The Emperor of Evening Stars by Laura Thalassa
Chapter 24 The King of Claws and Talons
Less than a year ago
When I wake up the next morning, Callie’s vanished—only, sirens don’t vanish. They glamour and beguile, but they don’t altogether disappear, particularly ones who’ve been magically bound to live under my roof.
After last night, could she have fled me as I used to flee her? The mere thought is enough to level me.
She loves you, you fool. She wouldn’t flee.
I move through my Catalina house, but there’s no sign of her. I check the front door. It’s locked from the inside. She has a key, but at the moment it’s sitting on a side table off the entryway.
The back door then.
When I come to it, it’s unlatched. I feel my relief sigh out of me.
She came out here to be close to the water, of course.
But when I walk outside, there’s no sign of her. My unease gathers. I stride deeper into my backyard, stopping at my patio table. A full cup of coffee rests on the table. I pick up the mug.
Cool to the touch.
It’s just one of those things that scream something’s off.
If Callie could, she’d mainline her caffeine in the morning. She wouldn’t leave her coffee undrunk.
My unease becomes something else. It feels like someone is squeezing and twisting my gut.
I feed magic to the few shadows that linger out here. They will know what happened. A few seconds later, my power boomerangs back to me, the shadows remaining obstinately silent. Earth’s shadows love to chat. The only time they’ve ever remained quiet is when …
Gods above and below.
No. Impossible. She’s a mortal, and the Thief of Souls has very particular taste. He wouldn’t come here, he wouldn’t take her.
But if … if he did take her, then it’s my fault. I’d tasked her with this case, never imagining that she’d catch the attention of the monster I hunted.
Should’ve known better, Desmond. Monsters always notice what you care about.
A second later, I dissipate into the shadows.
Need to find her. I chant the sentence over and over as I begin my search.
All day and all night, I scour worlds for her. Earth, the Otherworld, she could be in either.
The task would be infinitely easier if our bond was fully in place. But because it’s not, because Callie is a human and I am a fairy, I can’t reach through our shaky connection to locate her.
Instead I search the old-fashioned way, cashing in favors for information. I beseech the shadows of both my world and hers, looking for any little tidbit of knowledge they’ll give me. But the darkness is silent, and it makes me want to destroy something.
Though the shadows tell me nothing, if I focus hard and long enough I swear they quake with fear. It’s the same unnerving reaction I’ve sensed every time I tried to pull out answers regarding the Thief of Souls.
I’ve wondered a thousand times what would cause the night to feel fear. Now, I’m too consumed by my own panic to dwell on that question.
The Thief of Souls has Callie. The darkness may as well have said as much.
My mind flashes to all those female warriors trapped in their glass coffins, a baby clutched to their breasts. Before now I felt a spark of sorrow for them—sorrow and horror—but that was it. They were not my loved ones, my family or friends.
Now, I’m coming up with all sorts of terrible explanations for how those women came to be sleeping … and how they acquired a child.
Rage is burning through the fear. I will break the Otherworld in two before that happens to Callie.
