The Silver Siren (Iron Butterfly, #3)(34)

“Are you sure you didn’t just lose the scroll in your office?” Adept Cirrus asked.

Kambel shook his head. “No, I’m positive. I’ve continued to search, but any other mention of Denai life before Calandry has been destroyed. The few books I’ve been able to recover over the years are unsalvageable.”

They had found a stool for me to perch upon, and one by one, the five adepts studied my deformed eye and asked me pointed questions. I squirmed uncomfortably in the stool and tried to answer as honestly as I could, but the truth was I didn’t know what was happening to me any more than they did.

But I was most uncomfortable with the silent figure that sat quietly in a chair, observing me with piercing blue eyes. Her red hair was held off of her shoulders with delicate bejeweled pins and her delicate hands never twitched or moved. Her posture and composure bespoke years of training that I knew I would never be able to learn or mimic. How could I possibly? She was the queen.

“So you say you have been regaining more memories concerning the experiments done to you,” Adept Cirrus asked thoughtfully. His long blond-white ponytail made him look the most normal of the bunch. I just appreciated his level-headedness.

“Vivid dreams have been bringing it back in bits and pieces in.” I shivered just recounting my last few.

“How do you know what you’re dreaming is truth?” Adept Cirrus asked, no hint of accusation in his tone.

“Also the pain of the experiments could have hidden the memories deeper as well,” Kambel spoke up again, his gray head bobbing. “If she kept encountering similar pains or experiences, they could have triggered the subconscious.”

My mind immediately jumped to the sound of thunder and how it pulled me back into the pit, back to the prison. “I think Adept Kambel is right. High stress situations seem to bring it back faster. It’s been a slow process, like a disease. Over time, it’s spread and gotten worse. Especially in the last few weeks. I’ve been in more pain, but I’m getting stronger. Talbot himself said I was exhibiting at least four Denai gifts, and it is fairly obvious I’m not a Denai. The Septori must’ve succeeded, and I’m positive in what my powers are doing. They drain all of a Denai’s powers and give them to another.”

“I don’t think we should trust her. Or whatever you are calling that Denai imposter” Breah challenged. She was never afraid of speaking her mind in front of Queen Lilyana. Breah, the youngest of the Adept Council seemed to have disliked me from the moment I arrived in Haven. Her auburn hair was in a coif today—probably an attempt to make her look older.

“Look at her,” she fumed angrily. “Look into the true face of evil!” Silence filled the room, except for the angry panted breathing of Adept Breah. “I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again—she shouldn’t be here.”

It was Pax who stood up and came to my defense, gently taking the young woman and directing her toward a chair. No one argued against the giant of a man.

“She should be chained up, imprisoned,” Breah sniffed over her shoulder and sat down, glaring daggers at me.

The hatred that poured from Breah toward me came off of her in waves and, for once, I actually feared the adept. In that moment, I saw clearly how delicate the balance of power was among the Adept Council members. I glanced around and saw the uncertain expressions on Kambel and Cirrus. Adept Pax and Lorna were unreadable, and they were the two that usually were on my side about everything.

The scale could have tipped at any moment, deciding the rest of my future. Maybe the Adept Council weren’t my allies but could potentially be my enemy. Ultimately, I could only trust myself. And right now the less I told them the better.

Queen Lilyana had raised an eyebrow at Breah. “Come now. I doubt she is in any way to blame for what was done to her against her will. You need to let that go, Adept Breah. She’s the victim here. She wasn’t a danger to us before, and even though she is growing stronger, I doubt that her intent is to kill us all in our sleep. Thalia would rather have this whole process reversed if possible, am I correct, Thalia? If you had the chance to undo what was done to you, would you take it? Give it all up for normalcy?”

The air left my lungs and I couldn’t catch my breath. My hands shook and I leaned on my knees and lifting my gaze with utter hope. A weight lifted off of my shoulders as I stared into her beautiful blue eyes. I would do anything to just have two the same color again.

“Yes,” I sighed. Even to me the words were barely audible, but she leaned forward as if to catch them.

Then she smiled softly and leaned back in her chair. “So now that we know that we have her cooperation, let’s work on fixing this.”

Kambel spoke up in nervousness, “My Queen, I don’t think I could unless I actually had Lord Horden’s journals. I think these experiments are a direct link to his findings. If only I had the original journals. I could—”

“Well you don’t,” Lorna interrupted. “So use that brain of yours and find a way around it.”

Cirrus stood. “I’ll help you, Kambel.” Kambel visibly brightened and the two began to talk quietly.

The great entryway doors crashed open. “She’s escaped!”

I whirled around in my chair to see who had burst through the double doors of the Adept Hall. One of the captains of the guard. The reddish-blond hair could only belong to my friend Garit.