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Taking the document from her, I glance over the information. She’s not wrong. It’s ridiculous. “It states that the ruby was first documented over eight hundred years ago and is known to have been used by four men in the past; none of them currently living, until now, it seems,” I say with a scoff, flicking the page back and forth. “Otherwise, it explains it has the ability to suck the magic from any being for it to be stored in the stone or transferred to another. It doesn’t state where it was last seen or how to destroy it. Nothing.”
“We should have known it wouldn’t make that easy for us,” Zane grumbles, and Creed hums in agreement.
“What else is in there?” Eldon asks, propping his chin on the palm of his hand as he leans forward.
I flick through a few more pages, scanning over the bold text at the top of the tattered pages. “There’s an artifact that can be worn like a crown to stop someone from getting into your mind.There’s a golden table that mutes and saves all conversations spoken at it,” I continue, but Raven rushes to her feet, stopping me from reading any further.
“Like the golden table in the Nightmares Guild?”
My eyes widen at the connection and I nod. “Fuck. Maybe.”
“I think that’s something we need to check out,” Zane adds.
“There’s also the Lotus Onyx that deflects magic and an emerald gate that leads to the Realm of Shadows, to name a few. But the table is something we can investigate sooner,” I state, closing the tome and placing it on the arm of the sofa beside me.
“What I’m hearing is there are a lot of magical artifacts out there that do more than is necessary. Like it’s not enough to be gifted with powers already,” Eldon says with a sigh.
He’s right.
I thought losing my parents at a young age was dark enough. Then, being enrolled into an academy that takes your death as payment for the knowledge they provide seemed to top it off. But this… what we’re facing right now; it’s on an entirely different level.
The mention of the Realm of Shadows swirls something inside of me, a remnant of my parents deep in my dreams floating to the surface, and it has me itching to learn more, but I brush it off. There’s enough going on around us without me clinging to the desperation that seeps through me, wanting to find my parents in a real, more controlled environment.
This crazy fucking ride has us by the balls and there’s no stop to get the hell off and make a dash for it. We’re here whether we like it or not. And although it’s not the battle we thought we had signed up for, it’s a war all the same.
One way or another, we’re either royally fucked or on the road to greatness.
The sun peeksover the horizon in the distance, the clouds making it harder to see than usual, but it will rise above the fog soon enough. It always does. Without fail.
My limbs ache, waiting for the moment the warm rays touch me and soften me.
My gut clenches. I don’t know how I know that feeling—the touch of the sun's warmth against my skin—I just know I do, and I’m desperate for it. I’m frozen in place, waiting for it, unable to move despite how much I want to.
The first dance of the sun on my skin is like taking my first breath, awakening me in a way I can’t quite explain. But one thing is for certain, the moment it graces me, I’m no longer locked in place.
Rocking my neck from side to side, my bones crack, or so I think. When I look down, my eyes burning from the new freedom they have now that they’re no longer frozen in place, I realize I’m in full gargoyle form, crouched on the top of a building, the roof sloping down to my left.
What the fuck?
Stretching out, a groan rips from my lungs, burning my throat as I shift from stone to flesh and bone.
I have no idea why or how I am where I am, but I sure as shit need to get the fuck out of here. Rushing down the slope of the roof, I prepare to launch myself at the gathered bushes at the bottom, a move I feel like I’ve done a thousand times, but I don’t recall a single one.
As I reach the bottom, my attempt at leaping through the air is short-lived as I lose my footing and fall head first. I bracefor impact, ready for the pain to ripple through my body, but it doesn’t come as I continue to fall for what feels like a lifetime.
Just when the nausea eases in my gut, I slam into the ground without warning. I take a second to feel the blades of grass beneath my palms, hoping to calm myself, but it’s impossible.
I don’t know where I am. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. Yet I’m stuck here whether I like it or not.
Pushing up, I glance around my new surroundings and my heart freezes in my chest.
What the fuck?
I’m… home… again.
How?
I stare up at the house, waiting for it to grow legs and run the fuck away, but after a couple of minutes, it doesn’t do anything, so I slowly clamber to my feet. A hint of musky vanilla floats in the air, a smell I haven’t had the pleasure of in a very long time, and it makes my gut ache at the memory.
