“Oh.” I hadn’t tried to touch them or pick them up—they weren’t mine, after all, and one didn’t muck about in magic places getting sticky fingerprints everywhere—but I believed him.
“Yes, well, that is the place where ‘one can build and repair,’ as the scroll says. And I have to assume that ‘the one good and fair’ refers to you. You are on a quest, after all. To prove yourself worthy and anchor the magic within you.”
“Yep, that’s me.” I looked down at the scroll. The rest of it seemed quite clear. I snapped it shut and looked up at Florian. “I know what I have to do. Thank you, Florian.”
He stood and bowed. “My pleasure to help a DragonGod.”
“You helped me before you knew I was a DragonGod.”
“Nothing wrong with a little flattery.” He grinned cheekily, and the light glinted off his glasses. “I’d help you no matter who you were. But, if you’re going to be famous, I’m going to enjoy it.”
I grinned. “Night, Florian.”
“Goodnight, Bree Blackwood.”
I turned and hurried out of the library. I needed to find Ana and tell her what I’d learned. And I needed to find Cade and ask him to come along.
I read the scroll as I walked, picking up more tips from the directions. Apparently the stones would help us along. I patted the bag in my pocket, ensuring they were still there.
I turned the corner toward our apartments and slammed into a broad chest.
Gasping, I stumbled backward. Strong hands caught me before I fell on my butt.
I looked up at the towering figure who radiated warmth and the seductive scent of a storm at sea.
“Cade.”
He grinned down at me, handsome as the devil with his dark hair and full lips. “Bree.”
“Weren’t we in this position just a few days ago?” I asked, embarrassed to hear how breathless I sounded. Visions of our kiss flashed through my mind, warming my skin and sending heat to my cheeks.
“I believe we were.” His voice roughened, lowering. Just barely, his hands tightened on my arms. Not enough to hurt, but enough to show he was affected by the memory.
I leaned toward him, my mind buzzing with desire. This was the first moment we’d been alone since our kiss at the Whisky and Warlock. The first moment I’d have a chance to taste him again. Feel him again.
My heart thundered.
Ana appeared in the corner of my vision.
She stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide. “Oh, sorry!”
I stepped back from Cade, grateful that he was quick to drop his grip.
“Ana. Hey.” I smiled, trying to play it cool.
“Hey.” Her gaze darted between me and Cade. It was clear she was trying to play it cool, too, but of course there was insatiable curiosity there. If I’d seen her about to smash faces with a sexy god, I’d be pretty interested in getting the scoop myself.
I’d mentioned our brief kiss to her after it had happened—there was no keeping juicy gossip from Ana; she was like a bloodhound—but there’d been no news since then.
“Ana, good to see you,” Cade said.
“You, too.” She turned to me. “Well, how’d it go in the cave?”
I explained the scroll and the rocks, then turned to Cade. “The Norns said that you could come with me because you’re a god and can enter the different realms. Will you?”
“Of course.”
“I want to help,” Ana said. “I’ll come.”
“You can’t.” I frowned at her. “I’m sorry. Since you’re not a DragonGod yet—or haven’t come into your powers at least—they said that you wouldn’t be able to enter the godly realms.”
“Dang.” Her shoulders slumped. “I hate you going off to dangerous places alone.”
“She won’t be alone,” Cade said.
“I know, I know.” Ana nodded. “It’s just that I like to be there. We’ve always had each other’s backs. Changing that up is weird. And scary.”
I nodded, knowing she’d spend the whole time concerned for me, just like I would if she had to run off to dangerous godly realms without me. I leaned over and hugged her hard.
“Don’t worry about me.” I pulled away, then smiled at her.
She grinned back at me and nodded, but worry still darkened her eyes.
There was nothing I could do about that, so I let it go and turned to Cade. “Meet tomorrow at sunrise in the entry hall?”
“I’ll see you then.” He turned and walked away, business as usual.
I, of course, was not businesslike at all. Instead, I mooned after him until he turned the corner.
Chapter Three
The next morning, after swinging by the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and a scone from Hans, the head cook, I hurried to the main hall.
Somehow, I managed not to spill a drip of coffee on my thin black sweater.
Victory!
That didn’t save me from the crumbs, but at least they could be brushed off. At one point, a raisin fell into my shirt and I had to stop to shake it out.
A sparkling little mouse scurried out from a hole in the wall and grabbed the dried fruit that dropped to my feet, and then hurried back to the hole in the wall.
“A glitter mouse?” I murmured. “Weird.”
The little creature turned back and glared at me with beady black eyes, as if it could understand me.
“Sorry, you’re not weird,” I said. “You’re lovely.”
The mouse nodded her little head, which sparkled like diamonds, and carried her raisin off into the hole in the wall.
“All right, then.” I popped the last bite of scone into my mouth and kept heading toward the hall.
Cade was waiting for me by the time I arrived. I finished the last sip of my coffee and set the cup on the little tray set into an alcove in the wall. The cup would disappear back to the kitchen, a luxury that delighted me to no end.
“Ready?” Cade asked. He wore the same dark tactical gear as he had last time.
“As I’ll ever be.”
We walked out into the cobblestone courtyard as the sun peeked over the horizon, lighting the gray morning with a golden glow.
This time, the climb down the cliffside was a little less scary. I still wouldn’t do it as a hobby, no matter how nice it would be to stroll the beach down below, but at least I wasn’t a shaking mess when I reached the bottom.
“This way.” I led him toward the cave, which was still pretty dark this early in the morning.
I stopped near the middle of the cave, gazing around the space, then pulled the bag of carved stones out of my small backpack. I dumped them into my hands, then handed half over to Cade.
“These are supposed to help us,” I said.
“How?”
“No idea. But the scroll said it would become obvious.”
“All right.” He studied his stones.
I bent my head and studied mine. I had four. One looked like an arrow, another like a face, the third like a sun, and the fourth a bird.
I tucked the one with the arrow back into my pocket. If I was understanding the scroll correctly, I’d need that one for later, to help get through the realms of the gods.
The last three were still a mystery though.
I clutched them in my hand and began to pace around the cave. It was a huge space, several hundred feet wide and just as tall. The mouth was enormous, allowing more light to enter as the sun rose.