A voice came out of the distance, whispering something in my ear. “Eiragrad.”
The vision ended. I was thrown back into my body so hard that I fell out of my chair. When I hit the floor, the blue tendrils connecting the Crystals to the rose were severed, and the spell ended. I groaned as I got back on my feet. Lucien and Ethan rushed to my side.
“The Unseelie stone’s in Edinmyre,” I stated. “It’s not even that far away. The entrance to the city is through the crystal cave that’s by my cottage.”
“Remarkable, that we were so close this whole time,” Ethan marveled. “What else did you see?”
I gave them a detailed summary of the vision. “I’m sure I could find it again. The path is burned into my memory.”
“Did you see anything of the city?” Lucien asked.
I shook my head. “No, just the gate. But I heard a name within my vision,” I said. “Eiragrad.”
“Eiragrad? The Unseelie city… the city of falling snow?” Lucien questioned, as if pressing to know I was certain.
“Yes. I’m sure,” I stated.
“But that’s impossible. Eiragrad has been lost for centuries. It was leveled to the ground years ago by the Seelie fae,” Lucien argued.
“It must’ve been rebuilt by the Unseelie. They used their illusion magic to disguise it somehow, after the Seelie thought they destroyed it,” I stated.
“The city must move places in Edinmyre, like the Spring Princess’ island does, so it can’t be easily discovered,'' Ethan mused. “Which means the crystal cave acts as a portal to the road that leads to it.”
“Exactly. All we have to do is go through the crystal cave, and travel along the ice road to the city. Once we’re there, the Unseelie stone can’t be far off! We need to go there right now!” I shouted.
“Hold on,” Ethan said. “This city could be dangerous, and you’re still healing. Let’s take some time to prepare,onawilke. We don’t know what we might face once we get there.”
I didn’t want to wait. Every second that passed gave Droga another chance to find this city, and get there before we did.
But Ethan was right. I’d successfully performed two incredible spells today for the first time, and I was tired. I needed to rest if we were going to venture to Eiragrad, and get ready to fight whatever was waiting for us. We definitely had tasks in front of us we still had to face, if the Unseelie stone was to choose us. The Unseelie stone was the most powerful and the darkest Crystal of them all. Not to mention the most malevolent— it had proved capable of interfering in supernatural affairs, even killing people it didn’t approve of, so no doubt it’d put us through hell before it accepted us as its caretakers.
I could only imagine what we’d face in the quest to prove ourselves. And if we failed the trials, or the stonedidn’tchoose us, what then? Would we be forced to go home empty-handed?
No fucking way. I wouldn’t let that happen. We were coming back from Eiragrad with the Unseelie stone in our grasp, or we weren’t coming back at all.
Chapter Eleven
Ethan
Iinsisted that Emma wait a few days before we headed off to the Unseelie city. She needed time to rest after performing the locating spell, for we didn’t know what lay ahead of us or what kind of magic she’d need to summon on our quest.
Not that she was happy about it.
“We could’ve been there and back by now,” she complained the night of April twenty-nineth. She’d hardly stopped saying the same thing since we’d made our discovery.
“Tomorrow,” I promised. “Then we’ll finally be able to end this.”
“I wish you’d let us come with you,” Stefan complained. He bounced Isaak on his lap as we gathered around the fireplace in the great sitting room. Odette and Kiara played with Kalina and Kazim on the floor, while Alexei and Theo aimlessly tossed a handball back and forth. Arthur brooded by the fireplace. Emma was sharpening her sword, just in case we had to use it tomorrow.
“You wouldn’t be able to get into the city. Only those with Unseelie fae blood can enter, which means Emma and I are the only ones who can get in,” I pointed out.
“Someof us have Unseelie blood. Lucien and I could accompany both of you,” Arthur argued. “Please don’t go by yourselves.”
“This is something Ethan and I have to do alone,” Emma insisted. “The fewer lives we put in danger, the better. We don’t know what we’re going to face in Eiragrad.”
“Exactly my point!” Arthur argued. “You could need our help!”
“You have children, Arthur. They must come first,” I insisted. “Emma and I have risked all of your lives time and again, and we’ll ask you to do so once more before the fight with Droga is over. We aren’t taking any unnecessary risks unless we’re forced to. There’s nothing to discuss.”
