Emma’s mouth bobbed open slightly at my appearance. “Ethan.” Her tone was very surprised.
“Hello, onawilke.” I gave a soft smile, and gods, it felt like pulling a sword out of my chest. That one little movement from me to her was worse than any torture illusion the best fae sorceress could put on me, and I wanted my suffering to end now.
Emma’s form was stiff and cautious. There were a few more lines by her eyes than there had been last semester— she’d been worried. And grieving, perhaps, though I didn’t permit myself to hope that much.
She stared at me for a moment longer before she moved to Odette’s side. Odette reached out a hand and took Emma’s. She squeezed it, and Emma gave a grateful smile in thanks.
Stefan glanced between Emma and I before taking the lead. “Well, now that we’re all here, we should talk about the crystals,” he began. “We know that the portal to Edinmyre is shut, and if we don’t use the crystals to open it up again permanently, the fae are going to turn to literal dust. We have two crystals, but four of them are still out there. So do we have any leads on where the next one is?”
The only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the clock, before Odette spoke up. “Theo’s family went traveling to Germany and Norway. I went with them,” she offered. “We looked, but not a thing.”
“A holiday with Theo, hm?” Kiara teased, while Theo’s cheeks turned pink. “And how was that?”
Odette shrugged. “I always go on vacation with them every summer. What’s the big deal?”
Theo’s face soured. Clearly, he was still in the friendzone and their relationship hadn’t progressed further— though the point must’ve soared over Odette’s head, because she bounced in place and smiled.
“My mother and I went on a backpacking trip around Poland, before I went back to Detroit,” Emma said softly. “There are quite a few fae ruins there. I looked, but didn’t find anything.”
My stomach jolted when she spoke, giving me a wave of nausea. By the gods, even her voice was painful to listen to. It wrenched agony from within me, peeling my heart away layer by layer.
I did my best not to let it show on my face, though I’m sure my true intentions showed, because Emma’s eyes flickered to me before settling forward.
“Us either,” Kiara said with a sigh. “My mother has an extensive library on fae lore, with thousands of books, and I didn’t find a single clue on the Crystals of Harmony. Alexei stayed in Dolinska, but that was a dead end, too.”
“I surveyed all the historical sites. It was interesting and I learned a lot, but they didn’t get me anywhere,” Alexei said.
“What about you two?” Theo asked Stefan and Delmare. “Surely there must be one clue.”
Delmare shook her head. “We traveled all over France. If there was a hint of the crystals, we would’ve unearthed it.”
“Sure you weren’t too busy honeymooning in Paris to concentrate on the stones?” Kiara teased.
“I was concentrating on stones, all right,” Delmare replied. The girls broke out laughing— save for Emma, who barely grinned.
“Hey, there were some sexy times going on, but we made sure to stay on task,” Stefan said. “And nada.”
“What about you, Ethan?” Odette squeaked. “Did you find anything?”
The group turned inward. My muscles froze. I worried what would happen next, with my upcoming confession— if this would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, and they’d outcast me from their presence. But I’d made a promise to be completely honest with my friends, and I planned to stick to that. No more lies.
I shifted uncomfortably. “I spied on the Circle and attended several events, but no mention of the crystals. The lords and ladies were too busy gossiping about my cousin’s kingship.”
The subject was a sore one. Gabby and Elijah had been crowned, and were on Malovia’s throne. I’d been on edge since it’d happened, and yet three months had gone by, and so far there were no drastic changes.
Yet. I was sure the two of them were just getting comfortable before they started giving the real orders.
“What about your vigilante work? Did you find out anything that way?” Alexei asked.
Emma’s eyes burned with tears, but she quickly blinked them away. I forced myself to stop looking at her.
“No. I haven’t put on the Phantom mask all summer,” I said.