His face softens slightly, but his posture is still rigid. “We can’t go back. The portals are too unpredictable, and we were lucky I could get us out of there before we were ambushed. We’ll have to find another way to access the island and as for the Oracle—”
“I know.”
Chapter 39
Ryder
That was too fucking close. The portals were reckless, and I should’ve known better. If my father had gotten his hands on her again—
The thought has my power rattling the castle windows and I have to take a deep breath to calm myself. I can’t just agree to her wants anymore. If saying no to things like taking her to see the Divinity Oracle keeps her safe, then that’s what I need to do. Her safety is the only thing that matters now.
“How’d it go?” Artemus looks up from the scroll that Roman has pinned down with his hands when I enter the war room.
“Not according to plan.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured that when the walls startedshaking.”
“So intuitive you are.”
Artemus leans back, lacing his hands behind his head. “No, I just know you.”
“Yeah, well it wasn’t a complete failure. You’ll never guess where we landed.”
Roman’s attention is now fixed on me instead of whatever it is they were looking at before I walked in.
“Where?”
I pull out the chair next to Artemus and sit down. “The damn island we’ve been searching for.”
“What?” The two of them nearly jump out of their seats.
“How?”
“Where is it?”
“Did you find the scepter?”
The questions come spewing out of them, one after the other and I have to hold up my hand to stop them.
“Don’t get too excited. We didn’t find the tomb, let alone the scepter and I have absolutely no idea how we’re going to find the island again.” Artemus is about to ask something else, but I quickly cut him off. “What I do know is there aren’t any wards up and it’s somewhere in the Infinite Sea.”
“You think your father found a way to get them down? From what we know they would’ve been forged from old magic.” Artemus twirls one of the dragon figurines in between his fingers. “There’s no way it would’ve been easy.”
“I wish I had more answers, but I don’t.”
My response isn’t what they were hoping for but it’s the truth. We spend the next few minutes bouncing around different ideas on how we might be able to track down the island and what it means if my father really has gotten his hands on the scepter.
By the end, nothing we discussed really matters. We’re still just as clueless as we were before, only now itfeels like there’s an hourglass in the back of our minds, reminding us all that time is quickly running out.
After spending all day with the military units, all I want to do is take a hot shower and fall into my bed, but seeing the war room lights on has my body moving in the other direction.
“What are you doing here?”
The sound of my voice must startle her because she quickly jumps up, slamming the book in her hands shut. When she realizes it’s just me, she rests her hand over her heart and exhales a deep breath.
“Sorry. I was just…” Reign shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter.” She begins shuffling loose papers into a pile.
“Stay.”
