I smirked. “Doubt that.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I saw how he looked at you. I saw him feel you up when I was feet away. I saw him bring you food that was no doubt laced with something that would have impaired you beyond reason.” Xavier was behind this. I knew he was. He knew all along that Madison was mine. He sent his minion to her world to seduce her. There would not be a death that would ever match what he deserved.
“An action that was retaliated against. Food that I didn’t eat. Where the hell is this jealousy coming from?” she argued.
I stared at her endlessly. I had every right to be wrathful, but I had no idea why I was jealous. I could easily see that she loved me. What the hell was going on? “I don’t know. But I know I don’t like it.”
She glanced down, then at the bed, before looking back at me. I saw what she was processing. Right now, I was jealous and only seeing the dark side. She was on the defensive, explaining away her actions with reason. We had shifted. We had traded points of view. It had to be because of the energy we shared before. There was no other reason for this to happen this fast.
“We have shared so much tonight. Clearly, some of the negative has been passed between us. There is no reason for you to be jealous…I already told you how I feel.”
Creator, I love this woman. Please don’t take her away from me.
My anger washed away. “You’re right.” I stepped forward and pulled her against me. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it. That I will not fear for your safety. That boy and Donalt can and will hurt you.”
She didn’t bother to reply. I had the suspicion that her fear was back. That could not be good. She needed to be fearless if what I saw in Draven’s mind had any chance of coming true. Beyond losing her, the worst thing that could happen would be me watching her grieve.
“Promise you will stay with Aden.” That was as close as I was going to get to telling her that both Landen and Draven had seen a harsh future for her cousin Aden. I knew she could keep him safe if she did indeed have any of my energy within her.
“Like some weak girl who can’t defend herself?”
“You need to keep him safe just as much as he needs to keep you safe.”
She didn’t want to know what I knew. If she did, she would be searching my mind endlessly for the answers to the questions that were on the tip of her tongue.
“Your kingdom is waiting,” she finally said.
I leaned down and let my lips meet her forehead. She reached for the lapels on my coat to pull me closer.
I held her for a silent moment, then let her go and walked to the window.
“How are these explosions impacting Willow and Landen? Draven and Charlie?” she asked timidly.
“Apparently, my kingdom is attacking his. Dividing us. But we will turn what is meant to hurt us into a power.”
I held my stare on the horizon. I needed to let this go slowly. If I didn’t manage to control the wave of time that was to flow forward, more than a few lives were at risk. Key players in this war.
The floor trembled slightly, and the fire on the horizon expanded in such a subtle manner that I doubted it had moved. Another tremble. The fire moved more, and black smoke was starting to emerge. That went on for what seemed like forever, then all at once I could see the fire on the horizon moving with the natural flow of time.
“That would not have been fun if it happened the way it should have,” she said under her breath.
I just hoped it was slow enough. Creator-speed to Landen Chambers. He needed all the help he could get right now.
I turned to face her, urged her chin up, let my lips rest against hers for a brief second, then pulled slowly away. “I’ll be back as soon as they are calm. It’s near dawn. Try and get some rest.”
She only offered a nod.
I reached to trace her bottom lip before I walked away. Just as I reached the door, another violent explosion erupted. It was so strong that it nearly knocked her off her feet. I was at her side that instant. She was trembling.
“What was that?” she gasped.
My eyes were trained at the window. Time was sailing forward. Not good at all. I was massively late now. I had to go before all of the premade plans I had with the others became pointless.
As soon as she stopped trembling, I kissed her forehead, then swiftly stood to leave.
~Madison ~
I stared at him as he left—at all the regal dominance his essence was pouring into the air. He was born to be a king, that much was for sure. The sad part was that I knew I was not born to be any queen. I was an obsessive fighter at my core.
My gaze moved to the window for countless moments. I could see the sun rising, people rushing from their homes, them climbing to their rooftops to peer at the damage. Their emotions were rich in the air, and I could feel them all. I tested myself over and over, waiting for the pain I had felt in the past to surface, but it remained dormant. I was running out of time. If I had any plans of chasing any fears I had—if I planned on diving into any water—I had to do that now.
I ditched my robe and pulled on a tank top, a pair of jeans, socks, and short combat boots. I thought about grabbing a hoodie, but my adrenaline was pumping too much for a chill to catch me off guard.
When I opened my door, I saw Aden in the center hall. His shirt was off, and a toothbrush was in his mouth as he turned the pages in an aged book.
“Multitasking?” I said with a smirk.
He raised one finger as he put the book down and walked away, brushing his teeth rapidly.
I was sitting on the couch that centered the hall, letting my legs dance in place when he came back. I wanted to go to those hidden halls that we had used to get back here last night, find out where more waterways were in this palace, ones that had saltwater in them. I would have been long gone if my mind were not instantly replaying both Draven and Drake telling me to stay with Aden.
