Night had fully fallen, and the city had fully woken. Z’s house was close enough to the forum that, sitting here in the courtyard with her feet in the little pool, Jac could hear music and chatter, the clattering of hooves on stone, and wild laughter all bubbling over the stone walls around her. Z had been kind enough to let Jac wear one of her rich red peploses with a gold chain belt and some accessories—one thick, gold band just above each bicep, and some large gold hoop earrings to match the hammer on her back.

Z herself had chosen a simple cream dress similar to Belle’s powder blue one, and leather sandals that wound up around her calves. She had foregone any jewelry aside from a thin gold tiara that rested just above her brow. It wasn’t like Z to dress so unassuming—it wasn’t like her to do anything unassuming, but it seemed this was how Z learned. By becoming. She wanted to know how Belle charmed beasts, so she was going to try out being Belle for the night. So when Belle splayed out on the courtyard’s grass, her eyes glazing over as she stared up at the stars, her lips parted and her chest rising and falling ever so slowly, almost like she was asleep—Z settled in next to her.

Z watched Belle closely for a moment, then lay back, looked up, and tried to mimic her. But she never lasted more than a few seconds without shooting Belle another glance and then making some small adjustment. Jac had known Belle long enough to recognize when she was reaching out with her magic, but it surprised Jac to see her trying it now.

The journey from Urden to Ace had been … well, it hadn’t been fun. To see how broken her friend was, so broken she couldn’t practice, couldn’t bathe, couldn’t speak, could barely walk. And Jac, as always, had felt absolutely powerless when it mattered most. Protecting her friend was easy when it was man or monster who posed the threat, but Jac didn’t know how to fight a broken heart. All she could do was prop Belle up.

But now, such a short time later, here Belle was, doing her very best to search through an entire city’s magic to find one man.

Jac had a suspicion as to the cause of the shift in Belle’s mood, and to the reason she had kept that bag around her neck ever since they’d got to this house, but, Mother Light, Jac was too fried to worry about that right now. Everything recently had just been too much, she’d barely had a moment to think. Aside from her solitary bath in Quiet House, or getting the talon scratches on her shoulder patched up by this house’s healer, Jac hadn’t had the chance to take any time for herself. And then, her magic failing her like that…

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The thought still made her sick. Striking out, being so sure of her own abilities, her own strength, only to find absolutely nothing behind her punch. Like climbing a staircase and stepping onto the landing only to find a fifty-foot drop instead. And the humiliation of it—if anyone had seen…

Jac was at her limit of worries for the moment. So, for now, she was just going to let whatever was in that bag slide.

“Oh,” Belle said softly.

“Oh?” Z asked.

“Something is happening.” Just as soft.

Z sat up, propping on her arms extended behind her, and looked down at Belle. “Lots of things happen, Nyx. All the time. Could you find a name more specific than Something?”

Eyes still glazed, Belle could only answer, “Something big. To the East.”

Z shook her head. “What does that mean, Nyx?”

“You’re asking the wrong questions,” Jac said, swishing her feet in the water before her. “Paint me the picture, Belle. How does the magic look?”

“There’s so many, pushing and pulling and tearing. It looks like Chaos.”

Z’s eyes danced over Belle and an amazed smile pulled at her plump mouth.

“How does it sound?”

“A violent chorus, working to crescendo.”

Jac asked, “How does it taste?”

Belle’s tongue slid over her upper lip. “Like blood.”

“Yep,” Z immediately rocked forward to stand, “that’s him.”