When we were researching Morgan’s books, he noticed I was on to something, but he didn’t ask about it, and I didn’t tell him either.
“Silence,” Nay said in a normal tone, but energy coursed through the air and everyone quieted down. She gave the vial to Victor. “Drink it. You’ll feel stronger in a couple of hours. Be aware this won’t cure you. It’ll only give your human body the stamina you need to keep going for a few more days.”
With everyone watching, Victor uncorked the vial and drank it in one gulp. He wrinkled his nose. “By the Everlast, this tastes horrible.”
Ceris grabbed his mug of coffee from the table and handed to him. I almost rolled my eyes at how caring she was with him. However, that was probably jealousy for not having—and knowing I would never have—what they did.
“Now, Nadine, tell them,” Nay said.
I cleared my throat. “Just before we left the shelter, Ceris used her scepter and I saw something inside the orb. Yesterday, I remembered I saw something inside Izaera’s orb when we were in the forest. I researched through Morgan’s books and found out what I saw was Ceris’s and Izaera’s symbols.”
“And?” Ceris asked, her voice harsh.
“When I was …” I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat. It was always hard to speak about it. “When I was with Imha, she had a large world map covering an entire wall. I saw symbols on that map, and now I know what they meant.” I glanced to Ceris. “I’ll need a map.”
She extended her hand and a scroll appeared on her open palm. I pushed the food and drinks to the side of the table, and she unrolled it over the cleared area.
The symbols sprouted to life. Several tiny bright marks danced along the map too fast to get a good look on them.
“What’s happening?” Victor asked.
“Do you see the symbols?” Morgan asked.
Ceris shook her head. “I don’t see anything. I mean, I know they are there, I can feel their magic, but I don’t see them.”
I pursed my lips. “It wasn’t like this.”
“What do you mean?” Izaera asked.
“Just …” I stared at the map. Nothing happened. I took a deep breath and focused on a central point on the map, willing the magic to happen. Dizziness rushed through me, my vision darkened.
“Nadine,” Micah called me.
I blinked and the darkness faded. Micah knelt beside me, watching me with concerned eyes. More mixed signals. Who needed that?
When I turned my sight back to the map, the symbols were slower than before. I focused on them.
Stop.
They did.
I gasped in amazement.
Holy shit, I had made the symbols stop!
“What do you see?” Keisha asked.
There were too many symbols, everywhere. Izaera’s symbol shone over the destroyed forest, Ceris’s flashed at Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains Basilica in France, and Micah’s and Victor’s glowed in the same place. I rested the tip of my index finger on the spot on the map. “Here.”
Everyone spied over the map.
“A mountain in Mexico?” Morgan asked, squinting at me as if doubting me.
“Not just a mountain. A volcano,” Victor said.
“The Popocatepetl volcano,” Micah said.
“Their scepters are in a volcano?” Keisha asked, disbelief laced within her voice.
“An active volcano,” Izaera added.
“Are you sure this is the place?” Ceris asked.
What did she mean? “Hmm, no, but with all I saw and felt, this has to be it.” They looked at the map, as if answers or a detailed plan would pop out at them. “And I believe Victor’s scepter is around the crater, you know, free and close to the sky, and Micah’s scepter is deep down, near the lava bed because … underworld and underground.” I closed my mouth as heat spread through my cheeks.
“It makes sense,” Micah said.
My head whipped to him. It did? I was afraid I was delirious.
He held my gaze, but Victor’s hand on mine ripped my attention from him.
“Thank you,” Victor said with a smile. He looked at the others. “The water of the Lake of Life has a quick effect. I already feel better. We should get ready to leave within a few hours.”
Everyone stood and walked around the tiny living room, talking at the same time, disorienting me.
Wait. Where were the Fates? I glanced around. They were gone.
I checked myself one more time. Armor tight, boots strapped, hair pulled up and away from my face, daggers inside my boots, another dagger in the scabbard attached to the right side of my belt, and a sword on my left. I felt like carrying more weapons, but what difference would that make if I had only two hands to wield them?
With nothing more to do, I decided to use the bedroom’s rare peace and stretch out a little.
While we got ready, Ceris and Izaera decided to go to the volcano and check the surrounding area, see if there were any demons around, if there were humans there, or if they could sense the scepters. They promised not to try anything without all of us.
“Why the arsenal, darling?”
I whirled around at the sound of Micah’s voice. He leaned against the doorframe, looking too good to be true with his cocky grin and wearing his armor. God, how I loved seeing him like this. Beige wasn’t really his color, but the way the thermal and the vest adorned his shoulders, arms and chest, and the way his pants hugged his legs, the color didn’t matter. He looked much hotter in a warrior outfit than in his biker-rocker clothes.
I raised my arms over my head and stretched. “I want to be prepared.”
“Hopefully, it’ll be a quick trip.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Hopefully, we’ll get in, grab the damn things, and get out. Ten minutes tops.”
“Hopefully,” I repeated, extending my arms and bending at the waist to the side.
He took two steps into the room. “You don’t sound hopeful.”
I showed him a sorrowful smile. “Nothing has been quick or easy on this journey. I doubt this part, the important part, will be either.”
“I’ll be there to protect you, darling.” He winked. “You don’t need to worry.”
I rolled my eyes. Hadn’t I asked him to stop with his charm games? “I thought you had figured out by now that I can take care of myself.”
He leaned closer. “I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t protect you if I want to.”
I stared at him. What was his deal? Why was he telling me this? Didn’t he have more important things to do—like plan with Victor what to do once they got their scepters?
Panic rushed through me. They would get their scepters. They would become full gods with full powers, like Ceris and Izaera. They would be immortal once again. They wouldn’t need me anymore.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Promise me you won’t let Ceris kick me out of here once you are … Mitrus again.”
He gaped at me. “What?”
“I won’t be needed anymore. You won’t need my healing. Since Ceris hates me, she might ditch me, and well, I won’t be able to do anything about that. But I want to stay. I know I’m not a deity. I know I have no powers, but I want to stay. I want to help. Promise me I can stay.”