20. Twenty

Twenty

Willow

Fuck, the countdown is so real.

My still pruney fingers fidget behind my back as we watch all the E.F. members and faculty start gathering in the gym. It's time to go over the new plan with everyone and that just makes it so much more real.

Rather than rushing me out of the pool yesterday or telling me we had to get back to work, Corentin brought all the work over to us. Literally. Using his air, he lifted the patio table with all their files and plans on it and set it beside us so he could continue working while openly discussing everything with us.

He decided, with one hundred percent agreement from me, that we don't tell anyone that the Summum-Master claims to be my grandfather. Granted, I'm still in complete denial about it, although in my heart, I know it's the truth, unfortunately. I'm just not ready to acknowledge it.

I was so caught up in my own emotions yesterday when we left Rebel Castle, I didn't realize he ordered Blaze, and all the E.F. members there to move the remaining prisoners to the palace prison, then all of them evacuated and return to the academy. Codi and Trex took Layton and his family to the palace healing wing, where they all will stay,

He could tell I didn't understand the need for that, and sadly explained to me that the comment the Summum-Master made about not visiting the school in some time was either being referenced to Rebel Castle because that's what it was some time ago or Vito Academy.

Him, Tillman, and Caspian are confident he was referring to Rebel Castle, though. Based on Franklin's age, we know the Summum-Master is much older than him, so when or if he attended a school here, it'd be the Castle because there was no Vito Academy yet.

I instantly felt guilty because the madman is hunting me down, so now one of the two, or fuck even both, could possibly be ruined because of me. Especially now that his son's dead. I'm not sure if he knows already, but I can't imagine he doesn't. The only reason I won't say for sure is because I would've expected him to retaliate immediately and there's been nothing.

"Good morning, everyone," Corentin announces over the massive crowd now gathered in here. "Thank you all for joining us on such short notice. We have a very busy day ahead of us, so I will cut right to the chase. Due to the nature, uncertainty, and need for my entire Nexus's presence on this upcoming mission against the rebels, we've decided it's in everyone's best interest that we close the academy for a short two-week break.

"Unlike how we'd treat a temporary closure in a normal situation, we are requiring the students to leave campus. They need to be evacuated before the end of the day today, followed by all the faculty. Full-fledged E.F. members and personnel cleared by my Nexus will be the only remaining people here. This isn't negotiable. I'm deeming this a level five evacuation even though there isn't an imminent threat, so you all understand emergency protocol is now in effect. You're all aware of your responsibilities in this situation.

"My assistant Geo has everyone's locations they're in charge of handling and you'll report back to him once your areas are cleared. E.F. members report to Leader Tillman or second-in-command Ry, if you need anything during this evacuation. Arrangements have been made for any who may be charges of the academy or those who can't, for whatever circumstance, return to their homes at this time.

"I want to make this clear. Although this may seem extreme, given the situation that happened just a short time ago, I'm not willing to leave you or the students vulnerable to any sort of retaliation. Let's hope that won't be the case, but if it comes to that, we will be ready. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Thank you."

His firm, commanding voice sends shivers down my spine and my anxious fidgeting stops. I sort of expected murmuring or questions to start being thrown out, but of course not. Everyone hastily begins making their way to Geo and the E.F. members make their way to the opposite side of the gym.

Corentin's word as always is law and not in a forceful way, but a respectful one. I can't pick up a sense of doubt from anyone in this room. Everyone believes him and his intentions wholeheartedly, and that makes me preen with pride for my man.

"So, your highness, am I on admin help with you or E.F. help with Tillman and the others?" I ask as I slide my hands around him, letting my admiration for him pulse through the bond.

"Actually, princess—"

"There you are, child, come, come. We have work to do and there's someone I'd like for you to meet," Gaster calls out as he bustles through the crowd of people, dragging Oakly behind him. By Corentin's eye roll, I know whatever he was about to tell me will be told by Gaster.

"I'll see you all later then." I chuckle and make my way to each of them for a quick kiss before Gaster drags me off.

