“Humans spin such beautiful tales, don’t you think? Instead of saying the king was a fool, they tried to appease the gods. But,” he lifts a finger, “by labeling the land to the north as cursed, it made it so no one would dare to enter. Fear is like the wind.” He huffs out a heavy breath to emphasize his point. “We cannot see it, but oh, how we feel it. Aren’t you going to ask where they rebuilt?” His brow nearly meets his hairline.
My gaze sweeps toward the ancient stones that enclose us. “Here,” I mutter. The mountains still act as a border that is only a short horse ride away, but Galen’s castle is bathed in sunlight; thus, his black roses grow so dutifully.
“Yes,” he taps his foot, kicking up more dust.
I’ve never had allergies, but all the soot is going to test my limits. Raising my hand, I wipe my nose.
“Right here. The old castle of Caldara had become a skeleton, long dead and buried. However, bones take a long time to weather away and return to the earth. If one knows where tolook, they can still find a passage through the old mining caves that survived. The hidden tunnels the king built deep in the heart of his castle, a heart that’s not dead, but slumbering.”
Thump! Boom! Thump!Control your breathing; consider this a battle where your tongue is your sword and your mind is your shield.
His words feel like the tip of a sword that gently glides over my lashes. Each statement takes one of my senses. My sight. My hearing. My ability to move.
I planned that once Titus found the Vitalis, we’d just burn it or sell it. I just want him free of this shitstorm. That look in the old man’s eyes tells me we’re all stuck in this terrible web Everett weaved. There is no escape.
“Why would we want to find the heart?” I ask as dread coils through my muscles.
“Because it gives life, and life is what evil seeks. It thrives on it.” He stoops, pulls his shoes off, and flexes his toes.
“Then it’s best to let it sleep.” I inch back, map in hand. Titus is starting to control the time-weaving. He can live with it. There’s no need to find this book.
“You think you are the only one with a scent in the air? Others know; they have been looking. Why do you think Everett sowed so many seeds? He needed to ensure that we all developed in a certain way. So sit your ass down, yes, right there on the stone floor, and listen because I’m tired and want to sleep, but I promised I would retell a tale.”
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Tristen
Idon’t realize I’m running my tongue over my fangs until they slice it.Shoot!
Leave.
Run to Titus and drag him here, or better yet, force him away from this mission.
“Sit that pompous ass down. I’m sure you’ve let filthier things touch you,” he huffs. “Oh, but wait, before you do, be a good lad and get me the aged bottle of human whiskey there.” He points to the trunk.
I fall into the role of callboy.He’s lucky I don’t smash this thing over his wrinkly head.
“I’ll stand,” I bite out as I lean against the wall.
He mutters under his breath, too low for me to hear.
“Tell me,” I press. Smelling all this mold is making me dizzy.
“Do not,” he says, lifting the bottle like a dagger, “intervene again. Do as you’re told.” He takes a swig from the bottle.
“I’ve seen swines swallow with more grace,” I grumble. “Why is Caldara so important?”
“It’s a cursed place I wish we could forget, but evil seeks evil.”
“Everett wanted my brother to find this place. Titus isn’t evil,” I point out.
His eyes look longingly into the bottle. “Not Titus.”
“Selene, then?”
He rolls his eyes and releases a fed-up huff.“You need not find Caldara, boy. You’re already here. You seek the wrong questions. The night grows late. Let me tell you the story I was told as a boy, the same story Everett asked me to tell him.”
