“This is a warning from the goddess. I’ve stayed too long outside the temple. I’ve allowed the wider world to influence my mind. And the temptations I’m feeling, they’re just a symptom of my distraction.”
He raised his palms to her. “No, Leena, I don’t think that’s it.”
“I want you to take me back to the temple now… I mean, as soon as possible,” she said firmly. The answer came to her like a light in the dark. She’d thought he was safe, but nothing could be further from the truth. Only distancing herself from him would break the attraction between them. She was too weak to withstand the temptation any other way.
“What?” All at once, a look of panic came over him, and he shook his head. “What about… what about the scroll? We’re about to go to war, Leena. The Defenders of the Goddess don’t have a prayer against Eleanor withoutyou.”
She did her best to hide the swell of pride it gave her to hear that he needed her, that the resistance needed her. It was too bad the feeling simply proved her hypothesis. She was becoming proud, lustful, and disconnected from her monastic life.
“You will have your scroll. You will escort me back to the Temple of the Sacred Pools, and I will request that my Quanling assign a replacement curator for the scroll. I will hand over my duties to him or her, and they will return with you here.” She flourished her hand to drive home how simple the plan was. “You said it could take the three sisters and their mates a few weeks to find the tanglewood tree. Even with the difference in time flow between our worlds, you and my replacement could be back here before they are.”
Colin became flustered, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “Don’t do this, Leena,” he said softly. “Stay here. Give this time. See where it might go.”
The sheer need in his voice almost undid her. Right now, he reminded her of a mountain cat with a thorn in his paw. He wanted her to tend the wound, but doing so was a dangerous game that brought her far too close to his razor-sharp teeth. Worse, her entire being ached for his bite. She’d wanted more than just a kiss. If she weren’t careful, she could lose herself in him. “I’m sorry, Colin. I wish to go. Today. If you will not do it, I will ask Sylas and Dianthe to escort me—”
“No!” The thought seemed to offend him, and he jerked as if the words burned. “I promised to guard you and the scroll if you would help us, and I will see that promise through to the end.” His brows became two dark slashes over hard, ice-cold eyes. “Pack your bags. We leave in the morning.”
Chapter Six
Obsidian Palace
Paragon
Grigori sailed through the window and into Eleanor’s ritual room looking worn, his gray feathers rumpled. Eleanor allowed the peregrine to land on her arm, its claws harmlessly digging into her skin. Hera herself had gifted her the falcon, transforming one of her prized peacocks into a replacement for Aborella after the fairy perished. Although the bird looked like the other messenger birds in her employ, this one was special. This one was a spy.
“You’ve come a long way, my friend. Your wings smell of the sea air. What do you have to show me?” She closed her eyes and allowed the peregrine’s memories to fill her brain.
The three sisters sat on the beach, discussing where to find the golden grimoire. She watched the scene unfold, her heartbeat advancing to a gallop. So they had to go to Earth to obtain pieces of something called thetanglewoodtree. Where had she heard of that before? Oh, she was aware it was Raven’s last name, but there was something else about the tree. Any recollection of the tanglewood tree slipped through her fingers as the vision ended with the sisters and their mates sailing toward Crete from Aeaea.
Eleanor blinked again and came back into her own head. She stroked the bird’s feathers. “Well done, Grigori. You clever, clever bird. Let’s find you a treat.”
She rose and crossed the room to a glass tank where a narwit and her babies cowered in the corner away from her. She reached in and grabbed one of the tiny pink creatures, tossing it by the tail toward Grigori’s beak. He snatched it out of the air and swallowed it whole.
“What to do with this information…” Eleanor sighed and reached for a second snack for the bird. “The sisters are certainly more vulnerable on Earth, but now is not the time for me to leave Paragon. Everfield has fallen, but the fairy kingdom is currently more of a burden than an advantage.” She stroked the bird’s feathers. “That annoyance, Chancellor Ciro, wants a legion of soldiers to help rebuild the Empyrean Wood. I may have promised him as much in exchange for his kingdom’s submission to Paragon, and I fear if we don’t deliver, the fairy kingdom will be hungry enough to align with the first ruler to offer them aid. Nochtbend has broken diplomatic contact, and each night, more dragons go missing under suspicious circumstances. The vampires have done everything but declare war. And Paragon’s relationship with Rogos has gone similarly cold. My spies tell me the archers of Asfolk have started training again. The kingdom that has always remained neutral suddenly seems less interested in reminding me of that fact.” She frowned at Grigori. “So, you see, I am needed here and cannot go myself to Earth, despite the temptation to kill that half-breed whelp on Raven’s hip.”
The bird squawked his understanding.
No, it would be counterproductive for her to leave this realm. If Grigori’s vision was accurate, five heirs and their mates remained on Aeaea, including Sylas and Colin, the known leaders of the rebellion. She must remain in control.
But then, who could she trust to kill Raven’s daughter? She couldn’t send Ransom. She scoffed at the thought. The man wouldn’t last a day against the sisters. She drummed her fingers on the edge of the narwits’ tank, sending the creatures squealing into the corner again.
“What shall we do, my dear beastie?”
Grigori ruffled his feathers in response and snapped his beak. She frowned. There was only one thing to do—spy on the sisters in the earthly realm and find out more about what they sought there. Perhaps this tanglewood tree was a source of vulnerability. The plan came together in a flash.
“I want you to go to Earth,” she said to Grigori. “Follow the sisters, but do not allow yourself to be seen. I want to know anything they do or say that might indicate a weakness. Perhaps this tanglewood tree is the answer to their undoing.”
Grigori squawked his understanding and took to the air, shooting through the window like an arrow. Satisfied with the decision, she strode toward the door. She needed to contact the lord of the elves, Niall, again and put more pressure on Rogos to align with Paragon. Everything could be moved if one simply found the right lever. What was the elf’s currency? There had to be a way to sway him.
She was interrupted when Ransom appeared in front of her, looking tentative. He had bad news. She could feel it. Tension coiled around him like an invisible snake, and he shifted back and forth on his feet with apprehension.
“What is it? Why do you look like you might be ill?” She wished the man had spine enough to just spit it out. She could not take much more bad news, certainly not when it was prolonged in this dance of fear.
He cleared his throat. “I am sorry to report that this hour, just moments ago, the Dark Mountains closed at the border to Darnuith.”
“What do you mean, the mountainsclosed?” Now her voice betrayed her true feelings, her tone becoming shrill.
He swallowed and took a step back. “It seems that the mountains have… moved and closed off the passage into Darnuith. We would now either have to traverse the mountain on horseback or fly over—”
