Yawning again, she flipped to the chapter and grunted. “It’s a short chapter, only a few lines.”
Had it caught on to what we were doing? Damn thing. “Tell me what it says.”
Her voice lifted as she read. “The powerless will center the balance between those behind the veil and the lesser fae on the main continent.”
“Does it call the lesser fae Nullens?”
Her finger traced along the next line as she read. “Yes. The lesser fae rejected their magic and will call themselves Nullens.”
One thing confirmed, assuming we could trust the book. “Anything else?”
She held up her finger but continued reading. “Trust their guardians to protect them.”
“Guardians?”
“The Eratis are the key.” Her shoulders curled forward, andshe flopped sideways, landing on the cushion. “That’s it. That’s all it says.”
“Eratis . . . Eratis.” My skin prickled. “Iasar and Amronth are the last Eratis dragons.”
“The dragons you freed from the door.”
“When Delaine tried to kill me, Iasar came to my defense. He shot blue flames at the Lieges, but while the flames held them back, it didn’t appear to hurt them.”
“Because they can’t hurt those they protect?” she asked, her eyelids sliding closed before popping open again.
Maybe. I grumbled, wishing the book told us more. Why did everything have to be teased out of the fates? I was convinced they were involved with this. Were they watching, chuckling with glee as I floundered around trying to figure this out before Ivenrail killed us?
Reyla had dozed off but jerked awake again.
“You need to go to bed,” I said.
“Later. Promise.”
I could grumble, but I wasn’t going to get anything from that book tonight without her. “Bone coins.”
She scrolled to the chapter, finding it blank. “I think you’re right. It doesn’t want me to read anything from that section to you.”
Hardly surprising. “How about the Blade of Alessa?”
After looking it up in the table of contents, she flipped to that chapter. “Yay. Well, there are more than a few lines. Let me read.” Her soft voice drifted through the room.
The blade was ancient, a lost object from the fae past.
Only one person could wield it, the one with the will of atrue hero. I’d read that before. Who would wield it; me or one of my friends?
Seek it in your time of need. Yup, I was seeking it. More or less. It wasn’t like I’d stumbled onto a trail leading to it.
“The blade can fulfill the will of the cursed heart,” she said, her head tilting. “Cursed heart?”
“That’s vague. It could mean Vexxion, who seems to have a cursed heart.”
“Or me since I lost Kinart. You could say my heart is cursed.”
“Or me,” I said. “Maybe I’m cursed to love Vexxion forever while he likes me one moment, then rejects me the next.”
Reaching out, she rubbed my arm. “He loves you. Never doubt that. It won’t end like this.”
But would it? We could be dead within a month. We might never find our way back to each other.
