Page 153 of Heir of Broken Souls

“Are those statues of?—”

“The archangels,” Elysia says in wonder as she steps forward, mesmerized.

I follow her line of sight to the back of the dome, directly across from me. Sure enough, all along the wall and climbing high, every other balcony displays statues of the seven archangels.

The sight of it makes me pause.

“What is this?” I voice aloud.

It’s far too large to be a religious building, and yet the overgrowing moss, the silence, the faded stone colors are an indication of how old this place is.

“I think the question we need to be asking is which direction do we go?” Harlow muses, her gaze analyzing every stone.

Delilah hums her agreement. “And what exactly is it we’re searching for? This place is a maze. It’ll be a miracle if we don’t get lost.”

“We don’t have the time to get lost.” My eyes rove around the building beneath the water, a hidden treasure, before I repeat the riddle from the prophecy. “Search for that which repeats all you do, its silence a message for you.”

Delilah groans. “Does anyone have any idea what that could be?”

“I’m seeing nothing but stones” comes Harlow’s dry reply.

Delilah steps forward, a slow, hesitant move before she marches across the cluster of stones and benches. Following her lead, I hold my tongue, waiting to see where that brilliant mind of hers leads.

She stops beside the water and peers into it.

“I once had a dream before I came to the Fae lands, one where I was kneeling by the water where the mermaids reside. I looked into the water and at first, I just saw my own reflection staring back at me, until it blinked when I did not, and I realized a mermaid was watching me.” She rises, locking her gaze on mine. “Repeat all you do—it’s a reflection.”

My eyes shine with pride.

Footsteps sound behind me, along with low murmurs, but I can’t seem to take my gaze away from Delilah. It takes everything within me to rip my sapphires away from her baby blues.

Elysia is slow to approach the water, even slower to reach her hand out and graze her fingertips across the crystal-clear water. I can’t tell how deep it is, only that it snakes through the middle of the courtyard.

Until Elysia gasps, the water cupped in her hands.

“But it’s not just a reflection, because this water leads to nothing.” She suddenly declares, “It’s a mirror.”

Axel snorts. “I doubt we’re going to find a mirror in a place as ancient as this.”

Rising, she shoots daggers his way, making the grin fall off his face. “I doubt it would make us raise this thing only to have us go back into a body of water.”

Harlow clicks her tongue. “And the only other thing to reflect all that you do?—”

“Is a mirror,” Delilah finishes.

Axel spreads out his arms, scoffing at the notion. “This place is huge. How are we going to search a place as ancient as this for a mirror?”

“We split up,” Delilah says simply.

“Is that wise?” Lenox asks. “Hazel could be following us.”

“The pod will stop her before she enters, and if she manages to get past them…well, Aurora will be ready to fill her belly.”

Delilah says all this with such confidence I almost believe her until I step onto our bridge and feel the anxiety rolling off her in waves.

Cautiously, I offer, “Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to stay together?”

I slide my hands into the pockets of my pants, a nervous tick of mine that I can never shake, but tension within my chest eases at the feel of the fabric.