10
Iwas seeing through the eyes of someone else, someone holding an intricate silver key. The hands before me weren’t mine, but they were distinctly feminine as they caressed the elaborate metal designs, twisting and turning in curves resembling a den of serpents. At the center of the key’s metalwork was a teardrop shaped translucent crystal, and when the stranger’s hands passed over it the crystal began to glow a subtle green, light emanating from its surface.
The hands delicately placed the key atop the tattered pages of the book of shadows before me, the very same grimoire currently in my possession.
The Kotova grimoire.
The pages of the book of shadows began to sizzle, flame sparking at the edges of the parchment as the page went up in smoke and ash. When the smoke cleared the key remained, but it was no longer a physical object. They key was now drawn onto the page in the book of spells with small, cramped handwriting filling the margins. The hand reached out to close the book softly.
I snapped out of the vision as quickly as it had taken me. I was suddenly back in my room, my hand clasped around the grimoire still sitting in my dresser drawer. I stepped back, shaking my head, trying to make sense of the vision the grimoire had sent me. What significance did that key have, and how had it become a part of the book?
The only other time the grimoire had sent me a vision was of The War of Siraleth, of Donika killing my father Osiris, and our mother fleeing the castle after she was cast out for her magic.
What was the grimoire trying to show me?
I brought the book onto my bed and clasped it in my lap. The pages softly opened at my soft whispered incantation, the book of shadows recognizing me immediately. I flipped and flipped through the pages, but I couldn’t find a page with an intricate silver key. By the time I had searched every page, my eyes were bleary with sleep, and I could barely keep them open.
I glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table and realized it was too late to text Tess and tell her what had happened. I put the grimoire back in its not-so-hidden hiding place and climbed into bed. I knew I needed a good night’s rest to make the journey back to the safe house tomorrow. I reminded myself to ask Liss for more skin spells once we met up again, I could sense that these were wearing off quickly. The black lines on my stomach and ribs were already fading.
Sleep didn’t take me quickly as I had expected. I lay awake, tossing and turning for hours before my body was too exhausted to fight any longer. With my eyes wide open and trained on the ceiling above me, all I could think about was the key. Why had the grimoire sent me that particular vision, and what did it mean for us?
The next morning I had packed my bag quickly, kissed my mother and Jake goodbye, and raced out to the car idling at the curb. I was anxious to tell the others about the vision, and to hear what they thought. On the way to the meadow Tess and I rifled through the grimoire once more, but I hadn’t imagined it, the page with the key spell was nowhere to be found.
We left the car in the same spot, parked at the edge of the dirt road leading towards the meadow. Liss led me through the portal this time, despite the sharp glare Nik gave her as she took my hand.
As we walked from Siraleth to Prins, Tess and I fell behind the rest of the group, the others realizing we needed a moment to catch up alone. I told her all about my mother, how she was mortal and how my birth mother had entrusted her to raise me. That she had planned to come back for me, but she was killed in the war. How the spell binding began to wear off, so my mortal mother brought me to Silver Oaks, as my birth mother had instructed.
I understood her reasoning for hiding this from me, thinking she was doing the right thing. Thinking she was doing right by my mother and doing exactly as she asked. Tess’ parents were an entirely different story.
“Your parents fled before the war, not wanting to get caught in the middle?” I asked, walking along with Tess while I fidgeted with the strap on my pack, the grimoire safely tucked away inside. I could recognize its energy humming softly around me.
Tess nodded in response. “I was a toddler, they were raising me in Siraleth when the fighting started. They didn’t want to be caught between the Nightshades and Stormshades, being only Shades themselves. They knew that things would end…badly. They still had friends left behind…friends who died in the war. They knew of Osiris, obviously, what with him being king and all. They knew your mother, but they were never close.”
“At least they weren’t killed in the war, caught up in the fighting,” I told her.
“True, but how can you not fight for what is right?” she asked, shaking her head. “Instead, they turned tail and ran, simply because they didn’t want to be involved. They turned a blind eye to the slaughter of thousands of Stormshades and Shades alike. If some of the Shades who thought as they did had stayed to fight, who knows, maybe Siraleth wouldn’t have fallen.”
“You’re right. Staying out of the fray doesn’t make it any better, their numbers could have turned the tides of the war, but I can understand them wanting to keep you safe. Maybe Donika wouldn’t have killed my father if more Shades had stayed to fight.” I shrugged.
