On the way back from Rosen Library, I noticed that Riven seemed even more distracted than he had been during the trip, but he didn’t want to talk about it. I was surprised the next day, however, when Sorrel informed me that Riven had specifically requested that I join the family for dinner – or rather, for something he seemed to want to discuss with them.
My curiosity was answered soon enough when Riven explained that what he’d learned at the library meant that Fate had basically chosen him to have some of her power. That he had actually made it possible for dark fae to change back by what he did with Ren, and it hadn’t been possible before.
That was…a surprise. That was actually an immense amount of power – the ability to change the laws of our world – but I oddly wasn’t concerned about Riven having that kind of power. I knew he wasn’t the kind of person that would take advantage of it.
I thought about the idea while Sorrel went to drive me home. “He seems a little overwhelmed with the idea,” I observed.
Sorrel nodded in agreement. “I think you were right that the librarians probably shouldn’t have told him – I think any of us would hesitate to learn we could change the world like that, but Riven’s never really had magical power before and he spent so much of his life being invisible, the idea of being able to make such an impact on the world is probably scarier for him than for some of the rest of us. Dad, for instance, I mean, he’d take it seriously, of course, but he’s already used to the idea of leaving big ripples. Riven isn’t.”
“He’ll do fine with it as long as he doesn’t worry too much about it.” I actually could understand why Fate might have chosen him, and it fit – he’d already stepped in and saved Avenglade, even unintentionally, and now he’d actually provided dark fae a way to be rescued. He was interested in helping others and seemed pretty selfless. If anyone had that kind of power, it would be best in the hands of someone like him who wouldn’t use it for their own advantage.
Sorrel chuckled a bit. “Not sure if we can talk him out of worrying, but hopefully what you and Dad told him – plus Ren’s always there for him – will help.”
I considered that, wondering if Ren really was there for him right now. He was, of course, but he was also super busy just because he had to train to use his dark magic quickly in order to be able to defeat the construct. I hoped that the timing on learning all of this wasn’t going to affect Riven if he didn’t have his husband available as much as normal.
The rest of the week went into more planning, more training. Sophie and I found a spot we thought would be ideal to lure the construct to and meanwhile we had Knox and Ren train together – using the naga nest – and did our best to make sure they had practice fighting invisible opponents and dealing with unexpected elements. We even had Riven come and use his vision to provide them with instructions for when they couldn’t anticipate a particular attack. All in all, things were progressing pretty smoothly.
I had also enlisted Devon to help with Ren and Knox’s training. I hadn’t planned to, but I discovered by accident that he was free when I stopped by their house to leave some cookies when I made far too many – thanks to misreading the recipe – and found out that Riven’s employer had fired him unfairly and Devon had quit as a result. He was still stewing about it, telling me how he’d actually wanted to yell at his former employer when he’d yelled at Riven and clearly scared him.
“I don’t even know what all Riven’s been through, but it’s clear the guy was scaring him and then when he explained why?” Devon ate one of the cookies as angrily as I’d ever seen someone eat a cookie before. “He was just taking out his anger on Riven and it was totally unfair. I really wanted to just shake some sense into the guy but Riven wouldn’t have liked it, but I couldn’t stay there after that – not a chance. Riven felt bad about me quitting, though, but I don’t care as much.” He shrugged. “Without Riven there, work would drag, to be honest. Plus, I have to figure out what I’m doing after graduation anyway, so this is as good a time as any to figure that out, right? Riven suggested I think about being a detective.” He gave me a thoughtful look. “Ideas? You had a similar career. Riven said Sorrel has a nightwing friend who’s on the patrol I could maybe talk to?”
I nodded, considering. Drew, Sorrel’s nightwing friend, was currently at the naga nest helping Ren and Knox train, and Devon was free, and he could use a chance to talk to Drew.
“I want your help with something,” I told him, not missing the surprise in his face. “But first I have to swear you to secrecy because someone’s life may depend upon you not saying anything.”
“Okay,” he agreed readily. Then, noticing that I was still waiting, he sighed a bit. “I swear I won’t reveal whatever it is you don’t want me to say about, um, whatever it is you’re going to tell me?”
That was probably good enough. “I need you to help give Ren and Knox some experience fighting a different enemy in preparation for fighting the fairy construct.”
His brows furrowed a bit. “Well, sure, but why does that involve secrecy? And can Ren fight it? I thought it was designed to kill fairies. I guess I can see using an ex-Hunter, that could be useful, but why Ren?”
“That’s the secret part,” I explained, knowing this was about to shock him. “Ren went dark fae, but Riven pulled him back. He has dark magic now – and regular fairy magic. We’re going to use him and Knox as bait to get the construct to attack them.”
“Because the witch would never realize that a fairy had dark magic,” Devon finished for me, his eyes wide. “So they’d actually stand a chance of getting a dark magic user closer to it.”
I nodded. “It’s still invisible and silent, though, so we’re doing what we can to help train them. We have until the end of the week before it should be recharged enough to attack again. Are you willing to help?”
Devon nodded immediately. “Yeah, sure, Ren’s my friend, too, the construct sounds bad, and if I can help Riven out by helping Ren, I’ll do it. But seriously? He went dark? I’d never have imagined that. That’s just – wow. I’m glad Riven was able to help him, though.”
Devon’s assistance did end up helping – just providing a new opponent and different magic than what Ren and Knox had faced so far – but his words also made me think about what all was going on with Riven.
I knew that Riven had just found out about the whole powers-of-Fate thing; plus he’d gotten fired – which seemed like it would be a big deal for him from what I knew of him – unjustly, to top that off; and there was the whole thing about Ren recently turning dark fae. That was a lot for any person to go through in just a few weeks’ time. I glanced over at him, sitting on one of the benches watching the others fight, and wondered if there was some way I could help him, too.
I wasn’t exactly great at offering people comfort, though, and the best thing I could come up with was trying to make sure Ren had the training he needed to face the construct confidently. Riven was probably worried about that, too – and I couldn’t blame him. Watching people you care about face a powerful magical creation specifically designed to kill fairies was no small feat.
But I would do my best to make sure Ren was able to destroy the construct without getting killed himself. Anything I could do to help, I would.
I just hoped it was enough.
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