Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“While you’re there,” Abriella says, “keep your eyes open for the Grimoricon.”
At first that word means nothing to me, but then I remember the dream I had where the witch asked Jasalyn for the Grimoricon in exchange for the ring. I’d offered Brie that information when Misha had me in a cell—proof that I was who and what I said. “You think it’s at the Eloran Palace?”
Brie nods. “We assume the witch passed it off to Erith, and I imagine there’s no more secure place for them to keep it than the palace. It might prove helpful in researching everything that’s happening here.”
“You’ll let me know what to look for?” I ask. I only know of the book from that memory of Jas’s, but I’ve never seen it in any of her memories.
“I’ll meet with you later and explain the book and its . . . idiosyncrasies.”
“I’ll do it,” I say. The table goes quiet, and I scan the faces around me, noting the varying degrees of respect, worry, and curiosity on each. I take a shaky breath. “I’ll search the Chronicles and gather as much information as I can about what the Seven have planned with Mordeus.”
“You shouldn’t go alone,” Natan says. “Even in Sol’s form, this is enemy territory. If someone were to discover your true identity . . .”
Skylar leans back in her chair and props her feet on the table, crossing them at the ankle. “So spying, stealing, and killing. I’m down.”
Across the table, the red-eyed male growls and glares at her feet.
“Seriously, Sky,” Hale mutters.
She rolls her eyes and removes her feet from the table.
Hale shakes his head. “They likely have the palace warded against you after the stunt you pulled five years ago.”
She grins. “I’m damn proud of what I did that day. A couple minutes sooner and I would’ve caught every one of the Seven in that blast.”
“His point is that we need to send someone who can move around the palace without sending up alarms,” Remme says.
“I’m going with Felicity,” Misha says. “End of discussion.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jasalyn
“I have something to discuss,” I blurt, “before everyone leaves?”
The room goes quiet.
“Of course,” Brie says. “Tell us.”
“I’m going to find another way to get back what I traded. Just like Karmyn said I could.”
Brie’s eyes are still sad when she nods. “Do you have any idea how to do that?”
“The goblin who helped me when the ring had me stuck in sleep? She said something about the bargain not being complete. They need my immortality for Mordeus but he can’t take it yet because it’s not available. Not until the moment I turn eighteen. She said only a fool would give in so easily to a bargain that’s incomplete. I didn’t know what she meant, but after talking to Karmyn, I think she was referring to my deal with the witch. The one I made for the ring.” I look around the table, at the faces of so many people who care about me and don’t want to talk about what I traded for that ring. “So how do I get out of a bargain with an Eloran witch?”
Remme shakes his head. “You’re asking the wrong question.”
“Then tell me the right one.”
“The question is, how do you get out of a bargain with a faerie witch.”
“We’re sure she’s fae?” Skylar asks.
“I can’t imagine any realm where Erith would’ve entrusted a ring that powerful to a human,” Natan says. “I’m confident.”
Remme nods. “And getting out of a deal with a faerie is much more complicated.”
“Could we just track her down and kill her?” Skylar asks.
Remme shoots her a look. “Why are your solutions always so violent?”
She shrugs. “I like to keep things simple.”
“Usually that would backfire,” Natan says.
“What about going over her head?” Pretha asks. “Is there a more powerful faerie that she answers to—someone who could overrule the deal?”
“We’d have to know who she is to find who she might answer to,” Kendrick says. “But I’m all on board with this line of thinking. Find a way out of the bargain and you don’t have to give what you offered.”
“What about Mab?” Skylar asks Brie. “She’s some relation of yours, right?”
“Mab can’t interfere,” Brie says, “and after speaking to her when I was trying to reunite the crown and the throne, I never assume her solutions are the best.”
Natan drums his fingers on the table. “There are two tried-and-true methods of getting out of a deal with a faerie: trick them or offer them something they want more.”
“We know that Erith and Mordeus are working together, but we don’t know how this witch works into the equation,” Remme says. “Is she working for Mordeus or Erith?”
“Does it matter?” Kendrick asks.
Remme turns up his palms. “It does if we need to offer her something she wants enough to let Jasalyn out of the deal.”