go back and find another before it’s too late.”
Raven scowled. “Why on earth would you need an Azad? Their only purpose is to sniff out buried treasure.”
My throat went dry. “What?”
“How do you know that?” Gaige echoed a breath behind me.
“My grandmother was the last Charmer to tame an Azad. Why?”
My heart thundered in my ears. Raven knew all along that an Azad wouldn’t work for Noc. But I’d been so preoccupied with blaming her that I hadn’t thought to ask everyone on the Council. Gaige had mentioned that the last person to tame one had been a century ago. She had no reason to lie.
Which meant…
The air left my lungs. “But why?”
Gaige’s mouth opened and closed until he finally squeezed his eyes shut. Yazmin had led us into a trap. She’d orchestrated a hunt that she thought would end in our deaths.
“What the hell is going on?” Tension roiled from Calem’s frame, and the mercury surrounding his pupils sharpened.
“It’s Yazmin.” The words were acid against my tongue. “The Crown. She placed the bounty.” Everything I knew, everything I believed in, came crashing down. Yazmin was our leader. She was supposed to protect us, guide us. Show us the way. Why would she send us on a hunt that would lead to certain death if she wasn’t the one responsible? Pieces began falling into place. She must have arranged the bounty without anyone else’s approval. If I died, the problem would simply disappear. The investigation would cease. But still…why?
Raven hissed. “Now you’re accusing her? You’re out of your mind.”
“Yazmin’s symbol is pink—I’m sure of it. I saw it when she offered us free passage after the battle,” Kost said.
Gaige’s voice was eerily quiet. “Perhaps she thought we would have stripped her of her title…” His trailing words did everything but instill confidence. I so desperately wanted to be wrong.
Raven turned on him, wild-eyed. “What are you saying? You believe her?”
“Look at the facts.” Gaige dragged a shaky hand through his snarled hair. “Yazmin gave Leena specific instructions for a taming an Azad because she told her it would cure Noc. You just disproved that.”
“This is the Crown we’re talking about,” Raven said. “What would she have to gain by lying about something like that?”
“I don’t know, but…” He turned to me. “I have an idea. Leena, can you send the Nix Ikari back so we have a bit more space? But leave Onyx. We need him.”
Gaige limped closer to the entrance of the manor and leaned against the stair railing for support. I sent Reine back just as he extended his hand, opening his own door to the beast realm and summoning the Zavalluna.
Her black coat shimmered with turquoise, fuchsia, and emerald auroras, as if she’d been born from the night. With a whinny, she tossed her head and shook out her mane. Her bladelike horn glowed a soft white. Gaige patted her on the neck before directing her attention toward Onyx.
“Amplify his power.”
She nickered and then tilted her head in his direction, the glow about her horn intensifying. A dome of light bloomed outward around her until we were all encompassed beneath it, but only Onyx seemed affected. His eyes lit up, the electric blue streams snaking out like lightning instead of wisps. His hide turned lustrous, more magnificent. And even though I couldn’t see it, I felt his power grow. The strength of his magic slammed into me, nearly knocking the air from my lungs.
Gaige swallowed thickly. “Have him judge Yazmin.”
I blinked. “But she’s not here.”
“She doesn’t have to be. Not with Valda’s power.” He nodded to his mare. “She can’t hold it for long. Have him do it now.”
As I ran my hand over Onyx’s fur, a charge of static electricity crackled beneath my fingers. “Okay, Onyx. Go ahead. But if she’s guilty, don’t try and absolve her. Just stop.” I didn’t want her feeling the effects of his power in case she was responsible. Otherwise, she might flee with Noc before we ever got the chance to confront her.
Visible blue flames erupted around his body, and I retracted my hand with a jolt, expecting pain. But instead of searing heat, I felt nothing but a subtle warmth. The flames licked higher and higher, stretching toward the ceiling as Onyx turned his head in the direction of Hireath. Minutes stretched by. The flames crackled as if devouring brittle wood. Onyx pulled back his maw, revealing gleaming fangs, and snarled.
Guilty.
He recalled his power, and the flames receded in