Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
FRANKIE
Bentley cleared his throat. “I’m about to make that awkward.”
Tenn hung his head and put his hands on his hips. “I have a bad feeling.”
At that, Bentley chuckled and shrugged. “I’m about to make that worse.”
We all knew what that meant. Valathame had given Bentley a new prophecy.
Given where we’d left off on our quest before I traveled through time, and adding to what she’d just said to me, I knew exactly what this was going to be about.
We had to remove the barrier on that tome so we could kick the Unseelie out of Earth forever and heal those they injured. No big deal.
“Uh, before Bentley does his thing . . .” Thiago raised one finger in the air and grimaced. “So, Frankie here isn’t The Tower anymore and Lennox is, right?”
Lennox flinched, then her eyes widened. “Oh shit. I keep forgetting that. It doesn’t seem real yet.” She laughed.
“That’s kind of my point.” Thiago shrugged. “No offense to Frankie, obviously. But do we do Lennox’s initiation now? And is Frankie allowed to help us? I’m all kinds of confused.”
Cooper used his thumb to scratch his eyebrow. “As am I.”
“Finally I’m not.” When they all looked to me with raised eyebrows, I laughed. “It’s nice understanding what’s going on. I can’t tell y’all much though. As much as I’d love to, the punishments from Heaven are fucking steep.”
Tegan snorted.
“However, while y’all were just celebrating Henley’s return, I was having a conversation with my mom and Aunt Val and she said, and I quote . . . For now, they need you to stick around a little longer. Your role as Frankie is not quite complete.”
“The fuck does that mean, dude?” Warner scrubbed his face with his hands. “Why can’t we get all our hints from ya girl Leyka.”
I cackled. “I will cherish that moment for the rest of my life indeed. But as I said, there are rules. Worst part is I’m not even allowed to explain the rules to you.
I just have to follow them and expect y’all to understand.
So, on that note, when—not if—I say I can’t do something, just know I’m as pissed about it as you are. ”
They laughed.
“Man, no wonder you and Savannah get along,” Cooper said between laughs.
“Well, she is my great-granddaughter.”
Tegan snorted again and it made us all frown. She waved her hand. “Sorry, was just thinking how I made y’all think you were soulmates.”
Cooper and I looked at each other and grimaced.
That reminded me of something. “I’m sorry my husband pretended to cut your head off.”
He hung his head and laughed. “Ya know, the whole husband part really shines new light on that evening.”
“Oh man,” Braison said softly. When we all looked, he grimaced. “Was thinking about how in Avolire after Sam arrived how he had to like . . . hand you off to me. And then everyone thought that you and I—should I be worried about my head?”
I giggled. “You mean after I begged you to let me go to the restroom and then Everest snuck in and we smashed and then Sweyn acted like it’d been you . . . in front of him?”
His skin looked a little green. “Ya know, I’ve decided I’m not a fan of hindsight.”
Mei-Ling looked to me and arched an eyebrow. “You smashed Frost Mountain in a bathroom in that ice palace?”
I scoffed. “I’ve smashed that man in crazier places than that.”
They all threw their heads back and cackled. It felt nice to laugh. I felt in their auras they needed it too. So, for shits and giggles, I decided to stir the pot.
“Though, not any lifeguard stands—”
“FRANKIE!” Tenn shouted, his cheeks flushed.
Libby bent over she was laughing so hard.
“Tegan, no.” Hunter pointed to his daughter with a warning look only a parent could pull off. “Don’t. I can feel you scheming up retaliation over there—”
“Dad—”
“Babe,” Tenn whispered, a look of pure horror on his face. “You have to let this go.”
“I’m planning on it . . . after a few select plans.”
Tenn pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why does this always come back on me? Every damn time.”
“Sorry, Cousin.” I grinned. But then I cleared my throat and rubbed my palms together.
“We should probably focus and read the new prophecy Bentley obviously has on his arm now. I was just sayin’ that Aunt Val insists I stick with y’all for now and resolve this shit with Sweyn, because there’s no way you’ll do it without Everest, and where he goes I go. ”
“Something tells me I’m not doing an initiation until after we finish those potions.” Lennox pursed her lips and then looked down at the Mark on her arm. “You started those as The Tower, and I think I have to finish them.”
Bentley nodded. “That is accurate, yes.”
Tegan was also nodding.
Lennox’s face fell. “Dammit. That’s ominous.”
“All right, Bentley.” I pointed to my left forearm where my Coven Mark had now faded to gray. “Let us have it.”
He reached down and pulled up his sleeve, revealing about a dozen lines written in Aunt Val’s elegant script. I smiled. It was a funny thing how every single Hierophant adopted the habit of wearing long sleeves on their own.
