Page 94 of Unraveling Fate

“I will open the gate and take you to the crossroads.” Thomas’s words sounded rote, memorized, but bitterness laced his voice, and creased lines around his mouth. “And you must follow through to the end and accept the consequences.”

The room wavered. The hardwood floor under Canon’s feet softened to grass. The walls faded to moonlit hillsides, and the ceiling crumbled to stars. Canon unfolded his arms, mouth falling open as he took it all in.

Thomas gestured to a doorway glowing in the side of a hill. “After you, candidate.”

Cadenza wrappedReyna in a hug when she finished her set. “That was amazing!” She pitied the audience for not being able to fully appreciate everything Reyna just did.

Reyna tossed her braids over her shoulder with a smile. “I know. Now it’s your turn.” She bumped fists with Cadenza. “Get it.”

Cadenza took her place on stage, gratitude clashing with nerves.Get it.She’d known Reyna only a few short weeks, but that small phrase expressed more confidence in Cadenza’s abilities than anyone in her family ever had.

The band started into her first song, and she drew breath.

Reyna slipped outof the dressing room while Cadenza sang. She hurried down the hall, behind the kitchens and ducked into a dim corner by a metal door marked HVAC. The door was locked, but not with the kind of lock she could open with lock picks. She pushed the tuning fork flush against the door, the locked doorknob resting in the curve of the iron, and wrapped one hand around both tines and knob. Heat shimmered off her skin as her stored intent flooded over the door.

“Open to me,” she commanded.

She didn’t wait for a visual change but stepped forward through the metal door onto a grassy plain. A single tree grew next to a dirt path. Under the tree a crystal box rested on a pedestal. No hinge or visible opening marred its clear sides. Inside, two wooden eggs, each the size of her face, sat upright on a cushion, looms carved into the burnished wood.

When she tried to make off with the oracles the first time, she hadn’t known how to open that box. But now, Cadenza’s soprano lilted through the hall of the club and followed her into this hidden pocket of meadow.

Reyna smiled.

A rippleof energy shuddered over Cadenza’s skin. That was her cue. The vault room was open.

Right on time, her aria started. She closed her eyes, searching for the vault’s song. A flash of music, like lightning, bright and uncontainable. She sent her voice on the hunt.

Because a Spinner had made the box, and only a Spinner could open the box.

The doorin the hillside opened to a wide room. Canon took it in with wonder. When Vasilios told him Thomas had more power, he never imagined that meant making an entire country club disappear or opening portals to…wherever this was.

Rock walls rounded to a ceiling of earth. Tree roots covered with fireflies dangled from the center of the ceiling like a chandelier. Horse stalls lined the side of the cave. With actual horses in them.

Canon was out of his league here; he had to admit that. He’d traded a magic password for a shot at something epic, at the risk of everything. He shot a glance at Thomas, not sure if he were allowed to investigate the room—the cave?—but the old man just sank wearily into a chair next to a worn wooden table and waved for him to look around.

Canon edged closer to the row of stalls on quiet feet. Too much noise seemed like an intrusion. Well-muscled bays, palominos, and grays occupied the stalls, their hooves looking capable of splitting stone, but none of them moved. He waved a hand in front of one’s eyes. Nothing. The herd stood stiff, asleep or frozen. A suit of armor stood next to each horse.

Or…Canon leaned over a stall door for a better look. Ghostly skin peeked from between shoulder plate and helmet.Not just armor. Men.A knight stood ready in each suit of armor. He walked down the line. Not just men. One of the suits was shaped for a woman. But all of them were motionless like the horses. He reached to lift the woman’s visor.

“I wouldn’t.” Thomas’s voice echoed off the stone walls.

Canon turned. “Who are they?”

“You’ll find out. If you make the proper choice.” Thomas pointed to two objects on the table that Canon could swear hadn’t been there before.

“What choice?”

Again, Thomas pointed to the table. “Pick one.”

Canon approached the table. A plain, white button-up shirt lay crumpled next to a newspaper.

“You want me to pick one of these?” he asked, frowning.They’re just random, meaningless things.

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “They’re neither random, nor meaningless.”

Canon flinched. “How am I supposed to pick one when I don’t know what they’re for?”

“The cave selected these items for you specifically, for your choice. You wanted in. I told you no. You forced me.” Thomas leaned forward, eyes blazing. “Now choose.”