Society and her friends.
Hana’s anger ripped the cart apart. The wooden frame that held the canvas cover broke into pieces and flew into the air, then rocketed straight down, spearing themselves just inches from each of the ryuu.
She stormed back into the main part of camp.
“Pack up now!” she yelled at the ryuu.
“B-but we haven’t had breakfast yet,” one of them dared to say.
Hana glared at him. Her fury could burn a hole straight through his head.
“I don’t care. Pack up camp and be ready to move out in thirty minutes. Today, we destroy my sister and her precious Society, and we put Emperor Gin on the throne.”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Inside the Citadel, Sora commanded the ryuu particles to set her massive magnifying glass against the inside of the fortress wall. Sweat poured down her temples from the effort of floating and steering the crystal from Rose Palace. It had taken longer than she wanted, not only from being careful, but also because she’d decided it would be safest if she and the magnifying glass were invisible. Doing so drained nearly everything Sora had in her.
But the commotion of gathering troops at the main gates roused Sora. She hurried over, pushing past squadrons who were still assembling, ignoring the surprised calls of apprentices who hadn’t known that she was back home. She stopped only when she found Broomstick.
A moment later, Daemon and Fairy appeared, framed by the rising sun. An avalanche of relief roared through Sora when she saw her roommate. “You’re all right!”
Then she noticed that Fairy and Daemon were holding hands, and a different kind of avalanche crashed down on her, one that made her sick to her stomach, even though she had no right to feel that way.
Gods. Sora blinked as comprehension set in. It was jealousy.
She looked at Daemon’s and Fairy’s fingers intertwined, and Sora realized that, in the back of her mind, she’d always assumed he was hers. She had taken their togetherness for granted. She’d mistaken her attachment to him as mere partnership.
But now, seeing him with someone else, she understood. She’d loved him since the day he arrived at the Citadel like a wolf cub, with his unkempt tufts of hair and feral eyes, the way he crouched on all fours and snarled at the other tenderfoots. She had imagined him as a boy out of one of her mother’s Kichonan fables. Everyone else had wanted to tame him. Sora had been the only one who wanted him to keep his wildness.
Fairy cocked her head at Sora, as if to ask if everything was okay.
Sora took a deep breath and forced herself to smile. What else could she do? Sora hadn’t tried to make a move on Daemon. Besides, the Society wouldn’t have allowed it. Geminas couldn’t get involved with each other like that.
So she nodded. Yes, it was fine. Everything was fine.
Besides, she couldn’t afford to waste time on her feelings right now. Glass Lady always said curiosity killed the cat, but sentimentality killed the taiga. Maybe this was what she meant.
“I heard about your sister,” Daemon said. For once, he didn’t pick up on Sora’s emotion through their gemina bond. Or, more accurately, the fact that she wanted to shut off the spigot of her emotions. Maybe he was too wrapped up in Fairy to feel the subtle change in his and Sora’s connection. “I thought the reason you left Copper Bluff was to keep Fairy safe,” he continued. “But now I also know it was because of Hana.”
Sora sighed and closed her eyes. It took a second before she opened them again and answered.
“Yes. She’s alive. She’s on the wrong side, but she’s alive.”
Daemon looked at his feet and shook his head. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you found Hana. You must have a hundred different feelings about it.”
“I shouldn’t. I don’t want to feel anything right now except the drive to stop Prince Gin.”
“Taigas aren’t superhuman. We have emotions, just like regular people. But no matter what happens, I’m here for you. We’re here for you.” He looked to his right and left, at Fairy and Broomstick.
Sora nodded, feeling at the same time his comforting reassurance through their bond. “I know.”
Glass Lady ran up to them. “The ryuu are approaching. Please tell me everything is in place.”
Sora blinked, confused for a second that the commander was talking to them, mere apprentices.
“Spirit,” Glass Lady snapped. “Broomstick said you were preparing a magnifying glass of some sort. Where is it?”
Sora