Page 22 of Shadows of the Lost Relic (Vanguard of the Ancients #1)

Chapter 22

Lyra

I could see how nervous Caspian was. I was nervous too, but I was doing my best not to show it. I was taking my cues from Theo, trying to exude a little of his confidence and control. This was all going to go fine. If I just wanted it enough, I could manifest it. Wasn’t that the way the triplets worked? They made fate bend to their wills.

I wasn’t able to spend as long comforting him as I wanted. I hated seeing him anxious. He had been my calm in the storm of my training, the one I came to when I just needed to exist without anyone expecting something from me. It made me feel guilty that I couldn’t do the same thing for him.

We each had cases and packs to carry into the caves. Some of it was just supplies in case there was a cave-in. Evan had been very insistent that we be prepared for everything to go wrong. I couldn’t blame him; our luck hadn’t been great recently. But carrying things in the volcanic heat was unbearable and exhausting. It wasn’t far to walk, but I had already drained half of my water bottle before we got to the cave Theo had picked out.

Probably a good reason to be thankful to Evan for packing spares.

I had been hoping it would be cooler in the caves, away from the sun. We weren’t near the volcano, but the ground still radiated heat. I tied up my hair, but sweat trickled down the back of my neck, regardless. Although it was tempting to let the boys do all the work, I had never been the sort to be waited on. All the emergency supplies went against one wall, Evan and Kane weaving fate around them to keep them safe.

Theo helped me unpack the supplies we needed for the ritual. Some of them we had sourced from the Vanguard, but others had been harder to get. The triplets had been jet-setting around, calling in favors and black-market contacts. I had made sure they got enough to do the ritual for each of us so we wouldn’t have to go through all of that again. Not to mention how reassuring it was to have extra in case we messed this up. I had never done anything like this before.

Caspian was pacing the cave, his good hand opening and closing over and over. Morwen had insisted that we not bring the hammer with us. A smart decision, really. I wasn’t sure if he realized how much he didn’t like being separated from it. I had been the same way with the Amulet of Erebus. Even now, I could feel the lingering ghost of its weight around my neck. I found myself reaching for it in moments of stress. The bond with these artifacts was insidious and deep.

Theo had collected the three jars of red sand we were going to need, and taking one of them, I handed the third to Evan. We each started working on laying out a different part of the ritual markings on the ground. They were complex, but we had been studying them and had brought print-outs to make sure they were perfect.

The cave was quiet, the only sounds our footsteps and the pouring of sand. I didn’t know about the others, but the anxiety and anticipation made me too nervous to speak. I was trying to focus on the markings, and not on all the things that could go wrong, or how far we were from any help.

Far too soon for my liking, the markings were in place. Evan and Theo had laid out the precious metals and other ingredients we needed, all in the correct places. Looking over the space, I couldn’t find any more reason to delay than our own anxiety over what came next.

Caspian was holding his scarred forearm, staring at me as though I wasn’t there. A step towards him snapped him out of his trance. I could see the fear and the doubt in his eyes, so I stepped closer, until I was right in front of him. Reaching up, I cupped his face in my hands gently, urging him down to me as I stood on my tip toes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

“It’s going to be fine, I promise. I know this is going to work.” My words weren’t just for him, although he needed them most.

I had barely gotten them out before he pulled me into a crushing embrace, his lips searing against mine. The heat inside him was building up, but that wasn’t what had me so hot suddenly. I hadn’t known Caspian could kiss like this. Like it was the last kiss he was ever going to have. I didn’t want to pull back, wrapping my arms over his shoulders, my fingers sinking into his curly hair.

I couldn’t tell you how long the kiss lasted. It could have been seconds, or it could have been hours. When Caspian’s grip on my body finally loosened, and my feet touched the ground again, I was panting for breath. The world had shrunk until it was just the two of us. His gray eyes were dark, like a dangerous thunderstorm, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, but the sound of a throat clearing behind me made me stop.

Right. We weren’t alone here.

Kane flashed me a grin and a wink, causing my cheeks to heat. We hadn’t really talked about things. That was going to have to change. And I still needed to talk to Evan. There were so many things to do, and not nearly enough time to do them in. But now was the time to focus on the ritual. Caspian needed us.

We all moved into our places around the markings, circles of sand and lines weaving between us in an intricate pattern. We were at the cardinal points, with Caspian in the center of us. I took a second to look at each of the triplets before I took the box of matches from my pocket. Crouching down, I struck one, my hands surprisingly steady as I lowered it to the sand, and with a spark, the ritual began.

After what happened at the forge with Caspian, being surrounded by fire wasn’t my favorite thing, but luckily, the flames stayed low to the ground. I held my breath, waiting to make sure all the sand was burning before I started the chant. We had practiced the words, and soon my voice was joined by four more, until they were weaving a complex song together.

It was hard to tell if anything was happening. The scroll had laid out the steps for the ritual, but it hadn’t told us what to expect. We were all looking around at each other, not stopping our chant, but trying to work out if anything had changed.

The first thing I noticed was the metal we had laid out had turned into a liquid, following the lines of flame on the ground. Then Kane lifted his hands, red strings coming from them, moving towards Caspian. The look of surprise on his face told me he wasn’t doing it on purpose. A second later, Evan had lifted his hands, and then Theo last. They looked surprised, but not scared, so the ritual continued.

It was only moments before the lines of fate had wrapped around Caspian. They circled his arms, legs, even his neck. From there, they came back out, following the lines of fire until they were wrapped around each of us. They reached us in the same order, Kane first, then Evan, Theo, and finally, they reached me.

As the threads touched my skin, they became warm. Not hot, but like I was being touched by Caspian. The color also changed to a tarnished gold with threads of black in it. Unlike with the men, the threads only wrapped around my wrists, weaving themselves into complicated braids as I watched in wonder, still chanting the words of the ritual.

Before I could tear my eyes away from the threads that had become cuffs around my wrists, they flashed brightly, light traveling down them. I looked up in shock, only to see all four men fall to the ground, the fires between us going out. For a second, I couldn’t move, the shock freezing me in place. The threads that had been winding through the air now hung limp on the floor, still golden, but no longer glowing.

Forcing myself to move, I rushed to Caspian first. He was the closest to me. He was lying on his side, and it was an effort to roll him onto his back. A quick check told me he was still breathing, his pulse steady, but shaking him did nothing to wake him. Looking closer, the color had come back to his face, his eyes no longer marred by dark circles underneath.

So why wasn’t he waking up?

I checked on Kane next, and the same thing. All vital signs were good, but even pinching him as hard as I could did nothing to wake him. I checked Evan and Theo as well, but all of them were unconscious, and I couldn’t bring them out of it, no matter what I tried.

We needed help. Getting to my feet, I dashed towards the emergency supplies, only to be brought up short, the binds around my wrists becoming taut. Looking over my shoulder, the threads, which should have been more than long enough, had become much shorter chains. When I tried to pull against them, they became heavier and heavier, until I could barely stand.

Fear lanced through me as I stepped back into the remnants of the ritual circle, the chains turning back into the golden threads.

Fuck. How was I going to get out of this?