The captain jerked his chin at Nocturne, who stood in silence at the general’s side. “Does she swear the same?”
Nocturne squared her thin shoulders. “I won’t speak,” she said, her voice surprisingly steady. “Unless you give me reason to.”
“I see you’ve found the Book of Elements,” Kit cut in, nodding toward the tattered book lying open on the floor. Avalon shuffled over to stand in front of it, blocking it from view. “Pity you can’t read it,” he challenged.
Avalon snarled, “I don’t supposeyoucan.”
Kit shook his head, his white hair brushing across his jaw. “No,” he admitted. “But I can point you in the direction of someone who can.”
“I’m not sure I trust you, General,” Avalon retorted.
Beside him, Nocturne snorted a laugh. “We aren’t the ones sneaking into the catacombs and helping ourselves to items that don’t belong to us.”
“Last time I checked, you were the omega,” said the king’s daughter.
Nocturne bristled, her eyes glazing with red. “Last time I checked, I didn’t give a rat’s ass whether you lived or died,mortal.”
Silence descended over both pairs. Only the sound of the trees groaning in the gusting wind could be heard until Hadrian spoke.
“General,” he began, “why do I sense your new pet is trying to rile us?”
Kit curled his fingers into fists. “Her name is Nocturne, and until you learn to address her properly, I refuse to tell you anything. Certainly not the name or location of the person who can tell you about damn book, or why your lives have been in danger ever since you left the House of Ice.”
Avalon whispered to the captain, “What is he talking about?”
“I don’t know,” Hadrian muttered. He added, a little louder, “But he’d better start explaining.”
“If I swear to keep the fact that you stole that book a secret, will you stay silent about this meeting?” Kit asked.
Hadrian nodded once. Kit looked at Avalon for an answer, and she nodded as well.
“The king was looking for that mask,” he began. “He had a hunch that someone had stolen it.” The air seemed to electrify with tension. There was no point in explaining the spell that had kept it within that tomb; Kit was still wondering how in the hellAvalon—a mortal—had managed to break that spell. “As soon as the king found out the mask was in your possession, he sent word to the men in your company.” He paused. “He also summoned the Wraith.”
Avalon’s knees visibly wobbled, and Hadrian cursed under his breath. Beside Kit, Nocturne stiffened. Clearly, she hadn’t expected him to reveal so much.
“When?” the captain demanded. “When did he send out the Wraith?”
“The day you left. Before, I might add, you and…,” he trailed off, his eyes, brimming with suspicion, flicking to the princess. “Avalon…decided to kill his men.”
Hadrian snorted.“Decided?”
“My father,” Avalon whimpered. “My father sent the Wraith to kill us?”
Before Hadrian could get a word out, Kit said, “Whether he sent the Wraith to kill you or to simply find you is up for debate. While you sort this out, the last place you should hide is the temples. They may offer protection, but they’re no better than traps. If the Wraith finds you, all he has to do is wait until you grow hungry enough to step outside the barrier.”
Without another word, Hadrian started packing their things. “We’re leaving.Now.”
Avalon appeared to be deep in thought, and when she pulled the mask off, her face had leeched of color. Rubbing at her temples, she said to Kit, “Why did my father’s men try to kill us?”
Kit had no answer. But when the captain and the princess looked at him, he said, “You’ve got a few questions in need of answers. I would start looking if I were you. If you’re smart, you’ll start with Emeraldis.” With a flick of his wrist, he threw Avalon’s bracelet into the temple; it clattered at her feet. “And the next place you sneak into uninvited, I’d be careful to not leave anything behind. You’re lucky I found this before someone else did.”
“Emeraldis,” Hadrian choked out, his brow gleaming with sweat as Avalon cautiously retrieved her bracelet from where it lay near the edge of the temple floor. “Is there someone there who will know how to decipher the book?”
Kit nodded. “An old friend of mine—Clarice Springs is her name. She’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
He didn’t give the captain and the princess time to say anything more. He left without another word, Nocturne following closely at his side, and the two of them vanished like phantoms into mist.
~
