Chapter 30 #2
“You were right. About Venay,” he said, fighting to keep his attention on me. “I found her enchantment book, and inside of it were letters.”
“Letters about what?” Kade asked before Archer could continue.
Archer cleared his throat and adjusted his seating, tucking his hands together. “Letters Beaumont had sent to her over the years. She was working with him. For a long while, it seems.”
When none of us seemed surprised, he inquired, “By your silence, I’m assuming you all already knew this?”
I didn’t have the guts to explain, and thankfully, Kade took the fall for the rest of us.
“We do. We had suspicions that she was working with Beaumont and we questioned her about it. We were able to get the truth out of her and also information about the journal and the creatures Beaumont’s been creating. ”
Archer lifted a brow. “Creatures?”
When Kade finished explaining to him everything we knew, my father looked like he had aged an additional twenty years. Eyes sealed, he rubbed a finger along the bridge of his nose. “How did I not see this sooner?”
“Honestly, man, I dunno. I thought she was weird as hell from the moment I met her,” Sawyer answered, not sugarcoating it at all.
Archer leaned forward. “I’m going to regret asking this, but did you guys…kill her?”
He didn’t ask the question to anyone specific, but once again, Kade took the fall. “I did. She needed to die. She was a threat to Lumosia and Maeve. She couldn’t be allowed to live knowing what she knew.”
Archer fell still, his only bodily movements being the rise and fall of his chest. When he spoke again, his words were so light that they were hard to understand. “Do we know what Beaumont is doing with these creatures or how he creates them?”
“Venay said that he’s planning to use them to claim the empire,” I answered, standing up and leaning over the table.
“If what she said was true, and I would bet my life that it was—” I added, not exactly disclosing that I had something to do with the whole thing, but still admitting my faith in the information.
“Then we need to figure out how Beaumont’s creating these creatures and how to destroy them before he does exactly as he plans. ”
Leighton, who had been quiet the whole conversation, spoke up at last. “She gave or sent him notes from the journal, right?”
I nodded. “That’s what she implied—that Beaumont had notes from the journal.”
“Okay. So send me back to Draemor. I can get into his office. As a bookkeeper, we have a set of master keys. I know where they are stored. Maybe I’ll be able to find what she copied from the journal.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Kohen gave his opinion while tossing his fingers through his brown hair, ruffling it in the way he only did when he was stressed.
“You’ve been gone for a while. Beaumont probably thinks that you are either dead or have fled the kingdom.
If you just return unharmed, he’ll kill you for treason. ”
“So I’ll return harmed.” Leighton put air quotes around the last word.
“I’ll make up a whole story about how you forced me to help you out of the dungeon.
I’ll say that I was kidnapped by roaming Caelestians afterwards, but just managed to break free.
I only need a day or so to get back into the archives.
Then I can search his office and see if I find anything useful. ”
“That’s if they don't toss you right back into the dungeons when they see you,” Kade pointed out.
Leighton shrugged.
“You think he’ll fall for that?” Archer asked.
“Does anyone have a better idea?” Leighton replied.
No one did.
“You’re seriously telling me that we have to go back there?” Sawyer complained, kicking his feet up on top of the table. “This will be…what? Our fourth trip there in six weeks? Does Draemor sell time shares, because it seems this may be our new vacation spot.”
Though no one laughed, he wasn’t wrong. It was downright comical at this point—the back and forth between Draemor and Lumosia. But what else were we supposed to do?
Choosing to ignore Sawyer’s usual lack of seriousness, Kohen suggested, “We shouldn’t all go. This is going to be arguably our riskiest trip yet. Just Leighton and someone else.”
“I’ll go,” Sebastian volunteered.
I shot him deathly glare. “Are you kidding me? Absolutely not! You almost died there.”
“Next to Leighton, I know Draemor the best.” He shut me down. “But before we go, we need to think about every single possibility. Every outcome. We need a plan for absolutely everything. I want to make it back here in one piece, and preferably without being tortured again.”
I visibly cringed.
This was so typical for us. Things started to fall back together and get somewhat normal, then he had to leave. I didn’t like it, but he was right. None of us knew Draemor or the surrounding land like him and Leighton.
“They are going to have stronger wards up and definitely more guards at the gates,” Archer stated, looking towards Sebastian. “I doubt you’d be able to get in.”
“I don’t need to. I just don’t think Leighton should make the trip alone,” Sebastian answered.
“I’ll honestly be fine,” she assured us. “I used to travel alone often when I worked in the archives. I would take a horse and visit libraries all over the kingdom.”
“Are you sure?” Kohen arched his brow. “That’s a long trip to make by yourself.”
“Positive. You guys saved my life.” She glanced around the room, her attention halting on Kade. “The least I can do is do this for you.”
“When do you want to leave?” Kade asked.
Confidently, Leighton said, “Give me two days to consider all the possibilities, then I’ll go.”
“Leighton.” Pia grabbed her attention. “Seeing as you’re going to be there anyway, Kohen has a way overdue library book that I believe you helped him find? Can you please return it? He’s on his third reread of it.”
There was no possible way for Sebastian to hide the amusement on his face as his voice raised to a pitch I had never heard from him. “Is he now?”
Kohen shot him a death glare, his cheeks glowing bright red.
“Uh. Yeah. Sure,” Leighton agreed.
“Well what can we do while you're gone? I don’t want to stay here and be useless,” I complained. “Or worse…bored.”
“Practice your wielding,” Sebastian answered for everyone with a soft chuckle. “Relax.”
Disregarding that, I turned to my father. “Do you have a map that shows the entire continent along with Lumosia?”