Fates Divided: Halven Rising

The next morning, Elena walked out to find Keen relaxing on the couch, his legs spread in a wide guy sprawl. In contrast, Derek sat next to him, tension and annoyance radiating off his body. His hair was damp from a recent shower and ruffled like a rat’s nest. He avoided her eyes when she walked into the kitchen.

She didn’t understand why he’d gotten so upset at Keen last night. Keen was just doing his job. He might have slipped up yesterday, and she wasn’t happy about that. She still didn’t understand how Beatrice had convinced Keen to leave. But even though Keen had screwed up, Elena didn’t think it warranted Derek’s animosity when the Fae had said he’d stay the night.

If Derek’s frustration was about getting caught up in this mess, she couldn’t blame him there. But no one had told him to follow her onto campus that day. He was as much to blame for being ensnared by Fae as she was for unknowingly leading him into danger.

“Do you want to take a shower?” she asked Keen. “Towels are in the hall closet. Just make sure you lock the bathroom in case Reese forgets you’re here.”

Keen stood and smirked at Derek before walking away. Derek peered hard at the Fae’s back, then rocked his head from side to side, as if releasing tension.

What was with these guys?

Keen wasn’t making it easy. She’d have to have a little talk with him later.

Elena went into the kitchen to make breakfast and calm her nerves. After yesterday, who knew what Emain would bring today?

Maybe she could pull Derek aside later and ask him if he discovered anything at Marlon’s lab. He’d left last night before she got the chance. She didn’t think Keen could hear with the shower on, but that conversation would need to be top secret, and she didn’t want to risk it.

Elena handed Derek three egg sandwiches and he mumbled his thanks, then ate a third of the first one in a single bite. The tension in his face didn’t go away, though.

She rinsed out the sink and peered at the hard lines of his expression from beneath her lashes. “You don’t have to do this, you know—help me.”

His mouth twisted in a cynical smile. “They didn’t give me a choice, Elena. They threatened my family too, just in a different way.”

She braced her hands on the counter. “You could go home. Take a few months off. My family’s lives are on the line. There’s no reason to put your life at risk just to spare yourself a difficult conversation with your parents.”

“It’s more than that.” He swallowed and looked at her intensely. “I can’t walk away.”

For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Suddenly this didn’t seem as though it was about getting caught in something he never wanted to be a part of. It seemed as though it was about her. And him.

Them.

He hoisted his backpack on his shoulder. “They told me to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Okay. But if that’s the case, you need to get along with Keen.” She nodded toward the hallway. “He screwed up yesterday, but he’s here to help too.”

Derek grunted and popped the rest of the sandwich in his mouth.

Keen emerged from the hall, his hair wet like Derek’s, but combed and slicked behind his ears. Keen didn’t have an overnight bag, which begged the question of whose comb he’d used.

Probably best not to think about that.

“Ready to go?” she asked.

Keen nodded, and Derek opened the door, letting Keen pass first. He seemed to have lightened up somewhat, which was a good thing, because they all needed to work together.

But she hadn’t forgotten what else she’d read in his eyes—longing and maybe more. And that was dangerous, because she felt it too.

There was no room in her world for longing like that.

Derek sat in the corner of the Allon Library, flipping through a book on plant alchemy, the tang of leather and aged furniture filling his nose. Hundreds of books, spanning modern science to a fourteenth-century edition of The Travels of Marco Polo, covered every wall surface inside the octagonal room. The oldest texts, written in some archaic language, had been printed on clay tablets and sat within glass cases. They had to be worth a fortune.

“Come on.” Elena threw up her hands, leaning forward as she stared at the Tertullian Codex—a crusty old book they kept under lock and key. “‘Blood of thy nobleman, in thy land trust. What is ancient breeds growth. Cross thy barrier and strengthen thy bond.’ What is this, poetry? I can’t interpret this crap. I’m a science geek.” She propped her elbow on the pedestal that held the book, sinking her chin on her hand.

She was talking to herself again, frustrated with the book Leo said held all the answers.

“What do you think it means?” he asked. “Leo said it’s up to the reader to determine the meaning of the Codex.”

Beatrice wasn’t involved in their trip to the Allon Library today. Portia had escorted them and cast the glamour over the Codex so Elena could read it. She had excused Beatrice’s actions yesterday by claiming a miscommunication.

A miscommunication? Derek called bullshit. But the Fae weren’t talking about what really happened. Or why someone had intentionally frightened Elena and delayed any progress she might have made in building her powers.

The more he thought about his discovery in Marlon’s lab regarding the virus, the more he wanted to keep it to himself. Oh, he’d use the information to help Elena find a cure—he’d already started schooling her on viruses, particularly flu viruses. But he wasn’t telling the Fae what he knew about Marlon. He didn’t trust them not to use it against him.

Elena’s pretty mouth twisted. “Deirdre said Tirnan is divided into three kingdoms. She said something about my mom being a Fae princess—which I’m having a hard time believing, but if it’s true, it would make me a part of their nobility. When the Codex says, ‘Blood of thy nobleman, in thy land trust,’ I think it’s saying Fae nobility will find what they need to improve their powers in the land—in Tirnan.”

Derek pushed aside his book and folded his hands, his knuckles locked in a death grip.

He didn’t want Elena inside Emain, let alone Tirnan, the Fae’s home base. Maybe she hadn’t read far enough. “What else does it say?”

“More about something ancient, but it doesn’t say what it is.” She shook her head. “A lot of what I’m reading is confusing, but there’s one thing my instincts keep screaming. Our world is old, but Fae are really old. I don’t think the lines about something ancient are referring to anything on Earth. I think I need to go to Tirnan.”