Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms #3)(23)

“Do you know where she disappeared to?”

“No.”

Timotheus didn’t break eye contact. Despite their centuries of friendship, despite all the guidance and knowledge the elder had shared, Alexius still had secrets he needed to keep from him.

Horrible secrets.

“I believe Melenia has something to do with her disappearance,” Timotheus said. “You might ask her about it the next time you see her, which I presume will be today?”

Alexius chose not to confirm this. “I’ll be sure to ask her the next time I see her.”

Rumors had begun to spread across the Crystal City that he was their fair leader’s newest lover, a designation that drew stares of envy and jealousy from his fellow immortals everywhere he went.

But that rumor couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I should be leaving now.” Alexius tensed up as Timotheus clasped his shoulder, concern clouding his eternally youthful face.

“Alexius, you can trust me with any secret. Just as you always have. I hope you know that. If there is anything you need to tell me, don’t hesitate.”

Alexius smiled and nodded, wishing it were that simple.

? ? ?

He needed to know what had happened to Phaedra. The question ate away at him anew as he journeyed to the top of the crystal palace to meet Melenia. The beautiful Watcher greeted him with a smile, opening her golden doors wide to allow him entry into her chambers, which were full of light and the beautiful flowers that were picked daily by her obedient minions.

“You’re early,” she said, kissing him on both cheeks before she closed the doors. Her long, flowing, flaxen hair smelled like warm saffron and reflected the light from the floor-to-ceiling window that looked out on the rest of the city where the immortals made their home.

He hadn’t taken more than a step inside the room before he brought up the troubling subject. “I need to know about Phaedra.”

“She has disappeared.”

“I know that much. Is she still alive?”

Melenia blinked once. “My goodness, Alexius. What is the meaning of this? You don’t think I had something to do with her disappearance, do you?”

He summoned all the courage he could. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I do. I know you thought she was a problem, that she knew too much and was dangerously close to learning more.”

“And for this offense you think I . . . what? Murdered her?” She smiled sweetly. “I assure you, I haven’t touched a single hair on her head.”

“But you know what happened to her.”

“Come and sit. We have much to discuss today. Unfortunately, it will have to wait until I finish with my other visitor.”

“Other visitor?”

There was a knock at the door. “Yes. Danaus desperately wanted to speak with me today.”

Danaus, the final member of the Three, was a vastly unpleasant immortal whom Alexius habitually avoided. “Don’t let him in.”

“Don’t be silly. Actually, I need him today.”

With a clenched jaw, Alexius watched as Melenia practically floated across the silver floor inlaid with sparkling jewels. Her diamond-beaded gown was made from fabric that seemed spun from platinum, and her long, wavy hair shone in different shades of gold. She was the most beautiful Watcher of all.

How Alexius had come to hate her.

She opened the door to Danaus. “Oh,” his voice boomed. “I see you’re not alone.”

“No.” She held the door open wider and gestured him inside. “But come in. Please, I insist.”

Danaus might have been every bit as beautiful as any of their kind, but his eternally sour expression made him ugly to Alexius. Danaus regarded him now with clear disdain. “Alexius isn’t one of us,” he said.

“Of course he is. Don’t be rude, Danaus. It doesn’t become you. Please say what you came here to say. It’s clear that it troubles you deeply.”

“Very well.” He hissed out a breath of impatience. “I’ve received word from a scout that one of our exiles has been using his magic to help the mortal king build a road. I believe Xanthus was one of your most devoted minions, wasn’t he?”

Alexius nearly flinched at the name of Phaedra’s brother, gone from the Sanctuary for twenty years. He’d once been Melenia’s lover, and her most favored and gifted protégé. She’d coached him in ways unlike she had anyone else in the Sanctuary, which had caused everyone, Alexius included, to suspect and envy him.

Now he knew better than to envy anyone this immortal singled out. Now he pitied those she hand-selected. Including himself.

“The pretty spider in her silvery web, spinning tales to wind around us all.”

It was a warning from Phaedra that he’d ignored. She had been smarter than anyone had suspected.

Melenia nodded. “I remember Xanthus very well.”

Danaus pursed his lips, clearly annoyed that this news did not incense her. “I believe someone here in the Sanctuary is visiting him in his dreams, guiding his actions.”

Her brows arched. “Really. Who?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Despite Danaus’s ancient age and vast wealth of knowledge, he really was deeply stupid. But perhaps Alexius was dismissing him too soon. Like Timotheus, he was an elder. If only Alexius could find a way to meet with them privately, to tell them what Melenia planned behind their backs, that would be two against one . . .