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She took it, skimming her fingers along the jewels on the sheath of the sword. Apprehension crossed her face, like she wanted to hand it back, but she stopped herself. Instead, she tucked the artifact into the back of her waistband and covered herself with one of my sweatshirts, just in case. Our families weren’t supposed to be lingering in the central palace this late, but they weren’t known for paying attention to all the rules.
Our enforcers flanked us on the way up. I rarely went up to the roof anymore, even though the view was incredible at night. We were high enough to see the entire palace grounds and the city beyond that.
“Wait inside the stairwell,” I told the enforcers.
They followed my orders, letting the heavy door slam shut.
“So…what’s the first step?” Arden asked. She pulled the artifact back out of her waistband and unsheathed it, holding the sword up.
I sensed the power the artifact had, but nothing out of the ordinary.
“We need to use it to carve runes on our chests.” Flint opened the book and flipped through it. “These.”
He showed us the runes. They were simple, a lot of straight lines, but making them with a sword instead of a knife was going to be a pain.
“Any particular order?” I peeled off my shirt.
“No.” Flint put it down, taking off his shirt as well. “Let’s start with me, I guess, then we’ll do Arden last.”
All of us stripped our shirts off. Arden shivered, so I wrapped my arms around her and created some heat between us. Since my arms were occupied, Lex took the sword and gave Flint his runes. The artifact was so powerful that his wound didn’t immediately heal, blood dripping down his sternum. Flint did Lex, then me, but he paused when it came to Arden.
“Go ahead,” she said, squaring her shoulders.
Flint carved the rune into her chest in a few short swipes. She winced, but our girl was tough, and she embraced the pain.
Fling handed the artifact back to her. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Wasn’t something supposed to happen?
“We need to combine the blood, right?” Lex asked. “I remember this part.”
“It’s already on the sword, no?” Arden held it up. The blade was red.
Flint’s brow creased. “There should have been a burst of light.”
“Does it have to do with the fact that none of us are priests?” Arden asked.
“Maybe, but the fact that we have the artifact seems like it should override it. Especially since it enhances our powers,” Flint said.
“It might just be the wrong time.” Lex rubbed her upper back. “We can try again later?”
“I guess so.”
Arden’s disappointment and relief rolled off her in equal waves. I understood them both—the magical impact of becoming a Royal was intense, and she’d already been through a lot.
But fuck, I wish this had worked.
I’d make sure the artifact was put back in the vault with the same nearly impenetrable spells. We still had some time to figure out how the prophecy was going to play out, but that time wasn’t going to last forever.
Chapter57
Arden
Iwoke up to my phone ringing. No one ever called me anymore—Lex and Jagger were either with me or close enough to know where I was, and Flint usually came over to talk to me if he had something to say.
I snatched it up, my heart pounding. Was it Lucy? Was she okay?
But no, it was Chad. I frowned and answered it.
“Chad?” I tried to slide out of bed, but I was wedged between Jagger and Lex.
