Ash studied the tree as though searching for a threat. When he was satisfied there wasn’t one, he trudged out of the pool.
“Your boots,” Eden said, realizing he’d tromped into the water wearing them.
“They’ll dry.”
“Not in this cold, they won’t. Sit.”
“We shouldn’t waste time—”
“It’s only going to take a minute.” Eden sat on the bench where she’d left her shoes and patted the spot beside her. “Take off your boots.”
Once he had, she glanced around to make sure they were alone. A tiny fireball bloomed in each hand. She held them first near his feet, and he sighed with pleasure. Next, she concentrated on his socks and boots, the moisture visibly fading.
“See? Only a minute.” Eden warmed her own feet before donning her socks.
“Thanks.” Ash pulled on his boots and headed back to the trail in the direction of the Lion’s Head Fountain.
Eden quickly caught up, joining his search in case something caught her eye. When nothing did, and Ash had done his sensing thing, he moved on. Eden paused long enough to take a drink from the fountain, hoping it would bring them good fortune.
When she reached the wellhead, with its iron grate and mandorla on the lid, she stopped short. Ash stood, transfixed, staring into its dark depths.
“It’s here.” His voice was barely a whisper. “In there.”
He pointed down into the well.
Eden peered over the edge, unable to see more than two feet down. How deep did it go?
Ash knelt and pulled on the iron grate that covered the opening. “It’s locked in place.” He glanced up. “There have to be cameras around.”
He stood.
“I could levitate it, but…” Eden strained to sense the stone. “I don’t know where it is. I don’t feel anything at all.”
“You’re not supposed to.” He peered back down into the well. “But it’s in there.”
“So what do we do? Put some gum on the end of a string?” She was joking, but she also didn’t have a better idea.
“Do you trust me?” Ash leveled his gaze to hers.
Eden shrank back from the intensity in his eyes. “I-I don’t know.”
Ash exhaled, resigned.
“What if I did?” Eden asked. “Then what?”
“I would ask you to share your power, and I’d use it to lift the stone.”
“Share my power?” Eden’s eyebrows climbed up her forehead. “You mean like linking? But you’re not a witch.”
“It’s not linking, exactly. The Custos aren’t witches, but we do have an inborn skill. We can use magic that’s been offered.”
“Like you had in the vial.” Eden remembered the magic-filled flask he’d used to break the binding around her.
“Yes, like that. But I’m not a catcher—I can’t pull the magic from you, even if you’re willing. You have to offer it.”
Eden’s mind worked. “I…don’t know how to do that.”
“I can teach you… If you’re willing.”
“How much do you need?” Eden wasn’t sure how much magic she had left after tossing the would-be attacker down the hill of the Tor.
“Only a little. The stone is deep but weighs almost nothing.”
Eden took a breath, weighing her options.
“I’ll do it.” How long did they have before someone else found this hiding place? “On one condition.”
Ash didn’t speak, just waited for her to name her terms.
“The seal is mine. You retrieve it, and you give it to me.”
Ash blanched. “My people are the guardians of—”
“Your people are nothing to me. I don’t know them, and they don’t know me. All I know for certain is that the same people hunting me need these stones to free a terrible god.” Eden realized Ash was about to protest and tried to take the heat from her voice as she finished. “You have eleven of them. All I’m asking for is one. Please.”
Ash exhaled—a rush of air through pursed lips. “Deal.”
Chapter 20
Sarah followed the orb of light down the winding passageway as it led deeper and deeper into the mountain. Alex had spelled it to find an unobstructed path. They’d never have made it to their destination otherwise—not with entire sections of tunnels having collapsed that morning. Memories of outrunning one such cave-in kept them both casting watchful glances at the ceiling.
Without warning, they rounded a corner and were at the opening to the cavern.
“How do we look for clues in this?” Sarah took a cautious step inside, scanning the fallen rocks and thick blanket of dust and debris covering the ground. “We’d need the magical equivalent of an earthmover.”
Alex didn’t answer, just picked her way over a pile of large rocks.
“Alex—”
“I’m thinking,” she snapped.
Alex kept moving—cautiously, and with the occasional stumble—toward the center of the cavern.
Sarah followed, an eerie feeling creeping over her. There were bodies buried underneath this rubble. Was she stepping over one right now?
Alex stopped short, and Sarah quickened her pace to see what she was staring at. She was almost there when the rock she’d stepped on shifted enough to pitch Sarah forward and send her sliding down a small hill of loose debris.
Too late, she realized why Alex had frozen in place: a crack, at least ten feet long and two feet wide, split the cavern floor. And Sarah was about to tumble headlong into it.
Sarah let out a cry she was sure would be the last sound she made in this lifetime, but then she was careening not forward, but to the side. She landed awkwardly on a pile of dirt, Alex on top of her.
For a moment all Sarah could do was look up at her, agape.
“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you.’” Alex pushed herself up, smacking dirt from her clothes.
“Thank you,” Sarah said when her mouth was working again. She turned her head to the side, peering at the ominous fissure. “What is that?”
“This didn’t happen because of the cave-in.” Alex, too, stared into its dark depths.
