Page 10 of Ruin of Revenants

“I’ve made charms that you can wear to repel his mind-reading magic. Imbued with my blood, they will prevent him from seeing into your minds.” Opening the drawer of my writing desk, I pulled out a necklace bearing a tiny translucent vial that looked like a bloodred ruby for Lily and a simple ring with a similar vial for Owen.

“How do you know they’ll work?” Owen asked, studying the charms as if they’d personally offended him.

I laughed. “I already tested one out on Liana.”

“The Message Keeper?” Lily’s eyes widened.

“Yes. Father sees her all the time, so she can’t conceal any of her thoughts—usually. But I wanted her to start telling me anything she sees regarding the revenants, and I didn’t want Father to know.”

Owen frowned. “But isn’t he suspicious now that he can’t read her mind?”

“That’s the beauty of this charm. It lets you choose what he can and can’t see. He’s none the wiser that you are withholding specific thoughts from him and leaving the unimportant ones for him to read.” I smiled proudly as I held out the necklace to Lily.

“If I’d known you were getting me jewelry, I would have asked for a more formal offer of courtship first,” Lily joked, fluttering her lashes. “And then I would have refused.” She laughed and smacked my arm lightly. “But what excuse am I going to make to Father? He’ll think I have an admirer.”

I shrugged, relieved that the tension in the room had eased. “I don’t know. Say Owen gave it to you,” I teased.

For a half-second, I thought Lily stiffened beside me as she latched the necklace around her throat, but when I glanced her way, her smile was serene, betraying nothing. Owen snorted as he accepted the ring from me, sliding it on his index finger. “That would be a lie.”

“Oh, for the ability to lie like Archer,” Lily muttered playfully, but something about her smile and the lightness in her voice seemed forced.

“Just be vague about getting it from a friend and he’ll assume it was from your cousin Selene,” I said. “Doesn’t she always encourage you to spoil yourself?”

“Of course.” Lily flounced back to the armchair she’d been sitting in, and I once again wondered if she was trying to hurry away from Owen or pretend she wasn’t ruffled.

“I suppose you make good points,” Owen conceded after a long moment, circling back to the pressing topic at hand. “About giving the people hope. Not about much else. I still think your plan is madness, but I know you. You’re going with or without us, and I’ll be cursed to the underworld by Mortius himself before I let you leave on this foolhardy mission alone. You need someone to watch out for you.”

“Make that two someones,” Lily cut in. “What time do we leave?”

Chapter Five

Isoria

Darkness clung to the rainforest so thickly it felt like a living thing as I trod along the Passionfire’s muddy banks, gradually wandering farther than I ever had before. The guards posted at the edges of Everhaven to watch for intruders hadn’t questioned me—going swimming in the river was a normal occurrence, and bringing a pack full of soap, a towel, and a change of clothes wasn’t odd either. They didn’t know I’d filled it with travel items and food I could take on a journey, or that I planned to shift once I ventured deeper into the forest and out of sight.

Solea hadn’t been heard from or seen in generations, or so the stories went, but she still had a temple resting near the edge of Rainsong. Traveling near the capital’s border was practically suicide. But if I didn’t find answers, I feared we were doomed anyway. Surely the goddess of sunlight and fire would know what was harming the phoenixes that were strengthened by her element. And if she wouldn’t speak to me, perhaps the temple worshippers would have an answer.

All I knew was that I had to do something. I refused to sit by and watch my people waste away, watch Aunt Aurora, Mama, and little ones like Zinnia suffer and perish.

My stomach twisted with guilt at the worry I’d give Mama, Bren, Brook, and the rest of Everhaven when I didn’t return. But worry was better than death.

Drawing a deep breath, I glanced over my shoulder to reassure myself I was out of the guards’ view at last. Everhaven was lost behind rows of ancient, mossy trees and climbing ferns and foliage.

But a rustling sound made me pause. I whirled on my heels, prepared to identify myself to the guards. Instead, a familiar, sandy-haired male stepped into the moonlight.

Bren’s gaze immediately snagged on my pack. “What are you doing, Izzy?”

I stiffened. “Bren, you have to let me go. You saw what happened earlier, how Zinnia’s lost her magic. We’re running out of time.”

Bren’s brow was furrowed, his gaze distant as he searched the forest. “I know,” he said at last. “I just didn’t want it to be you. I wanted it to be me.”

“I know,” I parroted back to him, lifting my eyebrows meaningfully. “Brook told me you tried to sneak off to Maris.”

He smiled sheepishly.

“But I’m the oldest,” I continued. “Let me take the risk.”

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he heaved a sigh. “What do I tell Mama? What if something—”