“We’ve come, hoping you can help, please,” Kiki says as though straining to keep the plea out of her voice.
Vespertine gazes into the fire. “Where do you get your powers, Kiki?”
She throws her hands in the air. “My powers? Uh, never mind. This is ridiculous. I’m just an ordinary girl, who got bumped from the Police Force and am on the Peace Force. Usually, I process demons and stamp papers all day. Then on my birthday, I got home to find my mother dead, read a strange note, and poof. I’m here. Maybe I have some fae blood in me, but I don’t know anything about powers.”
“What about your wings?”
She groans in exasperation and paces away from the fire.
“Fair enough. I suppose you can’t ask for what you don’t know you have,” Vespertine says mildly.
“What I do know is that we’re leaving,” Kiki says.
Vespertine lifts a finger. “You’ll make better time if you summon your wings.”
Her eyes widen. “Are you for real?”
“Go ahead.” Vespertine smiles. “Your magic is there, just below the surface.”
She grumbles and looks at me.
I shrug. “I don’t think he’s necessarily wrong. It’s possible.”
This seems to irritate her more and her gaze sharpens, staring daggers at both of us.
“Could you explain?” I ask before Kiki explodes.
“Why didn’t you just say so? My specialty is the elements. I can keep things from freezing or thawing. I can raise and lower the tide. All of existence seeks balance. Nature seeks it. The sun and moon seek it. We seek it. It’s elemental. Whether you realize it or not, Kiki and Soren, you seek it.”
“Yeah, finding your balance is definitely a buzzword,” Kiki says.
“What happens when you fall out of balance?” Vespertine asks.
I catch on. “Envy, green, Leith.”
Vespertine pops his finger in the air. “Exactly. Have you considered the possibility that Leith traded something whole within himself for his powers? Or at least some of them?”
“No,” I say plainly.
“It’s my understanding that Leith, the silver king, as he’s often called, offered himself to a vampire in exchange for immortality. However, the vampire, Nikolai, was cursed by fae. When he bit Leith, he didn’t yet realize that he’d been locked into insatiable immortality. Nikolai could no longer drink blood or turn others—another desire vampires must fulfill. He was always thirsty, empty, and wanting more. He tried feeding off three more people before he realized he couldn’t. However, in doing so, he transferred some aspects of his curse to Leith.”
Kiki remains as still as a statue and I’m unsure what she thinks of all this.
“What aspects?” I ask, feeling hopeful now that we’re getting some solid information.
“The hunger and insatiable need, for sure. Nikolai leads Leith and three other false kings as they create the Shadow Army to destroy the fae in an act of revenge. I believe the vampire also plays a role in the blotch on the sun.” Vespertine’s expression is grave.
Kiki comes back to life and lifts her hands. “Hold on. Back up. So vampires really are real? All along, I was hoping this was some kind of joke or—”
I wrinkle my nose. “Nope. No joke.”
“They’re as real as fae and shifters...you and me.” Vespertine shrugs like this is all commonplace.
“You’re shocked that vampires are real but not that you’re a fae or have powers?” I ask.
She shifts uncomfortably. “They just really freak me out. Always have. Not the ones that sparkle. The other ones. Still, I’m more of a Team Jacob girl anyway.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about. “What about demons? They don’t bother you?” I ask her.
“I was taught how to destroy them.” She quickly tells us about her training back home.
“Glad to have you on my team then,” I say.
“It sounds like you will be well prepared to master your magic,” Vespertine says.
She cuts him a scowl. “Let me get this straight. The vampire is ticked at the fae for cursing him, desires revenge, and that’s why he’s hired the demons to be shadow thieves,” Kiki says.
“Precisely.” Vespertine nods.
“So he’s going to use the fae shadows against them.” I rake my hand through my hair.
“And rid the world of their magic.”
Kiki leans back and as though astounded, she mutters, “That’s the curse we need to break.” Then more loudly she says, “So where is this so-called vampire?”
Vespertine shakes his head. “No one knows.”
“Not even you with your ravens?”
“It’s not up to us to find him,” Vespertine says.
“That’s a major cop-out.” Kiki scowls.
“Kiki you have magic, but it was suppressed until your eighteenth birthday. And you’re sure to soon come of age, Soren. You could take the throne.”
My laughter is a loud whoop, and I slap my leg harder than I mean to. “Take the throne. Yeah, right. How would that go? Hey, King Leith, I’ll take that crown now, thanks.”
Vespertine doesn’t smile or join in on the amusement. “False King, Soren,” he corrects.
“If we were to follow your suggestion, how do we get from point a—my supposed powers—to point b—Soren taking the throne and kicking out the king?” I detect sarcasm in Kiki’s voice as if the entire notion is ridiculous.
Vespertine says, “That’s for you to determine.”
“But Nadya said you can help us.” Kiki leans in as though hoping for a favorable answer.
“Can’t you summon the kings to help us or something?” I ask.
“I cannot wake the kings and battle arms. The ravens are loyal to them until the rightful king comes into power and the shield fae are loyal to them all. It’s my job to watch over them as they rest.”
“But you can do magic.” Kiki plants her hands on her hips.
“I can do spells. And as I said, you can too if you want to. By suppressing your power,
