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She glanced up at me, concern furrowing her brow. “The prophecy? Why?”
“I guess someone thought we needed a reminder?” I shrugged. “It’s been a while since we’ve even thought about the stones.”
Cordelia scoffed quietly. “Well it’s going to have to wait a little longer. We have to deal with this peace meeting first or there’ll be no pack to save.”
I hummed in agreement. Settling back down, I held her close as we watched the brightening sky.
This would be the perfect opportunity to search for the final stone if the pack didn’t need our help. With the Queen distracted by the talks, or whatever her true plan here was, the castle was vulnerable. We couldn’t though. Not with things the way they were. I was pretty sure that Cor’s magic was the only chance we had against the Queen right now.
“It’s a good point though,” Cordelia murmured thoughtfully before sitting up and grabbing her backpack.
I watched curiously as she slid a small silver knife out of her ankle boot and pressed the tip to a seam inside the bag. Slitting it carefully open, she pushed the knife back into her shoe before scooping two small glowing objects from the pocket she had revealed.
“Nifty hiding place,” I teased softly, giving her a cheeky grin as she rolled her eyes at me.
“Well I had to put them somewhere,” she answered, her eyes glazing a little as she looked down at the crystal stones. “And if they sit against my skin their power just distracts me now that there’s more than one of them.”
I nodded, covering the pearly, shimmering light in her hand with my own. She blinked a little before refocusing on me, giving me a grateful smile.
“We need to hide them,” she whispered. “I can’t take them anywhere near my mother when we aren’t ready to use them yet. Briar confirmed that she knows about the prophecy. She’d destroy them in a heartbeat.”
I nodded and pushed to my feet. “Ok, lets hide them then.”
She frowned and glanced around at the forest. “Here?”
I grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling her up next to me. “Why not? Let’s bury them in the dirt where no one would think to look.”
The others began to stir, making her glance back at them over her shoulder. Turning back to me, she smiled and nodded. “Ok.”
Leading her into the trees, I kept hold of her hand, the warmth of the stones humming between our palms. Ducking under a low branch, I stopped at the foot of an average, unremarkable tree and cocked my head at Cor in question.
She quirked a brow at me. “An ash, huh? That works.”
I looked up at the oval, pointed leaves in confusion. “It does?”
“It’s an ash tree, Noah,” she replied, giving me a playful shove. “Don’t you shifters learn about the forest?”
I chuckled at the exasperated look on her face as her push failed to move me at all.
“Rude. Of course we do. But why does it matter what type of tree it is?”
She rolled her eyes at me and I darted a hand out to snare her wrist, giving her a sudden tug so that she fell against my chest.
“I’m starting to understand why Liam punishes you for that,” I growled, smirking at the shiver that ran through her.
“It doesn’t matter, not really,” she huffed, pulling back out of my hold. “I just thought it was a good choice. It’s a tree of restoration. It restores the balance of nature, just like these stones are meant to do.”
She rolled the two crystals around in her fingers thoughtfully, her eyes starting to glaze over as she stared down at them.
“Well then!” I replied cheerily, refusing to let her be pulled under their spell again. “We need a hole!”
Her eyes widened as I reached up with one arm and tugged my borrowed shirt up and over my head.
“As much as I’m appreciating the view, babe, making a hole will take me seconds,” she smirked, her eyes tracing unashamedly over my body.
I reached over and bopped her on the nose with my finger. “Yes, I realise you are awesome. But won’t someone be able to trace the magic if you use your power for this?”
She stilled, her hand pausing where she had raised it to cast magic. “Huh. That’s actually a good point.”
