Free Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass Page B

dagger. The only comfort he could take was that if Nansee couldn’t get in, neither could the Shadow Avatar.
    “Fine. I’ll think up some way to approach her and get my blade back. Take some time to find out more about her and what she does when she’s not racing hybrids down public roads. I’ve waited this long. What’s one more day?”
    Kira woke up to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She opened her eyes to late-morning sunlight. Damn it, I’ll be behind schedule the rest of the day.
    “ Wynne, that had better be you with a couple of large cups of coffee,” she muttered, throwing back the bedcovers and kicking to her feet. The Light help anyone else who dared beat on her door like that.
    She palmed her Lightblade from habit before heading out of the room. She pounded down the stairs, vowing to thank her visitor before ripping them a new one. Throwing open the locks, she yanked open the door—
    And found herself on a sun-drenched hillside. The ocean sparkled a brilliant sapphire below, reflecting the clear sky above. A pavilion sat a hundred yards from the cliff’s edge, its gauzy white curtains dancing in the sea air. An elaborate table for two had been set inside and someone waited for her there.
    “Balm. I’m trying to sleep, you know.”
    The head of the Gilead Commission looked as if she’d just booked first-class passage on the Titanic —one of the many rumors about her past. Others were that she was a handmaiden of Cleopatra, a Maltese princess, illegitimate daughter of Alexander the Great, or Scheherazade herself. Balm was her name and title.
    One of the ways she’d gotten a teenage Kira to study was by daring her to discover Balm’s real identity. After all these years, she still didn’t have a clue. No one knew who or what Balm was, only that she had tremendous power and that there had always been a Balm in Gilead.
    “Sleep. As if I haven’t lost many a night’s sleep worrying about you.” Balm lifted a sapphire and gilt etched saucer with one gloved hand, a matching bone china cup chased with gold perched atop it. “Have some tea, dear. It’s your favorite.”
    Kira’s yoga pants and tank top had been changed into a formal Gibson Girl dress of Wedgwood blue. She didn’t bother to touch her hair to see if the braids had been replaced with something more suitable for the scene. Instead, she suppressed a sigh as she took a seat and accepted the tea. It was Balm’s dream after all and she could only be rude to Balm up to a point. Besides, Kira knew the head of Gilead could make a damn good cup of tea whether in dreamtime or awake.
    She looked around the pavilion, trying to place its familiarity. She knew they were in the dream version of Santa Costa, but she’d never seen a pavilion like this on the island. Maybe she’d seen it in a painting or something. “You sure went to a lot of trouble.”
    “Why wouldn’t I for my wayward daughter? Since you didn’t return my call, I decided to walk your dreams to make sure you were all right.”
    Kira set her jaw. Balm’s chiding tone made her feel guilty and furious and twelve years old at the same time. She lifted her teacup. “Whether I’m all right or not depends on how you define it.”
    Balm’s chocolate eyes softened. “I’m so sorry about Mr. Comstock. I know how important he was to you.”
    The teacup rattled. Kira set it down, the lace of her gloves stretching as she curled her hands into fists. “Are you going to make me ask the questions?”
    Balm sighed. “Comstock has been your handler almost from the moment you met him at the
Petrie
Museum
. And if you must know, he volunteered.”
    “Volunteered?” Kira sat back in the woven plantation chair, absorbing the news. “How? How did he even know I’m a Shadowchaser? How did he find out about Gilead?”
    “Gilead began a London search for a new handler after you decided to transfer to University. Comstock was at the top of the list of candidates we secretly vetted.