The world spun around me in a dizzying whirlwind of sights, sounds, and smells. The rich scents of seared meat, exotic spices, and wood smoke replaced the clean, clear, scent of my island cottage. The bright walls of my bedroom had transformed into dark wood paneling with heavy, velvet curtains the deep red of wine. I no longer stood on a wooden floor, but on a carpet so thick and deep I sank half an inch into its pile.

Most alarmingly, I was no longer alone with Clem.

“Ah, here he is,” said an older man with a wispy gray beard waxed to a sharp point.

He sat at the head of a long table, an empty plate in front of him, his fingers steepled against his chest. Though I’d never seen the man before, the raw power that radiated from his form made it clear he was one of the clan Elders. He appraised me with sparkling gray eyes and his attention bore down on my aura like a hydraulic press.

There were other powerful men and women at the table, as well. The three chairs on the left side were occupied by a striking woman with tightly braided black hair who looked like she could have stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine. Her robes clung to her curves in ways that made my heart race and my thoughts stumble over one in the other. She smiled, a dazzling expression that sent a rush of warmth through the chamber. Her dancing amethyst eyes sized me up much more gently than the old man’s had. I scarcely felt the touch of her against my aura, before she shifted her attention away.

The man next to her did not wear the traditional black robes of our clan. His pinstripe suit barely contained his muscular bulk, and the heavy gold rings on his fingers clattered against the tabletop. His tailored clothes and fashionable haircut couldn’t hide the danger in his black eyes, or the tension that held his body ready to leap into action at a moment’s notice. His stare was as rough and abrupt as a chokehold, and my core writhed in protest at its unrelenting pressure.

“That’s enough, Claude,” the next man on that side of the table said. “He’s our guest, not a threat.”

“You’re too trusting, Brand,” Claude said. “This boy nearly destroyed our entire clan with his antics last year. I’m not ready to disregard the damage he’s done just yet.”

Brand rolled his eyes and adjusted his robes. His clothes were stiff with embroidered scrivenings, and power radiated from him like a bonfire’s heat. No matter how he turned his head, his face seemed wreathed in shadows that made it impossible to make out his features. His eyes might’ve been brown, or blue, or green; I couldn’t tell.

“Welcome to our little club, Jace,” Brand said. “Don’t mind Claude, he’s paid to be paranoid.”

“He’s paid to keep us safe,” said the only person seated on the right side of the tables.

The elderly woman towered over the rest of the elders. Her long, slender torso was perched on a collection of skeletal, mechanical legs that splayed out around her, taking up more of the floor than the table. She did not even look at me, instead focusing intently on Brand across from her. She shook her head, and the long mane of her gray hair danced around her shoulders.

“Mr. Warin,” the man at the head of the table said. “Please, have a seat while I make the introductions.”

The only chair that remained was at the table’s foot, and I eased myself into it. My legs were still a bit wobbly and my head spun from the unexpected jump through a portal, and I was glad to get off my feet before I fell off them.

“I am Elder Sanrin,” the man said, his tone surprisingly informal. “This lovely woman on my right is Elder Hirani. Elders Claude and Brand have already introduced themselves to you, and the last member of our illustrious counsel is Elder Ariana. It is our pleasure to welcome you here, to our private meeting room. I do apologize for the abrupt method of transportation, but the Portal Defense Force has been finicky, and it was easier to use our private resources than attempt to negotiate the unnecessarily complex public alternative.”

“And, this way,” Claude said quietly, tugging at his bushy sideburns, “no one knows you’re here.”

“Quite right,” Ariana said. “Discretion regarding our conversation here is quite important. In fact, before we continue, will you agree to a geas of silence regarding everything said at this meeting?”

I wasn’t sure what a geas of silence was, but it was clear I wouldn’t get anymore answers without agreeing to be one.

“Of course, honored Elder,” I said with a slight bow in her direction.

A coil of jinsei wound itself around my core the instant I said the words. It was terribly uncomfortable for a moment, then faded away to a vague throb. It only took me a moment’s examination to understand what it had done. I simply wasn’t able to discuss anything said in this room with anyone. My core rebelled at the idea, but it was a little late for it to complain.

“Can we at least eat before we beleaguer the poor boy with our demands?” Brand asked. “I don’t know what time it was when we snatched him, but I haven’t eaten in what feels like days.”

“It was getting on toward lunchtime,” I said. “And I’m hungry, myself.”