"Do you know what we're doing?" I ask Oakly as we practically jog to keep up with Gaster.

"No, he hasn't told me yet. And he refused me food until we get to wherever it is he's taking us."

"You may eat when we get to the west side of the academy. It's quite the walk, and we are…oh my, we're already late. Come on, girls," he orders frantically before deciding we'll just transport.

With no warning, he latches onto the two of us and whisks us through the darkness, then pops us back out at the other side of the academy grounds in seconds. It's about a mile stretch from one end to the next of the warded area, so I understand the point of transporting, but damn, a warning would've been nice.

"Ah, Master Cato, thank you so much for joining me. I truly appreciate the help." A man I've never met before says, sticking his hand out to shake Gaster's.

"Nonsense, no thanks needed. Mr. Blythe, these are my granddaughters I told you about, Willow and Oakly. Girls, this is the academy's Caster," Gaster says, waving his hand to the two of us.

Oakly's astonishment, love, and burst of joy hit me square in my heart, followed by a damn death grip she puts on my hand. I believe this is the first time he's ever referred to Oakly as that and she's about to fall over.

"You good?" I ask, chuckling.

"Fuck no, I'm about to cry. Did you hear what he called me?"

"Obviously. I'm standing right here," I tease.

I'm picking on her, yes, but I know exactly what she's feeling. Gaster's love is special and him publicly acknowledging her as his family, although everyone knows he doesn't have a Nexus, is a huge deal. It lets the realm know he purposely chose her.

"Yes, of course, it's very nice to meet you, ladies," Mr. Blythe says, sticking his hand out for Oakly to shake, and I laugh as she barely gets a squeak out 'cause she's still teary-eyed staring at Gaster.

"It's very nice to meet you," I say, sticking my own hand out to get the attention off Oakly.

"Mrs. Vito, I'd like to express my deepest apologies."

Well, shit.

Embarrassingly, my mouth opens and closes multiple times while my brain short-circuits. Mrs. Vito. The name repeats over and over in my mind to the point I can't get it to stop. Part of me tells myself to tell him, please, it's just Willow, then the other part is screaming fuck that own it. Luckily, Mr. Blythe carries on and I don't have to say anything yet.

"With the help of Headmaster Vito and Master Cato, I've taken numerous precautions to protect myself, and I swear to you, I'll never allow myself to be put in a position again where the academies nor anyone else's safety is put in jeopardy."

What is he…

Oh right! This is who that Germ bitch poisoned and persuaded.

"Mr. Blythe, nothing that happened that day is your fault. Gima made her own foul decisions, and if it wasn't you, it would've been someone else. But I greatly appreciate your apology," I say honestly. He's not to blame for anything.

"Thank you for your understanding," he says before giving my hand a little squeeze, then letting go. "Now are we ready to strengthen the wards?"

Oakly and I immediately whip our heads to Gaster, who pointedly ignores us, but that mischievous twinkle in his eye spells it all out for me.

"He's crazy as hell, you know that," Oakly says, over her awestruck.

"Yeah, obviously. Have you ever strengthened a ward before? I've only ever torn them down."

"Same. Any ward I've ever needed or been through was put in place by someone else."

"Gaster…"

"Yes, child."

"Does he know neither me, nor Oakly have ever strengthened wards before?"

"Well, I told him this was going to be an opportunity to hone your skills. He's not working with the students currently because of obvious reasons but was willing to work with the two of you with my supervision. Plus, you and Oakly are the strongest students in the academy. Both of your powers will greatly help."

Rolling my eyes at him, I turn back to Mr. Blythe with all smiles and faux confidence. I guess this is a lesson on the fly, so let's hope and pray we catch on fast.

"Yes, we're ready. Granted, the two of us are quite rusty since we haven't been practicing much with everything going on," I say.

"Of course, of course. Master Cato informed me of both of your rigorous schedules, so we'll do a quick recap, then get to work."

By quick recap, he meant that.

He goes over a very fast breakdown explaining setting intentions, making sure our hand motions aren't choppy, and speaking the spell clearly when pushing our power out.

