Seventy-Two
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Cameron
I walked back to the council hall with a stack of books, but only one
mattered. I pushed the council doors open with my hip, Logan and
Imogen glancing up as I entered. Vincent didn’t even budge, his nose buried in the text, looking for answers we didn’t have.
“Where have you been?” Neverra asked. Her voice finally sounded normal. The haunted look she’d worn since her time in Yejedin had finally disappeared, and I wanted it to stay gone.
I dumped the books on the table, spreading them out as Xavier leaned forward. “I thought you were getting us something to eat.”
I snickered and moved a few heavy texts, grabbing the one I wanted.
“Oh, this is better than snacks,” I said, holding up the gray journal.
“What is it?” Imogen asked, leaning back in her chair.
“A journal and not just anyone’s. This is Elianna’s.”
Vincent raised his head, propping his chin on his hand.
“Elianna’s?” Xavier asked. “How did you get that?”
“I have my ways.” I glanced at Imogen, and she rolled her eyes. My ways usually included sneaking in and out of places I shouldn’t, like the bed chambers of snotty counselors who were great with their tongues.
Vincent groaned. “You didn’t.”
“Didn’t what? Get classified information to help us? Uh, yeah, yeah, I did.”
I waited for Xavier to laugh like he usually did, but his face was guarded and closed when I turned toward him. He looked at the journal I held, then briefly met my eyes before lowering his head to avoid my gaze. I
cocked my head, but before I could process his reaction, Imogen was at my side, plucking the journal from my grasp.
Neverra strode to the council doors and closed them before she and Logan gathered around Imogen.
“Okay, so we steal from the council members now, among other things?” Vincent said snidely.
“Hey, it’s more productive than pretending to be on guard duty for a witch that can’t leave.”
Vincent’s jaw clenched so tight I thought he was about to throw his book and fight me. He didn’t.
The other thing I was good at was knowing everything about everyone.
Which also got me in trouble. I glanced at Xavier, who seemed to be studiously ignoring me, his eyes looking everywhere but at me. Logan glanced between us, noticing the sudden tension.
“What’s it say, Immy?” Neverra asked, leaning over the table.
Imogen flipped another page. “It’s all the old language. I’ll have to transcribe it.”
“Of course, Elianna would write in the old language.”
“Yes, she has many talents,” Xavier quipped. He glanced at me once before flipping a page a little too hard.
Vincent ignored us all and went back to reading.
Neverra cleared her throat. “Okay, transcribe that, and we will keep reading more about the hundred different prison dimensions in the meantime.”
I grunted and sat down. This was going to take longer than I’d hoped. I pulled an ancient book from the stack and opened it.
Imogen gathered a pen and paper before settling into her seat with the journal. “You know what I never understood?”
“What?” I asked, immersed in the boring text.
“The kings have been there, right? Or at least some of them. Why haven’t we sensed them or found them sooner?”
Xavier shrugged. “Cloaking, maybe? Camilla worked for Kaden, and her magic practically sings to mine. She could be descended from Kryella.
Maybe she hid them.”
“Santiago worked for Kaden more than Camilla,” Vincent chimed in, not even bothering to look up as he flipped another page.
Imogen shook her head. “Regardless, she betrayed Dianna, along with the vampire prince. But that’s a lot of magic to conceal.”
I smirked at Imogen’s defense of Dianna. Both she and Neverra seemed to really like her. They got along well at the beach the other day and had stayed with her the following night. I thought she was cool. I think Vincent was the only one who still seemed to dislike her.
Logan chewed the inside of his lip before he sighed. “I know Athos was yours and Cameron’s goddess. The Goddess of Wisdom and War, although
Cameron missed out on the wisdom part.”
“Hey!”
Logan ignored me as he went on. “I know you have thought this through thoroughly, Imogen. So for you to be stumped kind of worries me.”
Imogen closed her book and leaned on the table. “Think of it. A thousand years of them—just what? Blending in? Mingling? And we heard nothing of them? It’s impossible, even if they were retreating to Yejedin to hide. I think we are missing something, some piece we haven’t found. It’s like they’ve been waiting for something.”
“Wait.” Logan shot from his seat and started to pace. “The other night, I was talking to Samkiel. He mentioned rituals in one of the texts he was reading.”
“Rituals?” Imogen asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Yes, usually they require a sacrifice or a major celestial event. Nev said she heard Kaden and Tobias discussing something that started with an E?
What if that’s all related?”
“Okay, so a ritual. There are no major celestial events happening for at least another hundred years,” Imogen said, her brow furrowed as she thought, tapping her pen against her chin.
Logan sighed, flopping back into his seat. “Well, fuck.”
Neverra leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. He smiled and lifted her hand to brush his lips over her fingers.
Vincent yawned. “Don’t think so hard, honestly. It will be over soon enough. Dianna killed Alistair. If Alistair was even one of them. Tobias is dead, so it’s only Kaden left now. I don’t think it’s going to matter much longer.”
Imogen shrugged, placing a hand under her chin and blowing out a breath that made a strand of her hair move. “I guess so.”
“You all concern yourselves with the wrong issues.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Roccurem materialized next to the window. Unlike most living creatures, he had no aura about him. It made him hard to detect. The swirling mass of shimmering mist he came from probably factored in as well.
“I swear, I am going to buy you a fucking bell to wear.”
“Roccurem. Good evening,” Imogen said.
“Hello, my lady.”
“He’s always so proper,” Imogen said, shooting me a mock glare. “You
could learn something here, Cameron.”
