Page 66 of Heir of Broken Souls (HOBF #3)

Chapter 66

Delilah

I ’m certain at least six hours have passed since stepping through the castle doors, but when I check the time on a nearby blood-red clock, only an hour has gone by. The groan that has been threatening to rise finally does. We’ve searched endless halls, rooms, books, and nooks.

With every passing minute and every failed find, the tension in Knox’s shoulders tightens, and it only worsens as he rises with clenched teeth, a muscle ticking in his jaw as I once again don’t turn up with anything.

Nothing.

Not a single thread of information to follow.

Even the lower levels were a dead end. Harlow sent a mental image to Knox half an hour ago that she was going to search the grounds for cellars instead, and considering Knox hasn’t heard a peep from her, I dare say she found nothing.

Sighing deeply, I pause in the hallway as Axel and Elysia’s bickering float down the stairs from above us.

Knox’s fists clench and unclench by his sides. “I’ve never felt so utterly useless in my life.”

Sadness fills my chest at the hope I’m watching vanish from him. The joy and elation we all felt within the sunken island is well and truly gone.

“There’s still someplace I’m sure we haven’t searched. Perhaps it’s not within the castle but Air Court itself?”

He groans. “That’s worse.”

The bond between us strains, his emotions trickling down the bridge that he can’t seem to stop. I’m helpless, standing in the midst of it.

Stepping toward him, I gently lay my palm on his chest, feeling the erratic thump of his heart beneath my touch as he lifts silver-lined eyes to mine.

“I left them to fight a battle…for nothing. I left my people to die. I’m not there beside them in their final moments and it was all for nothing.” He shakes his head as a tear rolls down his cheek. “My father never would have acted so cowardly.”

Fisting his shirt, I shake him slightly. “Stop it! You are far from cowardly. You have fought against demonic hounds, Phookas that came close to taking your life…water dragons! All to save your people, Knox.” My voice lowers, aware of the mates upstairs. “Everything you have ever done is for your people, and what you do is far more than enough, and I will not allow you to speak of yourself so lowly.”

I can tell my words barely make a dent. Knox’s belief in his unworthiness had been rooted within his mind far before I met him. All it means is that I have to be persistent and keep digging that horrid belief out of his beautiful heart.

Knox can’t allow himself to hope right now, so I’ll do it for the both of us.

“We can do this, Knox. Together.”

He swallows thickly. “As one.”

I can’t help but sigh in relief as I feel the bond loosen its hold and the sadness retreat. “As one,” I parrot, leaning against the wall at my back.

And then yelp.

Yanking out the crystal necklace I find it glowing, burning.

My eyes widen. “Of course!”

At the ruckus I caused, footsteps rush down the hall from above and before I know it Axel and Elysia are beside Knox in a heartbeat. The former eyes his king, no doubt knowing that he’s beating himself up.

Spinning on my heel, I close my eyes, trailing my fingers along the wall to walk blindly down the hall.

“It’s veiled, similar to the complex with its dark magic, but this is different. It doesn’t become visible with pure elemental magic—it has to be touched.”

I hear a small gasp fall from Elysia’s lips and the soft murmur of Axel’s voice as he explains the necklace around my neck.

I wonder why no one has done so before.

The thought is there and gone as my feet come to a halt.

My head cocks, my brows furrowing. “This feels oddly familiar.”

Sucking in a deep breath, I push my flat palm against the wall. Suddenly, I tip sideways, air rushes around me, my hair flares out in all directions, a scream leaves my lips—and then an arm wraps around me.

Knox holds me, catching me an inch above the floor before I face-planted in?—

“Oh my forgotten gods,” I breathe.

“It can’t be,” Axel murmurs.

Knox lifts me, his face stunned. “I-i-it’s not?—”

Elysia steps forward, peering at us all as if we’ve gone insane. “What is it?” She wrings her hands anxiously. “Why are you all freaking out? It’s just a library.”

Axel shakes his head. “It’s not a normal library.”

My magic sizzles at the sight of what stands before me. “It’s the library from the complex…in the human lands.”

* * *

“You’re telling me that a library you found in the complex where Peter was experimenting and torturing the magical creatures of Aloriah is now…here?” Elysia slowly asks, confusion etched across her soft features.

“That’s exactly what we’re saying,” I murmur, my eyes unable to tear away from the sight of it.

History seems to repeat itself. The necklace at my sternum hums, vibrating and shining wildly as if enthralled at being reunited with the library. Knox and Axel venture farther in, their awe stark across their faces but their palms never leaving the hilt of their swords.

“I don’t understand how this is possible,” Axel murmurs.

Knox shakes his head, his brows furrowed. “Maybe if he had rebuilt it or created a replica but…” He stoops, inspecting a shelf of books. “The titles are the same. How can two places be identical and exist at the same time in different locations?”