Luckily, strengthening a ward is basically like everything else we do. Set our intentions, cast the spell. The only difference is the hand motions, and the spell is a single word. It's more a command than a spell.

Once a ward is formed, there're multiple hand motions that must be remembered because they each have a purpose for the ward. Lowering it, strengthening it. Just like Corentin was given a spell and hand motion for us to enter Terravile for the Alpha trials, there's a hand motion for that as well. It's called a temporary motion for guest.

So after a very fast breakdown of that, some extra mental coaching from Gaster that I pass onto Oakly, Mr. Blythe moves on to teach us the sigil for strengthening the ward. He does take his time with this because according to him and Gaster, this isn't accessible knowledge to students.

After what happened with Gima, he's been working tirelessly on reworking all the sigils made for the academy because that was a breech of knowledge. There's no telling what all that stupid bitch knew, and there're multiple students and staff who knew the sigils as well.

"I want to warn you girls before you try anything, if you get the sigil wrong when you draw it against the ward, it's going to shock you. The first time is a small warning shock, but it will grow with strength and power the more you mess up. It's a security system I put in place, hoping to deter anyone from trying to break in or betray us from the inside," Mr. Blythe warns, waiting for our nods of acknowledgment before moving on. "Perfect, so now the sigil. I'll go slow, so watch me closely."

With keen eyes, Oakly and I follow his every movement.

Using his right hand, he draws a straight line down, then from right to left, draws a sideways V. Moving to the opposite side, he repeats the same motion from left to right. Once he does that, he circles the entire sigil, then pushes his palm through the center.

He repeats the sigil for us over and over, making us follow along with him after the third time he showed us. It takes us about five times to get it to his liking, then finally, he instructs us to try it on our own, on the ward.

"Okay, so straight line, crossing sideways Vs starting from right to left, a circle, then palm through the middle as we release our power," Oakly repeats in my mind.

"Perfect. And say the command when we push our palm through."

"Got it."

Together, the two of us approach the ward and run our hand down it to get a feel for it. Like many I've already experienced, it's emitting a pulsing power that sends a vibration through my hand. I know we'd both be able to step in and out of it with ease because we're welcome, but for someone who isn't, that shit would hurt.

Releasing deep breaths, we nod at each other in unison and raise our hands.

"On my count. One, two, three," I say.

On three, we begin drawing the sigil. My intentions are set firm and clear. Strengthen and protect. Nothing more, nothing less. Those two factors are the most important and I push them out as hard as I can.

He didn't warn us that the sigil would grow more resistant as we went, but we both push through it, knowing it's the ward's way of pulling on our power. When we make our way around with our circle, it's damn near impossible to get our hands to move, but we do, and we both send our command out together.

"Strengthen."

Power pours from our palms and like a drop of water falling into a bucket, ripples flow across the whole ward.

The usually invisible barrier lights up a hazy blue as the tides of our power spread across its whole surface. What just a second ago were clear, sunny skies, are now blocked out by the blue dome that highlights the entirety of the ward. For whatever reason, I just thought the ward was like a really tall wall, but this makes so much more sense. It completely covers the academy from every angle, including the sky.

We stare, mesmerized, as the blue continues to spread until, I assume, it touches down on the other end of the academy grounds. As soon as that happens, Oakly's and my hands are released, and we can't do anything but gawk at each other.

"Corentin," Gaster says, speaking into his communicator, immediately grabbing my attention. "Yes, that was the girls…yes…okay."

Just as fast as he hangs the communicator up, Corentin pops in beside him, along with the rest of my Nexus and all of Oakly's. They all look around the now-again invisible ward, then pin the two of us in our place with their eyes.

"Shit. Did we do something wrong? Did we break it?" I ask.

"Hell if I know. If we did, it's not our fault. It's one hundred percent Gaster's and Mr. Blythe's."

"Nothing's broken, little warrior," Tillman says as he prowls toward me. Oakly takes that as her cue to move from beside me, but she doesn't get far before her men corner her as well.

"Then why are you all acting so strange?" I barely get the question out as I'm now surrounded.

