Pride wins.
My eyes snap open and I get to work feeling the surface of the chair for invisible hinges. A callous on my palm snags on aseam and I grimace as the skin tears, but I found it. Relief has my head dropping.
Ripping the heavy marble seat open, I curse.
I hate them.
I hate them for what they did to this realm, to my parents, to my friends.
A wave of unease washes over me, prickling the hair at my nape. Lachlan rips a blanket off the chair to our left and wraps it around his hand so he can hoist the crystal cube out of its hiding place.
“It’s heavy,” he grunts.
His arms flex and he moves with excruciatingly slow movements, handling the cube with the utmost care. I follow behind him as he sets it down gently on a low-lying table by the fireplace. Walking around it, I study the complexity of its facets.
“It’s much smaller than the others have been,” I murmur, continuing to walk around the table studying every angle.
“Aye, why do ye think that is?”
I shrug, tapping my foot impatiently on the floor. “Perhaps it was their first one, and they were curious if it would be successful?”
I squat down closer to the box and Agatha gasps.
“Do ye think that’s wise?”
Lachlan crosses his arms over his chest to keep from agreeing.
“I’ve handled these without gloves and much closer,” I answer. “I need to find the plug.”
When I find nothing on the top, I move onto the sides before flicking my eyes up to Lachlan. A small smirk appears on my face.
He sighs before stepping closer. “Of course,it’s on the bottom.” He hefts it right side up and I begin my tracing again. My breath hitches when I find the cork.
Thumbing my dagger out of the sheath, I pry open the stopper,setting it down on the table before reaching for my bag of raven stone dust.
“Here goes the final one…” I whisper to no one in particular as I pour the sparkling black dust into the crystal.
The last speck of dust unleashes a burst of magic from the room. The force of it whips my hair free out of my face, pushing the others back a step. It topples the furniture and extinguishes the fire in the fireplace, leaving the smell of smoke lingering in the air.
Time freezes for a heartbeat, and silence engulfs the room.
“Is that it?” Mina asks, looking around.
I stand, turning towards her, heaving a deep sigh. “That’s it.”
“What do we do with this now?” Agatha asks, eyeing the monstrosity still on the table.
“We’ll take it back to the capital and put it in the cell where we found Luna,” I order. Lachlan nods, stepping closer to the table again.
Black wisps of smoke swirl in front of the door.
Lachlan takes a protective step towards me, lifting his arm up. Agatha and Mina stare open-mouthed.
A figure appears in the swirling mass…
Luna.
She pops into existence, her face twisted in disgust and then relief once she becomes corporeal again.
