Nodding, I look back at the book. “He was right. Her memory is locked in here with magic—magic that is becoming corrupted and rotten with no outlet. She brought me here so I could see and know the truth…so I could change it.” I meet every one of their eyes. “She chose me, the land chose me, it had been trying to find the one each cycle. Every hunt, it tests the human to make sure they are strong enough for what it needs.”
“What it needs?” Zee repeats, confused.
“Parum anguis…” Nero frowns, but my eyes lock on Krug.
“I can save magic, but it’s much bigger than that now. To save magic, we must save the lands, and to do that, we must heal them. We must free their memories.”
My eyes close as I feel a comforting hand stroke my arm.
Her ghost.
“We must reunite the king and his lost love.”
ChapterThirty-One
“What do you mean?” Grim rumbles, standing against the wall with his arms crossed as if he’s afraid to touch anything. “Reunite them? They are dead.”
“I understand that, but—” I begin, picking up the small black journal.
“Saving magic is one thing,” Krug adds, “but saving the lands? The humans will never allow it.”
I glance at him. “Look, I know—”
“And besides all that, didn’t you say the king is an asshole?” Grim asks. “He won’t agree to such a thing, and that’s if the older kings were thoughtful enough to leave things where they need to be for this to work—”
“Stop!” Nero snarls, cutting everyone off. “Let her speak.”
I shoot a grateful glance at the naga and take a deep breath. “I know it sounds crazy, and I can’t explain how I know anything at all, but…she told me.”
Zetros tilts his head. “Who told you?”
“Emelyn. The old king’s human love.” I hold up the journal. “I told you she allowed us in, but it’s more than that. This place is infused with her memory, with her spirit, and her magic is brushing against me, telling me what must be done. I’m the only hunt to ever make it this far, and now I know what has to be done.”
“We reunite them,” Bracken repeats. “I remember a time before the war, when there were talks of King Kulmak and his bride. There wasn’t much time between the announcement and the declaration of war.”
“Because the King of the Humans, Haveron, murdered his own daughter,” I explain. “He took Emelyn and killed her because Kulmak refused to produce offspring with Emelyn. It was too risky for a minotaur and a human, even with magic, to reproduce.”
“Wait,” Zetros says, taking a step closer and eyeing the journal. “You’re saying that the human king planned to steal the baby for himself for its magic?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” I reply with a nod. “He’d always planned a power grab, but poor Emelyn paid the price.”
Grim has been silent the whole time, watching me carefully. “When you say reunite them, you mean…”
“Reunite their bodies so they can rest in peace,” I murmur.
“But it’s been centuries,” Bracken points out. “Surely there’s nothing but dust and ash left.”
I don’t know how I know it, but when I feel that phantom touch on my arm again, I shake my head. “No. We’ll be able to unite them.”
“How do you know?” Krug asks, studying me.
I shrug, having no real answer. “I just do.”
Everyone falls into silence, my words no doubt repeating in their minds as they mull them over. I don’t know what they are thinking or if they believe I am insane, but when Nero slides forward and takes my hand, I smile gratefully at him.
“If you say we must reunite them, then that is what we shall do,” he says gently, the soft curl of his lips revealing just the barest flash of his teeth.
One by one, they all move forward and place their hands on my skin, offering their support, until only Krug stands apart from us. I meet his eyes, waiting.
