But the murder of the Goddess of Fate and Celestial Movements would not go lightly. And Valyrie would feel the weight of it strongest. Her Starsearchers would be in question.
“Once she wakes, we will have to ask after the Starsearcher who was with the Chosen Child in the mountains,” I said, quickly quieting when a sweep of power pushed at the walls.
But Xenique fluttered around the corner, and my hesitation subsided at the recognition of her amethyst ether.
“How is she?” our Soulguider sister asked.
“The same,” Ptholenix confirmed.
Xenique seemed to be satisfied with that explanation. She dropped her voice. “We must be prepared for an accelerated timeline now that he has discovered how to slay them.”
“We have to find?—”
She cut me off. “He is more motivated now than ever. He is close to opening a temporary veil.”
“How close?” I clipped, agitation at her speaking over me crowding my chest. I did not take kindly to the way these emotions flooded in and out of me so blatantly after so many centuries of them being suppressed.
“With the bounds he’s recently passed, I would wager any day now,” Xenique said. “The one Moirenna opened to get here has sealed tightly again.”
“Can you stand in his way?” Ptholenix asked, giving Xenique a very pointed stare.
“I may have something.” She traced the blade of the hooked sword at her waist, etched with crescent moons as an ode to her mother. “It is no guarantee, but it is a precaution many years in the making.”
“We must buy as much time as possible,” I asserted.
Xenique nodded. “When the time strikes, we will have only moments, so the girl will need to be ready. Have you spoken to her?”
“No.”
She leveled me with a glare. “Can you?”
“I will when the time is right.” My tone quieted both her and Ptholenix for a long moment.
Then, the Firebird muttered, “We need to tell Bant the time to push them has arrived.”
“And they all must believe it is their idea,” I reminded.
Ptholenix’s eyes narrowed on the window. “I will assist him in that.”
Studying his stoic features, I nodded. “Fear not. I think these warriors are much more determined to exact their revenge than those we once knew.”
Which meant—for my fellow Angels and myself—they were either much more significant allies than we ever partnered with or much grander threats than we were prepared to face.
Chapter Forty-Four
Vale
Starfire crashed behind my eyes,the voices of eleven Fates screaming in collective anger. Or was it terror? Perhaps some were even…gleeful? Their hands stretched through the gauzy curtains of their realm, trying to grasp me, to claim me.
TheFatecatcher.
They showed me all manners of futures, some my very own paths, some of those I loved, and even strangers across Ambrisk. Across realms.
Cypherion with a constellation Fatesworn tattoo around one shoulder.
Ophelia with wings burning at her back.
A girl I thought I recognized but wasn’t quite sure.