“Magic,” I say.

“Powerful magic,” he adds.

“Ancient magic.”

His brow quirks. “Dark magic.”

My lips purse at that.

Elysia, perhaps similarly to me, feels a call within her and begins to follow a blind trail. One that I walked mere months before in the human lands.

My feet glide along the shining black-and-white checkered tiles that fill the endless halls. The white shelves, adorned with golden trim work, house thousands of books, and there’s even more on the second floor. My gaze snags on what it did last time—the archangels.

“Did the Fae used to worship the archangels?” I ask, inspecting the archangels depicted along the columns, their bodies painted gold.

“Yes and no,” Knox murmurs, seeing what I’m looking at. “Why do you ask?”

“There’s so much art of them everywhere. Statues, columns, paintings…”

“They were our greatest allies in the most infamous war of Aloriah, and we’re grateful for their help.”

Peering upwards, I take in the dome artwork, identical to the library in the compound. The seven archangels make an appearance again, whispering to one another, flying, and reaching out their hands to each other. The mural is filled with tones of pastel pink and purple hues, along with a dash of blue throughout.

My head snaps down to Elysia, who walks down an aisle of books, laser-focused. Axel and Knox appear to be deep in conversation now, so I follow Elysia, surprise alighting within me as she takes the same path that I did months ago.

Three hallways and corners later, she comes to a stop.

Stepping beside her, the breath within me escapes in a rush as shock renders me useless.

A symbol captures not only my attention but Elysia’s.

It sits in the middle of a black leather-bound book filled to the rim with aging papers, making my heartbeat rise. Like before, a memory sits beyond my reach, niggling at me to remember as I peer upon the symbol—an upside-down triangle, surrounded by a simple circle, with blood dripping at the edge onto a human skull.

“What is that?” Elysia spits.

“I’m not sure, I saw it last time. I didn’t have time to open it, though.”

“It’s horrid .” She turns wide eyes to me. “Do you not feel it?”

I shrug. “If anything, I feel drawn to it.”

Elysia takes a step away from me, calling out, “I think we found what we needed!”

My head shakes in confusion as Knox and Axel arrive beside us within the blink of an eye.

A boulder sits in my throat. “It’s just a book,” I argue.

“A horrible one at that. Gods, what is emanating from it?” Axel coughs as if it’s choking him.

I shift from foot to foot, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling of their revulsion at the book. “Am I the only one who feels drawn to it?”

Knox turns to me with concern.

A fiery red and black shadow swirls into existence behind him. He doesn’t so much as flinch as Harlow steps through it, cocking a hip. “You summoned me?” The cocky gait drops as her eyes land on the book. “Gods, what is that?”

Knox’s eyes never leave mine. “I suspect this is the book that holds the key to all of our answers.”

Elysia grimaces. “Well, I don’t want to touch it.”

“I think Delilah is the one who needs to. After all, she was the one who received the prophecy in full.”

“And it seems I’m the only one it’s calling forward,” I add hesitantly.

Knox nods. “And that.”

“You don’t seem hesitant about the dark magic.”

It’s the only thing that can make a Fae act the way he and his court are. The question remains, though, as to why dark magic isn’t affecting me this time.

He shrugs. “I’m curious more than anything, and hungry for answers.”

With those words, I take a steadying breath and face the black leather book sitting propped up in the middle of the shelf. When I lift my hand, I’m surprised to find it quivering.

This is the moment we have put everything on the line for. These are the answers we need. And the answers I dread to find.

The moment my fingers graze the leather book, electricity snaps down my hand, making me flinch, and yet at the same time my magic rises. Trepidation lifts along with it, the current of magic buzzing with excitement for… revenge .

How strange.

It’s an odd heady feeling, strong enough to make my fingers remain on the book as if my magic is urging me forward. Taking it off the shelf, I’m surprised at how heavy it is, and it nearly slips through my hands.

“Perhaps lay it down,” Knox offers.

I gently place it on the shiny tiled floor, the thunk of it hitting reverberating through the room.

Axel clears his throat when all I do is stare at it. “Are you going to open it?”

I can’t help but grimace. There’s a reason my magic is so excited for this and yet terrified. Taking a stuttering breath, I will my heart to settle, the bees buzzing in my chest to land and for my hands to stop shaking.

How many more revelations can I handle? Will my life be turned upside down again?

Knox lays his palm on the small of my back. “We’re here, every step of the way. Just breathe.”

Nodding, I do as he says and take another deep inhale of air.

Whatever we find, I’ll be here for you.

