I stared, holding my breath, as an image took hold in the water. The image looked murky, but soon Gina’s dark curls and copper skin came into view. She was lying on a pale stone floor with her hands tied behind her back. They hadn’t gagged her, at least. Her clothes were soaked though, probably from portal water.
“Do you know where that is?” I asked. “Is that the fortress in Acre?”
“It’s not our fortress.” He frowned. “It looks like Jerusalem stone.”
“So she’s in Jerusalem?” I asked hopefully.
“It’s possible, but it exists elsewhere too. So I couldn’t say for sure.”
I gripped the tub’s edge, staring at her. “She’s only a kid.”
She must have been terrified. Was there something I could do to let her know I would come for her?
“I’m going to sing to her,” I said. “Brace yourself.”
I swirled the water in the bath, and I started singing—Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball. I changed the lyrics, letting her know I was on my way to find her. The music wended its way through the water, vibrating through the scrying reflection.
I saw Gina’s eyes fly open. Then, she wiggled her body, swinging her legs around so she was sitting up. She’d heard me.
I touched the skin under my shirt where I’d been shot, and I found it totally healed over. Then, I brushed my fingertips over my side where the fuath had stabbed me. Smooth as silk.
“I’m healed,” I said. Relief and surprise bloomed in my chest. “But we need a new plan. I can’t just sit around random places trying to listen for an athame. We need something a little more substantial to go on. I want to end this all now.”
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “You’re right. And I think I have an idea.” He quirked an eyebrow. “You rest for a bit. I’m going to get you more information from Beira.”
“The woman who thinks I’m destined to slaughter everyone.”
“She’s never been wrong before.”
“Mmm-hmmmm.”
I wasn’t going to try to cut off his head and fertilize Nova Ys with his blood, but it seemed I couldn’t convince him of that.
I woke to the scent of coffee, and already my mouth was watering. I sat up straight, and for the first time looked around the apartment. It was tiny—one room combined with a kitchen. And it had obviously been decorated by someone with feminine tastes. Right now, Lyr was sitting on a white sofa surrounded by pink sequined throw cushions. A knitted unicorn blanket hung over the sofa behind him.
Elvis was playing from a laptop. It kind of felt like heaven.
Something seemed off about Lyr, though. Different. Maybe it was the fact that he’d set two plates of Froot Loops on the coffee table before him. Not bowls, plates—along with a knife and spoon lined up on a neatly folded napkin.
Maybe it was the fact that his entire body was dripping water onto a pastel unicorn blanket.
“I was just about to wake you,” he said.
I rubbed my eyes. “The smell of coffee woke me. You’re wet. Did you get to Beira?”
“Yes.”
“Did she reiterate that I’m evil?”
“I made you coffee.” He pointed to a mug on the bed next to me. “You seemed keen on it earlier.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You know how to make coffee?”
He glared at me with the offense of someone who was just asked if he knew how to read. “Coffee is a Ysian delicacy. Its ancient traditions were passed down to me by the finest coffee makers. Also, I found Nescafé.”
I picked up the mug, breathing in the scent, and I took a long sip. He’d added milk, and it tasted amazing. “How is Elvis playing?”
He nodded at the laptop. “God of music.”
“Please tell me the Witch gave you some useful information,” I said.
He shook his head. “I asked her how to find your human.”
I sat up straight. “And what did she say?”
“She said that Gina is in the city of the evening star.”
“What is that?”
Lyr lifted a hand, and a bright, bluish light shone above it, like a star. It transfixed me. “The evening star, deity of the dusk, was also known as Shalim. Or Salem. He gave his name to Jerusalem. And moreover, she said that the athame is there, too.”
I smiled. Finally, we had some direction. “Brilliant.”
He nodded. “We just have to get there first.”
“Well good thing we have the—” It was at this point that I realized what was different about him, and what exactly was missing. “Where is the World Key?”
“Beira doesn’t give out valuable information without a sacrifice. She asked for either you, or the World Key.”
My mouth opened and closed. “But—won’t she be able to rip open worlds and harvest demon armies now?”
Lyr shook his head. “It’s only a temporary loan, and I strengthened the protective spell on it. She doesn’t want to use it, anyway. She just wants adoration. Giving her the key I protect has fed her need for love.”
“It doesn’t seem like quite a fair deal,” I said.
“It wasn’t just a bit of information.” Lyr reached into his pocket, and he pulled out a small, glowing, sea-green gem.
I stared at it in his palm, entranced. I wanted to snatch it up in my hands. “What is it?”
“A gem that once belonged to my mum’s family. Beira said it would stop you when you try to take my head off.”
I arched my eyebrow. “If I’m such an evil threat, then why are you telling me how I can be stopped? I could just steal that from you and I’d be unstoppable.”
He shrugged. “Two reasons. One, I can overpower you easily even without a magic gem, and two, maybe I like the thought of you crawling all over me and frantically trying to get into my trousers.”
I rolled my eyes, but my cheeks heated too.
Lyr stared at his breakfast again, and he scooped up a spoonful of Froot Loops. He took a bite and grimaced. “Is this food? I was under the impression that it was food, but I see now perhaps I was mistaken.”
“It is food. And if you’re not going to eat it, I will.”
I rose from the bed and crossed to the coffee table. Starving, I shoved a handful of Froot Loops into my mouth. Had a frosted breakfast cereal ever tasted so delicious? “Why did the Winter Witch want a world key that she can’t even use?”
“A sacrifice isn’t about utility. It’s about offering up something the supplicant cares for.”
The Winter Witch had asked for the key—or me. Did that mean Lyr cared for me?
I watched him as he pulled an entire roast chicken from the fridge. He pulled off a leg and started eating it.
“Take it with you,” I said. “We can drive. We have to get to the athame before the fuath do.”
The city of the evening star…
With a jolt, I realized I hadn’t even told Lyr about the fae I’d met in Acre. The one whose eyes looked like twilight. “Wait. There’s something you should know. Someone came after me in Acre. A fae male I’d never seen before. He knew who I was. He called me the daughter of Malgven. He said he might need my help someday, and he wanted to know where she was. He was very intent on that point. He wanted me to eat some enchanted fruit and tell me where she was. But I don’t know who he meant.”