But that was the problem.
There was nothing. And yet, according to their compasses, these were the exact coordinates of the Sleeping Palace. Séverin and Ruslan stood apart from the others, with Séverin turning the Tezcat spectacles in his hand. Eva stood between them, peering over Séverin’s shoulder, her hand on his back.
“Do you think it’s underwater?” she asked.
Séverin didn’t answer.
“Did we get the coordinates flipped?” asked Hypnos.
Zofia looked at the spectacles. Then she looked at all the people regarding the instrument without doing the obvious:usingit.
“They’re spectacles,” she said loudly.
Séverin glanced up at her, and his mouth curved up. He raised the Tezcat spectacles to his face and held still.
“What is it?” asked Eva. “What do you see?”
Séverin took a few steps to the left, and then he bent toward the ice, reaching for midair while his hand curved as if around a door handle only he could see. Then he pulled. When he did, the light started to waver right in front of him and the air shimmered.
Ruslan laughed and clapped his hands, drawing away Zofia’s attention.
“Zofia,” gasped Laila beside her.
She looked back to the place where the air had started to shimmer, only now the glittering effect stretched to a distance that seemed to equal the entire length of L’Eden. The Ural Mountains behind the lake blurred away as solid ice appeared midair. With every passing second, the shape of a grand building emerged on the frozen Lake Baikal—frozen cupolas and translucent balconies, crystal spires and thick, ice walls. There was no mistaking what was before them.
The Sleeping Palace of the Fallen House.
15
LAILA
The Sleeping Palace reminded Laila of L’Eden, if it had been dreamed up by winter.
When the door opened, slender icicles shattered on the ground. Her stomach swooped at her first step. Snowflakes dusted the translucent floor, and through the striations of ice, Laila could see the movement of sapphire water… as if she might tumble through at any moment. The wide vestibule opened into an expansive, silvery atrium. Forged thuribles of moonstone glided along a vaulted ceiling full of etched crystal and ice. Two snow-bright stairways spiraled up to a balcony that encircled the atrium. The moment they entered the atrium, the Sleeping Palace began towake. Crystalline sculptures of gargoyles untucked their heads from their wings. Designs of closed blossoms and coiled ivy unfurled slowly, snow falling from their shapes like pollen as they opened and arched toward the ceiling. The sounds echoing through the vast halls reminded Laila of crisp snow broken underfoot.
Her breath feathered before her, and not for the first time, she wondered whether she was supposed to be feelingmore… She looked at her hands, flexing her fingers, trying to search her body for some sign that they were closer toThe Divine Lyrics. But all she felt was the relentless cold, and all she saw was her garnet ring, wet as a heart, with the number17leering at her from inside the jewel.
Delphine stayed at the entrance, turning her attention to the guards and the transport, calling for a retinue to examine the rooms, determine their safety, and get them ready for sleeping. Eva had made her way, of course, to Séverin. Laila ignored the sharp twinge in her heart. Perhaps she was being unfair. Eva had not made the most favorable impression, but Laila could let that go.
She forced her eyes to Ruslan, who stared up at the icy vaulted ceiling. Lightly, he cradled his injured hand in its sling. For a moment, something flickered across his face that looked, to Laila, like sorrow.
“Remarkable,” he said excitedly, hopping a little on the spot. “This feels like the start of making history, does it not? Can’t youfeelthe pulse of the universe speeding up at this discovery? It makes me feel—”
His stomach growled loudly. Ruslan scowled, and whisperedhush!to his belly. He opened his mouth to speak again, but then Delphine appeared beside him, and Ruslan fell quiet. She surveyed them through narrowed eyes. When she spoke, Laila saw that she only looked at Séverin. “Well, treasure hunters, we have exactly one week before the Winter Conclave and even less time before we have no choice but to reveal this discovery to the Order,” she said stonily. “Start hunting.”
With that, she and Ruslan left the atrium. Ruslan paused only to glance at Eva with an encouraging smile. Laila thought it wasa summons, but Eva did not follow after him. Instead, she walked forward. For the first time, Laila noticed a slight drag to her left leg.
“I wish to stay and help you,” announced Eva, crossing her arms. “For one thing, I’m a gifted blood Forgingandice artist. As Ruslan’s cousin, I’ve grown up hearing the stories about the Sleeping Palaceandthe Fallen House. You could use me. Finally, I have just as much to offer as anyone else on the team.” She shot a scathing glance at Laila. “Perhaps more than some.
“Well?” prompted Eva, when Séverin said nothing.
He looked to Laila. No one joined them without a thorough reading, and what Laila had found of Eva wasn’t enough to deem her safe. While the matriarch had called for a morning meeting yesterday, Séverin had summoned her to the luggage room where they had opened the patriarch’s and Eva’s possessions, and she had read all that she could. There was nothing out of the ordinary in Ruslan’s belongings. No memories of import. No emotion except thepressureto discover, which she’d felt like a hand pushed on her heart. Eva’s objects, however, were sparse. Nothing but a pair of shoes worn through from work at the blood Forging den in Moscow. That was all.
“I’m sorry,” said Laila, truly meaning it. “But no.”
Eva looked stricken for only a moment, before she glowered and crossed the room to Laila. Hypnos hurriedly scuttled elsewhere.
“Is this because I didn’t know who you were?” asked Eva, annoyed.
