The witch. She had told him herself how she had stabbed him in the chest during their first kiss. He should have known. This entire time, he had convinced himself that he was using her...only to see she had been usinghim.
He might have been impressed if he wasn’t so fucking angry. At himself, mostly.
What would Cronan do if they weren’t able to duel? Would he simply decide not to let one of their realms live? Her escape could cost him his chance to save Nightshade.
“Find her,” Cronan said, his anger like poison.
He would. Not for Cronan, but for himself.
He began striding from the room—but a thought stopped him.
The smart thing for her to do would be to leave this place. But Isla did not make smart decisions. She made them out of emotion.
She still believed there was hope he could remember her. He knew exactly what she was doing.
She had waited until this moment to make her move. She must have known he had lost his control. Of course, she did, after the way he had behaved last night.
But she was wrong.
Last night meant nothing. Especially when the lives of everyone in his realm were on the line.
As if to prove the fact, he turned to his ancestor and said, “Let me prove my loyalty to you.”
ORO
Thanks to the portaling device, there were now legions of Skyling, Starling, and even Moonling forces keeping the creatures at bay on Lightlark. Cleo had helped without question. She had wanted to be nearby, in the hope that Isla would soon return.
Their help had lessened the weight on Oro’s shoulders. But as if in defiance of his hope, the creatures were now attacking in greater forces. He had been battling them for hours all through the night and morning.
It was a good distraction from what he had been trying hard not to think about. When he finally went to bed well into the morning, though, he realized he couldn’t escape it.
The silver pool was waiting for him in his mind, as if called by his noblest and most treacherous thoughts.
“Hiding from the truth,” the woman said, her voice echoing. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
He ground his teeth together. “You don’t know me.”
“No. But you know yourself.”
“Is the prophecy about me?” he asked.
“It’s hard to know, until it’s done,” she said. “The future is split, just as you are.”
He swallowed the urge to roll his eyes. Her answer was as vague and unhelpful as he expected.
“But there is a constant in every path. Every possibility. Even now.”
The silver pool began to ripple. And in its metallic waters, something rose up until it breached the surface.
A blade longer than a dagger but not quite a sword. It had an intricate handle in the shape of a heart.
“What is this?” he asked, reaching for the hilt. Before he could lock his fingers around it, the blade disappeared back into the waters.
“A famed weapon that can kill anyone and anything. It’s been hidden for millennia. Kept from those who would use it for ill will.” Her silver eyes pierced him, wide and unwavering. “This,” she said, “is the key to peace or ruin. You must find it to even have a chance at defeating Cronan.”
“Where is it?” Oro asked.
“It’s not just in another world,” she said. “It was hidden in a pocket of time.”
