Page 58 of Shadow Master
“You call almost drowning interesting?” Hyde snapped. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Not the drowning part, the ceasg.”
We stared at him blankly.
“The creatures in the water,” he explained. “They used to look much better in my day. Beautiful, in fact. Those things were not.” He stood and looked down at his wet clothes. “I have not missed the sensation of wet clothing.” He turned to the pedestal, composed and regal despite the fact he’d almost drowned.
If I hadn’t just seen it with my eyes, I’d have doubted that he’d even been in the water.
He stood by the pedestal. “Ah, there you are.” He lifted the talisman into the air. It was an amulet on a thick gold chain—oval and gold with a topaz center.
He was holding it. Which meant his role was over, which meant I could get Brady back.
Tick tock, motherfucker. Piss off.
Lugh frowned and gripped the talisman harder.
Nothing happened.
“What is it?” Hyde asked.
I pushed past Hyde to glare at Lugh. “Why are you still here?”
He looked up slowly from the talisman, my annoyance reflected on his handsome face. “It’s empty.”
“What do you mean,it’s empty?” Hyde asked.
Lugh’s jaw tightened. “I mean there’s no longer any power inside. The talisman is powerless.”
Nineteen
Istared at Lugh. “What do you mean it has no power. It drew you here, didn’t it?”
“Yes, the metal has residual power, but the true essence of the talisman is absent.”
What did this mean?
But Lugh was examining the pedestal. “Wait. There’s something lodged here.” He tugged and retrieved a slender roll of parchment. “How quaint, a note.” He tucked the talisman into a pouch at his waist and carefully unrolled the parchment. It looked ready to crumble.
“Be careful,” Hyde warned.
Lugh shot him a flat look that was so like Brady, it made my heart clench painfully in my chest. He returned his attention to the scroll and scanned it.
Impatience snapped like a whip inside me. “Well?”
“The power isn’t here.”
“You already said that,” Hyde said dryly.
“It’s in the mortal realm.”
Hyde and I exchanged glances, and my heart sank.
“There is no way into the mortal realm right now,” Hyde said. “They’re dealing with their own threat.”
Yes, that was true, but my mind was on the other fact, the fact that Lugh was still here, inside Brady’s body. The fact that the fucking mission wasn’t complete. The fact that it meant I wasn’t getting my mate back right this fucking minute.
I strode toward the water. I needed to get back to the other side. I needed to get my hands on Abram so I could choke some answers out of him.
