Cress lifted her chin. “Wedoneed her. We have no experience in this human realm, and here magic is hidden by law, so our usual methods are forbidden. We can’t find it without her, Donovan.”
Donovan’s eyes flashed dangerously. “She does not know what she is doing.”
“She will learn. The scribe stone is too important. We must find it before Connor does.”
I was losing control of this conversation. “Why is this one so important?”
“The scribe stone’s power is unfathomable.” Donovan didn’t bother turning to face me; he spoke to the wall. “The Elonn are keepers of knowledge. Their magic is steeped in being able to assess information and find a drop of truth in an ocean of lies. If their spark stone is devoured, my brother could absorb any number of related powers. The ability to predict the outcome of any conflict, for starters.”
“Right,” I said, running my eyes over the notes on my refrigerator. “I’ll make a deal with you, Donovan.” Finally, Ifaced him directly, acknowledging him for the first time. Ignoring him wasn’t going to work; he was far too arrogant to have his confidence dented in any way. Matching his energy might work better.
“If I can find this ‘scribe stone’ and close it,” I said, doing the little air quotes with my fingers. “You guys will go home and leave me alone. This episode will be over, and I’ll be free to go on with my life in peace. Deal?”
He stared back at me, his dark green eyes fathomless. “Since I have no desire to spend a second longer than necessary in this realm, in your presence, I take your deal.”
Woah. I clearly had some unconscious self-loathing to work through. “So, this Elonn elder, the guy who has the stone. Who is he?”
“A venerable old fae. He is thousands of years old.” Donovan grimaced. “I do not understand what possessed him to come here with his realm’s spark stone.”
“What’s his name?”
“His name, in our Upper World, is Ahdeannowyn.”
“Hmm,” I said, tapping my phone. “No hits, but that’s to be expected. He wouldn’t be using that name in San Francisco. Maybe I should search for the stone itself.” I had no doubt if I’d find something. This was my hallucination; my brain wouldn’t give me something I didn’t already know.
“None of us have the power to locate the stones themselves, Chosen,” Cress said gloomily.
“You can call me Susan. It’s not much of a stretch from Chosen.” I chuckled to myself, tapping on my phone. “How were you planning on finding the elder?”
“We can try to sense a burst of fae magic, if Ahdeannowyn ever uses it.” She turned and looked very dramatically out my tiny window. “But magic in this realm is hidden,” she muttered. “It is a problem we cannot solve.”
“Every problem has a solution, Cress,” I told her. “You just have to find a new way to approach it.” An idea hit me; I closed the web browser on my phone and opened one of my favorite apps. “What does the scribe stone look like?”
She turned back. “It is a light blue, clear, like your mortal sky on a cloudless day. Perfectly round, brilliant cut, with over two hundred naturally occurring facets, and measures exactly six thumbs across.”
I tapped the information into the search bar. “Thumbs?”
“One and a half of your mortal inches.”
“So… we’re looking at nine inches in diameter. Okay.”
“Enough.” Donovan straightened up, squaring his massive shoulders. “I have indulged you enough, Cress. This is pointless. Eryk, Nate, open the portal; we will go back to our own realm and regroup.”
“Wait.” I waved my phone at him. “Is this it?”
On the screen was a picture of a crystal—a beautiful sparkling blue brilliant-cut stone.
Donovan froze. “Where did you find that image?”
“On eBay.” I shrugged. “It’s the best place to buy the most random stuff, like broken exercise bikes, or replacement remote controls for your discontinued air conditioner, or, you know, power-packed magical world-ending crystals.” I was starting to feel quite giddy.
Donovan’s expression grew thunderous. “It’s forsale?”
“Of course?”
“Ahdeannowyn must have lost it. Take us to it. Now,” he demanded.
“That’s not how this works, Donovan,” I told him, using my “patient kindergarten teacher” voice. “You have to buy it.”
