“That’s why the Blood Fae haven’t overrun it,” Ferrula whispered, brow furrowed. “It’s shielded by ancient light magic.”
I nodded though my mind was racing. “But how do we get in?”
Cordelle’s finger tapped another rune, this one near the sanctuary perimeter.
“We’ll need to access the ley line beneath the cliffs here. It’s a natural conduit—probably why the sanctuary was built there in the first place. But it can only be opened by those who carry both bloodlines. Light and dark.”
Riven’s gaze slid to mine.
“I guess that’s me and Zander,” I whispered.
Cordelle nodded. “You’re the key. Both of you. The sanctuary isn’t locked with force. It’s locked with balance.”
I folded my arms and stepped a little closer to Solei, who was now leaning against Cordelle’s bunk like she hadn’t just dropped the biggest revelation of the night.
“Where did the messenger get this?” I asked, gesturing to the scroll.
Her eyes flicked to mine, unreadable. Then, for the first time since she’d entered, her tone softened. “I don’t know. He died prematurely when I questioned him.”
“Who sent him?” Jax asked, already moving toward her, jaw tight.
Solei was quiet for a beat too long. Her fingers grazed one of the daggers strapped to her thigh, almost absentmindedly.
“He was delivering it from the castle.”
My stomach dropped. “From the castle?” I repeated. “Who would do this?”
She exhaled slowly through her nose. “I don’t know. I intercepted him after he exited through the east gates. He was fast. Trained. And he was carrying that,” she motioned to the scroll now spread across Cordelle’s bunk.
“Where was he headed?” Teren asked.
“Toward the outer edge of the city,” she answered, her voice tight. “The direction of the Hollows. He had an emblem tucked into his cloak. It was part of the old Ember Dawn insignia.”
Riven frowned. “Ember Dawn? But didn’t that house dissolve?”
“No,” Tae muttered. “It was absorbed into Crownwatch years ago.”
I looked back at Solei. “You’re saying someone inside the castle was sending this—” I gestured to the scroll, “—to someone outside the city?”
She nodded once. “He was inside the castle today. He left just after Theron’s speech.”
I clenched my jaw, a ripple of unease crawling down my spine. “So, while Theron was declaring Zander unfit for the throne, someone in his castle was trying to send a pre-war map of the Blood Isle to gods-know-who?”
Solei’s gaze met mine. “Someone who knew exactly what they were looking for. And they wanted it before we got there.”
The room went deathly silent.
Tae’s voice was hushed. “Which means they know what’s waiting on the island.”
Riven stepped closer, her expression unreadable. “And they don’t want us to find it first.”
ChapterThirty-Five
The map lay open between us, heavy with meaning, and even heavier with the weight of what we all knew was coming. The flickering lantern light cast our shadows across it like silent omens.
“We need to decide when we’re leaving,” I said, eyes still locked on the inked coastline of the Blood Isle.
“Tomorrow,” Remy said without hesitation. “At first light. The longer we wait, the more eyes Theron puts on us.”
