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That wasn’t a good sign. “Don’t you run hot as a werewolf?”
“She needs to eat,” Nathaniel said, his expression grim. “What did you bring with you?”
I rustled around my backpack until I found some jerky, handing it to Kyla.
“That’ll do,” Nathaniel said. Kyla just began stuffing it into her mouth, clearly exhausted.
We were all tired, hungry, and grumpy. My power felt like a tiny spark compared to the fire that usually burned, waiting for me. And thanks to the fact that I’d just had to use that power, we had to be on the lookout for any further surprises from the castle.
“Armory is through there.” Nathaniel gestured, and we all gave the hydra’s body a wide berth as we stepped around it and opened the door.
This corridor was shorter than any we’d traveled down so far. Nathaniel pushed open the door at the end, and we all surveyed the armory.
One entire wall was devoted to shelves stacked with swords. They’d been placed on the shelves blade-first, and from the look of the hilts, they covered every kind of sword from American Civil War swords to swords that looked as if they’d come straight from the Ottoman Empire.
But it wasn’t just swords. One of the shelves held a collection of daggers, while one whole corner was devoted to crossbows, which had been stacked messily on top of one another.
“Wow,” I said, stepping closer to inspect a Tibetan sword with an intricately carved ivory hilt. “Danica would have a total lady boner if she were here.” I frowned, taking in what had to be a few thousand swords. “This is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Yeah,” Kyla said, obviously feeling better after the jerky. “Or, you know, a sword in a room full of other swords. Who keeps their weapons like this, anyway? I should clean Taraghlan out just for this alone.”
“We take the sword only.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Please don’t makemehave to be the voice of reason for this little trip.”
“Let’s split up,” Nathaniel said. “I’ll take this half of the room. You two take that half. What exactly are we looking for anyway?”
“It shouldn’t be all that difficult,” I said, scanning the closest shelf. “It has a golden hilt, which is engraved with scenes from the first wars.”
Interest sparked in Nathaniel’s eyes. “Cool.”
I shook my head. “You are such a guy.”
His eyes darkened, and he opened his mouth.
“Nuh-uh,” Kyla said. “I’m still recovering from blood loss. I don’t need to vomit up that jerky too.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Charming.”
We sorted through the blades. While some shelves were stacked neatly enough that we could tell they held no gold at a glance, other shelves looked like something out of a rummage sale. I attempted to be methodical as I picked through them, but a low-level anxiety was burning through my gut at the thought of whatever nasty creature would be waiting for us next.
I’d had no choice but to use my power against the hydra, but…
Something itched at the edge of my mind. I went still.
“What’s wrong?” Nathaniel asked, proving he was paying close attention to me even as he searched through the swords. A ball of warmth settled in my stomach.
“Nothing.” I was pretty sure.
I wished I could take a picture of this place for Danica. Even as mad as I was with her, I still wanted to show her the things I found most exciting. And didn’t that describe life with a sister in a nutshell.
More itching in my mind. I turned toward the knives, stilettos, and daggers, suddenly feeling as if I were sleepwalking.
“Found it.” Kyla held up a sword, and I spun back to her, noting the golden hilt, engraved markings, and of course, the sheer power that seemed to radiate from it now that it had been found.
“This is definitely the golden sword,” Kyla announced, as if Nathaniel and I had been struck blind in the last few moments.
Triumph thundered through me. At times, I’d doubted whether we’d be able to steal this sword. Sure, I’d been all in, but I’d still found it difficult to believe it was possible. I shouldn’t celebrate just yet, though. We still needed to get it out of this castle.
“Seems too easy.” Kyla slitted her eyes. “After everything we’ve been through, all the times we almost died, and all the creatureswehad to kill, the sword is here—in plain sight?”