“Then let’s eat.” Sanrin snapped his fingers and unseen hands suddenly pulled one of the velvet curtains aside by to reveal an open archway.

Young men dressed in black pants, white shirts, and black vests, immediately entered the room. They each held a sword-like skewer of steaming meat, the pointed ends resting on trays supported on their other hands. Without a word, each of the men took up a position next to all of us at the table, placed their trays on the table, and drew long knives from their belts.

I was the only one that flinched, and I barely restrained my Eclipse nature from lashing out at the weapon nearest me. That would have been extremely embarrassing, at best, and deadly at worst. I couldn’t imagine how the Elders would react if an Eclipse Warrior suddenly appeared at their dinner table.

“Easy, Jace,” Brandon said from my left. “They’re just going to carve the meat.”

I blushed and stared down at my plate, too embarrassed to say anything. I’d never seen this much meat in one place outside of the School’s dining hall, and maybe not even there. The servers quietly announced the names of their dishes, sliced meat from the skewers, and then moved one position to the right to repeat the process.

In a matter of minutes, my formerly empty plate was stacked high with thick slabs of herb-crusted prime rib, slices of picanha so thin I could practically see through them, bundles of bloody rare filet mignon wrapped in crispy bacon, and hunks of pork loin crusted with a layer of seared Parmesan cheese. Another set of servers, women wearing black skirts and white tops, swept into the chamber behind the meat course and deposited small dishes containing mashed potatoes sprinkled with chives and swimming in butter, spears of asparagus lined up like soldiers next to them, carrots glazed with the sauce that looked both spicy and sweet, and tiny loaves of bread.

“May the Shadow Phoenix bless us all,” Elder Sanrin said.

The Elders dug into their food without another moment’s hesitation. As nervous as I was, my stomach goaded me into doing the same. I devoured bite after bite of succulent meat and savory side dishes, stuffing my belly to help calm my suspicious Eclipse nature. It sort of worked until the elders began speaking.

“Who veiled your core?” Claude asked without preamble. “No one’s been able to penetrate it.”

“I don’t know,” I responded. “It’s been like this my whole life.”

Half that statement was true. Zephyr had strongly suggested that Tycho Reyes had veiled my core, though I had no proof that was true. Even dragons could be wrong, and I wasn’t sure why the elder of the Disciples of Jade Flame would have gone to such extravagant lengths to protect my secret from everyone.

Elder Ariana skewered a nugget of filet with her fork. She fixed me with a cold stare, pulled the meat off the silver tines with perfectly white, even teeth, then chewed slowly as if considering my answer.

“He is telling the truth,” she said at last. “I think. The veil is insidious, and it is difficult to read the boy.”

Elder Sanrin idly stroked the waxed length of his beard as he considered this.

“The veil is a work of considerable skill and immense power,” he said. “It is hard to believe someone would do such a thing without a very good reason. And yet, no one will admit to being the mastermind behind it. Perhaps that will work in our favor.”

The other Elders watched me patiently, as if expecting some sort of reaction. When I kept right on eating, they turned their attention back to their own plates.

The silence stretched over the table for an uncomfortably long time. The only sound was the quiet clink and scrape of cutlery against plates and teeth, and by the time I’d cleared my plate I was afraid if someone didn’t say something soon, I’d burst.

“That was amazing,” Brandon said. He dabbed at the corners of his mouth with his napkin, pushed his plate toward the center of the table, and sat back further in his chair. “As always, my most sincere compliments to the chef. I see our guest has finished, as well. Perhaps it’s time to get down to business.”

He said that last in a tone that was either ominous or joking, and I couldn’t tell which. The other Elders glanced at one another, then at me, and also pushed their plates away.

“You gave us quite a scare last year, Jace,” Elder Hirani said in a voice as smooth and soft as silk. “We do hope you forgive us for sending Hagar to… deal with the issue. But we really had no choice. You seemed rather intent on disrupting our plans.”

“Because he wouldn’t bend the knee?” I was surprised that Claude jumped to my defense so quickly. The man hadn’t seemed to like me at all. “You can’t fault the boy for doing his best.”

“It’s water under the bridge,” Ariana said sharply. “We did what we had to to protect ourselves and our long-term plans, Jace. Unfortunately, your discovery at the end of last school year has done more to unravel those plans than winning challenges ever could have.”