Sarah struggled to stand, keenly aware she was only a foot away from the edge of a crack that could swallow her whole.
Alex floated a sphere of light inside the fissure, but it only illuminated a few feet down. She made the orb bigger, and though it cast a brilliant glow, the light only served to reveal just how deep the crevice ran.
Sarah spied at least thirty feet down, and still, there was no bottom. Her stomach lurched, suddenly overcome by a sensation of vertigo mixed with dread.
Alex bent and picked up a rock then pitched it into the opening. They both craned their ears but heard nothing. If the rock had struck ground, it was too far down to hear.
Sarah swallowed against the bile rising in her throat and took a step back. She forced herself to look at Alex, not the gaping maw before her. “There’s something…off about this place.”
Alex barked a laugh. “You think?”
“I’m serious. Can’t you feel it? This whole place feels like it’s balanced on the blade of a knife. Like one wrong move…” Sarah licked her lips. “One wrong spell… The energy is just wrong.”
She waited for Alex to call her a stupid first-year, but she didn’t. “I thought my feeling of disorientation was from looking into this thing, but you’re right. The magic in this place is tainted.”
Sarah swallowed her surprise—Alex had never called her right about anything.
“Tainted by what?” she asked.
Alex gestured behind them. “That power vortex is half a mile from here. Whatever Mikel was up to was insanely dark and risky—the spell residue tells me that. Magic that dark, performed near a vortex? We’re lucky this thing didn’t swallow Somerland whole.”
Sarah shivered. “How deep do you think it goes?”
“Typical first-year,” Alex said. “Asking the wrong question.”
Sarah
didn’t take the bait. When she spoke, her tone was measured. “What’s the right question?”
“How do we close it?”
“Can we?” Sarah asked.
Alex surveyed the cavern. “Not by ourselves. There’s no way we have that kind of power.”
“What about the vortex? I saw Eden use it once—”
“Whatever she was doing, it didn’t require as much power as this. If you and I even tried to tap that much, we’d burn ourselves out. I’m not even sure using that much magic inside this place is a good idea right now.”
Sarah realized where Alex was headed. “You’ve changed your mind. You want to go to the Council.”
“We don’t have a choice anymore.”
Sarah swallowed around the lump in her throat. “But what about Mikel and the possibility of more traitors?”
“It’s a risk we have to take. When Davida was here, she gave me three points of contact—her, Mikel, and Grace. If I were really High Priestess she’d have given me more, but… Dammit, Coventry House can’t have half a High Priestess. They should have either made me more than temporarily in charge or brought someone in with more training and access to the Council.”
The admission seemed to pain Alex, and for the first time, Sarah realized what an impossible situation she’d been put in when Carolyn died.
“Do you trust Davida?” Sarah asked.
“Trust isn’t a commodity I trade in very much. At best, I trust but verify. I’m only supposed to reach out to one of them, but I’ll reach out to them both at the same time. I’ll tell each of them about Mikel and our pit of doom situation. Even if one of them is a traitor…”
“What if they both are?”
“Then stock up on lube because we’re screwed.”
Chapter 21
Eden and Ash receded as a group of three approached the Chalice Well. Once the trio had taken their photos, they wandered back the way they’d come.
“I’m not sure I understand how this works.”
It was all well and good for Ash to say Eden needed to “offer” her magic, but what did that mean?
“The first time is the hardest,” Ash said. “That’s what I’ve heard, anyway. The trick is to think of magic not as part of you, but as something you have to give.”
But Eden’s magic was a part of her. She’d never considered it any other way.
“It can help if…” Ash cleared his throat.
He took one of her hands in both of his, turning it over and opening her palm. “Imagine a flower, right here.” He traced his thumb across her hand, sending a shiver down her spine. “The flower is made of magical energy.”
Eden swallowed. It was nerves—wanting to get this right and retrieve the stone—not the way he was looking at her. Not how close he stood and how gently he held her hand in his own.
She closed her eyes, needing to escape his gaze.
My magical essence. In a flower.
She imagined the bud of a white lotus in her outstretched hand and channeled her energy into it. For a moment there was nothing, but then… Her palm grew warmer, and the bud burst open, revealing a golden yellow center.
She felt Ash pluck the lotus from her palm as though it were a physical thing he was taking from her. But it was more than that. Deeper. Her magic was a part of her; it was made up of her essence, and she’d just shared it with him. She wanted to hide from the intimacy of it…the feeling of being so exposed to this person she didn’t know. This man who wasn’t Quinn.
When Eden had gathered enough courage to open her eyes, she found Ash gazing at her, and she swallowed. A small flush crept up his cheeks, and he turned away, now concentrating on the depths of the well.
Eden waited in silence, casting an anxious glance over her shoulder. How long did they have until more tourists approached? Seconds ticked by, and she grew nervous that she hadn’t given him enough, but she couldn’t let herself think about giving him more. She never wanted to do that again—not with Ash.
And then there it was, floating up from the depths of the well and into Ash’s outstretched hand. He exhaled with relief, and Eden realized she hadn’t been the only one worried.
He reached for his pocket to tuck it away, but Eden cleared her throat and extended her hand.
