Page 74 of Colton’s Mate

“I think he knew,” she said. “Or at least, he was worried that something would happen to him. He told me this was a very special place to him, and he wanted me to know where it was.”

Titan was walking along the line of tangled bramble bushes, one hand out, barely touching the branches. “This is warded by magic,” he said.

Brandon’s eyebrows went up. So did Jason’s.

Callie nodded. “That makes sense, if the artifact is here.”

Jason said, “You really think one of the ancient Talismans is here? Are you crazy? Do you know how much that thing is worth to the crows? Or the ravens? There’s no way they would just leave it out here in the middle of nowhere.”

Colt said, “Did you not hear the ‘warded by magic’ part?”

Kitty asked Callie, “Can you get through the wards?”

“We’ll see.” She looked around the group. “I’m going to sound really stupid in a minute, so I want you all to enjoy it.”

She walked up to the brambles and began to sing a nursery rhyme that Tex taught her when she first came to live with them:

Raven, raven sitting in a tree,

Raven, raven, can’t catch me.

“You can’t be serious,” Jason muttered. Callie winked at him.

Raven, raven, fly away home,

Crow’s got magic of his own.

Right in front of where Jason was standing, the brambles completely disappeared.

“Holy shit,” Remy said, staring at the spot.

“Ditto,” said Colt.

“Come on,” Callie said. She led the way and they walked through a tunnel of brambles, until they came to a huge open space.

A path ran through it like a maze, twisting and turning and doubling back on itself. It was lined with all kinds of objects—bits of metal, jewelry, bottle caps, aluminum foil. The kinds of things crows liked to collect, Callie realized.

It was like a thousand crows had brought their treasures here for a thousand years.

“Ooh,” Remy muttered to Colt. “Shiny!”

“Better watch the crow,” Colt murmured back. “He’ll be prying things out with his beak in a minute.”

“Shut up,” Jason snarled over his shoulder. “This is a sacred place.”

As soon as she stepped on the path, Callie could feel the magic. Every bit of shiny stuff lit up as they walked, until the entire labyrinth began to blaze with light.

They walked single file, back and forth and around and around, until they reached the center. It was big enough to hold thirty or forty people, easily. In the exact center was a flat circular stone, carved with a crow’s head.

Jason gazed around him, looking awestruck. “This is a bardak-thul,” he said. When they all looked at him blankly, he said, “A place where a crow clan would come to bond, and where the elders and sorcerers would make magic. It took centuries, and hundreds of crows gathering treasures, to make a place like this.”

He knelt down and brushed his hand over the stone. Silver sparks leaped from his fingers, making everyone jump.

“Is that the Talisman?” Brandon asked.

Jason shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

Kitty looked around. “Then where is it?”