“That one is in your notebook?” Delphine asked.
“Yes.”
Castor quietly examined the page from her notebook before throwing it down on the table. “If Cassia is going to try to replicate the curse on the crown, she’s going to have to do more than just utter a few words. You can’t ask her to do this.”
“Stop,” Cassia ordered quietly. “I can do it.”
Bridget stared at her for a long moment, a little stunned by the seriousness in her demeanor. “He’s right. Even if you can, you’ll need more than this. Luckily… I know where I left the page.”
It only took Cassia a second to understand her meaning. “We’re not going to Cavamyne.”
“I never said we were. Obviously, we can’t,” Bridget said, sneaking a glance at Cade. Cavamyne was the last place he needed to be. And she knew he wouldn’t let her go without him. “Besides, that’s what she wants.”
Cade let out a hollow laugh. “She’s daring you to go after it before she does.” His golden eyes searched her face. Reading her intentions, the smile dropped from his face. “It can’t be you.”
“Itshouldbe me,” Bridget corrected. She was the one that sent it away. It should be her responsibility. However, there was another pressing responsibility she had to take care of first. “But we also need to go to Andarre.”
Nylah needed to be healed. Fully. The longer they relied on Stellan’s potions, the higher her anxiety rose. Besides, she was getting tired of Alexia breathing down her neck about the issue.
“At least the sword is there, right?” Castor added. “Cade can claim it while you’re there. You get to save your sister, and our asses.”
“And the crown?” Cassia asked.
“It’s too dangerous. At least right now,” Cade said. “As long as Vega stays trapped in Iegorus, no one needs to be jumping through time.”
Stellan suddenly whirled on them. “Then I’ll think of something. I agreed to help because it was what Marin wanted.”
“That was before we found out it’s tumbling through time,” Cade snapped, jaw tight. “Subjecting someone to the same curse is going to be a last resort. Unless you’re volunteering?”
“I will if I have to. She said to find the crown, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Stellan hissed. “Marin showed me what she saw right before she died.”
Bridget stilled. “What? Why didn’t you mention that sooner?”
But even as the question left her lips, the answer settled over her like a shadow. Marin’s hand on his cheek. Hewantedto keep it secret. To hold onto that last private piece of her… something just for him.
Frustration and fire brewed behind Stellan’s blue eyes. “She saw the crown here in Astraeus. Not five hundred years ago.Now. We need it. It’s the only way.”
He stormed past them. The slam of the door behind him rattled the room’s wooden table and fireplace mantle.
“Not that he was always a joy to be around,” Archer said, breaking the silence, “but is he always going to be such a grump now?”
Cade narrowed his eyes. “His daughter died.”
“Right.”
“Well, since we all can’t exit the room in a dramatic fashion, I need my satin pillow and my favorite wine,” Cassia corrected, rubbing her forehead. “I feel almost as bad as I did when you crashed the monstrous machine last year.”
Bridget glared at her. “Youcrashed it.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Cade said, wrapping an arm around Bridget’s waist. “Instead of blaming each other, let’s blame Archer for the death of my baby. Hewasthe one that chased you.”
Archer wasn’t amused. “Ha. Ha.”
“I think that’s our cue,” Delphine said, gaze flickering between Castor and Cassia. Cheeks slightly pink, she helped Bridget off the desk. “And we should get you bandaged up.”
After Archer made an excuse to leave, Bridget followed. But once they were in the hallway, Cade’s hand, still on her waist, stopped her. “We should check on Nylah,” she said, watching the others turn the corner.
Bridget hated that she almost didn’t want to be alone with him. As she braved a look at his face, her heart wanted to burst out of her chest. Past and present memories mended together into an electric shock consuming her as she fell into his gaze. How was it possible to feel so connected to someone? She’d fallen in love with him so many times… had fought anddiedfor the chance of a future with him. There was no one in the world who made her feel more whole. Morealive.
