He had sensed this force before. In the span of a decade, it had called to him in little trills, without warning or reason. Sometimes months would pass before he felt its darkness again. When it did arise, he could never sensewhereit was coming from. All others in his company were effortless for him to discover and track down.
Not this power. It didn’t want to be found—until today.
“Who are you talking to?” Callum, his third-in-command, emerged from the tunnels below. The sun had barely risen, but they were already awake and ready to train.
Theo couldn’t answer, his focus on that alluring scent. It was so much bolder than it had ever been. A veil had been lifted. There was a very clear path now.
He was always able to sense those who would be useful to him, those who could actually last up here maintaining the line. For their power to be truly great, mortals needed him—needed his guidance to help them revive that buried magic lying dormant within. Traces of godly power had become so diluted over time, only his ritual could awaken a descendant’s full potential.
How had this power evaded his senses forthislong? His temper flared at the deception, and he looked in every direction for something to take out his frustration on. He found a deeply rooted tree and plucked it as effortlessly as he would a flower. With a rage-filled groan he cracked the trunk over his thigh and flung the two pieces clear across the valley.
Manos, his second-in-command, ducked just in time to avoid the trunk colliding with his skull.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Theo didn’t hear him. His thoughts were disorganized, branching off in every direction. This source of power was already awake, it hadn’t been dulled with time. It was chaotic and dark, brimming with hostility from being locked away for far too long.
“We’re leaving.”
“Why?” Callum asked in confusion. “Where are we going?”
“Keles,” Theo replied.
“What’s in Keles?”
“I’m not sure,” he lied. He would explain when they were closer, when he could be absolutely certain. “But whatever it is... we need to find it before anyone else does.”
CHAPTERTHREE
She was in a dark room—so dark she couldn’t see. There wasn’t a single light, no windows or doors—just an all-consuming void dominating the space.
Isolated. Trapped. Alone.
She tried to scream for help, but no sound came.
No one knew she was here. No one was coming for her.
Alone.
Alone.
Alone.
Helaina shot up from bed, forcing air back into her lungs with a gasping inhale.
She hated that dream. It had come to her more and more in recent nights. A manifestation of her worst fears—of being completely secluded and forgotten.
She looked toward the window where a crack of sunlight peeked through. It was already morning. She slid from her bed and walked to her vanity to assess the damage from yet another night of broken sleep.
She sat down, touching a face that was so unfamiliar. There was barely a trace of color left on her pale skin. She pursed her lips to the side as she started running her thin fingers through the intricate knots of her toffee-colored hair. It had been ages since she had used a comb. Although her appearance had dulled, her shining silver eyes remained vibrant. At least that was one trait that remained the same—one feature that she recognized in that mirror.
She had been sitting in this very chair seven nights ago, when her handmaiden, Laurelai, had burst into her room.
“It’s your brother, Your Highness. He checked into the Red Tail Inn two nights ago... He hasn’t checked out.” Laurelai had then explained how to get there, even wrote down directions for Helaina as she dressed and grabbed a satchel of coins. She had sworn she would never use the escape tunnels again, but she had to get to him. She owed him that.
Of course no one recognized her that night. Helaina was a ghost in her own kingdom. She had been too worried about Adriel to be overwhelmed by the confusing streets, the unfamiliar people. But on the way back, she had been all too aware of every person she passed, every stranger. Her hooded cloak offered little comfort that night, and her heartbeat hadn’t settled until she saw the faces of her trusted personal guards again.
She remembered Cedric and Teirn sprinting out to meet her. She had slipped away from them once again, and it left them furious. She didn’t blame them. If the king found out she had gone missing that night, she doubted his reaction would have been pleasant.
