Free the huntress 04 - eternal magic by Linsey Hall Page B

to know what happened to my parents.” I gripped Aidan’s hand harder, trying to control the tone of my voice. I was so close to answers! So close to a person who could tell me.
    “They have closer friends than I who should share that story.”
    “Who? Were they part of the organization you spoke of?”
    “Yes, but we do not speak their name, for they do not exist. Not on this side. And they will not exist if the Order of the Magica discovers them.”
    “Can you tell me how to find them?” 
    “Unfortunately, no. They are well hidden for safety.”
    Who the hell had my parents been involved with?
    “You operate outside of the Order’s jurisdiction?” Aidan asked, curiosity in his voice.
    “We operate according to our own codes and laws,” Ophelia said. “When the Order requests our help, we lend it. But we will not be governed by politicians. Knowledge often defies them.”
    Fair enough. 
    Magic crackled in the air, bringing with it the scent of the desert. Across from me, a man stiffened, his gaze going blank white. The room hushed, every face turned toward him.
    Was he having a vision?
    “Cassiopeia Clereaux.” The man’s voice was monotone. Every inch of him, from the sweep of his white robes to his dark hair, was deadly still. “You have come to the crossroads and succeeded, but the road becomes difficult. A great confrontation is coming. Without your magic, you will fail. Yet time is getting short to recover it. If you are smart and brave, you may prevail, but the way is growing perilous.”
    My heart thundered as I desperately tried to commit the seer’s words to memory. The crossroads he mentioned had been foreseen by Aethelred. And his reference to a confrontation and needing my magic to survive it was exactly what Aethelred had said yesterday.
    When he finished speaking, he shook his head, and his gaze cleared.
    “Another one?” he asked, his voice much more animated, though vaguely confused.
    “Yes, Kyros,” the woman next to him said. “Quite a good one, if I do say so.”
    He smiled. “Excellent.” His gaze met mine. “I presume it was about you? I hope it was helpful.”
    “It, ah…was,” I said. “Though I wasn’t sure I understood it all.” Or maybe I had. I just didn’t want to understand it. None of it had been good news, exactly. 
    “Understanding comes with time, my dear,” Kyros said.
    Great. With time. Just what I had tons of.
    Either way, though, the locket held answers. I looked at Nuria, who held the necklace. “Will you tell me what the locket says? How to open it?”
    She nodded, then bent her head. “The inscription on the front is directions for how to open the locket. I have made many in my day, and there are several different ways to get inside. Within the locket, there is something that your parents wanted you to always have.”
    My heart thundered, covetousness roaring. Of the thousands of times my dragon soul had coveted treasure, it had never wanted anything like this.
    “How do I open it?”
    “Only you are capable. You must enter the Pool of Memory. There, you will receive instructions on what to do.”
    “Where is the Pool of Memory?”
    “Here, in the Lyceum of Metis.”
    Thank magic for small favors. “Could you take me to it? I’d like to do it now.”
    “Of course.” She rose. “Come with me.”

    Nuria led Aidan and I through the rooms and courtyards until we reached a small building at the back of the compound. It was the oldest building by far, the stone roughhewn and ancient.
    “This is why we built the Lyceum here,” Nuria said. “The Pool of Memory is ancient and has been here far longer than we.”
    I followed her into the small building, ducking under the low doorframe to avoid hitting my head. The room lacked the many windows of the other buildings, though it was not dark. An opalescent sphere hung suspended in midair, shining a pearly light on the pool below.
    The pool was a natural spring made of boulders and crystal blue