IARA

Malachi sent word to his parents. He was sure they were on their way home, but if a crow could get a letter to them even a day earlier, it would help. I didn’t know how fast messages by bird went, but Malahci seemed particularly impatient for their reply. It had been almost three nights since he had sent the crow out.

The streets of the festival were empty. It was the last day and even though the attack had been nights ago, no one dared to be outside for too long. One vendor stayed open and I got to know them very well. I must have bought at least three cakes from them every night. I picked at one as I sat on the stone seats for an empty town square. Malachi sat next to me, his head propped up on his hand. He stared ahead, his brows ever so slightly furrowed. Hints of emotions were playing more on his face recently. I knew how troubled he was. I didn’t need to touch him to see that.

“Are you alright?” I asked him.

He glanced my way, then looked back to the empty square we sat in. He sighed heavily and shook his head. “I am very tired,” he admitted.

“I can tell,” I replied. I offered him a bite of my cake but he shook his head. Ever since he drank my blood, he rarely ate real food.

I took a bite of my pastry and looked at the empty square as well. “We could look around to see where the husks came from. We know that husks can’t be teleported by spells. One has to have a clear mind to step through a portal and not end up in the Inbetween.”

“Yes, as every magically educated person knows,” he sighed.

“So,” I said slowly, trying not to get agitated myself. “We know that they had to be transported here by physical means. What access could they have had without anyone noticing right away?”

Malachi pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t say anything for a long moment. I thought he wouldn’t answer, but then he said, “There are sewer tunnels leading to some alley ways.”

I stood suddenly. He looked taken aback at my movement. “Show me.” I reached out to him. He looked at me for a while then eventually shook his head.

“We have to stay here,” he insisted.

I looked around the ghost town and pressed my lips into a tight line. “Who will notice?”

“Iara, we can’t go wandering the city. It’s dangerous.”

I turned my back to him and headed to one of the nearest alleyways. I knew the spot where he had gotten bit. I knew the direction very well. “Fine, I can go look by myself.” I’d be damned if I sat idly by when I could be doing something. I especially didn’t want to spend anymore time talking to him when he was so unpleasant.

I heard his feet behind me crunching across the stone. “No,” he cried. He let his voice carry all the worry I knew he had. “Please don’t leave my sight.”

I looked back over to him. His carefully set mask of indifference was broken. He looked as though he would burst into tears at the thought of being separated from me. I suddenly felt awful, guilt carving a pit in my chest. Malachi was truly scared of what could happen to us. I wish I knew what to say to him at that moment, but all I could do was offer him my hand. He didn’t take it. I let my empty hand slide into my other. I laced my fingers together to hide my shakiness. “Malachi,” I whispered.

“Follow me,” he said. “Just. . . Don’t leave me.”

I nodded and followed behind him. He led us to the spot. He stood right where he had before, making me picture that thing on him all over again. He stood still, his shoulders sloped more than usual. He looked thin, like a dying tree. The thought made my chest tighten. He turned slowly back to me. “I was here when they were in front and behind me.”

He turned back around and scanned the walls on either side of us. The old, crumbling buildings seemed to lean inwards. I was surprised at how some of the bricks managed to stay in place. Vines grew up some walls, some building corners were worn down to almost nothing. There were doors set deep into the walls that looked like they hadn’t moved in decades. He pointed to one particularly old looking door. It was rusted, brown stains all along the stone threshold. “This is one of the sewer tunnel entrances. I find it hard to believe they could have used it to bring a husk in.”

I went over to the door. It was deep enough into the stone that it could be considered a hallway. Not to mention there was ivy growing all around it to give it even more cover. I reached out to touch the cold iron doorknob, but it didn’t budge. It didn’t even make a sound when I yanked on it. Some rust flaked off the face of it as I stepped back. “It’s locked,” I said.

Malachi stepped forward and tried it himself. It dusted his sleeve in brown specks. He brushed them off as he spoke. “Give me a hairpin,” he said, reaching his hand out behind him.

“What?” I asked. I was sure I had misheard him.

He looked back at me, pulling the dagger from his belt. When did he start carrying around knives? “A hairpin?”

