“Bri, you’re awfully quiet over there. Anything interesting?” Isla asked, gesturing to the book.
“Actually, yes,” she responded, drawing out the last word. “Look here. Have any of you seen a picture of this before?” Bri carefully held the book up and faced it to the rest of them. It was open to a page at the beginning of a very faded black-and-white drawing of a dagger with what looked like a large gemstone on the hilt.
Isla took a sharp breath. “Do you think that’sthedagger? What does it say?”
Bri turned the book back to herself and began reading, having to squint at times to make out the faded scrawl. “‘The Dagger of Volnus, granted by the Primeval gods to the Vasileia bloodline in the hundredth year of their reign, possesses immeasurable power to separate magic from the source in which it dwells, leaving them in their mortal form. Once withdrawn through the lifeblood, the magic is held in the vessel until transferred to another through the shedding of blood and intake of power, if they so choose.’”
“Right. We’re going to need you to read that again,” Aidan cut in.
Bri eyed him. “There’s more. ‘The Primeval gods created the Dagger of Volnus as the only weapon that can vanquish an immortal. Because of its ability to maintain balance, the dagger should never be destroyed. As ash turns to ash and dust to dust, raw power must be returned and honed to sustain the realm for which it was created. Beware the lure of the dagger. Power conquers all.’ This entry is signed by someone named Liam in the sixth century of the Vasileia reign.”
They all sat there for a moment, absorbing the information. Isla tried to replay the words in her mind, but it was like grasping at straws.
“So, this dagger can kill us,” Aidan said flatly.
Jade shook her head. “What about the first part? That’s far more than Celesine knew.” She began to pace. “Can you read it to us again, Brielle? Line by line.”
Bri nodded and started at the beginning, pausing after every sentence.
“‘Granted by the Primeval gods to the Vasileia bloodline in the hundredth year.’ That’s self-explanatory. I can’tbelievethe Vasileia had the dagger in their possession from the very beginning and we didn’t even know, those pompous—” Jade stopped when Kai coughed pointedly, then turned to Isla. “No offense.”
“‘Possesses immeasurable power to separate magic from the source in which it dwells.’ Well, Celesine told us that part already, at least. It can take away magic,” Aidan piped in.
Next to her, Rynn still had not moved a muscle, which set Isla on edge. She could only imagine the gears whirring in his head, contemplating each word, processing their meaning a dozen times over until he was certain of the implications.
Bri read the next line. “‘Once withdrawn through the lifeblood, the magic is held in the vessel until transferred to another through the shedding of blood and intake of power.’ Okay, that’s a lot of talk about blood. It sounds like when the dagger takes someone’s blood, their magic is stored inside of it.”
A pounding began in Isla’s head. She worked through those words, letting them take form and land like a boulder in her stomach.
Jade spoke. “Yes, and then can be transferred into—into anotherperson?”
The dull beat rose inside of Isla, making its way to her ears, her chest, her hands.
“Well, that doesn’t do us much good. Why would we give Sebastian’s powers to someone else? Or, even more ridiculous, why would we giveourpowers to someone else?” Aidan asked.
“Aidan’s right. If the king can get in our heads and use our abilities against us, I don’t want to pass that fate off to someone else. We’re the best hope for stopping him,” Kai said.
Isla knew the instant Rynn came to the same realization she had. She sensed his muscles lock up next to her, and he turned and seized her hands. “Do not even think about it, Isla,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Don’t you see? This is it.Thisis how we take him down. This is why I’m here.”
“No. We don’t know that for certain. We can find a different plan. You promised me,” he insisted. Isla bit the inside of her cheek.
“Would you two like to tell the rest of us what’s going on?” Kai asked, the four of them staring at Isla and Rynn expectantly.
Isla was gripped by fear that he would bolt again. She grasped his hand tightly, whispering, “Don’t leave. Please.”
He deflated, his shoulders slumping slightly as his eyes glistened with regret. “I’m not going anywhere.” He cupped her cheek. “But this is not the answer.”
She smiled at him softly. “You don’t know that.” Then, directing her attention to the impatient glares of their friends, she said, “Give your powers to me. He can’t get inside my head, so he wouldn’t be able to use them,andhe wouldn’t be able to take them away without the dagger. Then I can fight him. I could save my family and stop him from doing anything worse to the kingdoms.”
She wasn’t sure they had heard her, for the entire cave went deadly quiet. Nobody moved for several seconds. Aidan opened his mouth once, then promptly shut it. Kai simply blinked at her repeatedly, her contemplative blue eyes drilling holes into Isla.
Jade finally spoke. “I don’t—ah, well—I mean, I suppose—”
“I think you broke Jade,” Aidan said.
“Look, it’s a noble idea, and it means so much that you’d do this to help us,” Kai started. “But I don’t know if you understand what this would mean. I don’t know ifanyof us do. What would even happen to us if we did that—if we handed over our powers?”
