you can make him talk.”

A sly half-smile stretches her red lips. “You’re right. I do have an exceptionally high success rate.”

Chase chuckles. “Thank goodness for that. There doesn’t seem to be any other way of finding out what Saber’s after.”

Saber? Oh shoot. I do not want to run into that man again. I might not have his bangle anymore, but he’s probably still furious with anyone involved in stealing and destroying it. I’m sure he’d be happy to exact his revenge if the opportunity presented itself.

“And if he won’t tell me?” the woman says to Chase. “Then what? Perhaps you should move on to something else. This particular project has consumed far too much of your time.”

“You know who he’s working for,” Chase says, crossing his arms and turning away from the window. He casts a glance across the room. “Undoubtedly the most dangerous man we know. I can’t move on if I know he’s planning something.”

The most dangerous man? My thoughts turn immediately to Draven. He’s definitely the worst threat our world has faced. But he’s gone. I know Olive has her doubts, and there was that enchanted storm everyone was worried about, but Vi and Tilly—the two people who were actually there for the moment all the history books gloss over: the moment Draven was stabbed with a special weapon—seem to think he’s gone. And didn’t someone say the storm was caused by two faeries dueling each other?

“What about the Guild girl?” the woman asks. “You said she might be able to help you.”

Guild girl? That’s me!

“Yes, but working with someone from the Guild probably wouldn’t end well for you and me.”

“Just you,” she says. “I’m not on your team, remember?”

“You’re connected to me. If the Guild girl chooses to turn me in, it won’t be long before they come looking for you.”

“Then use her without giving her enough information to be able to do that,” the woman continues. “Leave out details, or give her false ones. If she doesn’t know enough, she can’t do anything.”

Okay, I can’t sit by and listen while they talk about me like this. Here I was having ridiculous heart palpitations about the hot vigilante tattoo artist, and all he wants is to use my Griffin Ability. I swing my chair around and push myself up and out of it.

“That won’t work,” Chase says. “She knows too much already.”

“I see,” the woman says as I start walking toward them. She laughs, and the sound is enchanting. “How very interesting. You’ve managed to keep your secrets for years, and now one girl comes along and—”

“It isn’t like that.”

“Oh really?”

My feet come to a halt as I sense that this might actually be a conversation I want to hear more of. But I’m too close to them already and my sudden stop has caught their attention. Chase’s eyes widen in surprise. “Calla?”

I close the distance between us with confident strides, crossing my arms over my chest. “What a surprise to see you here,” I say.

“Indeed,” he says. “You look …”

“I look?”

“Older.”

“How lovely. Because every girl wants to hear that she looks old.”

He gives me a small smile. “I think you know that’s not what I meant.”

I turn my gaze to the woman, Chase’s flawless companion, who appears to be examining me with shock. She looks at Chase, then back at me. “Woman in gold,” she whispers.

“Excuse me?” I ask, although I’m pleased to hear her referring to me as a woman and not a girl. It makes me feel as though we’re on more of an even footing.

“Uh, nothing,” she says, then smiles, appearing to regain her composure. “I was just thinking of something Chase told me years ago. You’re the Guild girl, I assume?”

“Yes. And you are?” I’m aware I’m being rude, but I can’t help it. There’s nothing about this woman that makes me want to be polite to her.

“I’m Chase’s hair stylist,” she says, leaning over to run her gloved fingers through his hair.

Hair stylist. Right. And I’m a purple fire-spitting bunny.

Chase reaches up and calmly removes the woman’s hands. “Elizabeth,” he says. “Don’t you have somewhere to be now?”

She sighs. “Why do you always insist on calling me nasty names?”

“It’s your name,” he says. “It isn’t nasty. Now you need to find Saber and get him to talk.”

“Fine. If I must.” She smoothes her hands down over her thighs. “You two enjoy each other’s company,” she adds with a knowing smile. She sashays away while I try to figure out if I’m brave enough to ask Chase why I’m the only girl to discover any of his secrets.

“So, I’m here because of Saber,” Chase says before I can find my courage. “Why are you here?”

“Uh … didn’t I tell you?” My mind races to come up with a clever quip. “I live here. In Estellyn Tower.”

Chase’s expression doesn’t change. Probably because that was the furthest thing from clever and he can’t be bothered to reply until I give him a real answer.

With a sigh, I say, “My friend followed a clue and found an invitation. I figured hanging out with celebrity fae was a good way to end a bad day.”

“A bad day?”

“Just my mentor reminding me that nothing I do is good enough. Hey, did you also have to solve a clue and go hunting for an invitation?” Somehow, I can’t imagine Chase doing that.

“No. I have ways of getting myself invited to events without having to hunt for anything.”

“Of course. You hunt criminals, not party invitations.”

An amused smile touches his lips, but he says nothing.

“I know, I know. You won’t admit to anything. If you did, I’d be able to use it when I turn you in, right?”