When Aden came out of his room, he had his shirt and shoes on and another book.
“Look, bodyguard, I’ve got things to do.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your brother,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Draven was here?”
I glanced up at him, letting him see the non-private moments of my night.
“You’re not serious? What day is it?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
Aden tilted his head. “I don’t think your boy is going to see another sunrise.”
My eyes rose to meet his instantly. When I saw Britain’s image instead of Drake’s, I felt a relief. “Not my boy, and Drake is not a heathen. He’ll just get him to leave.”
“Right,” Aden said as he nodded to the books. “Where did you find these?”
“Me?” I said, pointing to my chest. “Those aren’t mine.”
“Somebody left them here.”
“Maybe Drake. He told me he was trying to be alone in Alamos’ study.”
“If he got these from Alamos, then Alamos is a thief.”
“What do you know?”
“This one,” he said as he picked up the book on the table and took a seat next to me, “is the one that Draven took from Britain’s house a while back. Draven gave it to August, and he brought it here. And when I asked where they were yesterday,” he grimaced, “or the last time they saw Perodine, rather, they said it must have been put in the wrong place.”
“What are the others?” I asked, nodding to the other three.
“I think we need to worry about this one,” he said, turning the spine for me to see it. “The translation of this name is close to ‘Horace.’”
“You are not serious.”
“Gets better. If I am translating this right, this word,” he said, turning to the first page, “means time keeper.” He glanced at me. “Does this drawing look familiar?”
My stomach dropped as I saw the drawing of my locket on the tattered pages—only it didn’t look like a necklace. It looked like an intrica
tely detailed clock.
I reached for my locket and opened it. Aden reached for the chain so he could see the clock part, then dropped it as he went back to translate the words on the page. Thank God he could read at least six languages fluently.
I glanced down at the details of the watch and turned it so I could see how it was put together. Without trying, the glass over the face came off, then what looked like a normal clock turned out to be nothing more than a thin sheet of paper. The mystery began beneath that point.
There were not twelve notches, but seven, and those seven ovals had five points within them. There were wheels spinning behind five of the seven points; the other two were still. Now the five points were not all spinning at the same level or even looked the same; it was almost like black sand was filling these ovals.
“Let me see it,” Aden said as he took it from me once more. After a second, he cursed under his breath, then shifted his eyes between the book and the locket.
“Tell me what you are trying to figure out.” Looking into his mind was pointless because I saw his perception, and that was more than confusing.
“I think you are the time keeper.”
“Of?”
“Of the seven. Through you, they know if the right war was fought.”
“What?”
“I think this is Landen and Willow,” he said, pointing to the oval that was nearly full.
“Why?”
“This means ‘fear,’” he said, pointing out a mark. “Donalt told you he was the King of Fear. Once they finish him, they’ve won.”
“Not according to Donalt.”
“You know he was delusional,” Aden muttered. “He said Xavier was shock; that is this oval.” He pointed to the one that was nearly empty. “Charlie and Draven are just starting their war.”
“Where is obsession?”
“Here,” he pointed to the one that had three notches left.
“Seven kings that must fall, and seven people or couples that will bring them down…and they have five shots at it,” I concluded.
“It says something here about an order. I can’t make it out.”
“All right, cool. I have a wicked locket. I want go through those back passages while everyone is distracted.”
“I’m getting to that,” he said as he turned a few pages. “This reads like a novel. A record of Horace.” He traced his finger over the words, then turned a few more pages. There, I saw a drawing. I could read that.
“Stairs,” I breathed.
“I told you the looking glass had nothing to do with your dream. I know for sure where this is. This is the oldest wing; floors have been added to it. What was at ground level is now floors below.”
“Yeah, well by ignoring you I got the heads up from Donalt about the explosion. So we are both winners last night.”
“Smart ass,” he muttered. “This isn’t in the main palace. It’s on the wings that shift out.”
“Seriously?” How was I going to get there?
“When water was dammed in the palace, they used it as some kind of symbolism for testing spirituality. The wing is actually made by nature. I bet it’s more like caves over there.”
“A test I apparently went through.”
“That is the only way a glass boat would make any sense—that is where most of the water was dammed and the only point where I know there are stairs and floors leading down. This has to be the place,” he said to himself.
I could see him imagining my dream along with the stories he had read, as well as the drawing of the palace he had seen. Apparently, Aden didn’t go to sleep when he left me last night. After he found his release on the drums, he went to find Perodine and they talked for hours. If it weren’t for Drake stopping time, I would say he had at best two hours of sleep last night.
“I think we can get here. And if I’m right about these words, this drawing, your original body may be frozen. This says something like blue sleep—that means ice. Unnatural ice, I think.”
“Let’s go.”
“I’m hiding these,” Aden said as he closed the book he was reading and took off toward his room.
I was pacing by the door when he came out. He had put a jacket on. “How are you cold?”
