‘I couldn’t let anyone else take your mission, which would have happened if I’d rejected it. I was going to try and find you and warn you, but – here you are.’
His eyes burned with honesty and determination.
‘What the hell are we going to do about it?’ Dylan demanded, the anxiety emanating off him like the heat from a small fire.
Nicole’s stomach twisted.
‘Nothing,’ Bells said softly.
They all looked at her.
‘He’ll help us get the artefacts and buy us time, won’t you?’
Their gazes collectively swung to Kyan.
‘I’ll do everything in my power to make sure they never get their hands on you.’ His words were as much a vow as the physical one they’d taken in the woods at Lanhydrock. The scar on Nicole’s arm suddenly warmed.
But how were they going to manage this? How much time would they need? How was it possible to keep evading the Wake when they knew, without a doubt, she existed?
‘The Druid,’ Bells said softly. ‘Nicole, the blood. Do you think it could have been the same person? That she’s involved?’
Nicole blinked, trying to get her mind to focus.
Callum leaned forward. ‘What Druid?’
Bells told him briefly, but Nicole had stopped hearing the conversation, stopped feeling the room around her, anything that wasn’t the insistent, growing panic in her chest.
The Wakeknewabout them.
It was over before it had even begun.
No, something within her said.
No, it isn’t over yet.
A cool, hunting calm spread beneath her skin, stabilising the sharp nausea in her stomach. The Wake hadn’t located them, that was why they’d sent Kyan. Her family had her mother’s next clue and one of the goddess-blessed items. They knew where to go. The thought swept through her like a slow tide, calming the turmoil, the fear. Theconfident predator within shutting it down, allowing her to regainclarity.
She couldusethis part of herself, even if it was dark and hungry. Even if it was dangerous.
They would need it to survive.
Kyan’s eyes slid to her, but she avoided his too-perceptive gaze.
‘Nikki,’ their father said. She jolted at his touch on her arm. ‘Are you all right?’
There was reassurance in his gaze. She knew he would fight through a sea of Empyreals to keep them safe, but—
‘Yes.’
She had to force herself to concentrate on what theycouldcontrol before they even had the chance to get answers on their first lead.
‘Are we heading to Liverpool today or tomorrow?’ she asked, reorganising her mind and mentally laying out the plan again.
Her father assessed her.
‘Liverpool?’ Kyan interrupted.
Nicole nodded. ‘That’s our clue about the next goddess-blessed item. The Muse there.’
