have a chance to think before he slammed her back against the stone wall.
“What the hell?” she growled, struggling against him. But it was no use. He was a good foot taller than her and corded with muscle. She might have the magical advantage, which she drew in close to her body, but she truly didn’t want to have to use it. “Release me.”
“Who is your contact?”
“My contact?” she asked in confusion.
“Who told you to tell me that? How did you know it would be hand-to-hand combat with just one element?”
“No one told me.”
It sounded weak, but she couldn’t tell him about her visions. Gods, she had been stupid. She had thought the visions were telling her to tell him… to help him. Instead, he was furious and thought she was out to sabotage him.
“You lie.”
“I’m not a liar,” she growled, shoving against him uselessly. “No one told me. I swear it. I swear it on my mother’s grave.”
Fordham pulled back slightly at that. “Your mother is dead?”
Kerrigan squirmed out from under him, massaging her aching shoulders. “Yes. Most human women don’t survive bearing Fae children.”
She didn’t know why she had said it. Why she was confiding any of it. Why she was even helping him. Except that her visions had kept drawing them back together. That much was clear. And she didn’t know what they meant or how to ignore them.
“I was trying to help you,” Kerrigan said. “And it seems to have worked. You won your match. You’re near the top of the leaderboard.”
“Yes,” he said flatly. “But why would you want to help me?”
A valid question, all things considered. He had done nothing but insult her since the moment she had met him. And she couldn’t tell him the truth… so she’d settle for a half-truth.
“I feel like we’re… drawn together,” she admitted.
His eyebrows rose sharply. “You and I? That’s impossible. Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know, all right? And I’m aware it sounds ridiculous, but I can’t shake the feeling. So, I thought instead of letting you die today, I would help you.”
“You called out to me when Kamari was going to attack me with the flaming sword.”
“Kamari? The girl from Aude?”
He nodded.
“Yeah… I did.”
“I heard you even though the crowd was screaming, like all of it had turned to background noise.”
“Are you saying I’m loud?”
He sighed heavily as if she such a nuisance. “I meant that… perhaps we are connected in some way. But I don’t understand it nor do I like it.”
“You and me both,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest. “And here’s a hint, princeling: shoving people against walls and accusing them is not how you make friends.”
“You’re insufferable.”
“Why, thank you.” Kerrigan stepped back. “Now, I can’t deal with this”—she waved between them—“anymore. My friend is missing, and I need to figure out where he’s gone.”
Fordham’s eyes shuttered at that. Everything in him went very, very still. “What friend?”
“Why would you care?”
“Is he about this tall?” Fordham asked, gesturing to a height slightly shorter than his. “Brown hair, tan skin, a little annoying, pompous, self-righteous.”
“You’re one to talk, you know,” she chided.
“Is it him? The one who follows you?”
Kerrigan stopped her jest at those words
“Yes… that’s Lyam. But… how do you know?”
“Because he followed you out of the party last night.”
“What?” she gasped.
Her heart beat furiously. She hadn’t even seen him. Normally, she noticed him tracking her. But she hadn’t even felt him. Had she been that far into her own head, or had he gotten lost?
For the first time, she wondered if perhaps something had happened to Lyam rather than he was just missing.
19
The Accident
For a moment, Kerrigan was disoriented as she burst into her rooms. Everything in her life had looked almost exactly the same since she arrived in the House of Dragons. Two twin beds with a chest of drawers and an armoire. Over the years, they had accumulated more useless stuff to fill the spaces—old books, sheets of parchment, a kite, a virtual treasure trove of makeup and hair pieces and the like—covering all the nooks and crannies. Now, the room was spotless, save for Kerrigan’s bed and clothes. Darby had only been in here for a few hours, and already, the place looked empty, except for her three friends crowding the space.
“Whoa,” she whispered when she stepped inside.
“Oh, Kerrigan, you made it,” Darby said. She looked around the room, flustered.
“You… packed quickly.”
“I’m supposed to move out tonight,” she said. “I would have packed your clothes