I hadn’t heard many good things about him, but there had to be something my mother saw in him. Something that wasn’t entirely dark and corrupt.
“I am so pissed off at them for not telling me. Your mother, I understand. She was a mortal trying to make sense of it all. My parents are Shades. They have magic. They never wanted me to come to Istmere or to know this life. I was hoping they would join the resistance, but their minds haven’t changed. They are too afraid of Donika,” Tess said, shaking her head. “I am disappointed.”
“They’re afraid of her with good reason, I’m not sure we will be able to defeat her without a miracle, even with the numbers the resistance has been gathering. I’m anxious to get back to Prins to start training with Isaac. Having another Stormshade to train with is going to be invaluable.”
Tess nodded in agreement. “And don’t forget sword training, I think I’m the most excited for that.”
I had to admit, I was excited about that part, too. What little training I had done with a blade had been with Nik, but it had made me feel powerful. It had felt like something I could excel at, and mother help me, I needed to learn to defend myself if I ever saw Donika again. Both with my magic, and a blade.
“Do you think you can beat me?” I teased, giving her a playful nudge.
“At least the playing field will be even unlike with our magic,” she teased back with a wink.
“Did you want those skin spells or not, Kotova?” Liss called out ahead of us.
I gave Tess a grin as I sped up, catching up to Liss. I rolled my sleeve up, holding my arm out to her as we walked. She covered the bare skin of my forearm with her hands, her nails lightly marking the skin there. She closed her eyes, the whisper of a soft spell on her lips. When she removed her hands, a serpentine spell was inked freshly into the skin, my steps already feeling lighter. Without the spells Liss had provided, I wouldn’t be healing nearly as fast.
Nik shot us a sideways glance, inspecting the new spell before turning back to Puck. I quickly pulled the sleeve of my shirt back down and averted my gaze.
We hadn’t spoken since I had slammed the car door on him yesterday. I was still irrevocably, infuriatingly, angry at him for betraying me. He had delivered me into the hands of Donika and then disappeared for months. The thought of it had a tide of anger burning in my core and heat rushing to my cheeks. I shook my head, biting down on my lip to clear my thoughts.
I wondered if the grimoire would be able to tell us more about dream walking. There was so much about dream walking we didn’t know, and I prayed I wouldn’t be pulled into another of Donika’s torture sessions again any time soon. I feared having to watch as more innocents died by her hand. Zion said he would be joining us in Prins…but when? In the dream he had still been playing the part of Donika’s obedient and doting father, turning a blind eye to her immeasurable cruelty.
As we approached the pathway into Prins, a black bird passed over us in the sky, squawking as it swooped low over our heads. It was close enough that I could see its glistening black feathers, its human-like eyes set into a long, elegant head.
A raven.
But this was no ordinary raven…it was a Nightshade.
Liss stopped, turning towards the sky with an unreadable expression as the raven landed on the stone pillars ahead of us.
“Someone you know?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
We all stopped a few feet away, the raven flapping its wings and squawking in earnest.
“Kenna,” Liss nodded, her expression turning dark. “She’s a messenger and a watcher. She has something to tell us. We’d better get back. Quickly.”
“Did she say something?” Puck asked, stepping up next to Liss.
“That there is news,” Liss nodded, but said nothing else.
The bird spread its wings and took flight without another sound, and we pressed onward in silence.
Liss and I walked together as we entered Prins, and she led us through The Shadow once more. I was anxious to get back to the safe house to find out what Kenna had brought news of.
We made it through The Shadow safely, and I was beginning to think it wasn’t as bad as everyone had made it out to be. We had been through it a number of times now, and nothing had happened to us thus far. Or maybe we had simply been lucky enough to have knowledgeable guides each time, knowing which places to avoid.
Luckily there were no sightings of Tyr this time, and as we approached the safe house, even knowing it was there, I couldn’t make out the entrance against the stone wall.
Liss held her hand out to the stone, and the door appeared beneath her touch. There were only a few Shades inside, and we made our way to the back of the room where Isaac was having a heated conversation with a girl who appeared to be about our age.
“Kenna, I presume?” Tess asked as everyone dropped their packs on the couch.
I held my pack tightly, not willing to let the grimoire out of my sight now that it had been returned to Istmere. I trusted the members of the resistance, but I trusted no one with the grimoire. Even if they couldn’t open it. If the grimoire somehow made its way back to Donika, we were done for.
