Children Of The Sky (The Scripts Of Neptune, Book 2)

Chapter 23

Lillian found Leah conversing quietly with a woman in the corner, words rushed and tone drawn tight like a strung bow. She looked up when Lillian approached, her expression still tense. "Have you come to a decision?"

"We have," Lillian replied, brow knitting. "We've decided to go through with the betrothal. Is something wrong?"

"Good," Leah said briskly, ignoring Lillian's question and brushing past her. "You marry tonight."

Catching the queen's arm and not caring how it looked, Lillian stared at her. "What do you mean, we marry tonight?" she hissed. "What's happened?"

Leah shrugged off Lillian's arm and took a glass of wine from a passing waiter, eyeing Nyle as he approached before downing it all in one go. "If you want to secure your place as heir to anything, and that may still be possible, you marry before dawn." Setting the glass down, Leah met Nyle's gaze. "Naru has taken the Serpentine throne."

***

Jack waited for his brother in darkness.

It was a gentle darkness, the kind that was shot through with the light of a sliver moon and a million stars. It was quiet, too, but not in a truly quiet way; there were crickets and frogs singing in the trees, and a wind swaying the branches, but the absence of voices and manmade noise made it seem far more silent than was true. Maybe his time on the road had muddled his mind in that way. This was the first time he'd been alone for more than five minutes in a week and a half.

He waited a little over an hour, crouched in dark clothing on a ledge high in the tower where he'd found Rook's belongings scattered on a landing on the stairs. He was supposed to be back already---Jack had told him in the note to be here by sundown. He'd hoped Rook would respect that, but hadn't expected it.

Jack stiffened when he heard a noise from below, standing and pressing himself into a corner where he could see and not be seen. A dark shape trotted along the floor, skirting the broken fountain--Jack relaxed when he recognized Min's familiar gait. A human-shaped shadow was close behind, walking with that telltale saunter of his. He tripped on the edge of the fountain and cursed quietly, kindling a faint yellow-green light to see by. Jack had to fight not to chuckle. Rook was still getting used to his growing legs.

The spark of humor vanished in an instant. Jack stuck his foot out into empty space, stepped off the ledge, and morphed mid-air, dropping like a rock in the sea. He spread his wings and shifted back right before he hit the ground, landing in a crouch. Rook whirled and took a step back, startled, then relaxed and cracked that foolish, lopsided grin of his.

"You're finally here!" he said chipperly.

That put the spark to the fuse. Rook's smile faltered when Jack took a step forward, hearing the crackle of the storm inside clashing with the emotion in his chest.

Jack backed his brother to the wall, skin bright with lightning, hair standing on end all over his body. Gripping the front of Rook's shirt, he shoved him back against the mossy stone with a fiery glare. The light from his storm showed the fear on Rook's face, the wind that Jack hadn't realized he'd attracted playing with his hair.

"What the hell were you thinking, Rook?" Jack hissed, shaking him once. "You could've been killed, you know that? You're barely thirteen. There's only so much Min can protect you from."

Rook faltered, face white and tears forming in his eyes, and the storm in Jack's chest snuffed like a candle dropped in a well. It left behind a deep ache, a gnawing worry that'd chewed on him since the note he'd found in Ctash. Letting go, he turned away and ran his hands through his short hair, fingers tingling from the electricity, reining in the tempest he felt and trying not to bow under the pain it left behind.