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“Why are you underwater?” Jo inquired, examining Evelyn with a keen eye as we approached the entrance to the shield as though it were encasing the enormous city. I supposed it was, the vast majority of it, anyway. Not as much as I’d previously thought, however. As we’d approached, I noticed the area surrounding the dome had what appeared to be a rainforest with sandy beaches leading to the sea. Interesting.
She didn’t look at Jo as she answered, “Magic casters were being treated as evil doers, and Varium was home to many. I used what influence I could gather and offered protection. With Sebastian James’s tyrannical attempts to search out the people here, it wasn’t difficult to offer an alternative to bowing to him.”
Jo arched a brow, but, if she had anything further to say, she kept it to herself.
The ship crept closer to the entryway. The dome appeared like a thin veil, and I held my breath as we passed beneath it. My fingertips brushed Killian’s, and it wasn’t until I felt his hand in mine that I let out a breath.
I hated that it felt as though we had walked into the lioness’s den. The dome seemed more a prison to the dreadful feelings rising in my gut. However, at the end of the day, I needed Evelyn’s key.
With or without her.
The ship came to a halt at the steam port, and a crew of men and women brought us to the harbor where we were safely docked. Evelyn smiled at each of them and waved, wiggling her fingertips at them as we passed.
The streets were cobblestone, and the sun shone brightly through the dome, making me wonder what on earth they did for light when it was submerged. I didn’t ask the questions that poured through my mind as we strolled along the path. I kept them to myself, given that our walk was in silence.
Why was there no rubbish here?
Where were the people?
With the exception of those at the dock, we hadn’t run into a single soul.
The buildings here were small, not as grand, or as tall as Rookhallow. Yet they also weren’t the straw-hewn huts that graced Highvein, either. The structures appeared like something from another world—metal, which shone a pure silver that glistened. It made everything seem brighter. Perhaps that was the point.
We hadn’t walked far, but already, we had turned and were climbing stone steps that led to double doors of a strangely shaped house. The frame was square, but the roof pointed at each end, as though it had been pinched together before it was finished.
The double doors opened wide as we were paraded through an enormous living space. White-colored sofas made a circle in the center of the room, with fluffy-looking rugs in a variety of white and gray shades lining the floor. I frowned, struggling to understand what I was seeing. It wasn’t royal or even regal in its appearance, yet it screamed something. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“Make yourselves comfortable,” Evelyn said, ushering us into the circle.
We had all paused. All but Killian, who led the way, plopping down on one of the couches as though he was entertained and ready for more.
Rek was soon to follow, although he didn’t appear quite as comfortable as Killian. Not in the least. He surveyed our surroundings as though searching for something, as everyone else filed in the room.
A petite blonde woman stood in the entryway, dressed in all white, and Evelyn went to her. “Water. That would do nicely to start.”
She turned, clapping her hands together and taking a seat within the odd circle. “Now, what has brought you to me?”
I bit my tongue at the notion that we had come to her and not her city, but then wanted to snarl that it was, in fact, the case. We were here for her, more importantly, her key.
Clearing my throat, I folded my hands and placed them on my lap. “Hattie thought the time was right to gather the casters who hold the keys to the Book of Knowledge.”
Killian lifted his eyebrows in my direction, and Jo leaned forward as if things had just gotten interesting. Their reactions were all I needed to know that I’d taken them by surprise. Which would mean I had taken Evelyn by surprise, as well, although she indicated much less than my friends.
“Did she now?” Evelyn crossed her legs and leaned back, fingers steepled in front of her face. “Why on earth should I trust two strange casters coming to my city after rumors have been flying about a powerful lightning caster with a bounty on her head?”
I stiffened in place and prayed that the fear trickling down my spine didn’t appear in my expression.
“Careful now,” Killian said, barely masking the growl in his undertone. “That sounds incredibly close to a threat.”
Evelyn smiled at Killian and then directed her attention back to me, her perfectly white teeth glistening like an animal about to lunge at its trapped meal. “If I wanted that bounty, you would have immediately been shot from the skies.” She leaned forward, scanning the room, taking in each of us one at a time. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
The room seemed as though it had shrunk in size—closed in around me, feeling as though it were merely Evelyn and myself having this conversation. Her eyes roamed over me from head to toe as she took me in.
“Something big is coming,” I said. “Perhaps it is already happening. And if there is any chance of defeating Bash, the casters must unite once more.”
“Even the traitors?” Evelyn arched a questioning brow, awaiting my reaction.
I offered none in response, ensuring my face remained as expressionless as possible. “I do not hold the sins of other individuals. There are only a scarce number of people to trust as it is.”
The powerful caster before me pursed her lips. She shifted and peered back at Bruno. He gave nothing away. It was only in her silent address of her bodyguard that I felt as though we were back in the room with the others.
“I don’t have it,” she said. “The key.”
The crease between my brows deepened, and I rubbed at the bridge of my nose. “What do you mean you don’t have the key?”
“Exactly what I said, Lady Lilstrum. I don’t have the key.”
