Page 12 of Obsidian Dream

“Death.”

Khalida recoiled.She forced herself to relax her grip on the fragile scroll, lest she tear a corner.“It stopped moving.”

When she held it up, the image was static.In the center, surrounded by a thin dotted border, was a symbol she semi-recognized.Two stylized omega symbols, mirror images of each other.

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“And hope,” continuedSypha in a hoarse whisper.“The symbol will lead you to a relic, and that is the key to finding Ninhursag and the Anki.”

Chapter Five

TALIK

“There are easier waysof asking for a holiday than pretending to be in a coma.”Talik slid into the closest chair to Sypha, careful to keep space between them so he wouldn’t accidentally touch them.He patted his pocket.“But I admire your commitment to the cause.”

Meraki had moved farther away from the door, giving them privacy, or at least the illusion of privacy.

A hint of a smile flickered on Sypha’s face as another single bloody tear streaked across their face.Talik paused and resisted the urge to wipe the tear away.Touch heightened Sypha’s power.He didn’t want to be the reason they were in more pain, and truthfully, he didn’t want them peering into his future.

“Stop trying to distract me.You owe me one of your Ferraris.”Sypha chuckled before they began to braid their ponytail.“I think the orange one.”

He crossed his arms.The orange one, as Sypha put it, was a classic F8 Spider Ferrari that was one of his favorites.“How do you know you won the bet?”

It had been a very stupid bet, but he couldn’t resist the challenge.Sypha didn’t always get it right, had sometimes gotten the vision disastrously wrong, but not this time.Until he had seen it happen, he would never have believed Dante Delacroix would surrender power for anyone—including his twin sister’s life.But he had.It had been for Rieka, the hybrid archaeologist and lost heir of House Atlas, the only living descendant of the royal family.Dante had also agreed to Rieka’s wish to not announce her bloodline and claim to the throne.A throne that had been empty for more than eleven thousand years.A claim that would have cemented Dante’s legacy within Atlantean history.

It had been nice to be wrong, for once.Perhaps worth his Ferrari.

“I am a seer,” Sypha said.“Not that it has stopped you from placing a bet against me for the last two hundred years.”

One day, he would win.Odds were in his favor.And the bragging rights would be phenomenal.He wouldn’t be above using it, no matter how petty it sounded.

Sypha shifted on the bed, rolling their shoulders.“Is Vandana’s flame protected?”

Talik smiled, not bothering to hide it.“If you mean the eternal violet flame that is protected within House Azaes, then yes.But if you are asking if Rieka can freely wield the fire, it’s a bit more complicated.”

Vandana’s flame, Talik had never believed the stories that as long as the flame burned, a descendant of the royal House of Atlas walked the earth.Now he knew it to be true.