“There is much hidden about you, young Arric. Even frommysight.” Haddi said, sounding irritated. “I also worry that you are not yet ready for the answers you seek.”
“Listen,” I growled. “You’d better not be jerking me around—”
Isla reached over and grabbed my hand, startling me.
“You’re glowing,” she whispered in explanation to her touch, and I noticed my tattoos fade as I calmed.
“Once the flames of knowledge are lit, we must act quickly,” Haddi continued. “You must trust me and do exactly as I say. Do you understand?”
I nodded but had no idea what the hell he was talking about.
“The ashes will reveal the truth you seek, but I must warn you, Arric. The truth is often hard to hear and even more difficult to accept.”
“I’m good to go,” I replied.
“Shall we begin?” Kade said, motioning for us to take our seats.
“Before I light the fire, I must first apologize,” Haddi said.
“For what?” I asked.
“I am the reason that you are here in Scotland,” he replied.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked. “Were you in charge of putting up the posters for the Gunnach games in all the gyms?”
Kade Gunnach laughed, drawing a stern look from Haddi.
“No,” he continued. “But I did summon you. The way you arrived wasn’t up to me or you, for that matter.”
“I came to Scotland to blow off some steam and throwing logs around seemed like a good way to do it,” I argued. “I came here becauseIwanted to.”
“You came because the ashes told me to summon the remaining oracles, which I did. Fate guided you here.”
I scowled but said nothing. I was sick of feeling out of control but, in truth, I had only the vaguest ideas of why I’d come to Scotland. Why I’d gone through the hassle of scoring a fake passport, or any of the bullshit I had to go through to get here. I told everyone, including myself, that I’d come here for the games, but the more I said it, the more I felt like I was reading from a script. In fact, the longer I’d been at Castle Gunnach, the more my past life felt more like just that. A past life.
“The king has explained to you that the Cauld Ane are centuries old, já?” Haddi asked and I nodded. “May I ask how old you are, Arric?” he continued.
I scratched the back of my neck before replying, “Almost twenty-five.”
“You don’t sound entirely sure,” Haddi said with his ever-present smirk on display.
“My mom and I moved around a lot, and I don’t have a copy of my birth certificate.” I turned to Kade. “That’s why I had to use a fake ID and passport to work on the cargo plane. I remember one time my mom telling me my birthday was March twelfth, but that’s it.”
“Didn’t you celebrate it every year?” Isla asked in a heartbroken tone.
“Not exactly,” I replied. This was no time to get into the topics of my fucked-up childhood, or my even more fucked-up mother for that matter. She’d been out of the picture for most of my life and I was fine with that.
“In truth, I sense you’re much older than twenty-four years old,” Haddi said.
“How the hell would you know? You don’t even know me,” I said.
“The truth in that statement is precisely what puzzles me,” Haddi said. “If you truly are an oracle, Ishouldknow you. Andi and I should both be able to read your thoughts effortlessly, yet we cannot.”
“Does that mean he’s not an oracle?” Andi asked.
“As I said, there is a mystery as to the nature of Arric Mann.”
“Look, buddy. You said you had answers so you’d better start making some sense—”
