The general stepped into the war room and closed the door behind him without a word. “Our scout in Luna sent word. The mountains that were said to house Dante’s forces have been searched. There are roughly a hundred temples and buildings hidden along the ridge itself.”
“Send an elemental witch in and have her dig into the mountain then,” I replied, standing. “He’s there. We know he is. And he can’t be hiding himself and his army as well as he thinks he is.”
“The scout has memory loss.” I met the general’s stare, frustration burning hot within me, especially as he looked between me, Elias, and the king. “We think he triggered something—likely a defence mechanism Dante laid on the mountain. When we pulled him from the court, he couldn’t remember what happened. At least the last three days.”
Elias let out a low growl, bracing his hands on the table as he glared down at the incomplete map. “So, somewhere in the last three days, he must have gotten close.”
Three days was when he first updated. He didn’t get far at all.
“That’s what we assume,” the general replied, moving to the table and resting his hand atop the wood. As he did, it triggered the map to zoom in on the mountains. “We’ve tracked his location and placed markers in all the buildings he found. If someone enters or exits them, we will know.”
I rounded the table and watched as glowing dots appeared along the mountain. They were situated along the ridges, down the slopes. “What else?” I asked, glancing at him, then Elias.
The general pointed a finger at an area that had less markers placed. It was also the closest to the coast. Across the water lay the shores of the old High Palace.
It made my heart race with the knowledge that my suspicions might be true.
“This is the last area we have tracked for him. Notice thedecline in coverage?” the general asked, glancing down at the map. He circled the area on the map with his finger, focusing on that space closest to the coastline. “This is where we picked him up.” His finger moved to the base of the mountain, where a single dot blinked.
Elias scrubbed a hand down his face before running it through his hair. “Any docks down here? Somewhere Dante could hide ships?” he asked, eyeing the space.
There was nothing marked on the map, no pier or anything I knew about. But the maps we had were severely outdated.That was part of the reason why we even had a scout in the first place.
“Not that he found, or we noticed,” the general replied, pulling his hand back. “But there’s a cliff with caves. The connection to the ocean is unsteady at best. He could be hiding his ships in them, though it would be hard.”
“See if you can get anyone in there to find out,” Rhadamanthus said quietly, crossing his arms as he leaned down to look closer at the map. “Search that area but get more protection charms from the witches. Take an earth elemental with you.”
“Yes, my King,” the male said, bowing his head and pressing his fist against his heart.
“Anything else?” Elias asked.
Surely, there had to be more. Another reason why he was here.
I gritted my teeth, jaw clenching painfully as I stared at the coastline. The mountain dropped to cliffs, and some of those cliffs had beaches. And I had to assume some of those beaches had caves that went into the mountain.
Elias cleared his throat, taking a step back from the map. “I remember something,” he whispered. “Waves crashing but not salt. Not like I was close to the ocean. It reminds me more of a lake. Fresh water. And trees.” He closed his eyes, grimacing. “Darkness and a flash of light. The darkness might have been a tunnel.”
I held my breath, as did Rhadamanthus, who with hisfinger traced a possible route from the location they’d picked up the scout. “You might have come out below the mountain. That is an excellent start.” The demon king looked to the general with a nod. “Focus your next search there and send in reinforcements. Look for magical signatures there that raise?—”
“Wait,” Elias said, forcing his eyes open.
“Yes?” the general asked, eyes dancing between us all.
Elias spared me a look before shaking his head. “Get everything prepared for tomorrow evening. I’ll be going with you.”
“Are you sure? Aren’t you needed here?” the general asked
“My mate needs me more. And I’ll be the one to find her.”
“Wait.” I held up my hand, trying to stop the general from leaving, but the male stepped out of the room, leaving Wolfy, the demon king, and me alone. “What?”
Elias stared at me for a moment before looking back at the map. “I can’t keep sitting around, doing nothing. Cyrus isn’t giving me anything useful, and neither is Hyperion. I’m done waiting. I’m going in to find her myself.”
“Then I’m coming with you,” I stated, pushing away from the table. “We don’t go anywhere without someone else from the team. Ivy’s rules.”
His jaw ticked with frustration, but he tore his gaze from mine to look at the map again. “The runes.”
“I’m not getting anywhere with them here,” I replied, stalking towards him. “Dante removed anything that could lead us back to them. We might have a better chance at looking into the temples Adrian wrote about, but otherwise, I need to get into that compound or findsomeonewho knows more about them. And no offence, but you aren’t the only one who misses Ivy and wants to get her back. We all do.”