“Right.” He placed the stone into her palm with visible trepidation.
Trepidation Eden felt the moment she cast her eyes upon the dark silver relic. It was the mirror image of the one Bes’tal had crushed in his fist—one side polished smooth, the other carved with a gruesome figure, its hands clawing at the surface as though straining to free itself. She felt tainted by its touch, remembering why she’d been so desperate to be rid of it. It was all she could do not to give it back. If Ash held it, she wouldn’t have to…
No.
That thinking had allowed Bes’tal’s entry into this world. Her own inability to be present with something as dark and terrible as this. It was a stone. A seal to a prison, yes, but also, just a stone. She’d been right not to let Ash keep them all. If the price of that safety was discomfort, so be it.
Eden looked up, forcing a smile. “Mission accomplished. Let’s go to Transylvania.”
Of course, it wasn’t as simple as that.
It was early evening by the time they returned from the Chalice Well. Eden was chilled to the bone after spending the day outside and suspected Ash fared worse. Plus, their room was paid for. It made no sense to start the long trek to Transylvania that night. Better to warm up and get a good night’s sleep.
“Are you sure you can afford this?” Eden asked as she slid into a booth at the restaurant across from their hotel.
Consumed with the search, they’d skipped lunch, so Ash had suggested an early dinner.
“I’m sure I can’t.” Ash shrugged—an amiable gesture. “But we’re celebrating.”
He didn’t have to say it twice; Eden was too famished to think long about his credit card balance.
Once their pints had been delivered to the table and their food ordered, they toasted.
“To finding what was lost.” Eden clinked her glass to Ash’s but noticed his face was pensive. “What is it?”
“Just thinking about what’s next.” He sipped his ale.
“Transylvania?” Eden tilted her head. “These people of yours you keep telling me about?”
“That’s what’s next for us. I mean, what’s next for the seals?”
The food arrived—sandwiches so thick Eden thought she might actually get enough to eat. She took a bite and reveled in the mix of flavors as they hit her mouth. Ash smiled at her delight, and she blushed, washing down the bite with a long pull on her pint. She stared down at her plate and busied herself with another bite.
All he’d done was smile at her—it didn’t mean anything. People smiled at her all the time. But it wasn’t the smile. It was the memory of the lotus in her hand, the vulnerability it had required for her to offer it, and the intimacy they had shared when he’d taken it from her.
She wasn’t prepared to feel that way with Ash—not with anyone but Quinn. She took another slug.
“Easy.” Ash sounded amused, causing Eden’s cheeks to grow even hotter.
“Why?” she asked, taking another sip for good measure. “We’re celebrating.”
She called over the server and ordered another round. Her first mug was empty by the time it arrived.
By her third pint, Eden had forgotten to feel embarrassed in front of Ash and almost forgotten about the seal to a god’s prison in her purse. Ash had insisted it was safer to put the stone in her pocket—or better yet, his pocket—but she’d never once in her adult life misplaced her purse. She wasn’t going to start now.
No matter how many times she told herself the relic itself wasn’t evil, she couldn’t be convinced. The thought of having it so close to her body made her flesh crawl. It looked evil—seemed to radiate evil—and Eden was at her limit.
She’d let Ash think she was holding the stone i
n her pocket, but on his first trip to the restroom, she’d tucked it into the inner compartment of her bag.
I’m not going to lose my purse.
For all of Ash’s admonitions to slow down, he’d switched to whiskey after his second pint. Hard alcohol had blunted his edges, and now his grin was easy if a bit sloppy.
“Let’s go over there.” Eden glanced past Ash’s shoulder.
Ash turned. The bar across the street teemed with life, unlike the more sedate crowd at the restaurant where they currently sat.
Ash checked his watch. “We should probably get back to the hotel. We’ve got an early day.”
Eden grabbed his wrist and pulled his watch close to see the time. “Golly, Dad. It’s nine o’clock. Thanks for letting me stay up past my bedtime.”
She dropped his wrist and rolled her eyes. “I’m going over there.” She stood. “But you can go back to the room if you want.”
“One drink.” Ash got to his feet. “Agreed?”
“Yes.” Eden smiled. Agreeing to one more drink didn’t mean she was promising to stop there.
Outside, she stumbled. Ash caught her before she went sprawling. “Cobblestones,” she mumbled and pulled away from his grip.
“Definitely their fault.” Ash smirked until Eden elbowed him in the ribs. It went a hair beyond playful, and he winced.
As she stepped off the curb to cross the street, she realized too late that a teenager on a bike was zooming by. He’d come out of nowhere, and Eden jumped backward. As she did, the bike slowed, and the boy reached out, grabbing at Eden’s bag. Reflexes slowed by alcohol, she wasn’t able to jerk it away in time. She watched in horror as he pedaled off with her purse, making a sharp turn and disappearing.
“Shit.” Ash scrubbed a hand across his scalp. “At least your passport wasn’t in there.”
They’d each left them in the safe in the room.
“Not my passport…” Eden swallowed around the lump in her throat. Her mind was fuzzy, and she desperately needed it clear.
Shadow Page 9
