Shadows and The Sea - The Darkling

Search for Alina & Meeting a Gunslinger

Aleks' POV

Persephone left about an hour ago and in that time I dove further into the search for Alina. There were only a number of places her and her abductors could have fled to but with the report of the stolen carriage, there was sure to be news soon. And with that, the tracker was gone thanks to my...mother so I was left with a vague area where the Stag could be located.

Footsteps echoed loudly through the room, which told me it wasn't Persephone, but the other I had called upon.

"You wanted to see me?" asked Zoya.

"Yes. At sundown, I'm leading a team to pursue the criminals who took Ms. Starkov. I'd like you with me," I said without looking away from my papers.

"Of course."

"And recruit Ivan, the Inferni twin, Polina, and David."

"David? The Durast?"

"Yes. I'll need him for what comes next, but first, we need to catch up to her abductors before they try to cross the Fold, "I ended my orders before walking into the other room where I had now covered the entire bed in maps and documents since there was nobody there now.

Not that I ever mind Persephone staying there.

However, the Squaller did not leave just yet but rather followed me, "Is that their purpose?"

"What?" I asked as the nature of her question confused me.

"I mean...what do we know about them? What do we know about her for that matter?"

Now this caught my attention, "What are you trying to say, Zoya?"

She took a moment to gather her thoughts before elaborating, "Maybe she wasn't abducted. Maybe she was rescued. Maybe she ran with them."

"The Sun Summoner...ran off?" I questioned with a tone that conveyed the level of absurdity I found in the statements she was making.

I walked around to the other side of the bed as she continued, "She didn't get on with the others here. The kefta never fit her quite right. And the pressure of saving so many lives... "

"I know exactly how she felt," I cut her off. "The King's soldiers treated me the same way. Because they knew. They knew that I was more important than any of them."

At the end of that statement, I sat at the edge of the messy bed, "I'm not myself today."

The pressure to find Alina. The idea that Zlatan sent an assassin to kill her. Three criminals sneaking their way into the Little Palace. Nina Zenik possibly marooned somewhere on the west coast. Not knowing where the Stag could be. The tie constraint to get the Fold under control...it all gave me a headache.

After this I would go see Persephone.

I was pulled out of my inner musings, "You used to call on me...on times like this."

"Did I?" I asked. Now this was not what I needed a reminder of.

Since Persphone came to the Little Palace, I had not called on Zoya once. It wasn't needed. Now with the new found connections and feelings for the demigoddess, I can't believe I ever did. I now knew the difference.

"When your table was messy and your bed was neat. I'd help you make it the other way around. You'd let yourself relax," she said as she walked to stand in front of me, bringing a hand up to run through my hair and rest on my shoulder.

Surprisingly, as she did so, I felt the mark on my forearm tingle ever so slightly as if reminding me about Persephone. Not that I needed a reminder. She was always in the back of my mind.