“Do I?” Mia smiled at this, her eyes shining with pleasure. “I’ve witnessed mortal gatherings in hawk form but have never been close enough to truly experience such grand events.”

“Perhaps I’ll take you to one someday in gratitude for helping me today,” Lucia said as she quickly slipped the robes over her clothing.

“That would be wonderful.” Mia hesitated, as if uncertain what to do next, then slipped her arm through Lucia’s. “Come with me.”

If only Mia knew what Lucia was responsible for, she doubted the immortal would be so welcoming to her. Everywhere she’d gone with Kyan, Lucia had left destruction and death in her wake. She’d run away from her family, hating them for keeping important truths from her all her life—about her prophecy, her magic, and that she’d been stolen from her birth family. She had no friends, no allies, and no possessions apart from the clothing on her back—clothing meant more for a peasant than a princess.

No, that wasn’t entirely true. She had one other possession, a very important one: her ring. She glanced down at her right index finger, upon which she wore a gold filigree band set with a large purple stone.

If not for this ring, she would be dead.

All the more reason for her to be here and to have the chance to speak with Timotheus face to face.

Mia led her deeper into the city. Lucia followed, pulling the hood of the white robes up over her long dark hair. They walked alone for a long while through the crystal city’s maze until, finally, she began to see others. Many wore robes like the one Mia had given her, and they were all moving in the same direction. Disguised as one of them, no one gave her a second glance. She was able to continue to observe these immortals and their shining city without interruption.

Every being here was so beautiful, each more so than the last. Even the most attractive mortals couldn’t compete with these creatures. Their skin, all shades from palest alabaster to deepest ebony, radiated with light that seemed to glow from within. Their eyes were like shining jewels of every color, their hair like the finest strands of the most precious metals.

How strange it must be to live in a world, she thought, where everyone and everything is perfect.

Alexius had been beautiful like this—she’d seen it in her dreams. When he’d exiled himself, he’d become mortal, and that glow had faded. He’d become more three-dimensional, his angles more crooked. He’d become more real.

She saw now that she’d liked that—the transformation of immortal Alexius into real Alexius—more than she’d realized at the time. To be in love with someone perfect beyond compare would have become rather tiresome after a while.

Lucia gritted her teeth as oceans of unbidden memories rose up within her. A wave of grief and rage washed over her as she was confronted by the same memories she’d spent the last few weeks trying to forget.

Alexius had ultimately given his life to save hers.

But from the moment she’d met him in the first dream he’d pulled her into, he’d been deceiving and using her at Melenia’s magical command, attempting to learn her secrets and manipulate her into awakening the Kindred.

No, she thought, and with that one firm word she forced away the memories. She swore she wouldn’t think about him. Not now, not ever again. Not if she could help it.

They reached an expansive clearing in the center of the city. The ground there was laid with reflective tiles. It reminded Lucia of the mirror in her palace chamber where she watched as her attendants readied her to a state of beauty that would please her mother. From beneath her hood, she watched as two hundred immortals converged in the clearing.

“This is like the public square back home,” she said under her breath.

“We meet here for gatherings, and Melenia used to speak to us from the tower regularly to brighten our days . . . until she disappeared . . .”

Lucia bit her tongue. Not even the confused and fearful tone in Mia’s voice would make her regret ending the immortal elder’s life.

She looked up at the smooth crystal cylinder set in the center of the clearing. The structure reached so high up that she couldn’t see the top. “What is this?”

“The elders make their home in this tower. Timotheus hasn’t left it since Alexius exiled himself to the mortal world. Many believe he’s been in mourning.”

Now Lucia’s teeth sank into her tongue so deeply she nearly drew blood.

“How many elders live here?” she asked. She realized that learning about this new place was helping to ease her mind and keep her from spiraling back into thoughts of the past.

“There were six originally.”

“And now?”

“This is one of the questions we have for Timotheus.” Mia’s expression turned grave. “And he must have answers today.”

“Or what? What happens if Timotheus doesn’t come out today with the right answers? What if this crowd he’s gathered is not pleased?”

Mia glanced around at the others surrounding the base of the crystal tower, taking up only a fraction of the space available in the square. “Many feel that the time of elders has passed. At their command, we’ve searched for the Kindred, and to many it has been nothing but a fool’s errand, meant to distract us from the truth.”

“What truth?”

Mia shook her head, her expression tightening. “The fact that you’re here gives me hope that they’re wrong.”

Lucia was about to ask more questions, to get to Mia’s hidden meaning, but before she could, there came a rustle in the crowd and a rise of angry shouting voices.