Page 141 of Fated

At least he thought Xanth was still alive. “Where will she take Ash?” I asked.

“She’ll bring him to the castle, then wait for you to come after him.”

“Ok, that’s something we can work with. Do you think she will take Xanth, too?”

“No, she wouldn’t bother.”

“All right, good.” I paused. “Calyx …?”

He turned to look at me.

“Do you realize they have Reize too?” I asked hesitantly.

His eyes went wide, anger exploding across his face. “Fucking bastard. I’m going to kill that lunatic, that fucking son of a bitch …”

“Calyx!” I snapped, pulling him out of his spiraling rage. His attention jerked back to me. “We’ll get her out of there, but I need you to calm down and focus.”

He took a shaky breath, his knees bouncing as he tried to hold himself together.

“Ok,” he muttered.

“Do you think between you, Greyson, Xanth, and I … that we have a chance at getting in and out of that castle?”

Calyx’s knees stopped bouncing as he considered my question. “I don’t know, Areya. I mean, Cynthia and Agidius both have heir power. Agidius has kept his power guarded, so I’m not sure exactly what he’s capable of, but Cynthia—she’s an evil bitch who can disguise herself as anyone and hide anywhere.

I stared at him, my eyes wide and desperate.

He sighed. “Xanth’s strong but he doesn’t have a fraction of the power Ash has. Greyson is a force to be reckoned with, though. I can keep us mostly unseen …”

“Oh! You have your laser eyes!”

Calyx gave me a look. “I don’t shoot lasers out of my eyes, Areya. What the fuck?”

“Oh, well, don’t you make death lasers or something?”

“Something like that.” He shook his head, staring at me as if I was half insane.

I ran over everything in my mind, what we had to work with, trying to piece together a plan.

“What about you, Areya? Any hidden talents we don’t know about?” he asked.

“I … I can break the curse,” I started. “And uh, do you know anything about the power from the Kingdom of Titan?”

“Elemental magic, Um … earth, water, fire, air, that type of thing? Wait, why?” he asked, confusion written on his face.

“It just so happens I may be a princess of Titan.” I half-heartedly smiled, shrugging.

“You’rewhat?” He blinked.

“It’s complicated.”

“Ok …” He shook his head, giving me an odd disbelieving look. “Have you everusedelemental magic before?

“No, but if I’m a descendant, I could wield some type of power, right?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, I suppose.”

“Ok, and Cynthia, when she said she was my grandmother?”

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