Page 116 of The Puppet Master
“Zephyr?” Raven ponders. “You think she might know something?”
“I think it’s very possible.”
Raven just stands staring at me with a clueless expression I try not to resent.
Zephyr,the sweetheart.
Zephyr,the chameleon.
“I’ll look into it,” Raven finally says.
I pause a moment before clasping my hands. “Could you please retrieve Cinder for me?”
Her complexion lightens, the whites of her eyes growing.
My grasp tightens. “What?”
“Nothing.” She laughs. “I just… She’s exploring. I let her out this afternoon and she bolted for the woods, but she always comes back!”
I say nothing.
“I’ll go look for her.” Raven ducks her head and scurries away.
As soon as her footsteps have faded, I head to my quarters. The sight of my bed makes my eyes heavy, my knees weak. I pull my ring from my desk drawer and lay down, the smell of moonflower settling in my nose.
Sliding the emerald on, I twist it twice around my finger. Close my eyes.
Eventually fall asleep.
CHAPTER 30
SAWYER
Iwait two miserable hours before making my way to Aurelius’s mansion.
Perched on the edge of the bed in a room Zephyr uselessly prepared for me, I sit with my hands in my lap, knee bouncing in sync with my jaw. Staring at the door waiting for the Keepers to arrive.
They didn’t.
They haven’t.
Not yet.
A full moon beams in the starry sky, lighting the path to the Keep too well as I slink ahead—the cold nipping at my fingers and nose while heat blooms on the back of my head. I scan behind for what must be the twentieth time before continuing on.
I listen for the buzz of a drone; flinch at ahoocoming from a tree. There’s no proof that I’m being watched, not even anyevidence, but I feel it. Deep within my chest, I feel it.
When I make it to the Keep, Thorne is lying on the parapet wall of the staircase, his biceps bare and bulging as he rests with his hands behind his head, ankles crossed. Stargazing, lounging, yet somehow not relaxed.
As I approach, he sighs without looking at me.
“What do you want, Hansley?”
“I was hoping to check on the girl… I’m assuming Aurelius is finished with her for the night?”
Thorne scoffs, then mutters, “Aurelius will never be finished with her.”
Aurelius’s hands.
