Page 152 of Eclipse Sector
Okay,I thought at her.
Does anything feel strange?was the next line.Weird vibes? Potential puzzles to solve… or disassemble?
My brow crinkled as I reviewed her riddles. The onlyweird vibesin the room were coming from Cillian and Prince Cael as they appeared to be squaring off with one another.
Which had Granger and Lorcan both tensing in the periphery.
But not Grey.
Grey was fully immersed in something else.
That strange power still emanated from him, the one I couldn’t decipher before. Only it wasn’t his ability that grabbed my attention as I scanned the room, but Granger’s. His mind… his mind was like…
A puzzle, I realized, blinking back down to the diary and catching that word on the page once more.
This is one of those moments where you have to choose your allies wisely,she continued. Consider all potential paths. And watch your step…
Okay…Was she talking about solving the puzzle? Being careful with how I unwove it?Potential puzzles to solve or to disassemblewas basically what she’d said. So it would make sense that she was providing caution over how Idisassembledit.
There are land mines afoot, Stars,Ashlyn had written next.Land mines that will alert our enemy that we’re coming. Be careful. Tread softly. And remember… Don’t. Make. A. Sound.
I swallowed, her warnings feeling ominous. But as I prodded Granger’s thoughts, and noted the layers of his mind, it… it made sense.
He was masking behind a thick veneer of power, one that allowed only his surface-level musings to escape. But I could sense the darkness beneath.
My eyes nearly widened.Be careful of Prince Cael,she’d written to me on that plane.He’s surrounded by darkness.
Darkness being Granger?I wondered now.
He wasn’t who Prince Cael and Grey had accused of taking Ashlyn, but maybe… maybe they had it wrong?
Swallowing, I kept reading.
I hope… I hope that’s enough. I can’t provide any more. We’re at a crossroads, Stars. I… I see two ways this could end. Maybe you’ll find a third route. Goodbye for now, Ashlyn.
Beneath her name were two postscripts, the first of them giving me chills. But it definitely felt like it was for me.
PS: Congratulations on the little one. I send my blessing from the grave.
The second, I wasn’t sure about.
PPS: Our pasts make us stronger, not weaker. Remember that. Remember where you came from. And understand once and for all—you are not him. But sometimes you have to think like him to find the truth. To find… me.
Maybe that part would make more sense once I solved the puzzle in Granger’s mind.
Unless it’s Grey I should be deciphering,I thought, considering the other male.
This is one of those moments where you have to choose your allies wisely,Ashlyn had written. Consider all potential paths. And watch your step…
I… I wasn’t sure whichpathshe wanted me to take.
Glancing back down, I reread the line that said,I see two ways this could end.
But then she mentioned a third route.
What’s the third route?I wondered.
I don’t think it’s Grey,Cillian told me. Yet aloud, he was in the process of lecturing King Kieran about hismeddling.
