Crest (Ondine Quartet Book 3) by Emma Raveling

timpani.
    A perfect deep blue iris lay on the floor in front of it.
    Heart rate picked up. Dagger ready, Empath engaged.
    Nothing.
    Skin prickled. I approached slowly and yanked.
    The heavy canvas fell away revealing a framed oil painting of a female.
    Me.
    Shirt ripped, blade glimmering in the dark. I stood, feet apart, eyes closed in an industrial basement.
    Shadows coiled around me, ominous and threatening.
    On the right corner, an ivory notecard was tucked under the frame.
    Trembling hands removed the elegant paper and unfolded it.

    Title: Sondaleur in Lyondale
    Artist: ?

    Hide and seek. You lose.

    A knot of dread twisted in the pit of my stomach.
    Edmundo said the Shadow was everywhere and nowhere, the ultimate puppet-master tugging the strings of this war. An evil so ancient, he existed as a corrupted presence in the black blood of every Aquidae.
    The more I gave chase, the more he slipped into the darkness. He knew everything about me and I knew nothing about him.
    How did you find someone who only showed what he wanted you to see?
    Note crumpled in my fist. I stared at my painted figure, at the taunt represented in every brush stroke.
    I'm coming for you.
    Lieutenant. Traitor. Shadow.
    One down. Two to go.

    ***
    Desert wind swirled, hot air raking against my skin and stirring sand across the curved land.
    I perched on a swing and waited.
    Something white glimmered in the distance, the mirage of a tower against a sky the color of the ocean.
    He walked to me, more solid, more real than the last time.
    "I knew you'd come," I said simply.
    The knowledge sang in my heart, a security only he could provide.
    "You didn't find it."
    "I don't know what to find."
    He pushed. Air brushed against my legs and I soared.
    I closed my eyes, searching for it.
    Yes, there. There it was.
    At the very top of the arc, just before gravity pulled me back.
    That one millisecond of sheer freedom.
    Legs swung, each arc taking me up higher, closer to the sky until I could almost touch the clouds.
    "It is ours," he whispered.
    All I knew was that this sky, this heat, and the mirage that fooled all came from us.

SIX

    THE UNIVERSE DECIDED IT WASN'T done laughing.
    Scowling, I glanced across the aisle.
    Renee gave a wide smile and wiggled her fingers. Helene thankfully had her camera trained on the view outside her window.
    Catrin was visiting Haverleau for a few days before flying on to the Selkie Kingdom. Unfortunately, she'd brought her daughters along.
    My month with them had now extended to another.
    Renee's attitude was markedly different from the beginning of the flight. She'd waited until the last possible minute, eyes anxiously scanning the private airfield as if expecting someone to show up.
    When she finally boarded, hurt glinted in her face and she'd spent the first hour unusually quiet. I suspected she'd been waiting for Oriel, but couldn't figure out why it was such a big deal. Maybe they'd had a fight.
    Eyes drifted toward the front of our private plane. Catrin relaxed in her seat, a sleeping mask over her eyes. Fujio and Urian sat across from her, heads lowered in conversation.
    Julian's dark head was bent, attention absorbed in another book. We hadn't spoken since the incident at the DuBois building last night.
    But the energy crackling around him when we left the brownstone this morning indicated how angry he still was.
    I was, too.
    In fact, the anger and adrenaline had led to a night of fitful sleep and strange, hazy dreams.
    "New York was good for you." Tristan slipped into the seat beside me.
    "Yeah. I think it was."
    The admission felt a little strange. No one ever asked if something was good for me. My life was usually filled with things I had to do, which meant there wasn't much enjoyment in it.  
    I asked the question reflected in his eyes. "Did you think I wouldn't return?"
    He shook his head. "I always knew you would."
    "Catrin did a lot."
    She'd guided me through countless sessions on politics, laws, and Redavi