I furrowed my brow and reached up to pull one of the golden pins from my hair. It was a decorative piece, the gemstone in it being beautifully carved out of a green stone. I liked it so much because it was the same green as Malachi’s eyes. I watched as he bent the pin in half, making one long rod with it. I gasped. “What are you doing?”

“Picking the lock,” he said quickly. He turned back to the door and almost immediately I heard a loud click. The door creaked open. He handed my pin back, but I noticed red on the gemstone now.

“Malachi,” I called in a distraught voice. “Are you bleeding?” He looked down to his hand as he sheathed his knife. I grabbed it quickly to inspect it. The metal of my pin must have dug into his thumb. The pad just above the knuckle had a small cut.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled. He pulled his hand away, but not before I could feel his anxiety. He turned back to the door and stepped into the sewer.

Following behind him, the smell hit me first. It burned my nose and made my eyes water. I covered my mouth and tried not to make a fuss. I had smelled worse. I’ve had to stay in worse. “So, you can pick locks?” I teased, trying not to cough. “Should I be worried?”

He crossed his arms once he reached the bottom of the stone steps. “Only if you’re hiding something in a lockbox,” he said shortly.

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“Where did you even pick up a skill like that?”

He crouched then, reaching his hand to the slimy ground. I was relieved when I saw he didn’t actually touch it. “Look.”

I could barely make out what he pointed at. I squinted my eyes in the darkness, willing for them to adjust to the light. When I did manage to make out what Malachi pointed to, I gasped. It looked like grooves made in the sludge that coated the ground here. “Cart tracks,” I breathed.

“You were right. This is how the husks came in then. But who brought them? Everyone has been accounted for. This is one of the busiest times of year for us,” Malachi thought out loud.

I crouched down next to him and mustered the courage I would need to do this. “I might be able to find out,” I grumbled.

“What?”

I reached out to the ground as he had. The difference being I made contact with the cold, slick stone beneath us. I had to hold my breath and bite my lip not to recoil in disgust. Focus, I told myself. Let the memories of the tunnel flow through me. I sifted through for anything at all, any wisp of emotion that could have been transferred here.

Iara.

I fell back and cried out. My vision swam with tears as I clutched my chest. It was Vi. His emotion when he saw me. He stood here and witnessed the husks. I felt betrayed, hurt. I hadn’t thought of Vi for so long and he had been so close. He was feet away from me. I just realized how much I missed him, how much I still cared for him. But he had a hand in this attack. My heart felt like it would bust from my chest.

Malachi’s arms wrapped protectively around me. He pulled my tight to his chest and petted my hair back. “Are you okay?” came his worried voice.

His concern grounded me. He was still anxious, but he loved me. He wanted me to be safe above all else. I could feel him focusing on those things before his own worries. And it worked. His embrace calmed my racing heart. I stood with him and nodded. I hid my face deep inside his coat and clung to him like a child. The smell of his clothes overpowered the smell of the sewer for just a moment. “I’m fine,” I replied in a small voice. The more time I spent freely touching him, the less his emotions overwhelmed me. The more they were pieces of me as much as my own thoughts were.

“What did you feel?” He tightened his arms around me when he felt me tense.

Vi, the man I still cared for. He was close by. He was helping those that wanted to hurt us. Was he trying to get revenge on me? Dread filled my chest. What do I even say to Malachi? “I-I’m not sure,” I mumbled. I didn’t like lying, but Malachi didn’t need to know Vi was here. I still didn’t know who the others were. I knew there was no way Vi was acting alone.

“Do you need to sit down?” He pulled away to look into my face. “Speak your mind, I can’t read them like you can.”

A joke? I met his eyes and he let a small smile ghost across his lips. I looked away from his face again before my expression could give too much away. “It has to be a group of people who transported them, not one person.”

Malachi nodded. “From getting access to the sewers and getting four husks in, I assumed that.”

I frowned. “Then I touched the sludge on the ground for nothing,” I snapped, pulling away from him.

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” he defended. “Let’s go though, it is. . . Unclean here.” He stepped back up the stairs quickly and held the door open for me. I followed him out and he slammed the iron door shut.

