We gather in the council chamber, the grand room looking empty with only Klarissa and Elidyr representing the elders. Afternoon light streams through the high windows, glinting off the gilded trim and picking out every detail of the colorful frescoes lining the walls. I feel the echoing depths of fae history in this room, the weight of an old, powerful world that I have only just begun to understand. And barely belong in.

Standing with his arms crossed over his chest, Coal nods to a place beside him, and Tye moves over to create space for me. River’s gaze cuts across us all, scurrying so quickly over my face that my chest clenches. Whatever River thinks and feels, he has no intention of sharing it with me.

Plaited hair swaying behind him, Elidyr walks out from behind the dais to stand beside the map of Blaze that River has fastened to an easel. To my surprise, Klarissa does the same. As if we are equals on a single mission. Perhaps, for this short time, we are.

“Are you pleased?” River demands of Klarissa the moment she stops beside him.

So much for being on the same team.

“There is nothing pleasant about the possibility of a quint not returning from the Field Trial,” Klarissa replies, smoothing out the folds in her dress. “But yes, I am pleased that you decided to go to Karnish, River.” Her eyes flick to me and then return to the male. “Your experienced eye will see the true extent of the danger that the Night Guard poses better than any other.”

“And you set up five innocent warriors to make it happen.” The chill in River’s voice makes my stomach hurt, the gap between us widening with every word he utters. With every secret he keeps from me. A silly little mortal girl who can’t be trusted.

The female sighs. “You can’t have it both ways, River. Either you take charge and make decisions based on your values, or you step aside and let others do so based on their own priorities. Now, are you prepared to proceed?”

River stares at her for another heartbeat and then, ever so slowly, puts his hands behind his back. “When you are ready, Elders.”

I swallow, suppressing a shiver at the odd feel of the room, a professional energy that’s too honed to be called tension.

Elidyr steps forward, surveying us for a heartbeat before speaking. “Forty-eight hours ago, Kora and her quint were deposited in a neutral territory near the Blaze border.” He points to a spot on the map that makes River nod with comprehension. “As per trial protocol, the females were blindfolded and released in the Gloom within an hour’s travel of each other. As the quint has not yet returned, despite all indications that it should have, it is our belief that the females may have strayed into Blaze territory and been captured. The most likely place for such a situation is here, the town of Karnish, where hostile activities have been reported recently.”

“When you say ‘hostile activities,’ do you mean the qoru invading Blaze Court?” I blurt out, not caring how uncouth my interruption may be. Better to sound stupid than discover myself in the middle of a different mess than I think I’m walking into.

River turns to me, his tone too patient. “No. The Night Guard, acting on Emperor Jawrar’s orders, is responsible. The qoru themselves have only ever breached the wards closer to the Mors border, and never in numbers great enough to take a whole town.”

“River is correct,” Klarissa interjects smoothly. “The wards protecting Lunos fortunately still make it impossible for Jawrar to send his soldiers to execute an attack, but he is certainly providing both the funds and the orders to make it happen. Strategically speaking, Karnish is a perfect place to gain a foothold for a future assault, and Jawrar knows it.”

My gaze jerks to Klarissa, a feeling that I’m the only one missing some vital piece of this charade sinking through my gut. Likely the same piece that explains why Klarissa cares about River, specifically, going to Karnish. Enough to all but admit to using Kora as bait.

“If our theory is correct,” River continues coolly, “then we can expect the Night Guard to have fortified their captured territory and to hold any valuable prisoners they take for questioning.”

Stars.

He raises his chin, surveying Coal, Tye, Shade, and me. “As this operation is technically our third trial, it will be constrained by third-trial rules, which limit what information the council may provide and what tools we may bring. Regardless, the mission remains a search-and-rescue operation. By the time we leave here, Kora’s quint’s runes will be expiring in twenty hours. That is the window available to us. If at the end of this period we do not have the females, the mission will terminate and the priority will shift to us returning home. Nothing else. In either case, arriving back here safely within three days will render our third trial complete. Understood?”

A general murmur of consensus sounds, though I’m certain River’s words were primarily for Klarissa’s benefit. Still, the female only nods along sagely.