Tillman takes up his favorite position right at my back, while Draken and Caspian close in on my sides. Leaving my confused, slightly concerned gaze locked on Corentin's every move. I love when he stalks toward me like a predator, rolling his sleeves up with every step, but damn, he's making me a little nervous with that look in his eye, and no one's answering me.

"Princess. You and Oakly just strengthen the entire ward," he says when he finally reaches me.

"Well, yeah. That's what we were told to do," I say, confused.

"Usually, it has to be done in sections. North, east, south, and west."

"Okay…" I mumble, still unsure if I'm in trouble or not.

"I see I'm not explaining this fully. You and Oakly just did a task that would typically take around four hours to complete with breaks in between them in order to recharge a little bit of energy. That's why I agreed to letting the two of you help so it wouldn't drain Mr. Blythe, but apparently, all it took was one go with the two of you together."

My head whips to the side and I find Oakly already staring at me just as shocked. Well, we obviously didn't know that would happen, so I seek out the one person who would have an idea of what's going on, and of course I find his ass cheesing.

"Gaster, did you know this would happen?"

"I had a hunch. The two of your powers are growing remarkably together, so I thought maybe we'd see what this did."

"That was a risky experiment. What if our asses would've been shocked?"

"I have healing vials," he says as he pats his pocket, making the glass clink together.

"Look at me, princess," Corentin orders and not gonna lie, I instantly obey that sultry demand.

"So…am I in trouble?" I ask slowly, squirming in my spot.

Shit, I hope so.

The four of them chuckle, sending vibrations all the way through to my core. Tillman's the only one who heard my thoughts, and he makes that known when he splays his hand across my belly, stepping closer to me until I feel the hard press of his cock against my ass.

"No trouble, princess. We're just incredibly impressed and very proud of you," Corentin says, and honestly, I fucking melt.

Yeah, their sexual compliments can cause me to become a puddle, but those compliments, where they express their pride in me. Swoon. It's gone from making me a nervous ball of energy to making me squeal on the inside like a schoolgirl. I get a deep satisfaction from their praises. Slowly but surely, their words chip away at the damage done from the years of constant dismissal and degradation, and I soak it up like a sponge.

"So what are we going to do now?" I ask breathily.

"Mr. Blythe, if you wouldn't mind going around each section and checking out the strength now," Corentin says, and poor Mr. Blythe looks like he saw a ghost, but he nods, then leaves. "You and Oakly can come back with us to the gym. Tillman was about to give the mission brief to the E.F. members and we were going to fill you in, but you should be there in person now."

Not the answer myself or the greedy bond were looking for, but we know it's the most important for now.

It becomes evident why he said I should be here now when we transport back into the gym. The E.F. members I'm not all that familiar with look at me and Oakly like we're the damn superiors coming to crack down on them and the ones we do know, give us respectful nods and knowing grins. I narrow my eyes on my men, and each pointedly ignore me as they walk with their chests puffed out just a little more than usual. Glancing over at Oakly and her men, they're doing the exact same.

"Damn show-off men."

"No kidding. I'm going to need a sword to pop the ego this has given Ry. You'd think we'd be the ones strutting around, not our men," Oakly says with a devilish smirk on her lips.

"We're just proud of you two and want the whole realm to know," Tillman butts in, eavesdropping on my private conversation.

"Tillman says—"

"I know what he said. I heard him. Get the hell out of my head, Tillman," Oakly demands, taking me and Tillman by surprise. I think it takes all of us a minute to catch up, then the reality of what just happened sets in. "Holy shit. You just talked in my head. Can you freaking hear me? Oh shit, Willow, I don't want him to hear us."

Tillman stops walking and stares intently at the side of Ry's face, but Ry doesn't flinch, startle, or even pay him any attention. It isn't until Tillman lays a hand on his shoulder that he notices the three of us have stopped walking and are staring around in shock.

"He can still only hear me when I touch him."

"What are you talking about?" Ry asks.

"I could just hear him talk in my mind when he was butting in on Willow's and my conversation," Oakly says.