Isaac turned as we approached, clearly frustrated with Kenna, but happy to see us back safely.
“What happened?” Liss asked, her hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll tell you what happened—” Kenna started, before she was cut off by a cutting glare from Isaac.
Kenna was beautiful, with long black hair that fell to her waist. She was petite and feminine, but something about her demeanor told me it made sense that her shifted form would be a raven.
“Not here,” Isaac spoke as he shook his head, his eyes darting around the room. “It’s not safe.”
Tess and I glanced at each other with alarm, but followed Isaac as he led us up the narrow staircase to a room on the third floor that appeared to be an office. He closed the door behind us, moving to sit behind the desk as we all settled in.
“Isaac, what news?” Liss appeared concerned, and a lump formed in my throat before he even opened his mouth to respond.
“It’s Donika. She’s located a number of resistance members at an alternate safe house. She has held them captive for the past day or so. She agreed to release them if we delivered Diana to her by last night.”
I swallowed down the bile that rose up the back of my throat, my stomach roiling with nausea. We were in the mortal realm last night, with no way for Isaac to even contact us to inform us of Donika’s terms.
“They’re gone,” he confirmed with a slow nod, his eyes trained on the ticking clock that sat atop the mess of papers on his desk.
“There’s nothing we could have done for them,” Liss replied, lifting her chin.
Her words were cold, and they sent a shiver down my spine. Despite her callousness, I knew deep down that she was right. I couldn’t turn myself over to Donika again. There’s no way she would honor her word and release the prisoners or stop the fighting once I was in her custody.
She couldn’t be trusted.
Trying to stage a breakout for the prisoners would have only resulted in even more losses for the resistance.
“Do you know what this means?” Isaac met her eyes across the desk and held them, a silent conversation taking place between them.
Was something going on between the two of them? I hadn’t thought about it before, but the way they were acting now, it felt more intimate than merely two members of the resistance who knew each other. There was something…familiar between them. The tension was palpable.
“It can’t be, we’ve taken every precaution…” Liss shook her head, unwilling to believe what Isaac was insinuating was true.
Nik spoke for the first time since we had entered the room, and his voice was glacially cold as he stepped forwards. “There is a traitor in our midst. The last group of people that Diana saw Donika slaughter, they were innocent civilians. If Donika found actual resistance members, with all the spells and safety measures we have put in place, someone has betrayed us.”
Isaac nodded in agreement.
“It can’t be,” Liss argued, leaning forwards with her hands on the desk before her. “We have hand-picked all of these members ourselves, I refuse to believe one of them has turned on us.”
“Maybe not turned on us, but never on our side to begin with,” Puck offered from his place by the door. He crossed his arms over his chest. “A spy for Donika.”
Isaac rubbed a hand down his face before turning to meet my gaze. “Your safety is at risk if the location of one of our safe houses has been compromised. We must move you at once and keep your location a secret. Only the council members with the highest clearance will know where you are.”
“And who, exactly, is on this council?” I asked.
“It’s a small contingent. Liss, Zion, Nik, Puck, Warrick, and myself. And now you and Tess, of course.”
“Where will you move us?” I asked.
“We have another safe house in Dragon’s Hollow. It’s much smaller, and empty. Few know about it. It will be only the four of you, Liss and I will remain here as we try to determine who could have leaked information to Donika.” Isaac met my gaze as he nodded to himself.
I swallowed hard. I was anxious to get out of here if there was even an infinitesimal possibility that Donika knew where to find us. I didn’t know the members of the resistance, so I wasn’t sure who we could or couldn’t trust, but I trusted Liss and Isaac.
“Only the two of us”—Liss pointed between herself and Isaac—“will know where you are. Do not tell anyone where we are bringing you, do you understand?”
I nodded as I squeezed my pack tighter against my chest, the energy of the book of shadows humming softly against me. Not only did we need to ensure Donika couldn’t find me, but we needed to keep the grimoire out of her reach as well.
“What were you fighting with Kenna about?” I asked.
“Kenna lost family in the raid on the safe house. A brother, and cousins. She thinks Tyr is the one who leaked our location, but he isn’t aware of our locations.”
“Tyr? As in…my cousin, Tyr? How would he know any of the locations of the safe houses, anyway?” I asked, confused.
Isaac gave Liss a meaningful glance before his gaze met mine again, his blue eyes hardening.
“Tyr used to be a member of the resistance, sworn to the true queen of Istmere…before he betrayed you.”