I carefully placed my knife and fork on my empty plate. I really wanted to ask for more picanha but decided that would have been rude. Instead, I settled for the thing I wanted next most in the world.

Answers.

“I’m very sorry, honored Elders,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “I don’t understand any of this. I know I attracted a lot of attention to the Shadow Phoenixes last year, and that was the reason why you sent Hagar and Deacon to kill me. Honestly, I was more than a little worried that you planned finish the job today. What’s changed?”

Sanrin chuckled at my question and leaned forward to eye me down the length of the table.

“Jace, I want to be very clear about two things. First, Deacon was not acting on our orders. He’s been relocated to another educational facility this year to learn the error of his ways. Second, everything has changed since our botched assassination attempt. You discovered a member of the Locust Court hidden within the School of Swords and Serpents,” he explained. “You revealed one of the most important members of Empyreal society was a traitor and a heretic.”

“Which embarrassed the hell out of Claude,” Brandon said with a smirk. “He’s been hunting heretics for decades without as much success as you had without even trying.”

“I am not taking the bait, Brand,” Claude said. His hand tightened around his knife, knuckles popping loudly. “Jace was lucky, and Bishop was lazy and careless.”

“I still don’t understand.” The combination of so many powerful cores and a belly filled with delicious, rich food, had me feeling dazed and slow. “I don’t understand anything about heretics or the rest of what you’re talking about.”

“Ah, we don’t have much time. I’ll give you the short version,” Elder Hirani said with a warm smile. “Our forebears committed a horrible crime Jace. We’ve been trying to undo that wrong ever since. We have agents scattered throughout Empyreal society. They are tasked with finding and eliminating threats to the Empyrean Flame. Since the discovery of the Locust Court’s emissary last year, those threats have become more active.”

She had to mean the anti-Flame activists. Protestors had vandalized government buildings and temples. The news I’d seen about the attacks never offered much information on what the protestors hoped to gain or even meant. There’d been some rumors of protest marches in the undercities, but I’d never seen one.

“It’s a difficult and demanding job,” Elder Ariana continued. “Primarily because our agents risk discovery with every mission. If an operative is revealed, they become useless to us as covert assets.”

That made sense. Once a secret agent’s identity was no longer secret, they weren’t much good.

“Our adversary has also gotten much cleverer these past months.” Sanrin scratched his beard and entwined its fingers in front of him. “Their surveillance has become more sophisticated and relies heavily on jinsei techniques we haven’t been able to counter. A single glimpse of an agent’s core is often enough for them to identify him or her.”

A cold hand of dread closed around my heart. I knew where this conversation was going, and I didn’t like it.

“You want me to be one of your agents.” I said. “Because of my veil.”

Anxiety welled up inside me at the thought of working so closely with the Elders. The veil had hidden my core from others, which was the only reason no one knew I was an Eclipse Warrior.

But if I had to work side-by-side with Elders, I wasn’t sure I could keep the truth from them. They were decades, maybe centuries older than I was, armed with skills I could scarcely imagine. They might figure out how to crack my veil. Or I could lose control of my Eclipse nature and reveal myself in a moment of stress. This was an incredible opportunity that was incredibly dangerous for someone with my secrets.

“Yes,” Hirani said. “You can be a great help to us all, Jace. The anti-Flame activists threaten the very fabric of Empyreal society. We’ve kept the worst of their actions out of the public eye, but if we don’t find their leaders and stop them, soon, things will spiral out of control. We need your help to stop them, Jace. It will be dangerous, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. But your work will save lives, and there are other, more tangible rewards, as well.”

Every eye in the table was fixed on me. My core stirred, restless as a nest of hungry serpents. Even the amount of food I’d shoveled down my gullet couldn’t calm it when I was so anxious. My Eclipse nature worried this was a deadly trap that would expose it to others. Neither of us wanted that.

“I need some time to consider it,” I said. “This is a big decision.”

“Of course,” Sanrin agreed. “We don’t want to rush you into anything. Take your time, Jace. When you make your decision, tell Hagar and she will convey your answer to us.”

“Thank you, honored Elders,” I said. “I will.”

“I must also remind you that you are bound by a geas not to speak of this meeting, to anyone other than Hagar,” Elder Sanrin said. “We look forward to working with you, Mr. Warin.”

And that was the end of our little meeting. Sanrin waved his hand in my direction, and the world dissolved into darkness.