Laila tossed him a portable light. He shone it across the bottles.
“They all have keys,” he said.
“How do we know what they unlock?” asked Enrique. “It could beanyof these.”
“There’s only one way to find out where the maps lead,” said Séverin, eyeing the bottles. “Split up. Unstopper them as little aspossible… mind Forged maps are intense and very powerful, so be prepared.”
“We’re looking for signs of the temple beneath Poveglia… think craggy land, caves, that kind of setting,” added Enrique.
Laila braced herself as she reached for the cold, smooth glass of the bottle. She glanced at the back wall, alight with coiling glass. It looked unchanged.
Laila slowly unstoppered the bottle. A tiny wisp of mind Forged perfume wafted into the air. The moment she breathed in, it was as if her consciousness had been yanked elsewhere. When she blinked, she saw a ruined cliffside deep in a jungle where coffins dangled from the canopies of trees and a pit of bones glinted with gold. She blinked again, and the vision faded.
Laila replaced the stopper, her hands shaking as she turned to the others.
“A jungle somewhere,” she said. “Not Poveglia.”
“Ugh, this one’s a grave pit,” said Hypnos, stoppering a bottle.
Enrique set down a different bottle, shaking his head. “This one leads to a castle.”
“A glass door in a tundra,” said Zofia, moving to a different pedestal.
Laila removed another two stoppers, her vision clouding with images of snowy temples with curved peaks and secret alleys hiding in plain sight of bustling cities. But nothing she reached for held any resemblance to Venice’s Plague Island, which made her wonder if it was even here…
Or if—
“Found it.”
Laila turned to see Séverin clutching a perfume stopper. For a moment, his pupils looked blown out with fear. He shook his head,his expression returning to normal, but Laila could tell he’d seen something disturbing.
“You’re certain?” asked Enrique.
Séverin looked away from them, managing a tight nod.
“So do we just take the bottle and go?” asked Hypnos.
Laila studied the room. It hadn’t changed. It was still stiflingly hot. The lights on the floor hadn’t altered, and even when they’d opened and checked every mind Forged perfume bottle, not even the coiled glass at the back wall shifted. Above them, the cold winter moon stared down through the domed sky glass.
Séverin eyed the podium.
“We don’t know what will happen when I remove the bottle, so we must be prepared for the worst-case scenario,” he said. “Zofia. What do we have?”
“Fourteen explosives, six close-range blades, steel rope, and Forged muffling cloth,” said Zofia, before pointing at her robes. “Andtheseare fire-repellent.”
“Wonderful, deadly items which, I’m certain, will not be necessary… yes?” said Hypnos, looking at them. “Yes?”
Séverin grabbed the perfume bottle from the podium, stashing it in the box Ruslan had given him. All remained still and quiet.
“See?” said Hypnos. “Nothing.”
Laila felt a change in the room. There was a slight shimmer to the air, the room crimped with a dredging of heat. A dribbling sound caught her attention. She turned just in time to see the glassy staircase entrance fusing into a wall, eliminating their exit. On the back wall, the undulating coils of glass twisted together, and Laila felt her heart slam into her throat.
They had never been coils.
They were scales.
19