“Calla—”

“You know I’m not going to do that.”

“And you know I’m not going to just use you for your ability, so what are you upset about?”

“I’m—” What am I upset about? Elizabeth, probably. Trying to convince him to use me, putting her hands all over him, remarking about a comment from years ago to make me fully aware they have some kind of history together.

“You should go home, Calla. If Saber sees you here, things could get messy.”

“And if he sees you?”

“He won’t. My charming companion is going to keep him busy.”

“Then he won’t be paying any attention to me, will he?”

“Calla, you—”

“Please.” I hold my hand up. “Don’t do that overprotective thing. I get enough of it from my parents and my brother. I’ve been kidnapped and locked up, I’ve been ridiculed and teased, I’ve faced dozens of opponents during unofficial assignments, and I’ve survived it all. I think I can take care of myself.”

Chase frowns. “You were kidnapped?”

“Yes. It isn’t something I—”

“Callaaa! There you are!” Gemma runs over, flings her arms around me, and squeezes me tight. Perry follows close behind, looking concerned.

“Hey, we’ve been looking for you for a while,” he says, “I think—”

“Oh my gosh,” Gemma says, hanging onto my arm and staring wide-eyed at Chase. “You’re the hot tattoo guy. And you’re standing right here. Know what? I’ve always wanted to get a tattoo on—” she giggles, then whispers “—my butt. Do you do butt tattoos? Please say yes. You’re the best tattoo artist in the whole world.”

“Um …” I cast a questioning look over Gemma’s head at Perry.

“I think she ate something weird,” he says. “She’s been like this for the past ten minutes.”

“Some of the chocolate bonbons have alcohol inside them,” Chase says, not looking the slightest bit disturbed by Gemma’s outburst. “Human alcohol, not faerie alcohol. It acts quickly on our systems.”

“That’s probably it,” Perry says. “She ate a whole load of different bonbons.”

“They were AH-mazing,” Gemma says loudly.

“I’m sure they were.” I pat her arm. “Perry, maybe you should—” I duck as a group of sprites flying in formation swoop over our heads before continuing around the room where they receive applause from most of the fae they fly over.

“This Lucien de la Mer guy provides the strangest entertainment,” Chase comments.

“Um, I don’t feel so good,” Gemma says.

“Chase?” Elizabeth hurries toward us. She frowns at Gemma, currently bending over and breathing deeply while Perry rubs her arm. Elizabeth steps closer to Chase and lowers her voice to say, “Something’s gone wrong. I didn’t get to Saber in time. I saw him grab Lucien’s wife and pull her into another room through the door behind the ice pond. No one else seemed to notice.”

“Damn. What does he want with her?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not sticking around to find out.” She touches Chase’s arm, then backs away. “I’m leaving. I can’t afford to get caught here if things go south and security locks this place down.”

Chase gives her a quick nod and says, “I understand.”

“Coward,” I mutter under my breath.

“Calla, we should really get Gemma home,” Perry says.

“Yes. Can you take her? I need to help Chase with something here.”

Perry frowns. “Uh, okay. I’ll message Gemma’s sister. She helped her sneak out, so hopefully she’s still around to distract the parents while I sneak her back in.” He drapes Gemma’s arm over his shoulders and helps her across the room toward the elevator. He’ll have to get her down to the lawn before he’ll be able to open a doorway to the paths.

“You should go too,” Chase says, looking around for the ice pond. He spots the skaters and starts heading for them.

I hurry after him. “I can help you.”

“I know, but I don’t think your help is necessary tonight. I just need to get in there, stun Saber, and get him out of here before he hurts anyone or accomplishes whatever it is he’s here for.”

“And you don’t think you could possibly use an illusion master to make your little rescue mission go more smoothly?”

Chase hesitates a moment, appearing to weigh up the options as he stares at the door on the other side of the frozen pond. “Okay. But you need to do whatever I say.”

“I think I can probably manage that.”

We move through the crowd of laughing, drinking, dancing guests as quickly as we can without looking conspicuous. When we reach the other side of the ice pond, near the door Saber took Lucien’s wife through, I get to work. I picture the door with no one standing in front of it and project the image as far as I can. At least, I think that’s what I’m doing. I’ve never really thought about distance or how many people my projections could influence at one time. I don’t know if everyone in this room will automatically see what I want them to see, or if I have to imagine forcing the image further and further out. It seems strange that I don’t know the limits of my own ability. Why have I never tested this before?

“Are you doing it?” Chase asks. I nod, and he moves in front of the door. He’s gathered enough power to stun someone—which took him all of about four seconds—in case Saber attacks him the moment he opens the door. He tries the handle, but it’s locked. “Just give me a minute to get this open.” He kneels down and does some kind of spell on the keyhole with his stylus.

“Sure. I’ll just be over here, imagining a blank door.”

“Great. This shouldn’t take too—Ah, there we go. Just a simple locking spell, as I suspected.” He returns his stylus to an inside jacket pocket, stands, and takes hold of the handle. “Get ready to be creative if necessary.”