Cooper sighed long and hard. “I miss the days these prophecies were short and sweet, like four lines, ya know?”
“I don’t know . . .” Libby shrugged. “They seem to hold a little more info now being longer.”
Bentley held his arm up. “Tegan, shall I read it or—”
“I got it.” Tegan flicked her wrist and the words of the prophecy appeared in the air between us, written in little rainbow swirls.
Tegan cleared her throat and then read them out loud, “Too many have fallen by their blade, You still have time to give them aid. Their twisted magic has bound the book. The time is now, reclaim what they took. To find the answers that you seek, make thy move like a sneak. But scattered are the tools demanded, so one by one they’ll be commanded.
Move with haste upon my word, Or eternal cries will be heard.
First seek the song within thy heart, but collect their tears before they start. ”
Royce threw his hands up, then tapped on Thiago’s chest.
Thiago shook his head. “Royce does not like that.”
Royce spun around and kicked the sand. I laughed. I couldn’t help myself.
Tim rubbed the back of his neck. “Right, so, the first lines are obvious. We have to remove the barrier on the tome so we can actually use it.”
“Haven’t we heard some of these exact lines before?” Constance pointed to two lines in the middle. “Make thy move like a sneak. But scattered are the tools demanded, so one by one they’ll be commanded.”
My stomach tightened into knots. “Yeah, when we were looking for the actual tome and all the tools.”
“Like the cipher,” Hunter added softly, then pulled Devon into his side like that trip into the Land of the Lore was replaying in his mind.
Not that I blamed him.
Constance pursed her lips. “So that’s definitely intentional, right?”
“She wants us to know we’re in similar waters,” Mona spoke up. “For good and bad.”
Jackson cleared his throat, then raised his hand, the one with the red rose tattoo on his thumb. “The line move with haste upon my word, or eternal cries will be heard means what I think it does, right?”
“Yes,” Bentley answered softly but didn’t look at him or Mona.
“Fuck that. We’re not wasting a second, you hear?” Tenn leveled his gaze around the group. “She gives us a clue, we follow it immediately. Got it? There are too many people downstairs, and I refuse to lose a single one of them.”
“Hey, Tegan . . .”
“You don’t have to go back there, Libby,” Tegan answered. “None of us will think any less of you.”
“Dammit. I guessed right,” I said.
I scowled and glanced around but everyone else seemed as confused as I was.
“The fucking sirens.” Tenn threw his head back and stared at the darkening sky. “I’ve been down there too many damn times.”
“Wait a bloody minute, lads,” Jackson stepped forward and pointed to Tenn. “Didn’t we kill the sirens on my quest?”
Cooper scowled. “Didn’t the sharks kill them?”
“Same thing, mate.” Jackson gestured to Tegan. “Drunk Tegan called them, remember?”
“Yeah, well, this isn’t an ancient quest destined for the sole Lancaster with magic in the hunt for an angel’s Heavenly sword.” Tegan grinned. “I can bring main character energy for this quest.”
Cooper closed his eyes. “Tegan, again, we’re not book characters.”
“Cooper, again, that’s debatable.”
Jackson stepped in between the siblings. “Point is, I thought they were dead?”
“How many did y’all kill on that quest?”
“Three, I think?” Jackson’s face fell. “How many are there?”
I grinned and a little chuckle slipped out. Tegan snort-laughed at me. Tenn just hung his head and shook it.
“Bunch of right tossers you are.” Jackson glared at the ocean behind me. “A simple answer would suffice, wankers.”
“Tossers and wankers.” That made me giggle. “That actually makes me feel a little homesick.”
“Hey!” Warner pointed to me. “Savannah ain’t here but imma say it for her . . . we don’t need that eldritch-being shit here right now, okay?”
“Did you know they’d only just started building Notre Dame when I died?” I asked with a lopsided grin. “Everest and I went to Paris—”
“Fucking hell, Frankie. No.” Tenn held his palms up. “I cannot handle that kind of memory lane field trip right now.”
“Fair.” I gestured to the water behind me. “Shall we go see the sirens then?”
Thiago narrowed his eyes. “How do you know we’re visiting sirens?”
“In the quest we went on in August—”
“Which led to my supposed death,” Libby mumbled under Tegan.
“—The lines said, beware the song within thy heart, if you cut them off before they start you’ll find the treasure from worlds apart.
” Tegan sighed and narrowed her eyes on the last lines.
“She intentionally used similar language. I won’t say that doesn’t .
. . alarm me. However, it appears we’re collecting siren tears on this quest.”
“Who is going?” Constance spoke softly. “I don’t think we should all go.”