“Specialhow?”
She threw her hands up. “I don’t know! Goddess above, can I just relax for two seconds? I didn’t expect to be interrogated when I got back to my room! I need time to process this!”
Time to process.What a joke. I shared a glance with Xavier and rolled my eyes.
“The caves,” he said.
Rummy frowned at him. I did too. “What?” I asked.
“You two need to go back to the caves.”
“Why?” Rummy asked. “What are those creepy-ass caves going to do to help us?”
“Look.” He stepped forward, tone serious. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, and frankly, I don’t really care. But this?” He waved his finger between us. “The way you’ve been acting since the day we went through them? You both heard something in the caves. I know you did. And if going back there will shed more light on what’s happening here, it’s worth a shot. Maybe they’ll tell you more about Cornelius’s little magic powers.”
“Absolutely not,” Rummy bit out. “I’m not going back there.”
“Why?” I studied her face, looking for the truth I knew she wouldn’t give me. “Why did what you hear scare you so badly?”
What do you know, Rummy? For once in your fucking life, open up to us. Let someone in. Be real.
She deflated, and for a heartbeat, I thought she might answer us with honesty, but just as I was beginning to hope, I was shot back down to reality.
“Even if I wanted to go back there, I can’t. None of us can. Cornelius is hosting an Autumn Victorial ball tomorrow night,and he’s invited us. We better be in attendance if we want him to think we’re on his side.”
“And what sidearewe on?” Xavier asked. “Because I’m starting to get really damn confused about all of this.”
Join the club.
“We’re on the side of what’s right. And we still don’t know what that is. So get the fuck out of my room. I’m exhausted. I’ll see you at the ball.”
“After the ball, then,” I said. “We’ll go to the caves.”
Hells, I didn’t want to go back either, but if there was a chance it would shed light on this situation, it was worth suffering the eerie sensation again.
“Are you serious?” Rummy let her arms fall to her sides. “It’ll take an entire day to get there, I don’t even know if?—”
“I’ll fly. We’ll be back before we’re missed. If their balls are anything like the ones my father used to throw, they’ll all be too smashed to notice anything unusual, anyway. You want to find the truth, don’t you?”
Her eyes swam with hesitation. Fuck that. I was pushing her, but I didn’t care.
If only she’d let us in. If only she’d tell us about the damn battle she was fighting in her own mind.
But Rummy wasn’t capable of that. So instead, she swallowed thickly and nodded. “Fine. Tomorrow after the ball. But I don’t know how those creepy Whispering Caves are going to help.”
“Great,” Xavier said, clasping his hands. “Then it’s settled. Try to stay away from him until the ball,” he warned. “That man looks like he’s one second away from dragging you into his dungeon and keeping you there forever.”
He was half joking, his wit slowly making a comeback. But I wasn’t amused. Because all of it was possible, especially after Cornelius’s weird talk of fate and destiny.
Rummy was on this trip with us because Huntyr and Wolf had forced her to come. It had nothing to do with Cornelius’s fate.
But still, the tightness in my chest did not dissipate.
Xavier said a quick goodbye, then slipped out the bedroom door and into the dark hallway.
I moved to follow him, but an eeriness in the air made me stop.
Made me turn and take one more look at Rummy.