Letting his words soothe the ache in my heart, I kneel, my fingers gently touching the book. This time, I’m prepared for the current of electricity that hums through my hand. In one fell swoop, I fling it open, and then fall back with a startled gasp. “W-what is that?”

Knox falls to his knees, his eyes wide. “I’ll be damned.”

But he’s looking at it in awe, not fear. I relax slightly. I lay a hand on my pounding chest, trying to calm my erratic heart.

“I’ve never seen such magic,” Elysia breathes.

“Gods, it would have to be…” Harlow tapers off. “How long ago was this magic banned?”

“ Banned? ”

Knox finally pulls his gaze away from the book to explain, “It’s a memory.” His right hand lifts, as if to reach out and touch it, but he yanks it back, thinking better of it. “It’s a form of mind reading and manipulation. It was banned millennia ago.”

My eyes widen at that, at the blue ball of iridescent, water-like power swirling above the page I opened the book on.

“Why was it banned?”

“The courts ruled memories sacred, but if you ask anyone outside of that meeting, it’s because they were fearful of commoners stealing their memories and hoarding them for trading.” He swallows thickly. “It became a capital offence, punishable by death.”

My brows flick high, mirroring Elysia’s as she gasps. “People used to trade memories?”

Harlow nods. “Secrets, in court politics, was and still is all about leverage. What better way to make your enemy suffer than to sell their weakness to the highest bidder?”

I hum, my eyes lowering to the words scribbled on the page, the ball hovering above them. “Does anyone know the language this is written in?”

“What are you talking about?” Knox asks, suddenly alert.

I lean forward, pointing. “The words here—” The moment my finger touches the paper I’m transported back to the prophecy. To the moment my body was lying within the water, the seven archangels standing above me and talking in their native tongue. Except, this time, it changes on the fifth archangel, and I find myself speaking without intending to, repeating the archangel’s words.

“ For the clues of your truth shall arise,

With the history of the seven comes a surprise.

What you once thought was born was instead created,

Not of love and tender touches but of gentle curses. ”

My body slumps backward, the translated prophecy stopping abruptly on my tongue. Knox catches me as the book seems to spit my hand off it.

“More bloody gibberish,” Harlow huffs.

“It translated it for her,” Elysia says, her eyes wide as she clings to Axel’s hand.

“How can the book do such a thing?” he asks.

Harlow moves to my side, but looks at Knox. “Do you know how to watch the memory?”

“Yes, but someone who can’t mind read shouldn’t watch it. I’ll have to share it to your minds.”

“Is it dangerous?” The words are small and husky, as if whatever spoke through me used up all of my energy.

Knox rubs his hand up and down my back. “It shouldn’t be, but it could also be a trap.”

“I’ll hold onto you along the bridge,” I say resolutely. “You shouldn’t go in alone.”

“Do you think you can?—”

I cut him off. “I’m watching it with you.”

Harlow’s eyes slide to me, there and gone in a blink. “Are we sure that’s wise?”

“I’m the only link that can keep him tethered in case something within it tries to keep him there.” Searching Knox’s face, I note the apprehension deepening his frown lines. “What is it?”

“I’m more worried about whose memory it is.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Axel says solemnly.

I dip my head. “That part of the prophecy isn’t going to make sense unless we watch it.”

“Are you sure you want to?—”

“I’m coming,” I say sternly, allowing him to see the conviction in my gaze.

Knox groans before straightening. “We will all go.”

“Didn’t you just say it’s dangerous?” Harlow asks flatly.

Knox deadpans, “Do you not trust my magic?”

“I trust you, so much so that when you say it’s dangerous I believe you.” She scoffs. “I’m not going in there if there’s a possibility my mind will be trapped.”

“It won’t. Mine will, but you can all stand along the bridge with Delilah and view it through the archway of my mind.” Knox turns to me, his eyes pleading. “Delilah will keep me tethered to this world.”

“What bridge?” Harlow interjects.

I’m tempted to snort. For a court that knows everything about everyone, I can’t believe we’ve been able to keep such a thing from them.

Knox smirks. “The bridge that is my haven.”

Harlow clicks her fingers between us, earning a scowl from Knox. “Hurry up and do it then! We’re taking so long, Lenox probably thinks we’ve perished at the hands of demons.”

Knox clears his throat. “Everyone join hands.”

Clasping Knox’s in my left and Elysia’s in my right, I close my eyes and find Knox’s soul standing on the bridge, along with Harlow, Elysia, and Axel.

Knox doesn’t allow them to gawk at our place or ask questions. He gives me one solemn glance before turning and striding into his mind. I stand at the threshold of his door, keeping it open so I won’t lose him.

Clearing my throat, I draw his court’s attention, flicking my chin to the sky.

“Knox will project what he sees up there.”

Harlow claps her hands greedily. “Let the show begin.”