Page 23 of Broken Hearted
I quickly shoved the crystal back into my satchel, and it felt like the Wise Ones let out a collective sigh of relief.
What just happened?
“The crystal carries more power than you can imagine,” another Wise One said. This time, the one who was seated on the far right. “Its magic is … tempting,” he said, by way of an explanation.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize,” I said, not knowing how else to respond. I looked down at my satchel, where the Shadow Heart was now hidden from view. I knew that it was supposed to be powerful. I’d learned that much from the book Zane had given me, but I hadn’t felt anything from the crystal myself.
“The magic inside the crystal is concealed,” he replied. “Not very many fae would recognize its power.”
But they had.
A shiver ran down my spine. Just how powerful were these unseelie? I’d always been told the queens of the courts of Faerie and the Ethereum lords were the most powerful fae alive, but standing in front of these four had me questioning that.
“You have come to us for a purpose,” the Wise One in front of me prompted. The one who almost flew out of his seat at me before. He wasn’t my favorite, even though looking at him now, his stance and facial expression were identical to the others.
“Right, yes,” I said, and then cleared my throat. This was it. This was my one question. So much was riding on this single sentence that my voice shook a little as I asked, “What do I need to do in order to destroy the curse that is affecting both Ethereum and Faerie?”
The Wise Ones nodded as if pleased with my question.
“The Shadow Heart’s magic must be unlocked in order for it to be used to destroy the curse.”
This thing in my bag right now was what could destroy the curse? I was about to ask how to unlock it, when another spoke up.
“To unlock the Shadow Heart, you need to take it to the belly of the sea and combine your magic with your mate’s.”
The breath stilled in my lungs and when no one else spoke after that, I started to panic a little.
Take it to the belly of the sea. What didthatmean? And combine my magic with mymate’smagic? How was I supposed to do that? And then what was I supposed to do with the crystal after?
It felt like I had more questions than answers, but that might be all they were going to tell me since I’d just used my one question.
Maybe, hopefully, Zane knew what they meant by ‘the belly of the sea’. That would at least give us a place to start.
Zane.My heart dropped into my gut. I’d had doubts that he was my mate since the beginning. And now if he wasn’t, we wouldn’t be able to unlock the Shadow Heart. I had to know if he was the one.
“We don’t have mates in Faerie, but I know you do here in Ethereum, so when you say, ‘my mate’, you mean Zane, right?” I asked, praying they would answer. If they would just tell me who they thought my mate was, this would be so clear.
“We’ve already answered your one question,” the Wise One stated, and disappointment flooded me. Then he added, “But if you look inside your heart, you already know the answer to your second.”
A nervous laugh bubbled up in my throat. “Umm, no. I can assure you I don’t know.”
The Wise Ones just stared back at me, unblinking.
“Please,” I begged. “You have to give me more information. If Zane isn’t my mate, then I will fail.”
“We’ve given you all the information we are going to,” the Wise One on the left said. “We will not see you again.”
And then the room went pitch-black, and they were gone.
* * *
“Isolde,” Zane called the moment I emerged from the cave and then rushed to my side. “What did they say?”
I quickly told him everything the Wise Ones had said. “Do you know where the belly of the sea is?” I asked, and he looked thoughtful.
He shook his head. “I don’t. But we should send a message to Adrien. No one knows the seas better than my brother.”
A little jolt of something shot through my body at the thought of Adrien. A trickle of unease ran through me. I hadn’t told Zane that I questioned the Wise Ones about who my mate was, but I knew I couldn’t put off this conversation any longer.
