“Always.” Cami didn’t even look back at us. She hurried straight to one of the narrow shelves, fingers flying across the spines before pulling out a small, thin, leather-bound tome. She cradled it to her chest, then snatched a quill from an inkpot nearby.
She turned, her expression serious, eyes locking on mine. “Scarlet, can you recall from memory the first half of the prophecy?”
I leaned back against the cold door behind me. I closed my eyes for a beat, centering myself before I spoke the words I haven’t been able to forget:
In the veiled echoes of Mareki’s grace,
When the past unfolds anew,
The truth will come face to face,
As scattered elements entwine in the few.
The splintered shards will become whole again,
Once the forgotten realm is due.
The key lies within the Crimson Wraith,
Whose flames will guide what shadows pursue.
We stayed quiet while Cami bent over the little tome, carefully inscribing the words I’d spoken. The scratch of the quill on paper was the only sound in the small, secure room.
Rhodes stepped closer, wrapped his fingers around mine, and tugged me gently against him. I let myself sink into the curve of his neck, breathing him in. His stubble brushed my temple as he nuzzled me.
A quiet laugh slipped out, muffled against his throat at the ridiculous sweetness of it.
Meanwhile, Cami’s eyes darted back and forth over the freshly inked lines. She read them with an almost feverish intensity, her brows knitting tighter with every word. She exhaled deeply before flipping the page.
I held my breath as she recited the second half:
The curse whispers of a tethered heart,
Fated to break when the realm calls.
A life to balance the ancient debt,
Restoring truth from stolen halls.
When the sky splits and the past sings,
And golden fire stands alone,
The corrupted will face their ancient trial,
To burn for what they cannot atone.
Her crystal-blue eyes lifted over the tome in her hands. I could feel Tatum and Davis watching us, but I kept my gaze fixed on the floor, unwilling to meet anyone’s stare. Rhodes pressed a soft kiss to the back of my head. The burning in my lungs reminded me I hadn’t been breathing.
“And then,” Cami said slowly, “she pressed her hand on my baby’s forehead… and we never saw her again. Elias scoured Arya for the Seer. He… he was never the same after that. For a while, he let it go—until a soldier returned from Hollow Summit with whispers. That the Seer had been spotted again. About a year later, when another set of twins were born.”
“Us,” I rasped.
“Where is your sister now?” Cami asked.
“Tyria,” Tatum answered before I could. “She’s with Shayde. They’re on a mission to recover the last piece of the Mareki’s Key—inside Tyria’s stronghold.”
Cami’s face drained of color. Fear flickered in her eyes.