"Holy fuck, man. That's—" Ry starts off real excited, then tapers off as Oakly's deadly glare sears into him. "Not cool. Not cool at all."

"Let's talk about this at home. It may have more to do with you, Will, than my ability," Tillman says seriously with his brows furrowed as he contemplates the possibilities.

I don't think for a second it was me, though. Oakly and I have pretty much mastered blocking him out when we want to. I think he just got an upgrade.

"Everyone," Ry bellows as we take our spots on the little platform that's still here from Corentin's announcement earlier.

"Gentlemen. I know you've all been wondering why the sudden change in plans and why we're evacuating the school. A recent threat was made against us from the Mastery leader, the Summum-Master. He's searching for my Primary once again," Tillman states, looking at me apologetically. I see now why they were just going to tell me later, but it's okay. It's the truth, so I might as well face it.

"He's made the threat of coming himself to kidnap Willow and a prisoner we were holding at Rebel Castle, so that is why we've evacuated both structures. Due to this, we've moved up the timeline for infiltrating the forest. Instead of a week, we'll be leaving in two mornings. That's the amount of time he gave us to turn over Willow and the prisoner, so while he's searching for them, we'll take on the forest.

"The plan from there is the same. No one is to interact with the vampires whatsoever. We are to locate the vampire in charge and my Nexus will handle negotiations with me. If we can work something out, he will be leaving with us. If there are hostages in the forest, they will be leaving with us. We don't want to engage in any fighting if we can help it, but it's always a possibility. So before we depart, we'll all be drinking a Bane of Essence vial. That's our best defense in a situation like this. If they can't or at least won't bite us, we have a much better shot at taking them if they attack.

"Those who aren't coming. Now with the looming threat and change of plans, you're to stay here and protect the academy, but only to the extent it doesn't cost you your life. An academy can be rebuilt, but we can't bring you back from the beyond. If an overwhelming number of Mastery show up and breech the wards, transport to the palace compound. Any questions?" He pauses, looking over the many, many stern faces. "Then get to post and positions. Continue your training and preparations to leave."

With that dismissal, Tillman sends everyone off. Including me and Oakly. Since we securely strengthened the wards, we're put back into our normal training circuit and that's the torture we deal with for the remainder of the day.

By the time we get home, my legs feel like jello, and it's dinnertime, but I'm sweating too much to even want to eat. That doesn't fly when I tell Corentin that, though. Granted, his argument about me working off any nutrition I put in my body is sound, I'm too hot and tired to care. So he sends me off to my bath and says I'll be hungry once I'm cool and clean.

Of course he's right because after an hour of me literally lying in my tub full of healing oils, doing absolutely nothing but floating here staring at my waterfall, I'm starving. The rumbling of my stomach is the only thing that convinces me to leave my oasis.

The knowing, cocky grin he's wearing as he hands me a plate full of food as I crawl into my spot makes me want to roll my eyes, but I don't. I love the fact he knew this is exactly what I was going to do. He also probably knew I was going to be pretty hangry, so he was prepared for whatever way that was going to go.

In a matter of embarrassingly fast minutes, I have the entire plate scarfed down and I'm snuggling into Caspian's cool chest. I couldn't ask for a more perfect pillow as I fall hard and fast asleep.

Shit. Why does it always have to be caves?

Waking up, if that's what I'm supposed to call this when I just appear in someone's dream, I turn in circles, trying to see if I recognize the cave. I've been in enough so far that it wouldn't surprise me too much if I did.

Sadly, the only recognizable thing is the wild thud of my heart.

After the whole finding out I could dream walk, I dove into whatever research I could find. It was with a heavy heart I learned that I don't actually pop into their dream like a dream-walker does. I'm not joining in with them on the dream or nightmare they may be having. Instead, I'm entering their subconscious while they're asleep and pulling their presence to me.

More times than not, we meet in the place they're most familiar with.

So like I popped into Aria's stone-walled prison, now I'm popping into another dark and damp cave where I'm sure someone's being held against their will. No one would choose to live like this.

