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He scoffed. “I should have paid more attention because they would become more important later.”
“You couldn’t have known that.” I slipped my fingers between his.
After an hour in his hoarders’ office, he finally found the maps wrapped together in the vast collection of archives in his basement. There were rows and rows of gunmetal gray shelves with boxes and plastic bins organized in a way that probably only made sense to Vin. If the world had any idea of the hidden treasure trove down here he’d be up to his ass in people wanting it or trying to take it. Most of it wasn’t of actual value, but it was a trove of information on the hidden gems lost to time. Any anthropologist would get off on it. And a grave robber would have a field day.
“Finally.” He carried the wrapped package to one of the big research tables in the back. He pulled a cord, turning on a light, and spread out his spoils.
I picked them up as he set them aside, knowing the topography so well, I instantly knew what each map depicted. Everywhere but the side the witch clan claimed. Like the land didn’t exist before they took it over.
“How long have they held the land?” I wondered out loud.
“I’m suspecting as long as people have lived on this continent, in some form or another.”
“You’re probably right. Because this looks like they’ve had the land warded longer than we thought.” I traced the boundary passage, finding mistakes on every one of the maps. Either they neglected to fill it in, or it was wrong, skipping over hundreds of acres of land.
Vin took out a magnifying glass while examining a stone tablet. “What is this creek? It looks like it’s in the passageway. Not on the witch’s land.”
“It can’t be part of the passage. I’ve never seen it, and I’ve been on every inch of it.”
“It’s marked here as the passage and a freshwater source. Now, that could have dried up, but I don’t think their measurements would be so wrong.”
“How old is this?” I asked, leaning in to get a read on the markers, scowling as it made no sense to me. “Either this is wrong, or it’s changed.”
“Would no one have noticed?” he asked carefully, not wanting to offend me, but at the same time, it would mean we weren’t maintaining the treaty.
“What is the next oldest map you have? None of mine reflect this…”
We both sifted through the remaining maps, all newer and none of which reflected the missing area. In fact, the other maps made it look like the land simply didn’t exist. There was no accounting for it.
“Do you have a map of the state?” I asked, tapping my finger on the table.
“Sure.” He held the two side by side, studying them.
I tapped my finger on the area. “What the fuck is between the passage and the witch’s land, and who took this sliver of property, then erased it from history?”
“Wouldn’t your people know? They are responsible for it.” Vin traced the area with his fingers, doing the math in his head. “If the measurements of the state are accurate, you’re right; the totals are missing like fifty acres, only accessible from the passage.”
“Fuck.” I put a hand over my mouth.
“So it’s not the witches.”
“Who knows? Could be anything breeding in there. And we’d have to go in blind.”
“But we are allowed because it’s not the witch’s land. So it doesn’t break the treaty and they can’t complain…” Vin trailed off.
“They can’t. Not if we only cross right here.” I pointed at the stream I’d never seen.
“If we can find it,” Vin muttered.
“We could be walking into an ambush or a nest or an old army holdout.” I lifted my gaze to meet his. “Even if we bring an army of wolves, there could be vampires hyped up on wolf’s blood and unbeatable.”
“I know.” He held my stare.
“And if we bring an army, it will start a war with the witches or whatever else is in there,” I said, realizing this was the last line of the prophecy. The one I never could figure out. I wouldn’t tell him. The last time I ran from my fate, I pushed myself closer to it and betrayed my people. I couldn’t do that again.
If this was my time, I had to face it.
“If we don’t bring an army, we all may die,” he said softly.
