He brushed my hair back, kissing my head. “She loved you so much.”
I nodded before sitting up straighter, flipping to another page. I read as we rode on, devouring words from my mother. About how she poured her magic into the white dagger. She was easy to love with a humor I knew my friends would have adored. I adored it.
I paused, coming to an entry where I saw the name Stronholm.
Alister and Victor have ganged up on me now, deciding for the safety of Illiana that Seb and I should stay in Valeford. Alister says he’s getting a bad feeling about something inside the palace walls.
Though I wouldn’t mind raising our baby somewhere more secluded and keeping her to ourselves, the fact that a decision is being made for me makes me want to rebel. Once a big brother, always a big brother I suppose.
Alister has gone as far as to tell me that when she’s of age, he's relieving dear Captain Stronholm from his duties guarding the king and placing him in charge of Illiana. Victor didn’t even balk. Probably because his son was born a few weeks before Illiana and he’ll be able to keep an eye on both that way, assuming Ian follows in his footsteps. Little does he know, Vivienne whispered to me that they were fated to love one another fiercely, though not romantically. She had a vision of the two of them. Flashes of their life together. The Stronholms are the most loyal friends, even with Victor siding with Alister. It doesn’t surprise me at all. But knowing such love lies ahead of Illiana warms my heart.
At least in Valeford I’ll be able to teach her about our history without prying eyes and ears. She’ll be prepared for whatever is to come.
“Ian,” I choked out.
He pulled his horse up parallel to Onyx. I looked over at my friend “My mother wrote about your father. How he and the king were her friends. Actually—here, just read it.”
I handed the journal to Ian. Kade sent his shadows to the reins, leading Ian’s horse for him. The gesture burrowed under my skin, relaxing my tense body from the emotions of reading my mother’s words.
A few moments later, Ian looked up at me with glassy eyes. “Vivienne foresaw our friendship.”
I nodded.
He shook his head, handing the journal back to me. “Thank you for sharing it with me.”
My lip trembled, and I leaned over, squeezing his hand.
The campsite came into view and I laced up the journal. I held it to my chest, knowing it contained my history. I looked up at the sky, wondering if my mother had indeed convinced the Fates to watch me from beyond. Maybe she was with her brother, watching me even now. I closed me eyes. “I succeeded,” I whispered upward, hoping the king, the father I’d known could hear somehow. “I found the journal, like you requested.”
Kade didn’t comment, but his embrace tightened, soothing and steady. I’d succeeded in my father’s final request to find the journal.
I ran my thumb along the spine of the journal. With it, I’d unlock the secrets of the white dagger and what to expect from my power. Armed with that information, I’d make sure Thames was destroyed.
Once and for all.
Chapter 17
Ian
As soon as we returned to camp, the four of us spent an hour discussing whether we should try to use the dagger—Apollo—to rid the darkness from Kade and me here or back at the inn.
There was something to be said for trying this crazy experiment away from the others in case something terrible happened. Kade’s biggest concern was a valid one: What if the darkness tried to fight back?
What if I tried to fight back against Lana and hurt her?
No.I wouldn’t think about whatcouldhappen if this seemingly haphazard plan went to absolute shit. If Queen Evelyn said it would work, I had to hold on to the hope that it would.
I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that worried what my life would look like if I had to live with the darkness forever. What kind of life would that leave me?
I shuddered as soon as the thought entered my mind. Queen Evelyn made it clear no darkness could remain if we wanted to defeat Thames. The only options were remove the darkness, or have no life at all.
Jax stood leaning against a tree in the clearing, observing and ready to shift if necessary.
Lana took a step toward me, the white dagger in hand. She trembled ever so slightly as she approached. “Are you ready?”
Tilting my head to the side, I placed my hands on my hips. “Normally, I’m the one taking care of you, not the other way around. Perhaps Kade should be the one to do it. We know he wants to after all.”
Lana gave me an incredulous look. “Well, he doesn’t have light magic, so you’re stuck with me.”
