“And we’re just supposed to trust you?” Steig asked suspiciously. “What if you’re lying and you’re just here to steal the amulet back the minute our backs are turned?”
Ty felt his ire rise at the way Steig spoke to her and he had to actively work to keep himself calm. “She helped me escape the Occidens Coven, Steig,” Ty said, anger creeping into his voice despite his best efforts. “She used her Gift to get me out, at great personal risk. And she came here with me, leaving her Coven and family behind to help us, so, yes, you will trust her,” Ty said with authority, his voice echoing around the dark cave.
Steig didn’t look away, and Ty saw him clenching his jaw. The man clearly didn’t like it, and in all likelihood, he wouldn’ttrust her—at least not right away. The bastard was extremely suspicious and private, to a fault. But he would accept her, if only because Ty asked for it. And not just because of who Ty was, but because he trusted Ty. They’d been friends since childhood, and their bond had been forged through years of having each other’s backs.
“Fine,” he gritted out, just as Ty expected. “But you better have a plan for this, because you know as well as I do, having her there will be extremely complicated.”
Ty released his breath, relieved to at least have Steig’s tepid acceptance. “I do,” he said. “But first things first, I want to see it.”
There was no question what he was talking about. He needed to set eyes on it, to assure himself that they reallyhadgotten it—that it was here, and all their efforts had been worth it. That everything they still needed to do would be possible.
Steig looked over at Turner, who nodded and turned away from them to dig around in one of the packs that sat on the cave floor. After several seconds, he pulled out an object wrapped in an old, dirty piece of someone’s shirt and handed it to Ty.
Ty unwrapped it reverently as all three of them gathered around. As soon as he folded away the layers of fabric, the amethyst in the amulet’s center caught the light of the fire. It glowed in the dark, seeming to refract all the light in the room in its crystalline structure.
There was an undeniable power about it, even Ty could recognize that. He wondered if Steig and Turner could, too, or if it was just his witch half making him sensitive to it. Either way, the necklace seemed to throb with energy, humming with whatever magic was inside it.
Ty looked over at Ena to see her watching it intently, too, her brow slightly furrowed, until she looked up and caught his eye.
“Can I?” she asked, holding out her hand.
Ty hesitated. He trusted Ena with his life at this point, since she’d literally saved it, and she had every right to hold the amulet, given what she’d sacrificed to be here. But still, his stomach clenched remembering the last time she’d touched it.
“Are you sure you want to? After what happened last time?” he asked her cautiously, memories of her scream ringing through his head.
“Yes,” she said, her voice steady, as one corner of her mouth tilted up into a small smile. “Let’s call it an experiment.”
Ty nodded, reluctantly acquiescing to her wishes as he passed her the amulet. His heart rose up his throat as he gently released his hold on the necklace, placing it in her slender hand.
Silently, she stared into the crystal, as if willing the vision to come, but nothing happened. Her eyes didn’t turn white, she didn’t succumb to any visions. She seemed fine.
Everyone seemed to collectively let out a breath. The amulet still pulsed with power, but at least they weren’t at risk of Ena having a vision every time she touched it. A good thing, given it’d be necessary for her to handle it if they were to figure out the elements to breaking the spell.
“I guess it was just a one-time blessing from Gaia,” Ena mused as she turned the amulet over in her hand. She traced the symbols etched into it with her finger, as if trying to feel out their secrets through touch. “These symbols…I’m not sure what they all mean. That will have to be one of the first things we look into once we…” Her voice trailed off.
“I suppose we should talk about that. What’s to come, what you need to expect. What we all need to expect,” Ty said, looking around at them all in turn, feeling the weight of what he was about to ask of her.
Because even though he didn’t know exactlywhatEna was to him, she was his to protect. There was no doubt about that. And he’d do his best to do just that.
“Let’s tie up the horse and get settled, then I’ll tell you the plan.”
Chapter Three
Ena
Tyleftherashe went outside to fetch their horse and tie it up where Steig and Turner had brought theirs. This, unfortunately, left Ena standing in a dark cave with two daemons who did not trust her all that much.
“I’ll take that back now, if you don’t mind,” Steig said as he approached her, holding out his hand for the amulet.
Ena begrudgingly wrapped it back up in the old, dirty piece of cloth and handed it to Steig who went to hide it deep inside one of their bags again. A large part of her resented his sense of ownership over it. It was a witch’s amulet, after all, and it wasshewho had been granted the vision when she touched it.
But even though she was annoyed with his surly attitude, a part of her understood it. After hearing everything the witches had done to force daemons out of society and into the Underworld—and the way the matriarchs had hidden it from everyone—she wasn’t sure she fully trusted them anymore either.
Besides, she also knew Steig was extremely protective of Ty, especially when it came to her. She hadn’t forgotten their conversation in Attax when he’d warned her to stay away from Ty. She respected him for it; she just hadn’t listened.
“You hungry?” Turner asked as he approached, interrupting her thoughts.
“Yeah, thanks,” Ena said, smiling kindly at him. They’d eaten the last of their provisions before setting out that morning, so Turner’s offer warmed her. And she was glad that at least one of Ty’s friends didn’t hate her.
