Not only was she curious about what Finn had seen at the border, Cade needed him. Now more than ever. She hadn’t seen him since Castor arrived, which told her he was planning something. When he accidentally had pulled her into his head, she’d briefly seen the formations of it. Heard the whisper of Alexia’s voice telling him about Quinn using the gate to communicate with the Sanguis. A bubble of anxiety sprung in her gut. Her brother was too relentless and reckless for his own good. He wouldn’t listen to her, that much she knew for sure. But maybe Finn would be able to reason with him before the plan came to fruition.
When the heavy, wooden door of the throne room popped up, Cassia sprung forward. Grabbing Finn by the arm, she said, “I’m soglad you’re back.”
Finn blinked, and then pinched his leg. “Am I dreaming? Because that was the last thing I ever expected to hear you say to me.”
Too concerned to roll her eyes, Cassia replied, “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Castor finally came back a few days ago. He couldn’t find Bridget. Obviously, Cade didn’t take it well.”
She shivered, remembering the intensity of what he’d let slip through to her.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go find him now,” Finn said. “It’s not like Deckard was the first person I wanted to talk to today. Orion cornered me and basically dragged me to him the second I arrived.”
“Don’t say this to him, but I’m worried he’s planning something.”
Finn frowned. “Like what?”
“I don’t know,” she said, not wanting to say her thoughts aloud. What if she was wrong about what she heard? She didn’t want to accidentally give her brother the idea. “It’s just a feeling I have, and I know he won’t listen to me if I try to talk to him.”
“Alright, I’ll see what I can do. I know I gave that Warlock a hard time, but I don’t think he would have left Bridget somewhere without taking her to the hospital. He did help us, at the end.” Finn sighed. “It should have been me to go. This wouldn’t have happened. At least I have something that will distract him.”
“What is it?”
Finn checked the corridor before he answered, “I saw Quinn, or at least I think I did.”
Cassia narrowed her eyes. Pulling him further into the corner, she asked, “Are you kidding? Where?”
“It was in Kyryn, near the Kastronian border. One of the creatures attacked us in the night. We had to use fire to kill it. Nothing else seems to work. Through the haze, I swear I saw her face in the trees.”
“You think she’s the one creating the creatures,” Cassia stated, reading his drawn, tight face. “She has to be using the Bloodstone.”
“If she is, I don’t know how it hasn’t killed her yet.”
Grinding her teeth together, Cassia said, “Burning every piece of information about the Sanguis was the most idiotic thing my ancestors ever did.”
“The Shamans might know something,” Finn suggested. “I can think of one that’s old enough to have been around during that time.”
“Echnav was the only trustworthy one. Too bad he’s gone. I liked that he wasn’t up my father’s ass constantly,” Cassia replied scathingly.
“That’s one way to put it,” Finn snorted. “What about Marin?”
“She’s still getting her beauty sleep, apparently.”
Finn sent her a droll look before he turned his attention to something behind her. Cassia turned around. Underneath a moss covered, stone alcove, just past the entrance of the throne room’s large, marble corridor, stood Castor and Delphine. Their conversation seemed innocent, but when red-faced Delphine suddenly smiled, Cassia’s own face heated. Breathing deeply through her nose, she tried to numb the onslaught of prickly emotions stabbing her chest. Cassia wanted to smack herself for feeling so possessive. After all,shehad been the one to end things with him. And he’d accepted it… without a fight. The threat of reliving the memory hardened her heart. She’d made a promise to herself to never think of it again. When Cassia felt Finn’s eyes on her, she straightened and smoothed out her thick, silver jacket.
“You should just talk to him,” Finn said.
“About what? The weather?” Cassia drawled, hoping her face remained blank. “Besides, he looks fairly busy at the moment.”
Finn’s lips twitched. He leaned in and whispered, “You’re not fooling anyone.”
Cassia recoiled away from him. Glaring, she hissed, “Don’t try to read me right now.”
His ability to sense emotions had been a pain in her ass almost her entire life. It had taken her years to get over feeling like a walking open bookwhenever she was around him and Cade. Plus, it had made every game she’d played with them impossible to win.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Castor and Delphine moving toward them. Reflexively, she took a step back. She hated that Castor zeroed in on the movement. His narrowed eyes locked on her retreating form.
To Finn, Cassia added, “Just find Cade and knock some sense into him.”
And then she fled into the throne room, hoping the panic she denied didn’t make her look too rushed.
