Chapter 54
Icouldn’t wait any longer, needed to find out if the bolt was where I thought it was.
Without explaining any further, I lifted into the air, driving upward toward the stone until I hung in front of it. A jagged black mark scorched its surface, something most probably wouldn’t notice.
I reached out and pulled on it. It wouldn’t budge. I yanked harder, wings pumping behind me. Still, it wouldn’t move. Disappointment welled in me. This had to be it. Gran’s last words had to mean something.
I pulled with all my might, and finally the stone came loose, flying out with force. It tumbled to the ground and crashed into the dirt, but my gaze was stuck on the space inside.
The bolt lay there, glowing so bright I had to shade my eyes, power oozing from it.
“Bloody fucking earth,” Driscoll said from below.
“Is that...?” my father asked, awe in his voice.
“We did it.” I couldn’t believe it. We’d actually found it. And now we could keep it safe, hidden from Spirit Shadow.
With a trembling hand, I reached inside and pulled the bolt out, its magic flowing through my veins, sizzling in my blood, as if to say “Use me.”
I lowered to the ground, holding it as it crackled and popped, somehow not burning me. Maybe because the very same power it held flowed through me.
My father stepped forward. “How did you find this?”
“It’s real,” Saestra breathed, the light from it reflecting in her eyes.
“It’s amazing,” Loch said. “A weapon forged by a spirit. Holy shit.”
“You’re not going to, like, accidentally shoot that off or anything, right?” Driscoll laughed nervously.
Something odd happened, my hands growing hot. Hotter. So hot they began to burn. Ash crackled over my skin, a thin layer of it sizzling and covering my fingers, my skin blistering.
“What is that?” Loch reached for me, but I snatched my hand closer to my chest. I didn’t need him getting hurt again.
My father stepped forward, and Sastra’s face paled while Driscoll and Leoni watched helpless, unsure what to do.
“I don’t know,” I said, panic making my pulse spike. The hairs rose on the back of my neck as the ashy fire spread farther down my arms. I gasped in pain, and the bolt slipped from my grasp.
We all watched as it fell toward the ground. Before it could hit, a rope made of smoke and fire lashed out, gripping the bolt and reeling back, bringing the weapon right into the hands of a cloaked stranger who stepped from the wildflowers. The fiery rope disappeared from his hands. Fire magic. He was from the fire court.
“Thank you.” His voice was deep, and though the hood he wore masked his features, a glimpse of light brown skin peeked out. “I finally figured out the bolt’s location myself, though I didn’t know exactly where in the tower it was. Luckily, you fine folks solved that for me.”
“No,” I said, summoning wind, but he waved the bolt in the air and it crackled with a warning, sparks shooting from it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said, and my magic died down. “I hold the power of Spirit Sky, after all. I could smite you all right here.”
“Then why don’t you?” Loch asked.
“I’m not the smiting type. Not unless I have to be. More of a curious soul. I’ve been looking for this for a long time.”
My father stepped forward. “You won’t get away with this. We will find you and seek retribution. You’ll have the full force of the sky court after you.”
“Good luck with that,” he said.
A curious soul. “You’re the bone collector.” Emory’s rival. Who else would be searching for the bolt?
He stilled, and I could tell I’d caught him off guard. “How do you know that name?” He swore under his breath. “Ah. You’ve been speaking to the white rabbit. She’s a pain in my ass, but she also lost our little game.” He held up the bolt triumphantly.
I exchanged confused glances with Driscoll, Leoni, and Loch, while my father and Saestra looked completely lost. I didn’t know of this white rabbit.
“The white rabbit?” Driscoll snorted. “What a terrible nickname. You get to be the bone collector while your rival is the white rabbit?”
“She’s called the white rabbit in the frost and sky court because she wears a white fur cloak when she steals artifacts and relics—that’s all anyone has been able to identify her by.”
A memory flashed: one of a white fur cloak. Emory had been wearing one when she’d rescued us in the carriage. Spirits below. She’d made it sound like this was some little hobby, not something that had earned her a nickname, a notoriety among the northern courts.
“What do you want with the bolt?” I asked, afraid to hear the answer.
He tsked. “That’s not for you to worry about.” He slowly began backing into the wildflowers.
Desperation gripped me, but I had no idea what we could do. If any one of us made a move, he could easily kill us. I had no idea the kind of power that bolt even wielded. Couldn’t fathom it.
“Follow me, and I’ll burn you all from the inside out,” he said, then turned and disappeared, the swish of his cloak the last we saw of him before he was gone.
“What should we do?” I asked, turning to face everyone.
“We’ll find him,” my father said, gaze hard. “Let him go for now. There’s been far too much death lately, and I won’t risk any more. That bolt is sacred, and we will get it back. But not like this. Not when we’re unprepared for the repercussions of fighting an unknown elemental.”
Tears gathered in my eyes. He was right. It would be risky.
“Are you ready to return to Winded with me?” he asked. “To assume your position as my heir?”
Loch stepped up next to me, and I nodded at the prince. “We have to get to the conclave. There’s much that needs to be discussed. Secrets that have come to light. We’re all in grave danger,” I said, “and everyone deserves to know the war that’s coming.”
My father swallowed and stepped back but gave a curt nod. “I wasn’t going to attend given recent events, but if what you’re saying is true, then we must go as well. I’ll listen to whatever news you bring.”
“Good,” I said, “because if we’re going to defeat this threat, it’s going to take all of us.”