“Hiding this,” he said as he flashed a knife that was in a case strapped to his waist. “You need a coat. It’s going to be cold.”
“I’m fine. Let’s go.”
“Where is this anxiousness coming from?”
“I think I’m starting to feel anxiety—fear is coming back to me.”
“What did Blakeshire do to you?” he quipped.
“Don’t go there, violin boy.”
“Very funny,” he said as he opened the door.
We crept out into the hall. Aden leaned to the side to see if anyone was guarding the doors that led to this hall. Apparently, he couldn’t see anyone and I didn’t feel anyone.
When we reached the next doors, we found them unguarded.
“Must be helping with the explosion,” Aden noted.
I had no idea how an entire city had been evacuated in less than six hours. I just hoped it was and that Drake would be able to use whatever was meant to hurt him as a weapon instead.
Aden pushed through the door that led us to the dark stone passages. “We are going to have to cross the entire palace.”
There were torches hooked on the wall. Aden used the match next to them to light one.
“Look at you, Indiana Jones.”
“She’s full of jokes today,” he said with a playful glare. “Stay behind me.”
I felt like a rat in a cold, dark, damp maze. The stone passage would twist and turn, and at times there would be more than a few choices of turns to take. Aden seemed to hold the same direction each time. Even when we could not follow the path he wanted, he found a way for us to loop back.
He stopped for no reason. “You hear that?”
I heard rustling but didn’t care to think about it. I was sure it was a rat.
“Not evaluating sounds,” I said anxiously.
He glanced at me, and I could see the concern in his eyes. He knew like I did that I was running out of time. “This way.”
He broke the course he was on and manhandled a door that was in his way.
“What are you doing?” I harshly whispered.
“Making sure we are where I think we are.”
When the door opened, there was a space of five feet, then another door.
“You have no idea where that goes,” I argued.
“I liked it better when you were fearless,” he grumbled.
“Fear or no fear, I am not an idiot. That could be anywhere.”
“Is your insight of emotions back?”
“Sort of.”
“All right, then. Who’s on the other side of this door?”
I stared at the wooden door for countless seconds, checking and double checking my senses. “Nobody.”
“Right,” Aden said as he put his torch down and pushed the door forward.
It didn’t take us long to figure out that it was a fireplace hiding the secret passage. The room was just as elaborate as you would expect in a palace. The lack of personalization led me to believe it was just one of the limitless guest rooms.
Aden hugged the wall as he made his way to the window. From the drapes, he peered out. A second later, he waved me over.
When I reached the window, I saw that we were on the bottom floor and the courtyard was full of people. They were packed in so tightly that it was hard to see what they were looking at. We had reached the far west wing of the place. From here, you could see the main palace.
My heart thundered as I saw Drake on a balcony. I swore I could feel the regal power he was emanating from here. Obviously, so could the crowd. I sensed a massive amount of devotion swimming in the air.
Whatever he was saying had ended, and seconds later every balcony door on every floor in the main palace opened—and when they did, hundreds and hundreds
of men in black robes stepped out. Drake nodded to the crowd, and on cue they cheered. At that display of devotion, I felt elevated.
“Those must be the priests he saved,” I mumbled.
“We are running out of time,” Aden said, stating the obvious. When this assembly broke up, someone would surely come looking for us.
We made our way back to the passage, careful to close the fireplace just as we had found it.
“It’s getting cold.”
“Told you that you needed a jacket,” he said as he went to pull his off.
“No, I’m fine. Just hurry.”
Water was running past our feet now, and from the sound of things up ahead it was falling into something hollow.
When we reached the end of our path, before us there was a hollow room that was a few hundred feet wide. When you looked down, you could see stairs. There would only be five of them, then stone. It was like they were built there to adjust to water levels. I couldn’t see any water below, but judging from the fall I could hear the water at my feet moving, too. I knew it was a long fall.
Glancing up, there were even more sets of stairs laid out in the same manner. Aden was right about this being built upon over the years. Fifteen feet above us, the stone was smoother. Where we currently were and below it looked like caves.
The gray, gloomy sky that was nearly fifty feet above this room was the only light beyond Aden’s torch.
“We have to figure out how to get down.” I was still under the impression that an octopus was guarding my remains.
Hearing my point, Aden crouched down and looked from side to side. “Stay right here,” he said, but he didn’t move. A second later, I saw his image on the other side; he had manifested his soul there. On that side of the dome room were several dark openings, all varying in size.
He vanished from that point and appeared at another point. He was edging his way down, seeing where he needed to go before he manifested there.
I wanted to follow him, but at that point he was moving too fast and I didn’t want to get lost down here.
Over the sound of the falling water, I heard something: my name.
I glanced back and stared into the darkness. I grabbed the torch and walked a few steps backward. I didn’t see anything at first, but I felt a familiar energy.