"Hello," I call out, going ahead and making myself known. "I promise I don't do this on purpose, nor do I bring you any harm."

"Of course you bring me no harm. Our kind do not fight amongst one another," a deep feminine, almost otherworldly voice hums out.

The only issue is that hum isn't ricocheting around the cave. It's bouncing around my mind. I stop my walking and turn in a slow circle, looking for any sign of anyone, but my eyes don't find anything other than jagged walls. My gifts don't work as they normally would in my very much awake, corporal form, but I should still be able to sense someone else's presence.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask.

"What has brought you to me, young one?"

"I…well, honestly, I don't know. I don't typically dream walk for fun. I'm usually sent to someone who needs me or needs help. If I end up in the mind of someone else, it's usually a vision of the past." My mouth pours that information out far faster than my mind has time to tell me to stop.

"That would explain it. Willow, correct?" she asks.

"Yes, but I didn't tell you that," I say suspiciously.

I hold in the audible sound that wants to escape me when piercing gold eyes suddenly appear in the far end of the cave. She doesn't move any closer and neither do I. We both just take a moment to stare at one another, analyzing each other in fascination.

"No, you didn't. Your creator did. It's time for you to go to the forest they've locked my lord in."

But her lord. I don't like how that…

"You're…you're Keeper's treasure," I whisper, piecing it together.

Her eyes look like that of an overflowing treasure chest that holds a wealth of golden coins.

"My name is Tanith. I am bound to the lord for life. That was a willing choice on my part, young one. Your protectiveness rises quickly," she says with a happiness to her tone that simmers me down.

"It's a tad instinctual now. I'm glad Elementra gave you a warning about my arrival, but she didn't give me one, so I'm very confused. You came with him here? Well, obviously you did. Are you okay? Safe for now?" I ask frantically.

"I will tell you all you need to know, young one. I have waited many, many years for you to come."

Finally. At least someone will tell me everything when I ask.

"Keeper, as you call him, is the heir to the Essemist throne. He'd not taken power before our departure but was readying to. A responsibility and task he was assigned to complete in due time before his crowning, was to travel the realms that welcomed our kind to introduce himself and fortify the good faith we had with our neighbors, continue to encourage trade and exploration. His parents were lenient, too lenient, with him and with the time frame they allotted him to be gone because they had full faith in him.

"He has always been a man of his word, smart and powerful beyond many of our realm's comprehension, and above all else, loved and honored his family, his duty. It was his first taste of freedom, though, and that scholarly mind of his fell in love with this realm. There was so much to learn, to discover. We spent far longer here than we should have. He hadn't even realized that portals were closing he was so caught up in the newness, the fascination of Elementra.

"He spoke to the ruling family when the rogue vampires who didn't abide by the new laws were being put into the forest. The rulers did not want to hear his solutions, nor did they believe he was who he claimed to be. Due to that and him having no proof that he had found his Nexus, a Nexus he would never have, he was seized and thrown into the forest. That was back when our mental link was still fully intact, so he told me to hide, and he would come for me as soon as he could. So I did, in here. It took many years, but eventually, with no physical contact with one another, our link perished. Your creator came to me sometime after that and told me all about you and the evil that would find me first. She warned me that if I didn't cooperate with him for the time being, he'd use me to do unspeakable things and make Keeper's life much, much harder. So I have stayed put, chained by this magical contraption as his prisoner, waiting for you."

In this pitch-black darkness, it's hard to see but incredibly easy to hear, and the jingle of chains draws my sight to the sound. Tears of rage and sadness well in my ghostly eyes because she's literally chained to the fucking wall.

A lump forms in my throat as I repeat her story in my mind because based on her timeline, it was the guys' grandma who was the ruler of the time and from what they've told me, it doesn't surprise me that he got thrown into the forest unjustly. The entire situation for both is unjust and wrong.

"The Summum-Master is a great evil and a complete psycho. He's hunting for me. He's threatened to come get me himself in two mornings, so that's when we are going to the forest," I tell her.

"You must free him."

