Vanguard raises his hand to Jonah, who presses his lips together and takes a step back.
The serpent is less furious in his reply. “The Einherjar were also a brutal people, but they lived by a code of honor. Somewhat like the assassins do.”
With that, he changes the subject. “You face a dilemma now, Striker Draven,” he says. “To verify that the bones are, indeed, within that box, you will need to open it. But to open it will alert every dark creature within a hundred-mile radius, and, believe me, my master has followers everywhere. Or you can trust my word that the bones are in there and keep the box closed until such time as you can open it safely.”
Peyton is once again studying me.
“Fury?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “I can’t sense the bones within the box.”
Slade takes that moment to step forward. “As agreed, you will all stay within a temporary realm while we open the maze.” He gives Vanguard a hard stare before he continues, “You can check the box in the temporary realm.”
It’s a simple solution.
But the gleam in Vanguard’s eyes tells me it won’t be that easy.
Peyton’s hair brushes my shoulder, while Vanguard and Jonah step closer.
Slade adds, “When I remove the temporary realm, you will need to move fast. Step directly forward onto the bridge, and then you will be inside the maze. You may need to shield your eyes as the magic required to open the realm is extremely powerful.”
Slade quickly activates his power, and within moments, our environment changes.
I stand on what appears to be another stone bridge, nearly identical to the one within the ravine. It’s clever. Slade has created a seamless illusion of the bridge so that when he pulls down his realm, we will be disoriented.
He won’t want us to know how they open the maze, and there’s a large part of me that doesn’t want to know. I suspect supernaturals have died for carrying that secret.
For now, my focus returns to the box and the intricate padlock keeping it closed. “How do I open this?”
Assuming I can’t simply rip it off. I give it a tug, testing it, only for a shock of power to pass into my hand. It’s magically sealed and the bite of energy in my palm tells me brute strength won’t work.
Vanguard shrugs. “I don’t know how to get it open.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “But you locked the bones inside.”
“I didn’t.”
Suddenly, Peyton’s accusation toward Vanguard takes on a new meaning.I don’t like your games.
I fight my anger. “You don’t know if the bones are in here, do you? You only think they are.” I can’t stop my snarl. “Because this box is one of only two still out in the world that could contain them. So this is all a big fucking guess on your part.”
For all I know, it’s the other box that has the bones in it. Or neither of them does.
“I found this box,” Vanguard says. “I couldn’t get it open to verify its contents.”
Fuck.
He continues, “To open it, you will need to decipher its meaning.”
My jaw clenches. “You could simply tell me since you seem able to read these runes.”
He grimaces. “I recognize them individually, but I don’t understand their meaning in sequence. When I try to grasp it, it slips away from me.”
I look at Peyton, hearing her warning again in my mind.Choose carefully, Striker.
What does she know but isn’t saying?
When we arrived in the forest, before Slade created this realm, she would have been able to communicate with her sisters. Maybe they told her something…
