Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

My brows furrowed. “You want to know about my brother?” My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”

His eyes only shined. “Because I want to know more about you. No strings attached.”

Or he needed information to give his High King, who was probably working right now and couldn’t stalk me.

“He’s a boy,” I stated, placing my hands on my hips in defiance. “He’s underfed and fully loved, and absolutely no use to a Fallen General or his creepy High King.” Only partially a lie. I fed him plenty, just…just not enough to grow like he should, but I was trying. I was doing everything I could to get him to gain weight.

Mom didn’t believe me because of the medical condition I had. Some sort of issue within me that allowed me to gain weight but kept me from losing it. Which was why on the outside I looked like I had three meals a day,healthy, curvy. But on the inside, I had only had two meals in the last three days because I needed Mark to eat more, which was why I was feeling a bit dizzy today, but it was fine. He needed it more than I did.

“I don’t want to take him, Kyra, I want to know about what you love most in this world. You could have died for your brother yesterday, yet you didn’t think twice about it.”

My eyes widened and I took a step back, hands dropping to my sides. “How do you know my name?”

He placed a hand on the book he had been reading yesterday. “You signed your name. Kyra Skye. It’s a beautiful name.”

It wasn’t a big deal, him knowing my name. In fact, I had forgotten that I had never told him. It just feltpersonal,and I didn’t like that. “What did you mean yesterday when you said ‘it wasn’t successful’? What wasn’t? What happened before?”

The light in Cole’s eyes dimmed a bit as he sat back. He inhaled deeply. “The witches, years ago, were experimenting with turning people into mindless drones. We call them Soldiers. The people they try and change get a mark on their neck, the base of it, an eight-pointed star. It was never successful until they realized how to make it successful. Humans. The vessel needed to be empty of magic before they were changed.”

I finally sat down, my motions slow. “What?” I whispered in shock. “They’rechangingpeople? Into what? I mean what are they actually doing to them?”

“The Soldiers are basically hosts to a magical parasite. This parasite gives them the ability to use magic for anincredibly short period of time. Humans aren’t meant to have magic in their bodies, so as soon as Forbidden Magic shifts them into Soldiers, the magic starts to rot them from the inside out. It’s a very slow and painful process, but once they use it, they have about an hour left to live.”

I leaned over the table, intrigued and horrified by the information. “Can they feel it?”

He shrugged. “Nobody knows. No one has cared enough to ask, and even if we did manage to trap one long enough to ask it if it feels anything, chances are, they’d try to kill us and then die before we got anything out of them.”

It sounded terrible and incredibly interesting. “So, Evanora would have to create thousands and thousands of them just to get an army?”

Cole nodded. “If she wants a bigger army, then yes.”

Why wouldn’t she? With the war she declared looming, she was probably going to try again. I searched his eyes and leaned back. “What do you know about the witches?”

His eyes narrowed as he matched my movements. “What doyouknow about—”

“No, don’t do that,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “Your High King sent you on some secret business in Therian, and then the witches declare war on probably everyone, they didn’t specify, so is that it? You’re studying the witches?”

He huffed. “Yes.”

I couldn’t help the smile that touched my lips. “You didn’t think I would guess that did you?”

He shrugged, shaking his head, suddenly reminding me of Mark throwing tantrums. “Didn’t cross my mind, no.”

I laughed lightly.

A small smile spread across his lips. “Okay, fine,” he said, holding up his hands. “You guessed it, so I won’t be breaking any promises telling you. Trick didn’t want anything to do with this,” he gestured in the general direction of Therian. “He didn’t care about what was going on. Had I known that, I never would have come, as it is, I’m here. He wanted me to study the demons and find out more about the witches.”

“Why does he care now?” I asked. “What changed?”

“I think it’s a game now, and he likes his games,” Cole stated bitterly.

Yeah, of course he did. “Did you know about the witches?”

Cole nodded. “I’ve known for centuries about them, but no one listened because he ordered them not too. He didn’t want to bother.”

I rolled my eyes. “Arrogant.”

“You have no idea,” he sighed, leaning over the table. “What do you know about them?”