“Yes, no heroics, please,” she adds on the heels of River’s declaration, one perfectly groomed eyebrow quirked. “If you are unable to retrieve Kora’s quint, your priority is to get yourselves back here quickly. I little wish to lose two quints to this mess. Go safely and quickly. There will be time for adventure later. With the successful completion of this mission, you will be one large step closer to leaving the Citadel as a full quint. Meanwhile, I wish to perform one more healing session with Shade before you go. The shifter should be at full strength in case any healing is needed in the field. And after this morning’s training session, it would be prudent to check the human as well. You leave in under four hours; get as much food and rest as you can before then.”

Without waiting for a response, Klarissa beckons Shade to the back of the room. River crosses the chamber to wait at the door, the hard muscles of his turned back making me flinch. Coal and Tye stay where they are, their tall, calm presences on either side of me keeping my racing heart in check.

Klarissa works on Shade for a quarter hour before clearing him for the trial. When she calls me over to sit in the chair Shade just vacated, I feel my body stiffen, my joints refusing to bend as I walk closer to the female. Sit down. Take a breath.

Klarissa smiles.

The female’s healing magic, efficient and frighteningly powerful, impales me so roughly I gasp, leaning forward and resting my arms on my thighs to catch my breath.

“Are you all right, Leralynn?”

“Yes.” Breathe in. Out. “Just taken aback, ma’am.”

“Hmm. Yes, with so little time, this is a bit of a brute-force approach. About the opposite of what your friend Tye would call cleanly executed.” The female’s nose crinkles and her voice lowers to a murmur. “Speaking of the males, a word of caution from one mixed-quint female to another. Tread carefully with River, girl. The prince of Slait is pretty to look at, but he can only ever take you as a plaything. You deserve better.”

“I am not River’s plaything.” The words escape over my better judgment, indignation crowding out common sense.

“You know best, no doubt,” the female agrees in a soft, sweet voice. “Though I do wonder why the prince stood by and did nothing during the last trial. Why was it only Shade and Coal who risked their lives when yours was in peril?”

I should have kept my mouth shut. “There was nothing River could do.”

“Of course. The prince of Slait thought himself more powerless than an ex-slave and a shifter. It only makes sense.” She steps away, leaving my mind a jumbled mess. “You are all set, girl. Go get some rest while we make the necessary preparations.”

Tye gathers me against him on our way out, crowding out Shade to claim the space. His hand remains on the small of my back all the way to the suite, even as my mind twists into knots. The warmth of his palm through my tunic reminds me of his powerful flames—and the equally powerful ghosts that crowded the practice arena with him. When this is over, when we get Kora back safe, Tye and I are going to talk.

Tye guides me down the hall toward my bedchamber, the several hours of promised sleep already beckoning to my tired body.

“Leralynn.” River’s voice hits the back of my head like a bucket of ice water just as Tye and I walk into the room.

Fighting the childish urge to pretend I didn’t hear his call, I turn toward him. “Yes?”

River strides into the chamber and closes the door. His jaw is set, his gray eyes an unreadable steel that’s as beautiful as it is distant. Impeccably dressed in the wine-colored tunic and black trousers of our uniform, he manages to turn even this practical attire into a badge of crisp perfection. The wide sash wrapped tightly around his taut waist emphasizes the width of his shoulders and the great corded muscles of his thighs. Hands behind his back, the quint commander paces the few steps between the walls. Once. Twice. Five times.

“It’s fortunate the floor is stone, not rug,” Tye says finally. “If I didn’t know better, River, I’d call you at a loss for words.”

I furrow my brow, which Tye smooths with his thumb. “Can you just spit it out?” I say finally. “I’m tired and you are making me nervous.”

Obediently, River stops in place. Faces me. Lifts his chin. “We are heading into an uncertain situation, likely a combat zone filled with fae warriors of the Night Guard. It is my desire that you have access to as many tools as possible during the mission. Have every advantage that might keep you safe.”

“So far, so good,” Tye says slowly. “Have you some secret weapon that she might slip past the runes, or are you here to spout general wisdom?”

“No. Yes.” River spreads his shoulders, speaking to me as if Tye wasn’t there. “No, I have no way of taking weapons into the third trial with us. However”—his face turns a deep red that creeps up to fill the points of his ears—“if Autumn’s supposition is correct, that perhaps there is something to be done to aid you in controlling my power, it could make a significant difference in your defenses. I thought it prudent to try that thing. Or offer you the chance to try it. If you wanted.”

“Do you have any idea what he just said?” I ask Tye.

“Aye,” Tye growls under his breath before glancing between River and me. “Our fearless leader is offering to lie with you.”