Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms 3)

“Your ring does wonders for my control.” Lucia looked down and studied the amethyst, and Cleo felt a deep pang of envy. It wasn’t only a force of magic with ties to the Kindred. The ring had belonged to her mother, and her father had given it to her in his last living moments.

Her heart ached for it, but she knew it was now just another loss for her to grieve.

“I’m glad,” she said, forcing a smile.

A frown creased Lucia’s brow. “You knew what this ring was before Alexius told you.”

A heavy moment of silence passed between the two princesses as Cleo struggled to understand exactly what Lucia was suggesting. Her words weren’t posed as a question. They were presented as a statement. “Of course I didn’t.”

“Don’t lie, Cleo. It’s too much of a coincidence for me to believe.”

A swift sensation of alarm whipped through her. “I’m not lying.”

“You had this ring for, what? Months? This ring’s secret is why you first approached me with offers of friendship. This is how you knew, before you even saw it for yourself, that your presence would give me peace. And you used that knowledge to manipulate me.”

While Cleo’s stomach tied itself up in knots, her mind worked furiously to find a way out of this, to ease Lucia’s worries. The princess was only being paranoid, which was nothing new.

It wasn’t time to panic yet.

“Lucia.” Cleo offered her a bright smile. “How could I know I possessed a magic ring? It didn’t provide me with any magic. And, in case you aren’t aware, I’m only sixteen. I didn’t know Eva personally like your boyfriend did. And, need I remind you that I gave that ring to you freely the moment I knew it could help you? Now stop being silly.”

“Silly?” Lucia’s expression grew dark. “I assure you, silly is the very last thing I’m being right now.”

Perhaps it was nearing the time to panic.

“I should leave you to your studies. It’s clear you’re in a foul mood today and I don’t want to add to it, especially with the wedding to attend this evening.” She turned and opened the door.

But it slammed shut before she could leave.

Slowly, she turned to face the sorceress, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it.

“I told you about the water Kindred because I wanted to see your reaction,” Lucia said softly. “I thought I might be wrong, but there it is in your eyes. I see how much you want the Kindred for yourself.”

“I don’t know what you mean. Now let me leave.”

“Why? So you can alert Jonas Agallon and direct him to Limeros? I suggest he wear furs. It’s very cold there, even in midsummer.”

Cleo suddenly forgot how to breathe. She grappled to find her voice or an excuse that would satisfy the girl standing before her with her fists clenched at her sides.

“You accuse me of this, but you don’t know anything with certainty,” Cleo said, her tone sharp enough to cut glass. “What about your boyfriend? Has no doubt been cast in his direction? Only mine? Perhaps when it comes to him, you’re blind. He’s ancient, isn’t he? Why would he bother with a teenaged girl if not to manipulate her powers to find the Kindred for himself?”

gasped and her gaze snapped to Lucia’s. “Where is it?”

Such a fast reply. So eager, so greedy.

Had Lucia been foolish to trust her even for a moment? To think Cleo could be a true friend in a kingdom of enemies?

Alexius’s words echoed in her mind. “You are a sorceress, princess, with vast magic at your fingertips. What has been stolen can and will be stolen back.”

He was right.

“In Limeros,” she said. “At the Temple of Valoria.”

She wanted to see Cleo’s reaction to the truth, to see if she could sense any deception. Was it possible her suspicions were wrong? After all, when could the princess have had contact with a wanted criminal such as Jonas Agallon?

But the fact remained—and Lucia had been raised to value facts and truths above all else—that only two people other than herself had known the location of the earth Kindred before they’d discovered it stolen.

Only two. And one now stood before her—a girl whose kingdom, whose very freedom, had been stolen by Lucia’s family.