But I was ready to think on my feet.
“Come with me.” Hecate spun around and led us through the door that opened to a never-ending hall lined with bookshelves from top to bottom. A buffet table ran down the center, displaying a variety of food and drinks for those who’d been too impatient to wait for Hecate and had gotten lost wandering the Library, trying to search for the answers to their questions on their own.
How long had they returned to the Library, day after day, before giving up on getting an audience with Hecate and venturing to find a book with the answer to their question themselves?
What question was worth risking the loss of what could be years of their lives?
And why did Hecate appear in the Library some days, and not on other days? And why would she only answer our questions if she met us in the ivory hall, and not if we were lost perusing the endless books on the shelves?
But I wasn’t going to ask any of those questions. At least, not today. Because the answers wouldn’t help the situation on Earth. And saving Earth was the number one priority.
“Who wants to go first?” Hecate asked.
She’d barely finished speaking before Ethan stepped forward.
“How do we kill Lilith?” he asked, his voice low and deadly. His eyes gleamed with spite—with his need for revenge.
I was grateful he was on my side, and not fighting against me. Because anyone in Ethan’s path was bound to get burned by the dragon king.
It was so surreal that he was an actual king.
Hecate gazed down the hall. Her eyes swirled purple like the night sky, and mist poured out of them, ghostly tendrils reaching down the halls and shelves as they searched for the book with the answer.
It didn’t take long for a dark gray book to fly out of the shelves and into her hand.
The mist retreated back into her eyes, the book opened, and a breeze blew the pages until landing on one in the center.
She looked at Mira, then at me, and then her gaze returned to Ethan’s. “To defeat Lilith, you’ll need the fourth Holy Object,” she said. “The Holy Crown.”
“Wow,” I said, since the identity of the fourth Holy Object had been one of the questions I’d been contemplating asking. “Where can we find the Holy Crown?”
The mist swirled out of Hecate’s eyes again, searching through the Library.
I’d asked a question.
I hadn’t meant to ask it. But it had come out so quickly that I hadn’t realized it.
Mira’s lips were pressed into a firm line.
Ethan’s expression betrayed no emotion. Although it was impossible to truly know, since he still wouldn’t look at me.
The mist retreated, and a deep red book flew down the hall, smacking into Hecate’s waiting hand. She must have placed the other book down while I’d been lost in my thoughts.
Just like before, the breeze opened the book to a page. Although this time, the page was near the end of the book.
“Hm,” she said as she studied the page. As always, she didn’t let any of us see what she was reading. “Very interesting.”
I bounced on my toes and waited anxiously for her to continue.
“The first place you need to go to find the Holy Crown is in Ember,” she said. “To the hidden dragon kingdom. Ethan knows where it is.”
Ethan simply nodded.
“I didn’t realize the Crown could be in more than one place.” I made sure to phrase it as a thought instead of a question.
“Neither did I,” she said. “But, you asked where to go to find it. Ember is the first place. It’s likely that you’ll figure the rest out from there.”
“You say it like you know it for sure.”
“There are many things I know,” she said. “And many I don’t.”
It took all of my effort to stop from rolling my eyes and huffing.
Why were the people with divine knowledge always the most hesitant to share it?
“The journey to Ember is a one-way trip,” I said, since I’d learned it in my studies. “Once you enter, you can’t leave.”
“That’s because it’s used as a realm for the fae and mages to send their prisoners,” Ethan said, scowling. “The spell keeping them there is stronger than any barrier spell in existence. Not even the strongest, darkest supernatural prisoners can figure out to escape. My dad was the only one who could come and go as he pleased. But he never told me how…” Realization flashed over his eyes, and he reached for the chain around his neck.
“What?” Mira asked.
“My dad wore a similar chain around his neck,” he said slowly, as if he were trying to recall something he’d learned long ago. “I can’t remember what hung from it. But according to Hecate, I have witch blood in my veins. Which means either my father or mother had to have witch blood, too. What if it was my dad? And what if he also had a key?”
“You’d know if your dad wore a key like ours,” Mira said. “Right?”
“Except I didn’t have a key until recently,” he said. “The magic of his key could have stopped me from knowing what it was, or even from remembering it was there.”
“Maybe.” Mira didn’t look convinced. “But you said the spell on Ember is stronger than any other barrier spell. That no one can leave once they’re there. What if the barrier blocks us from being able to use our keys, too?” She quickly glanced at Hecate. “That question was directed toward Ethan,” she clarified. “Not to you.”
If Hecate was put off by Mira’s snapping at her, she didn’t let it show. “I know,” she said simply. “Now, what’s your question?”
Mira didn’t look at either me or Ethan. “Will the keys be able to take us to and back from Ember?”
Hot anger swirled within me. Why did Mira ask her question without consulting us first?
Don’t be a hypocrite, I thought. You asked your question without consulting either of them.
But my question had slipped out. Which, I supposed, Mira’s had, too.
Besides, it was information we needed to know.
“Since I created the keys, I don’t need to consult a book to answer your question,” Hecate said. “My keys allow to you walk through the door of the Library and into any place you’ve ever been. This applies to every realm, including Ember.”
“But we’ve never been to Ember,” I said. “So we can’t use our keys to go there.”
“Yes, that’s how the keys work,” Hecate said.
“So how are we supposed to get there?”
“I’m afraid you’ve used up your questions for the day,” she said.
“Then it’s a good thing I know the answer,” Ethan said. “Because there are only two portals that lead to Ember. And I’m pretty sure we can get to at least one of them.”
8
Gemma
Instead of returning to our rooms in the Haven, we went straight to the tearoom.
I picked up the pen and notepad sitting on the coffee table.
Meet us in the tearoom, I wrote. We have news.
I ripped the paper of the notepad, folded it, and placed it in my upturned palm.