AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He flopped onto his back next to me, making space for me to cuddle against his side. The clean scent of his sweat was comforting, bringing me back down to earth. I closed my eyes, some of the fatigue from earlier returning. But my thoughts were racing too fast for me to truly sleep.
So much had changed over the course of today. We had finally gotten the artifact. I was apparently a nymph shifter with power over the earth. I had slept with all three of the Royals. Nothing was the same, or would ever be the same.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Hm?” Flint sat up to see me better. “We could go for another round.”
“No.” I snorted. “I mean, what’s going to happen to the artifact now?”
“Lex and Jagger are putting it away in a safe place and casting protection spells around it. With their combined power, the spells will be impenetrable,” he said. “And we need to do more research about it.”
He paused, his brows furrowing.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s just you.” He sat up all the way, resting his back against the headboard. “And the artifact. The reason why we needed it so badly was because there was a prophecy, one that says the artifact and its magic are key to uniting all the fae. But then, you came along and shifted when you unsheathed it.”
I sat up, too, something knotting in my chest.
“What does that mean, then?” I asked. “That I’m part of the prophecy? What does it say? And where did you even find it?”
“We don’t know what it means. And that’s what we need to figure out. It was foretold in a book that the Mystic priests have followed for centuries. It’s kind of open to interpretation, but it says that the artifact is supposed to unite all fae.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Maybe you’re a part of it, but maybe it was just a fluke when you were exposed to all the magic.”
The knot in my chest pulled tighter. “Maybe.”
“We’re going to find out.” He kissed the side of my neck.
“It just feels like I’ve had a lot of close calls in my life when it comes to finding my family. Like, once, when I was sixteen, I thought I’d found someone through my own research,” I said. The memory made my chest ache even more. “This kid at school had said he knew of some resource, and I believed him. But it was a prank.”
I felt the rage zip through Flint’s body and rested a hand on him to calm him down.
“It was a long time ago,” I said.
“But it shouldn’t have happened at all.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “I hate bullies.”
“I can take care of myself now.”
“I know.” He rested his forehead against mine. “You don’t have to worry. We’re going to get you the information you need.”
I believed him. He’d never bullshitted me. But the simple mission of “get the artifact back” now had much bigger consequences tied to it, and I wasn’t sure what was waiting for me.
Chapter20
Jagger
“There we go,” Lex said as we put the final touches on the protection spell over the artifact. “You think that’s enough, Jagger?”
A shimmer passed over the heavy case that we’d placed the artifact in, filling the room before dissipating. But the magic was still there, layered underneath the spells around the safe that Lex and I were standing in.
It was one of many inside our underground vault, which was also behind protection and concealment spells. The only fae with the power to break into this thing were me, Lex, and Flint.
“Enough?” I snorted. “We’ve never put these many spells on a single object before. It’s more than enough to keep it safe.”
“Better to be cautious with this. We’ve been sloppy before, assuming that no one would be able to get through our defenses.” Lex turned and left. I followed. “You saw how much power it unleashed in Arden.”
“I know.” The image of her shifting, shimmering from head to toe with those glowing green eyes, hadn’t left my head since we’d seen her. “No wonder she’s passed out.”
“We should talk to Flint. Figure out what to do now.”