“Thanks, no thanks.”
Logan made a deep sound in his throat and shook his head at us before turning back to the fate. “What do you mean we’re concerned with the wrong issues?”
“The information that matters will not be found in texts any longer.
None which you all possess.”
We all collectively slammed our books closed, everyone releasing a sigh of relief.
“So I got these for nothing,” I said. “Great.”
Roccurem turned from the window, clasping his hands behind his back.
“Well, if that’s the case, what do we need?” Logan asked.
“The path you are on is where you must stay for what’s to come.”
More of his riddles. Fates were tricky bitches, and Roccurem seemed no different. I leaned back in my chair and clapped my hands together. “You know what I heard? I heard we don’t need to be here at the moment. I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”
“Cameron.” Imogen shook her head, but she was smiling. “Samkiel said —”
“The god king is preoccupied at the moment with matters that must be attended to,” Roccurem interrupted.
“What the fuck does that mean? Did he go to Yejedin without us again?” I asked.
Neverra shrugged a little too quickly. Imogen scratched behind her ear and suddenly became interested in the book she’d just closed. Logan avoided everyone’s gazes and slunk further down in his chair.
“Hey, I saw that! What do you all know?” I demanded.
Logan held up his hands, blowing out a breath. “Nothing. He said he was going to Onuna with Dianna yesterday. That’s all I know.”
I slammed my hand on the table for dramatic effect before I pointed at Roccurem. “Is he having sex with Dianna?”
Roccurem’s six eyes popped open, all white and opaque, surprised at my bluntness. He recovered quickly and closed all but two. “He is with your queen, yes.”
Vincent dropped his head into his hands. “Oh, gods.”
I laughed. “Please tell me that Vincent’s noise complaint, slash possible murder call from Onuna, was because of them. Please, Roccurem, give me
this little speck of joy.”
“I hate you,” Vincent groaned.
That was all I needed. I laughed so damn hard that Logan joined in. I wiped the tears that prickled at the corner of my eyes as I sighed. “Oh, thank the old dead gods. Do you have any idea how sexual tension smells?
It’s not great.”
Neverra laughed, and it was so wonderful to hear.
Imogen reached across the table and popped me. “So mature,” she said, shaking her head.
“Honestly, we should all be lucky they didn’t destroy a city.”
Vincent pushed the book away and stood up. “Cameron. For the love of the old gods and the new. Shut up.”
“What? I’m just saying what we are all thinking here.” I shrugged, ignoring Imogen’s eye roll, but I watched Vincent. His mood seemed more sour than the situation warranted. I glanced at Logan. He, too, was watching Vincent warily.
“No one was thinking that,” Imogen jested.
“Okay, anyway, that means we have plenty of time to eat then. Samkiel will definitely be busy.” I pushed away from the table, and the others followed suit.
“I don’t think Samkiel’s ever had a bad girl before. No offense Imogen,”
I said.
She giggled. “None taken.”
Logan opened the door. “What about the one in Cvisor? You remember the one with the green horns?”
“Pfft. That was the shortest fling. He was just returning some mythical gemstone.”
Neverra draped her arm around Logan and tucked into his side as we headed out of the council hall. “Yeah, that was only a week. You’re right.”
I waved my hand as we rounded the corner. “That doesn’t count.
Samkiel closed himself off after he watched how heartbroken his father was. I don’t think he ever wanted to feel that level of grief, but then Dianna came along, and I think what he feels for her is unlike anything he has ever felt for anyone. No offense, Imogen.”
Imogen rolled her eyes once more, throwing her hands in the air. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders as we walked.
“Oh, my gods, Cameron. How many times do I have to tell you we weren’t serious?”
I shrugged. “Like I was saying, now that Samkiel has someone he actually likes, he’ll be busy for a while.”
“Not with a prison dimension opened and the world still in peril,”
Xavier replied from behind us.
I stopped short and turned to look at Xavier. “Want to bet.”
Xavier shook his head, walking past us. “Not today. If we are not actively searching today, I need to take care of something.”
“Okay,” I said as he all but hurried away, not glancing back at us.
“I’ll bet,” Vincent said, slipping his hands into his pockets as he
watched Xavier leave.
“Vincent, my man.”
“Me, too,” Logan piped in.
“Not you, too?” Imogen said, placing her hands on her hips.
“Okay, I say a day,” I said.
“I say a few more hours,” Logan said, wobbling his head from side to side. “I mean, she’s mortal or close to it now, right? How much godly dick can she take before she breaks?”
Vincent rolled his eyes at Logan’s wide grin. It was the first real one we had seen since Neverra came back. “I say less than an hour, so we better hurry and eat.”
“Deal.” I smirked but suddenly stopped. “You know, we didn’t ask Roccurem if he even wanted to go. Stay right here.”
They nodded and continued to banter. I jogged back into the council room. Roccurem still stood at the window with his hands behind his back.
“Hey, did you want to come with us? I don’t remember what fates eat, but you’re more than welcome to come with us.”
He didn’t turn toward me, but I suspected those damned white eyes
were out. “It will be painful.”
I grinned. “Eating? Highly unlikely.”
“But it is necessary for what has to occur. I wish there were another way, but it seems even that cannot be avoided. You will lose so much, young hunter. You all will. I do hope you treasure your family while you still have them. I did try. Remember that.”
Fear slithered down my back. “Try? Try what?”
He said nothing else before disappearing from the room, his words rattling through my very being.
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