Smoke and Mirrors (47)

Forty-Seven

One of Us

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It was early in the morning and I was having trouble sleeping.

A sneeze tore itself from my lips and sent a fine spray of water throughout the air, dampening my sheets. I should have been used to the sensation by now, but I still hated the feeling of sleeping in a wet bed. Slowly, I curled my hand into a fist at my side and felt the water evaporate. I could feel myself in every droplet. Every molecule. I could feel the water shrinking as it warmed.

When the water disappeared, I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to go back to sleep. My blankets were slightly toasty and warm from the heat of the water, and it sent a delicious wave of warmth down my spine.

I had just begun to drift back into that wonderful place called Dreamland when a hand curled around my foot, jolting me awake.

My head popped up and I went to scream, but a palm and some fingers pressed themselves firmly against my lips, muffling any sound I could make.

"Hush, it's me," a voice said. My eyes could just barely make out the shape of a head of hair in the darkness, so I lit one of my fingers on fire for light.

"Seraphina?!" I exclaimed from beneath her hand.

She removed her hand and wiped it against her dress, grimacing. "Yes, unfortunately. You have some explaining to do, Niece."

My eyes widened and I sat up, pulling my legs against my chest as if they would protect me from her disappointment. "It wasn't my idea," I began dumbly, unsure of where to start. My mind was still reeling. "When we were fighting mom's group--"

"--They call themselves the Guardians, by the way."

I glanced at her through the firelight of my finger. "They do? How did you find that out?"

She grimaced. "There's a lot of things that I haven't been entirely truthful with you about. That's. . . why I'm here tonight."

I sat up a little straighter, worry creasing my forehead. "What do you mean?"

I heard her inhale the slightest shadow of a breath. "The unicorn horn. . . isn't real. It never was."

The walls creaked, straining to listen in to our conversation. Somewhere, a branch brushed against my window.

My eyes widened. "What do you mean?" I found myself asking that a lot lately. "If it's not real, then how did they control the Talents?"

There was a pause between us. It was thick, tense, and full of unspoken secrets.

"Me." One word dropped from her mouth, but it felt like a glass shattering.

I blinked. "What do you mean?" Ah, there I went again.

She inhaled. "There is another strand of Talent that the Guardians have dedicated themselves to finding, recruiting, and hiding. I was one of theirs."

I leaned closer, anticipation grabbing me. "You worked--for them?"

She grimaced and turned away from me. "Yes, and I don't cherish the memories. That area of my life is steeped in regret and anger, and I can't do anything to go back and change it. But I can change what is going on now." She caught my gaze. "I have another Talent besides Fire. One that is highly sought after by those who know about it.” A pause, then, “I have the ability to steal other Talents and make them my own."

My jaw dropped. If it wasn't so tightly attached, I would have been picking it off the floor.

She continued, "That is how your mother passed through the Testing with her powers intact and hidden. For a moment, she didn't have them. I did. It's impossible to go through the Testing and fake being Talentless, no matter how strong you are."

I swallowed. "So you didn't steal the unicorn horn. . . you are the unicorn horn."

She nodded. "And there's an entire group with Talents like mine. The Guardians' whole purpose is to keep us locked away, working only for them. They got me in with their group when I was very young--they were after me the moment they noticed that I was different.”

I shook my head. “But no one else knows about you guys? Like, they don’t even think you exist?”

“Oh, no. There are legends of us—but they’re merely that. Legends. Real Talents can’t steal other Talents. There’s no way that would ever happen.” She rolled her sunflower eyes. “But the legends are true, we’re out there.” Her eyes snapped to mine, shrivelling out of the sunflower hue they once were and turning a shade darker. A shade of fire. “How else could I have hidden in the ocean when everyone searched for me? A fire Talent could never do that.”

My own eyes widened and I dropped my legs over the side of the bed and stood, toes chilled by marble. “That makes so much sense now. All of it—why they’re searching so desperately for you, why they can’t get another unicorn horn, why you know so much about them—” I drug a hand down my face. I could hear my mother’s voice in my head, warning me about the acne it would cause and the wrinkles I’d pay for in the future, but I ignored it. I’d never needed a good face-rubbing like I did at that moment.

“There’s something else you need to know,” she said suddenly, then paused. Slowly, she lowered herself onto the bed and sighed, her shoulders dropping. The sigh seemed to fill the room with the weight of an eternity.

I lowered myself beside her and tilted my head. “What is it?”

A curtain of raven hair trickled over her face. “You’re one of us.”

Have you ever had one of those moments in life where someone says something, and you don’t really pay attention to what they say, but then your brain replays what they said and you’re just like, Oh, hey, that’s actually worth paying attention to, then you start realising that what the person said was like, life-changing, ultra-important important, and you gradually start freaking out from there?

Well, that was me.

I stared at her blankly.

She continued, likely sensing my confusion. “That’s why your mother kidnapped you. I think she wanted to keep you hidden from this world so that only she could use your powers.”

I shook my head, my stomach twisting. “That’s—impossible. I’ve never taken powers from another person in my life.”

Her head tilted. “Haven’t you, though? Think, Tessa. Think back to the elf in the Shadow forest. The Shade bandit. I know you remember him.”

I shuddered as his lifeless eyes stared into my memory. I remembered him very well. I had killed him.

“But—I just evaporated him,” I stuttered. “I never—I can’t control shadows.”

“You haven’t tried,” she replied quietly. She looked towards the window. “You may have killed him, but Shade Talents don’t have water in their bodies to evaporate. They’re made of shadow. You took something else from him besides water.”

I swallowed, my stomach churning. “How did you know about him? I never told you.”

She glanced at her nails. “That Shade Bandit was a hired assassin sent to steal my son. You did me a favor, actually.”

My arms wrapped around themselves, as if that would block out the painful memories that still haunted me.

“Changing the subject,” she began abruptly, “but do you have any idea of what your stupid husband is doing right now?”

I tilted my head, fingers soft against the skin of my wrist. “No? What do you mean?”

Seraphina continued, “His people hate him. He shut down his own military camps without explanation, he’s ordered every rich household to give their wealth to the families of Rogue Talent children that have destroyed their homes—which means a lot of businesses are shutting down because they aren’t able to keep themselves going—and people are losing their jobs.” She shook her head. “Just like his father, that one. Absolute idiot.”

I felt a squirming of indignation—a burning, crawling urge to defend him. He was an idiot, sure, but it felt wrong to hear someone else call him that. I brushed it aside and tried to focus on the fact that his kingdom was, in fact, falling apart.

Just like the prophecy foretold.

“What can I do about that?” I asked quietly.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You will stay here, safe and away from the control of the Guardians, and you will focus on helping the Fates and I unite the kingdoms against the Guardians.”

I huffed and folded my arms. “I don’t like this waiting—just sitting here, knowing people I care about are out there being hurt, and all I can do is act like some spoiled princess sitting in her high tower.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “You already died once. I’m not losing you again.” She paused. “And they want us to let them have you. There’s no way we’re playing into their trap.”

Sighing, I unfolded my arms. “You’re right. I know you’re right. I just hate it.” I missed my dad. I hadn’t known him long, but I missed him. I slid a questioning gaze towards her. “So tell me, is Sterling really upset that I’m gone?”

Her lips thinned. “Yes. He seems devastated—and he’s acting so irrationally.”

Part of me was undeniably pleased to hear that. It meant that maybe he actually cared about me. Another part of me, however, didn’t know why I was pleased or what that meant about my feelings towards him.