“I know what you believed.”
Like when Vikter mentioned Leopold, I once again felt like a memory was just out of my grasp. No matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t recall it. Frustration rose, and while I wanted to figure out what both Lirian and Vikter meant, I had no idea how long I’d been gone or what was happening in the mortal realm. And Casteel…
“You’re worried about your heartmate, aren’t you?” Lirian asked. The fact that he knew that was eerie. “There’s no need to be. He was prevented from making the same mistake that you did.”
My entire body went taut. “What do you mean?”
“Casteel attempted to follow you, which should’ve been impossible.” The Ancient paused. “Your husband was in the process of doing as you had done, shadowstepping—”
“What?”
Lirian sighed. “If you give yourself a moment instead of immediately asking a question, you may find that you already hold the answers within yourself.”
“Or you could just explain it to me,” I muttered under my breath, looking out the window to the clouds.
“But you went for so long never being allowed to vocalize any question, no matter how innocent or simple,” the Ancient noted as if I hadn’t spoken. My gaze flew back to his. “Didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Tension crept into my muscles. “And it is…unsettling that you know that.”
“If you think that is unsettling, then I probably shouldn’t tell you what else I know about you.”
My eyes widened at his back.
“Perhaps your history of not being allowed to ask questions is why you do so now. In a way, it has become a comfort for you,” he said, and a beat of silence passed. “You may not be thereigningtrue Primal of Life, but you would’ve Ascended with some level ofvadentia.”
Like when the Ancient spoke in the old language before, the words somehow translated into something I could understand. “Foresight.”
The Ancient nodded. “Though it’s possible thevadentiamay not be fully in place since your Ascension wasn’t exactly normal, came in stages, and was interrupted.” He tilted his head. “Perhaps it will not develop as expected.”
Driven by the need to prove that what had happened with Casteel had no impact on my Ascension, I forced myself to think about what shadowstepping could mean. Suddenly, from all the thoughts circling in my head, some of them came to the forefront. “It’s using the eather to…will oneself to their destination.” All one had to do was think of where they wanted to be and thengothere. Sounded far too simple, but I knew that was all it took. “Primals and gods can do it.”
“Can gods shadowstep like the Primals?”
“No,” I said, my brows knitting as I repeated what I saw. No, what I heard. It was like recalling knowledge from something I’d read. Or almost as if I’d always known what shadowstepping was. “Gods cannot travel great distances or use it to…cross realms. They can do shorter distances and move faster than one can track—” Understanding dawned. “That’s how Atlantianshave always been able to move so quickly. Because of the eather they carry.”
He nodded. “They don’t move fast enough for it to be called that, but yes, that is why. To shadowstep farther is different.”
“Opening a realm.”
“Correct,” he confirmed.
To me, they seemed like two very different things, but whatever. “So, I have thisvadentia.”
“It appears you do, at least to some extent.”
I ignored the to-some-extent part and focused on the fact that I should know how to defeat Kolis now that I had this foresight.
Concentrating, I waited for the answers to come, but there was nothing.
“If you’re asking yourself how to defeat Kolis, you will not find the answers within yourself. At least, not that way.”
My heart skipped. “Can you read minds?”
“I can only assume that is what you’re doing since you asked me that question,” Lirian explained. “Vadentiahas its limits, even for those whose foresight doesn’t appear to be…lacking.”
My eyes narrowed on him.
“It will not tell you anything that involves you or has to do with the future.”
