twelve
“Youwereexhaustedlastnight.”
Silas stroked my hair as we lay together in the early hours of the morning. I’d gotten home after midnight, and I’d woken before it was light. My eyes cracked open, every muscle protesting the movement.
“I was dead on my feet,” I groaned. “I had to work with all three elements yesterday. Seer Goddard is convinced I’m a Triune Queen.”
“Are you?”
I rolled over, looked into his eyes. “I barely know what that means. But I trust his judgment, so I think it’s possible?”
“Have you connected to all the elements?”
“A little.”
“I’d say it’s very likely you’re a Triune Queen, Alessia.”
“Have you heard of The Glade?”
“Only rumors. Nothing that can help you, I’m afraid.” Silas hesitated. “I did learn yesterday that the Rangers are making some progress in determining who genetically altered the crimson lycanthrope and the kraken. They’re not sharingspecific names yet, but there’s a short list of people who have the skills to do something so magically complex.”
“You’re sure they’re here?” I asked. “In our realm? Couldn’t it be someone out of the underworld?”
“It’s very likely someone in our realm, if not on the island already. While the Darkest Lord operates from the underworld, to alter creatures in our realm, he would need physical agents here. If we can locate the person or people who are doing the work, we’re one step closer to reaching him.”
“What about the fisherman’s boat? The Triskelion Sigil?”
“No news yet.”
I wrapped my arms around Silas’s neck. His fingers worked gently at the knots in my back.
“Mmm.” I sighed at his touch. “I miss this. Downtime. It feels like I should be more relaxed, seeing as I’m basically sitting around all day, but I’ve never felt more exhausted. This moment is nice.”
“We have ten minutes till dawn,” he said. “I can think of ways to use that time to help you unwind.”
“I like the sound of that,” I said, curling against him, “but I am not going to forget where we left off with this backrub later tonight.”
Seer Goddard wasn’t outside when I reached the hut, so I sat in the circle of stones and waited for his arrival. I slung my backpack onto the ground next to me and removed the textbook so it sat on top of it.
By the time Seer Goddard arrived, I already had all three elements spinning in a neat sphere in midair. I opened my hand,dropped the rock into my palm, let the water splash over it, and released the air.
“The Glade is accessed in your mind,” Seer Goddard said without preamble. “I don’t know if there’s a physical aspect. No one in our lifetimes has been there. You must unlock it alone, and it begins with the three elements.”
“Can you be more specific? How do I use the elements to access it?”
“By utilizing the manuscript I asked you to bring. There’s a spell that will guide you.”
I pulled the book onto my lap and opened it. “Which page?”
“I can’t read it. You tell me.”
I opened the book, thumbing through the spells. Honestly, I didn’t even know what I was looking for. Which was basically the theme of my training so far.
“When I found the spell during the full moon ceremony, I didn’t know what I was looking for,” I said. “It was revealed to me when the moon shined on it. I didn’tdoanything to figure it out.”
“It wasn’t revealed magically,” Seer Goddard countered gently. “It wasn’t apoofof good luck.”
“It sure felt like apoofof good luck,” I said. “If it wasn’t random luck and magic, then what do you think it was that happened?”