I nod. He opens the door and steps quickly inside, both hands raised and ready to release magic. When nothing exciting happens, I peer past him and see an empty corridor with the same polished floor as the vast living area the party is happening in. I follow him and close the door behind me, finally letting go of the blank door image. We advance along the corridor. No doors lead off it, but it turns to the left not too far ahead.

A dull thud. The sound of running feet. My heart quickens, and I raise my hands to place a shield of protective magic in front of me. A second later, Saber comes sprinting around the corner. Chase sends his stunner spell shooting through the air. Saber ducks, skids to the side across the polished floor, and throws his hands out toward us. Sparks fly from his fingertips, morphing into a flurry of leaves that attack my shield and swirl around Chase’s head before I extend the shield in front of him.

“Drop the shield,” he tells me, so I do. He sweeps his hand out, and the leaves fall away. With the air clear now, I see Saber down on one knee, tossing a metallic ball across the floor toward us.

“What is—”

I don’t have time to finish my question before Chase throws himself against me and pins me to the wall. An explosion deafens me, shuddering the ground and walls and filling the corridor with billows of thick grey smoke. Above the ringing in my ears I hear Saber shouting, “I’ve already got what I came for.”

Chase pushes away from me and disappears into the smoke. My eyes sting and I can’t stop coughing, so I form a bubble of protection around me while the smoke dissipates. After about a minute, it’s gone. Chase comes running back into the corridor, shaking his head and looking grim. “I couldn’t find him. He’s gone.”

“Lucien’s wife?” I say. I turn and run in the other direction down the corridor. We find her in a sitting room around the corner, lying on the floor. She sits up as we reach her, rubbing her head and looking confused. “Are you okay?” I ask, helping her up onto a chair. Her arms are barely more than skin and bone, and her short hair is so thin, I can see her scalp through it. I remember bits of what I’ve read in the news about this woman’s strange illness that her body’s magic can’t heal and no one can cure.

Still looking rather dazed, she says, “I think so.”

“The man who brought you in here,” Chase prompts. “What did he want?”

Her eyes are wide with bewilderment. “What man? What happened? I don’t remember coming in here.”

I notice a small glass vial on the floor. “He made her forget,” I say quietly to Chase. “She doesn’t know anything.”

Running footsteps sound in the corridor. “Security,” Chase says. “Can you make them think we’re not here?”

I nod, already picturing the room without us in it. Just the polished floor, the square furniture, the overly fluffy rug, and the recovering woman. When several guards run into the room, they hurry straight past us. We walk slowly, quietly back to the corridor, then pick up our pace. Two more guards are stationed at the doorway, holding back the questioning crowd. I have to hold an image of the empty corridor in my mind as we walk toward everyone. It’s scary, knowing I might lose focus at any moment and allow the two of us to become visible. Halfway down the corridor, I grab onto Chase’s arm and close my eyes so I can focus on the illusion I’m projecting. “Don’t let me walk into anyone,” I whisper.

We make it out safely, quickly moving through the crowd after I accidentally brush against one of the guards. “I have to admit,” Chase says once we’re a safe distance from the corridor and the barrier is back up around my mind, “your ability was quite useful in getting us in and out of there.”

I shrug. “You’re welcome.”

“I just wish I knew what Saber came here for.” Chase clenches his fist and presses it against the pillar we’re standing beside. “He’s several steps ahead of me, and I don’t like it. The fact that I know who he’s working for makes it even worse.”

Undoubtedly the most dangerous man we know. That’s what Chase said earlier.

“Who? What makes this person so dangerous? It’s not …” I feel so stupid saying the name Draven. It can’t be him.

Chase shakes his head. “I don’t want to involve you.”

“Right, like I’m not involved already.” When he shows no sign of answering me, I say, “Does the Guild know anything about this … situation? Guardians are the ones who should be dealing with this.”

“The Guild is aware of some of this.”

I raise my eyebrows. “And? You’re going to make them aware of the rest of it?”

“And … I think this is the end of our conversation.”

I groan loudly and grab a skewer of strawberries from a passing tray. “You’re infuriating. This is why we aren’t going to be working together.”

“Yes. This is one of the reasons.”

“But, you know, we can still be friends. I’ll help you pick out designs for your tattoo clients, and you can teach me the best way to stab an enemy without killing him.”

Chase allows himself a smile. “Sounds like the basis for a lifelong friendship.”

I nod and finish chewing my strawberries. I drop the skewer onto another passing tray and say, “Well, good night. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“For a stabbing lesson.”

“Right.”

I turn to leave, but he grabs my arm. “Calla?” His gaze drops to the ground in a moment of hesitation. “When I said ‘older—’” his eyes, beautiful and intense, rise to meet mine “—I didn’t mean ‘old.’”

I press my lips together as I try to hold my smile in. “I know.”