Page 52 of The First Scar
"In your satchel. They didn't take it."
I looked down. The pack sat beside the bedroll, flap undone. I withdrew the tablet, my fingertips tracing its smooth, warm surface—still humming with that faint pulse. Still cracked.
Serenya watched me clutch it like a lifeline. Her expression was guarded.
"Brannick told me what happened," she said. "The Wight. The wards. The Veil glitch." A pause. "He said you were impressive."
"He said that?"
"He said 'terrifying.' I translated."
I almost smiled. The silence stretched between us, filled with everything I wasn't saying. Serenya, as always, heard it anyway.
"Something's wrong." Not a question.
I turned the key over in my palm, watching the hairline fractures catch the torchlight.
"When I pulled this from the pedestal, the Veil...shuddered. Like I'd torn something that was barely holding together."
"The outer seal."
"Maybe." I set it on the bedroll between us. "They said we need one more of these. One more key, then the Codex itself. But if pullingthismade the Veil react—" I traced the crack with my fingertip. "What happens when we take the book?"
Serenya stared at the tablet, her brow furrowing. "Have you asked Kaelen about it?"
"Asked him what? 'Hey, is your grand plan to save the Shadowmarked actually tearing reality apart?' I'm sure he'd be very forthcoming."
She didn't argue. We both knew better.
I picked it up again, running my thumb along the deepest fracture. The stone hummed against my skin—patient, waiting, indifferent to the doubt churning in me.
"I don't trust them," I said quietly. "Any of them. Kaelen plays his cards too close. Brannick's too friendly. And Maxx—"
"Maxx is Maxx."
"Exactly."
Serenya closed her book, setting it aside. "So what are you going to do?"
I tucked the key back into my satchel, fingers lingering on the worn leather.
What was I going to do? Play their game. Run their missions. Fetch their keys and smile like a good little weapon while they pointed me at whatever needed breaking.
But I'd keep my eyes open. Count the cracks—in the Veil, in their stories, in the way Kaelen never quite answered a direct question. And when I had enough pieces to see the whole picture...
"We don't have to depend on them," I said. "I just have to beat them to their own game."
Serenya studied me for a long moment. Whatever she saw in my face, she didn't argue with it. Instead, she reached into the folds of her robe and withdrew a token.
A charm. Woven from deep crimson threads, no larger than my thumb, its surface warm against my palm when she placed it onto my hand.
"The Seer twins forged it for me," she murmured. "A Blood-thread charm. It burns if either of us is in danger." Her fingerscurled mine closed around it. "A tether, Amaria. Even when we're apart."
I stared at the thing in my palm. Such a small object to carry so much weight. A promise.
I tucked it into my pocket, next to the key.
"You've been busy," I said. "While I was out nearly dying."
