Chapter 21
SHE WANTED TO CRY OUTwhen he stopped kissing her, touching her, but she reluctantly let him go. She needed good touch, and she wanted to replace the evil that had consumed most of her life with something better, something good. Something like love.
But he held her chin between his thumb and forefinger and said, “The amulet is here. The song is so loud in my head right now.”
She nodded and moved around him. There, behind him, on a stone pedestal and a crystal stand shaped like a hand, the amulet glowed as if a ruby-colored bulb burned brightly from within. But something about it seemed different from the picture she remembered from the book.
She crossed the room and nearly lifted it from its perch when Kai grabbed her hand.
“There’s no way this isn’t booby trapped.”
Hollyn nodded. He was right, no doubt.
“Wait! Look at it.”
She moved closer and saw the jagged edges outlined in glowing red. It wasn’t the whole amulet. It was only a piece of it.
“Is it broken?” She looked around the floor of the cavern, but she couldn’t really see anything.
Kai said, “I can see this place as if it had a spotlight on it. There aren’t any broken shards on the ground anywhere.”
“This is only a piece of the amulet.”
“Look, on the pedestal, there’s a message carved into the stone.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it. Can you read it?”
“The siren’s song will free this piece.
You will find the next where the sun does cease,
And the sea touches the Golden Coast shore.
There, you will find the piece you search for.
Freedom awaits the one who is brave.
Wait for the right time to enter the cave.”
Hollyn waited for more. “That’s it?”
