Enjoy this chapter, mwah-mwah! Thank you for all the reads while the book was on hiatus lmao

—chloe

"Should we tell her?"

"I'm not sure."

Kaylessa stopped rummaging through Alina's pantry as she caught snippets of the conversation held in the main room. She fingered the lid of a can of glectos as she tilted her ear towards the noise.

"How do you know if this was recent?"

"Does Kaylessa know?"

She inhaled sharply at the mention of her name and opened the door to the pantry slightly to peek through the crack. Viessa's back was to her and she only saw half of Ashryn through the small slit. Viessa shifted slightly to the right to answer a question Kieran asked when Kaylessa saw the picture frame she clutched tightly in her hands.

Raverie was kicking a large pile of prattles when she saw Kaylessa shift the door open.

"What are you doing?" Raverie asked. She reached down to pick up a prattle and pop it in her mouth.

"Do you hear them?" Kaylessa whispered loudly.

"No, why are we talking so quietly?" Raverie moved to stand behind Kaylessa as they watched Viessa pass the picture frame around. "What is that?"

"I don't know. Are they going to show us?" Raverie cocked her head to the right and squinted at the minimal view of the picture. The lights glared off the glass and made it extremely hard to spy.

"Let's see," Kaylessa muttered as she shoved the door fully open.

"Kaylessa! Did you see that pile of prattles? Alina is such a hoarder!" Raverie said too loudly. Her awkward, stiff tone attracted the attention of the others. Viessa not so subtly hid the picture behind her back.

Kaylessa shot Raverie a look and headed towards her friends. Raverie followed.

"Hey Kaylessa," Viessa said. Her eyes were pleading as she watched Ashryn shrug.

"What's behind your back?" Kaylessa asked innocently. Viessa's eyes widened and Ashryn shrugged again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Keryn shift into a defensive position. Uh-oh, this was bad then.

"Um, maybe you should sit down?" Viessa suggested, looking extremely nervous.

"Did you find an Alden stash?" Kaylessa asked jokingly, trying to break the sudden tension in the room. Raverie ducked under her brother's outstretched arm and ran behind Viessa. She caught a glimpse of the picture and gasped.

Kaylessa crossed her arms, "Just show me, Vi. It's fine."

Viessa gulped audibly and slowly moved her arms in front of her. Kaylessa watched Viessa turn the picture over and became very still.

She squinted at the picture and tilted her head, but the image didn't change. Her father was smiling slightly with his arm slung over Alina's shoulder. Alina was laughing as she wrapped both arms around Elion. There was a slight bulge in Alina's stomach. Kaylessa could only think, Alina should lay off the prattles.

She stared at Elion's face. It was still grief-torn, but there was light in his eyes. His smile seemed genuine, but there was still that sad tone in the picture. It was probably taken after her mother died. Her father would never have touched another female if she hadn't.

She didn't know that her father found love in Alina. Why? She had no idea, there were plenty of better people in the world, but her father seemed truly happy. His arm was draped over Alina's shoulder so casually too. It was . . . weird.

She just never thought her father would find someone else, though this didn't last long. She remembered a brief period of time when she was eleven when her father would sneak away. It stopped when she turned thirteen.

She had never questioned that until now. She had always assumed he was out . . . doing grown-up stuff or whatever.

"Where did you get that?" Kaylessa asked softly.

"Alina's jacket pocket. I found it when I fell," Viessa explained. Kaylessa remained silent for a while. The picture . . . oh gods.

"Kaylessa?" Ashryn asked softly. Kaylessa's head shot up as she turned to Ashryn.

"Yeah?" she asked warily.

"Are you—are you ok?" Ashryn reached toward Kaylessa and yanked her into her arms. She squeezed her tightly and her voice was slightly muffled when she responded, "Yeah, why?"

"Your dad—aren't you—he's with—are you not—wha—I—Is he—Alina and him—you—" Ashryn seemed to struggle with speaking. "Why—Are you—Maybe—Ugh, I give up. He's with Alina. Does that . . . not bother you?"

Kaylessa shrugged, "I mean, he was happy. For two years he was happy." Keryn opened his mouth to ask how she knew when Elion was with Alina when Viessa interrupted him.

"He does seem happy," Viessa added gently. Kaylessa watched the sympathetic expression on everyone's face and said, "Stop that. He was happy, it's ok."

Aymon wrinkled his nose in an attempt to "stop that."

"Does that mean that maybe, maybe, Elion might actually be involved in Alina's death?" Esarae asked.

"Of course not. He loved her. You can tell in the picture," Kaylessa said. "He can't kill someone."

"But, you have to admit it's possible," Kieran said, a tad too gently for Kaylessa's taste.