My mind remained on Vi the rest of the night. Even as Malachi and I wrapped up the last of the festival events, my mind played back the things I felt. Vi still cared for me. Deeply. I would be lying if I said my feelings for him had faded with my time here. I still pictured our time together fondly. Vi would always be the person who got me through one of the hardest times in my life. They were feelings I could never take back. He would always remain a piece of me. The feelings made me guilty. As Malachi walked with me, my arm in his, he would hold onto me as if I were his lifeline. I could feel with every touch he gave me how much I meant to him. And those thoughts invaded me. I still didn’t know if they were my own, but I loved Vi. Malachi was gentle, kind, and caring. He had grown so much since I had first met him. He was more forward with what he was feeling. He made me feel like I was his future instead of his only way out. What would he think if he knew I still thought of another man?

As we headed to the dining hall for our last meal of the day, I stopped him. “Malachi,” I mumbled. I should tell him that I saw Telvin. It shouldn’t change how I handle this problem. I would be a queen some day. The lessons I took every day pounded into my head that I would need to sacrifice my personal feelings for the rest of the kingdom. Today would be the first step I take to do that, even if it filled me with worry for Vi.

He furrowed his brow and turned to me. “What is it?” His eyes darted behind me, making sure no one was around to overhear us.

“I wasn’t entirely truthful with you,” I started.

He interrupted me by squeezing my arm. He kept his eyes over my shoulder. I glanced where his attention was and saw someone approaching us. I could tell immediately it was the postmaster. His pale cream colored robes were the signature uniform of them.

As he neared I could see the distress on his face. He looked sweaty, his breathing heavy. He bowed low and spoke. “I am sorry to interrupt you, Prince Malachi, Princess Iara.”

“What’s wrong?” Malachi replied quickly. He stepped towards the man, his shoulders tightening.

The postmaster straightened, holding a bloody roll of parchment in his hand. I gasped, my hands covering my mouth. “The crow I had sent out came back with only this. Your letter, dipped in blood. Human and vampire blood.”

Malachi looked ghostly pale, all the blood draining from his face. “D-did you send a search party?” he stammered.

The man nodded once. “Yes. Earlier tonight. I was only just now able to catch you.”

Malachi reached out a shaky hand to take the bloodied note from him. “Thank you,” he replied, his voice quiet.

The postmaster bowed once again and hurried away.

“What do we do?” I whispered. I reached out to him and to my surprise, he didn’t pull away. When I felt his emotions race up my arm and cloud my thoughts, I knew why. He was frozen. He couldn’t even muster the strength to take a step forward.

I clasped either of his shoulders and made him face me. His expression was wrought with grief. His eyes looked as though they would burst. “Malachi, we don’t know what happened yet,” I said softly. I reached to touch his cheek, to try to sooth him.

He turned his face away from my hand. “What could explain the crow coming back with no reply?”

I couldn’t find the words to say. There was nothing I could say to console him. He took a trembling breath in and stepped away from me. “I need time alone. Please go eat without me. Don’t tell Jer until the search party comes back,” he ordered. He turned right back the way we had come and disappeared around a corner.

I pressed my hand to my chest. I could still feel his swirling feelings, even without his skin on mine. I blinked away my own tears and entered the dining hall. Jer was the only one sitting there, as usual.

“Is Ky busy?” he asked, turning his eyes back to what he was reading under the table.

I came to sit next to him as I nodded. To my surprise he was reading the booklet I had given him. I felt bad when I saw he was only a few pages into it. My handwriting was still awful. “He wanted to rest,” I added.

“That’s good. He needs it. Mother will scold him when she comes back, I guarantee it.” The young boy looked up at me briefly. “You should rest too. You look pale.”

I nodded again. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

As I ate in silence, my mind was plagued with much darker thoughts. Rey showed me a lot of tricks to keep myself safe. There had been times when we had to sleep in less than safe places. We have been robbed, tied up and thrown into cells, and many other horrible things. But Rey would always look at me and ask what we should do next. What do I do next? There would be no cryptic hints to help me along this time.

When my silver bracelet heated up, my attention was broken. The emotion coming from it made my arm physically hurt. I clapped my hand over my mouth to not make a noise. My vision blurred with tears as I glanced over at Jer. He hadn’t noticed, to my relief. Malachi needed me. I excused myself and hurried away from my half eaten meal.