I closed my eyes, rubbing the bridge of my nose at just how much we had to accomplish in such a short period of time.
“There are tunnels inside of it, pathways,” Ian continued “One entry has a line of dark ones that look like they’re being tossed into the pit of fire inside of it.”
“Lava,” Jax said. “It’s called lava. We avoid it or it will kill us. Burning death.” He shuddered. “No thank you.”
“Right,” Ian continued. “Kade is…” He paused, giving Jax a side-eye glance. “There. We overheard Thames say that he’d throw Kade into the lava and the volcano would erupt. That no one could stop him.”
“So he needs Kade to dieinthe volcano for it to erupt. Meaning the eruption is the weapon?” I tried to process all of the information, but I didn’t understand. “There’s no weapon we have that could take out what sounds like a mountain.” I stopped pacing and stretched my neck.
If I don’t think this through, Kade will die. I’ll lose him forever.
My breath hitched and my light stirred, rising in response to my anxiety.
Instead of fueling it, it warmed my chest, where I felt the connection to Kade most, soothing it.
Focus.
“Nothing is as it appears at first glance,” Vivienne said from the side of the room.
I lifted my gaze to her. She smiled at me, waiting, like she thought the statement gave me an answer.
She raised her eyebrows when I remained quiet. “How many times do you need a prophecy to tell you that light is what defeats darkness? You have light within you, Illiana.”
I clenched my fist. “Do you think the Fates could do us a favor and give us something concrete instead of measly breadcrumbs that take more time to decode than we have?”
Cassandra tsked. “Every single choice you make can change the course of fate.”
The seer’s eyes had been filled with hatred since the last time we saw her. Before Thames escaped, she’d cared for Kade, she was kind to me.
Since then, she’d taken on a stern demeanor. It was almost as if she was a different person entirely. For a brief moment, the flicker in her eyes just now betrayed her. I stared at her and watched the cold, indifferent mask slip back into place.
But I’d seen it, a crack that gave her away.
I took a step forward, and as I reached for her, she stepped back, turning away from me. “The Fates don’t give us carte blanche to see all there is. They give us what they want us to know at the time. They want to see who is worthy. They want to see howwerespond. We are not here to steer fate; we are here to guide you along the way. Do not think that we are omnipresent.”
I lowered my head. “I apologize.”
I didn’t know why Cassandra was freezing everyone out, but she must have a reason. Perhaps the Fates were testing her, or she feared Thames. Regardless, I didn’t have time to wonder about her intentions.
“Do you have any suggestions?” I asked, rubbing my arms, attempting to reel in my anger.
Cassandra and Vivienne exchanged a look.
“Child, you are right,” Vivienne said softly. “You can’t meet Thames before the end.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “So either we need to get Kade out and destroy an entire volcano without being detected or find a way to call Thames away to give us more freedom to do what we must.”
“I can attempt getting into someone’s mind,” Raya suggested. “Maybe try to find a dark one to tell Thames you’re attacking somewhere? Or within his reach—anything to get him to leave.”
I stared at her. “I thought you couldn’t enter anyone’s mind but Ian’s?”
She gave me a small smile. “Apparently there’s something to the mate bonds that makes your magic stronger. I was able to talk to Jax when they were in Firestone.”
Jax laid his head back on the couch. “Freakiest moment of my life, hearing Raya in my damn head.”
Cassandra scoffed. “That’s just a fraction of what you could do if you trained your magic now that you’re bonded,” she said as if it was common knowledge. She looked out the windowed doors leading to my garden.
“They didn't have the knowledge we did from before Thames was trapped,” Vivienne reminded her sister.
