Page 60 of Bound Paths
“I chose this.”His whispered words were in her head. He must have been slotted back into his cell.
“I could have fought harder to hold onto you,”were her last words to him as she fell between realms.
She landed with an ‘umph.’
Rose pushed up on her arms and stretched her neck from her prone position on the ground. This felt familiar. It was cold, hard, and damp—not all that different from the castle dungeon they had just left. She looked up. Carter stood above her in fae form, smirking.
“You don’t seem to be getting better at that,” he said dryly.
“Glad that leaving Luc there is funny to you,” she huffed as she stood.
His smirk flattened. “I’m sorry, Rose. I should have found a way to tell you I couldn’t take us back from within the castle.” His gaze didn’t meet hers as he kicked a rock on the ground.
“Why? What happened?” she asked.
“Cassandra must have some protection directly around the castle. The entire realm has magic encircling it so that all new visitors end up in the river.” He shrugged. “Exiting isn’t as heavily monitored, it seems, but it still has restrictions.”
“You can feel that?” Rose pressed. She had felt the Lady’s presence when they were near her but not otherwise.
“Oh, yes,” Carter replied. “Her magic’s presence is…strong. At least to my senses.” He scratched the back of his neck as he finished—like maybe he thought he’d said too much.
Rose was intrigued by the conversation. She let herself focus on it rather than the anger welling in her chest at leaving Luc again. Theoretically, she should have the strongest sense for the magic of others based on her weapons master talents. For Carter to feel Cassandra’s magic so keenly, something else must be at play. She turned her head in consideration. Her gaze skimmed the tunnel hallway in which they found themselves. Distracted from her thoughts on magic, she started to walk. This tunnel was too familiar.
“Do you know where we landed?” she asked Carter, her mind already having its own suspicions as to the answer.
Carter didn’t get to respond as she heard a familiar voice at the end of the tunnel. The hallway widened into a stone amphitheater.
“And what exactly do you believe you are owed?” The voice was tense. Even more so than when they had last left it—slamming the door closed on Cassandra’s reply.
Zrak was speaking.
His voice echoed in a way she remembered from her evaluation of Juliette’s magic. They were in the caves where Juliette completed her ritual. The others must have finally been successful in their call to Zrak. Rose was shocked.
“Zrak,” Arie’s usually carefree voice sounded almost hurt. Rose hated Zrak just a little for making him sound that way. “She’s just asking for a little clarity on the situation. We all are.”
Roes shared a glance with Carter. He gave her a silent nod and followed her into the more open room. They stayed behind the stalactites at the entrance, not ready to make themselvesknown. Personally, Rose would rather hear what Zrak had to say for himself. What they had overheard—she needed more time to think about it.
“Why didn’t you tell us you would be beyond the veil?” Aurora asked. Her tone also held a hint of disappointment, but not hurt like Arie’s.
Rose and Carter peered around from the rock they hid behind. Juliette, Aurora, and Arie stood in the center of the room. They faced a circle of light on the wall. Though it had remained a solid stone surface when Carter dragged Rose through it yesterday, it now held a shadow—an outline—of Zrak.
“I don’t have time to chat,” Zrak said, sounding bored. “I can’t be found here.” His voice was cold, unfeeling, as he replied. “I have completed the ritual, as Lady Osten can attest. Now, I must go.”
That made no sense. Cassandra knew he met with the Osten Point—she knew he was avoiding Arie and Aurora. Rose couldn’t see Arie’s face but saw his shoulders sag at the Lost God’s words. She couldn’t take it. Balling her hands into fists at her sides, she stepped out from behind the rock. “Why are you lying to them, Zrak?” She put a fist on her hip. “Lady Cassandra knows of your meetings with the Osten Point. This isn’t about keeping them a secret. Why don’t you tell us the truth?”
She swore the shadow looked upward like the Lost God was asking for patience from some higher being. Good. Let him realize there was no one there to help him. They’d all felt that way enough because of his actions.
“Rose? Where did you come from?” Arie asked, turning to face her. Then he wiped his hand at the words as if removing them from the space. “Never mind that. What are you saying?”
“We saw Zrak speaking with Lady Cassandra,” she said. “Not only is he free to do as he wishes beyond the veil, but she’saware of the ritual he performs with the Osten Point. I want what you’ve been asking for—for him to explain what is going on.”
Arie, Aurora, and Juliette returned their focus to the shadow of a god ringed in light on the cave wall.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Norden Point.” His words were terse, but at least he knew who she was. “You will have to trust I know what I’m doing.” His words echoed through the room as he disappeared from the circle. The light left with him, and the room fell into darkness.
Arie’sand Carter’s hands each held a ball of flame as the cavern returned to view. They floated the balls of fire around the room, bringing back the eerie purple glow of Rose’s first visit to this cavern.
“What was that, Rose?” Arie asked, not unkindly.
