“The energy of a god cannot be destroyed. It has to take up another residence in another form. I have a theory that when Blythe took you through the transition, her energy encapsulated itself into your soul,” Leighton spat out in her trance.
My eyebrows knitted together. “I thought we knew that. She gave me some of her power.”
“Or more thansome,” Leighton implied. “Since her soul was immortal, it had to go somewhere. It couldn't simply go beyond the veil or roam the planet like the other lost souls.”
My eyes bulged with skepticism.
“I swear, I’m telling the truth,” Leighton cried out.
“The truth doesn't mean much from someone who betrayed us and this land,” Kade snapped back, stepping forward with his blade. “Anything else to share?”
Without another word or glance at anyone, I stepped out of the room. My mind could not process anything else today, and if it was forced to, I thought I might die.
I heard Leighton wailing and begging for her life as I walked through the hall, silence filling my ears before I had reached the end of the corridor.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Kohen returned in the morning without another Draemornian to interrogate then kill, which wasbad. That meant that the fucker got away and was on his way back to Draemor to disclose our location.
Beaumont would be here for me in no time. And without a plan to stop him or a way to destroy his Hykah army, we were completely screwed.
With the added pressure, I was beginning to think that I wasn't as strong-minded as I had thought—that maybe the others had been right in using caution with me all along.
“So much for a kingdom to keep Maeve safe,” Delani muttered. She was scared. We all were, but unlike the rest of us, she had no power and no combat training. She was essentially defenseless aside from us as protection.
“Once Beaumont finds a new enchanter, he’ll be here for Maeve,” Archer said flatly. It was nice of him to join us seeing as he had seemingly been in hiding as of lately. I couldn't say I blamed him. I thought about how angry I was at Sebastian for hiding things from me, I could only imagine how Archer felt in regard to what his dead, conniving wife had been keeping from him.
He stood in front of the lit fireplace in the common room. The heat wasn’t needed, but the ambiance added a nice touch to the dreary conversation. “Lucky for us, enchanters are scarce. I doubt he has found one yet,” my father supplied.
“How scarce are we talking?” Sawyer questioned.
Archer shrugged. “I suspect there are maybe ten on this continent, but who can be sure?”
“Why would he bother waiting? I feel like he might just decide to come for me sooner and hold me until he finds an enchanter,” I added. “Hasn’t he wasted enough time while waiting for me to come to him?”
“That is possible. But you are unpredictable and more powerful than I think he realizes. Holding you until he is ready for you would be unwise, even I know that,” Archer responded.
For some reason, anger flared inside of me. I could see where this conversation was headed—straight into yet another waiting game. “So what, we just wait and see if he comes for us? No! Have we not learned anything over the past weeks? Beaumont would bring the Hykahs with him, and we have no idea how to kill them. I’m not risking any of your lives by sitting here waiting around. I have an idea?—”
Sawyer shot to his feet, storming across the common room, straight for me. “No one wants to hear your self-sacrificial plans, Maeve. We’ve all been doing everything in our power to keep you safe, and we sure as hell aren’t going to stop now. We aren’t giving up.”
“You didn't even hear what I was going to say,” I shot back, rising to my feet and settling my hands upon my hips.
“I don’t need to. I know how your brain works. You're going to suggest giving yourself up so we can all be safe and blah, blah, blah,” Sawyer snarked while the rest of the room fell silent.
Despite our height difference, I did my best at getting up in his face. “And is that so wrong? If I give myself to Beaumont?—”
“If you give yourself to Beaumont, then he’ll turn you into one of the things we are trying to figure out how to destroy,” Sebastian jumped in, now positioned with his arms crossed by Sawyer’s side.
“Not if I kill him first,” I scowled in Sebastian's direction.
“I love you. So godsdamn much. But how has that plan worked out for us so far?” he responded, Sawyer nodding in agreement,
Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest. “As I’m sure everyone else is, I’m with Sawyer on this. No one wants to hear your ideas if they involve risking your life, which I know that they do. And if you can’t get on board with that, then you don’t get a say in what happens from here on out.”
Everything within me shattered at the statement. “What?” I stuttered, my eyes sinking into my cheeks.
