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His eyebrows furrowed. “Never take your eye off the skal, Elle. Why do you think we do this?”
I fumbled my fingers. I guessed coin was never my reason for wanting to be a keeper. It always had been to belong, to be in a position where I could reunite with my sister, but that dream felt further away than ever before. Raiden said he’d help me, but there was a part of me that didn’t want him to, afraid of what she’d say—more so that she wouldn’t want to see me. Even worse, a thought had unwantedly climbed into my mind on more than one occasion of if she was even alive. I had no idea what had happened to her, and a selfish, fearful part of me didn’t want to find out. How could I live with myself if she wasn’t happy? If somehow my actions had caused her to?—
“Elle, through here.” Naomi grabbed my arm, disrupting my thoughts. “You’re bunking with me tonight.”
Edmund cleared his throat as he went to the front desk with Maddox to get the keys to our rooms. I looked from them to Naomi. “Great.”
“Your eyes are sad.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. Aziel had no right saying what he did.”
“He was right.”
“No.” She tapped my hand. “Don’t you dwell on it for a minute. He was in pain, grieving, and everything he said was because he wanted someone to blame, but we all know who’s responsible.”
“Freya.”
She nodded. “She and Lucius.”
“He’s dead.”
“Not really. He went to the underworld, but it’s hardly a punishment, considering he rules it.”
I bit my lip. “Maddox did say there was a way to get rid of him permanently.”
Her eyes widened. “How?”
“To kill him in the underworld.”
She nodded slowly. “Gah, who thought we’d even be talking about killing a god or going to the underworld?”
I almost smiled. “It is a little crazy.”
She pushed her fingers together, then parted them an inch. “Oh right, only a small amount.”
Edmund rejoined us. “Your key.” He dropped it in my palm. “Both of you are to be up and dressed by six.”
“A.m.?” I clarified.
Maddox snorted. “No, Elle. In the evening. We wanted to make sure you would have a nice lie-in, then we could trek the dangerous forest at night.”
“Thanks, Maddox.” I glared. “I got it. Six a.m.”
“We’ll be down here, waiting,” Edmund said, then squeezed my and Naomi’s shoulders. “I’m proud of you both.” He looked at me softly. “You took down a demon hound, became a keeper, and are fighting for what you want. You’ve changed so much.”
I shouldn’t have told him about that hound. He looked far too impressed, and I was worried I was going to let him down.
“Naomi.” He smiled at her. “Your magic helped take down a god. You helped them that night, and Elle said they wouldn’t have won without you. When all this is over, I’ll be certain to let the council know and see if that three-year ban on retaking the test can’t be lifted.”
She shrugged. “Actually, after all this, I’m not sure it’s what I want anymore.”
“No?”
“I love the magic,” she explained, “but I think I can put it to better use on my own.”
Edmund nodded. “Good for you. Your dad should be proud of you.”
She flustered. “Right. Yeah. I mean…”
Maddox chimed in. “Take the compliment. Right, off to bed.” He scratched his arm. “I’m already getting hives, thinking about those bedsheets. I want to get this over and done with.”