"Look at the clues, Kaylessa. He was with Alina, maybe he killed her off because it ended badly. Or he felt bad for betraying your mom. And he killed Alden because Alina loved him," Keryn added.

"No, he didn't. And, if he did, why would he kill Alden if Alina loved him. That would mean he cared for Alina," Kaylessa snapped.

"Ok, it's not a solid theory, but it works," Keryn said, his voice so commanding and self-righteous. Kaylessa crossed her arms and glowered.

"Stop it," she said again.

"Stop what, Kaylessa," Keryn asked sharply.

"Stop it."

Viessa watched the glaring contest between Kaylessa and Keryn and held up her hand, "Ok, we're not saying if Elion really did kill Alina and Alden, but, the dots do add up."

Kaylessa rolled her eyes and slumped on the fancy upholstery in the room, "Fine."

"So you admit I'm right?" Keryn asked dryly.

"No, I'm saying that—" Kaylessa was interrupted by Aymon suddenly screaming, "What's the stupidest thing you can say right now?"

Esarae gave Aymon, the really? Look, but Kaylessa was glad for the attention shift when she said matter-of-factly, "Humans breathe air."

Ashryn grinned and said, "3+2 is the same as 2+3."

Kaylessa smirked back as she replied, "For every 60 seconds that pass in the Lost Cities, 1 minute passes in the Forbidden Cities."

"When you go outside, you are not inside."

"The floor is made of floor."

"You are as tall as your height."

"Your hair cannot itch."

"Color is just rejected light."

Kaylessa and Ashryn fired back at each other, each round growing stupider and stupider. The tension in the room disappeared and when Kaylessa couldn't put two brain cells together to find another stupid remark, she grinned at Aymon, "Thanks."

Ashryn elbowed Aymon in the ribs and Kaylessa let Ashryn drag her around on the floor.

"This is why I don't work with children," Raverie laughed, but mussed up Aymon's hair.

Kaylessa lifted her head from her spot on the floor, "Aymon, what you said was probably the stupidest thing said in this room."

Aymon shrugged half-heartedly, "It was the only way to get you and Keryn to stop fighting." Kaylessa was glad for that distraction. Without Aymon, she would have raged at Keryn until she was crying.

Keryn was watching her incredulously as Viessa joined her on the floor. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You should investigate your dad, Kaylessa," Keryn told her. And that was when Keryn broke the elated happiness in the room.

"Why? He isn't suspicious," Kaylessa challenged.

"Yes, he is. You're biased. He's your dad, of course you feel that way, but you should make sure, y'know?" Keryn explained, probably the most gentle she's ever heard come out of his mouth.

"Just investigate."

"I can't."

"Why not, Kaylessa?" The question Keryn asked shut Kaylessa up real quick. She lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. She traced the gold swirls on the ceiling with her mind as she focused on the patterns.

Kaylessa would've been bawling.

Kaylessa shot up quickly and stood directly in front of Keryn, "What?" He stumbled back at her close proximity. "What?" she repeated.

"What do you mean, 'what?'" Keryn asked, backing up again.

"How did you do that?" Kaylessa asked breathlessly. She replayed her thoughts moments before and realized that she had admitted she might've cried during their argument. "How?"

She knew her mental shields were up. She checked them seconds before. Keryn hadn't been looking at her during those initial moments either to slip in her mind easily. "How?" She hadn't felt a presence either, but she wasn't a telepath like Keryn.

"How what, Kaylessa? I can't understand you," Keryn said, as he nearly tripped over Ashryn's foot trying to back away.

"Kaylessa, what are you talking about?" Viessa asked, her voice tinged with concern.

"How did you get in my mind?" she asked, clearing the confusion on Keryn's face. His eyes widened and he continued backing up.

"What do you mean? I wasn't in your mind." Keryn was stopped by Kieran coming up behind him to hold him in place.

""Kaylessa would've been bawling?!'" she asked incredulously, continuing to inch closer to Keryn. "How did I hear that then?"

"I—I didn't say that," Keryn tried to explain, his shoulder struggling against Kieran. "I swear. I would never break the laws. Even if I was ticked at you. I swear I didn't."

Kaylessa studied him through narrowed eyes and finally crossed her arms. She stepped back and avoided Keryn's wide-eyed gaze.

"W-who was that then?" Ashryn asked. Kaylessa continued to watch Keryn.

Gaelin . . . The words echoed around her, but she seemed to be the only one who heard it.

Kaylessa sucked in a breath and dropped her gaze on Keryn. She checked again, and sure enough, her mental barriers were still intact. Her mind was racing and she dropped to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest.

Who in the world was Gaelin?