“To ask him about the diadem again? Smart,” I say.
Raef glances at Daegan, lifting an eyebrow. “No, actually. It was Daegan’s idea to visit him again. To ask him if he knew anything about your whereabouts.”
I risk a glance at Daegan and find him staring at a wall with his face stoic and his arms crossed and knotted with tension.
“Anyways,” Rhydra cuts in, shooting Raef a look. “He did help lead us to you, but he also had more information for us.”
“The diadem?” I ask.
She confirms with a nod of her head. “He says that long ago, it was broken down and repurposed into a clunky, sparkling necklace.”
“Why didn’t he fucking tell us that the first time?” I blurt.
Everyone looks at me as if they had the same thought before too.
“And does he know where it is?”
My shoulders fall as she shakes her head.
“Any other details about it? Did he describe any colors? Any gems that stand out?”?
“He did say that it has a heart of crimson.”
My heart rate immediately begins pumping. “What?” I ask.
“She struggles to hear sometimes,” Kezra whispers loudly to Raef, who lifts an eyebrow in response.
“A heart of crimson,” Rhydra repeats.
I slide my body down the wall and sit in the corner with my knees bent in front of me, placing my hands on my forehead.
“What is it?” It’s Daegan speaking this time. Daegan, with his low, velvety voice that I think could awaken me from death.
I rub at my temples a few more times, processing, and then I glance up and meet his eyes. Then everyone else’s. They’re all on edge, waiting with anticipation.
“In the castle, in my father’s private chambers, he has a large room that contains some of his most precious items. Not the heavily guarded treasure room that holds old stones and things passed down through generations, but a room that holds more sentimental items. Some of my mother’s things still lie there…” I look at them, my heart still racing, and then continue, brushing past that. This particular piece didn’t belong to her. “I used to sneak in there and try on all the jewelry.”
Daegan meets my eyes and smirks.
I pause, my eyes dancing between all their stares. “I can still picture the gaudy, deep red gem that hung from the diamond chain.” I pause again. “It was in the shape of a heart.”
“You’re joking!” Raef exclaims.
Rhydra has a funny look on her face. Bitterness mixed with elation is the best way I can describe it.
Daegan’s eyes remain glued to me. There’s a subtle pull of his lips.
“That has to be it, right?” I say in disbelief. Could we really have found the last item?
As if reading my mind, Raef speaks. “It can’t be this easy, can it? The final relic?”
“Is it the final relic?” Rhydra asks. “I thought there were four?”
“The emberstone is the fourth,” Daegan explains, saying what I was about to.
“I thought that was just used to make the cut on the witch?” Rhydra asks, trying to understand.
“Cut by one born from ember, the witch’s blood must flow once more.
