Page 124 of Stilettos & Secrets on the 7 Seas

I slid down to join the others. The ground was surprisingly dry. Beads of water clung to the pores in the rock, allowing me to see carvings in the stone. I recognized the mark I saw every time I time traveled. It matched the one in my outhouse.

“They’re ancient Ancalite hieroglyphs.” Caiyan leaned closer to examine each one of them.

“I’ve heard of such a tribe.” Rowan took a step back. “They’re said to be cursed.”

Uh, boy.Here we go again with the curse.

Marco joined us, holding his lantern to the side of the stone. “There are depressions here. Three of them.”

“The prophecy of three.” I whispered so softly I didn’t think anyone heard me, but Caiyan and Marco echoed my words.

“This one is mine.” Marco pointed to a mark similar to mine.

Sasha hopped in and gave the stone a once over. “It’s a coffin.”

Max took a step back from his position at the edge.

“I’d like to think of it as a time capsule,” I said, sending her an unappreciative glower.

“How do we get the key out?” Marco asked.

I slid my hand into the smallest depression—-the one under my mark. Marco copied me, and then we swiveled our heads toward Caiyan.

He shook his head. “’Tis naugh my mark.”

“But—” I was sure he was one of the three. “Then who?”

Sasha crouched in front of the stone and placed her hand in the last spot. Nothing.

Sasha withdrew her hand. “It’s not my mark either, but I thought it was worth a try.”

“Should we have brought Ace?” I asked.

“That nitwit could never open the stone.” Mortas stood at the entrance and only exit of the cavern. He whistled as he walked inside. “Look at all this treasure. Someone had the perfect hideaway.”

Caiyan drew his sgian-dubh, and Rowan and Max drew their pistols. “Calm down.” Mortas waved them away. “I’m not here to murder you or fight you.”

My eyebrows shot up because a day hadn’t gone by that he didn’t want to kill me.

Mortas sauntered over to us. Was the prick acting cocky? And then I realized the third hand belonged to Gian-Carlo, and he knew it.

“My grandfather told me the story. I always thought he had imagined the entire thing. He was quite the dramatic, but here you all are. And there is that damn rock he went on and on about at every family meeting.” He stopped at the edge and looked down at us. “You need me.”

“He’s right.” I stood between Mortas and the stone. “We do.”

Caiyan and Marco understood and joined me. Sasha and Rowan held the ends. We formed a wall of protection.

Marco crossed his arms over his chest. “You need us too.”

“That brings us to a dilemma. Does it not?” Mortas narrowed his eyes.

“What do ye want?” Rowan boomed. His voice echoed through the cavern chambers like a hundred angry giants.

Mortas cut his eyes at Max. “I want Max.”

Rowan leaped from the pit like a mother cougar whose cub was in the clutches of a werewolf. He stood between Max and Mortas, shielding Max from his evil half-brother. “I’ll no allow it.”

“Ye cannae bargain a person,” Caiyan scoffed. “We willnae accept it.”

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