"I want to but…What all did he communicate to you before your link perished?" I ask.

"The vampires were beginning to go insane from their need for essence. They were still under his rule and his compulsion was still strong, but after some time, he was beginning to wane as well. I believe that is when our link began to fade."

"His compulsion?"

"Yes. He has the power to control the vampires beneath him with just a glare."

Well, damn, that explains a lot.

"So you know nothing of what's happened to him since then?"

"Do not be cryptic, young one. We will speak freely to one another always," she commands softly, earnestly.

I laugh lightly because that's what I've been asking for, for so long. And now it seems the only one being completely up front with me is a being not even from my realm.

To be fair, though, I'm not trying to be cryptic. I just hate delivering bad news.

"I saw Keeper's and the Summum-Master's first meeting. The Summum-Master tricked Keeper into making a vow with him. He's been using his power of manipulating blood to bind runes under the false pretenses of being released, or at least until now that's what I thought he wanted most, but now I believe he wanted to be reunited with you. To ensure Keeper's compliance, the Summum-Master has wrapped some sort of cord around his neck that will cut his head off if he betrays him. That's what's keeping me from breaking him out of the forest." I speak fast but firm, delivering the news like Corentin would.

And I was right to believe she'd take this hard. A mournful sound travels through her throat and pierces me right in the chest. No one wants to hear that someone they share a bond with is in this level of trouble.

"Describe the cord to me," she pleads.

"When it formed in the Summum-Master's hand, it looked like a slick silver whip. He slung it out and wrapped it around Keeper's throat. It formed a necklace, then it dissolved beneath his skin," I say softly.

By the sound of the chain dragging across the floor and the movement of her golden eyes, I know she's pacing back and forth. I don't know if it's a pace of agitation or she's thinking. Hopefully thinking.

"You possess all the elements of this realm, yes?" she asks.

"Three of the four. Air, earth, and fire."

"That will do. You must burn the cord, then draw it out," she says confidently.

"I'm sorry, what? He'll never let me do that. He doesn't know me, and he has more trust issues than even me. Plus, I don't have the first idea of how to do that. I could potentially cut his head off."

"He will allow you to because he will recognize you as I did. If not, you will have to convince him, and you know how to, young one."

"But I…" I trail off, swallowing hard when the knowledge I've held close to my heart spears me right through the chest. "You're right. I do. I'll have to continue keeping this a secret from them, won't I?" I whisper tearfully.

"Just for now. You can't interfere with the order in which it comes to light. You've seen the past, the paths laid, and instinctually know things others do not. You will have to make the ultimate decision that helps the many, not just one."

"You're incredibly smart, Tanith," I mumble.

"I am many, many years old and soon you will learn the ways as well. My imprisonment has slowed my aging even more. I imagine the same for my lord."

"He's seemed to age backward. He looks much healthier now than the first time I saw him. He's being fed, and he feeds respectfully. Unlike the others," I inform her gently, hoping to alleviate some of her worry.

"Our time is coming to an end. I feel your presence beginning to wane, so listen closely, young one. Be wise in the words you choose to share. My existence needs to be kept secret.

"Many steps must be taken precisely once you convince him to allow you to do this. First, you must use your claw to puncture a hole in his neck until the tip touches the silver. Do not fret hurting him with this step. He's a vampire and has been bitten harder than that before. Next, command your ancient flame through the cord. Not your normal element. It must be your flame. It will liquefy the silver. This is the part that will hurt and harm him if done improperly. You must use your earth element simultaneously with your flame to draw the silver out. If you release your flame, the cord will instantly solidify. Silver is a mineral of the earth, so it will come to your command."

As soon as her directions are delivered, I feel my mind slowly drifting and I beg it to please stop. I still have so many questions.

"Tanith."

"Do not worry, we will have much time to teach each other once we unite. I will answer all I can then. I swear it to you. Be safe and confident on your journey. And one more thing, Willow. Names have power. Use it wisely."

The cave disappears right before my eyes, but before I completely enter the darkness, I hear her otherworldly voice whisper.

Dericko Keeper.