After a quick shower—during which, the Pugs of Destruction watched me from the sink, the toilet, and the trash bin—I met Cade and Ana at the front of the castle.
A cool, late-summer breeze whipped the blond hair back from Ana’s face. Even in August, the highlands were chilly in the evening. In the distance, purple heather stretched across the mountains and the blue sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds.
“Are you ready?” Ana asked.
I zipped up my leather jacket, blocking the breeze. “Definitely. I need answers.”
“You’ll get them,” Cade said. “Come on.”
We followed him toward the cliffs, passing by the stone circle that sparked with magic. So far, I’d avoided the circle, a sense of—I don’t know, heaviness—weighing on me anytime I thought of visiting. There was clearly great magic there—magic that repelled rather than welcomed.
As curious as I might be, I was no dummy. I’d listen to the magic.
The sound of crashing waves grew louder as we neared the edge of the cliffs, and cawing gulls swooped on the air. I hadn’t had much chance to come over here, not with training keeping me busy. And evenings were full of visits to the Whisky and Warlock. It was so novel—and so cool—to have a group of friends. So Ana and I had been sticking to them rather than wandering the cliffs like heroines in a gothic romance.
Late afternoon sunlight glittered on the blue sea, which crashed against the cliff a thousand feet below.
Cade stopped near the edge. I inched closer, peering down at a thin strip of beach.
“There’s a cave down there,” Cade said. “Located in a narrow bay to the left. Climb down the stairs, and you can’t miss it.”
I eyed the jagged little bits of earth that sort of looked like stairs. “Those are the stairs.”
“Aye.” His brow wrinkled. “Be careful.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. “Good thing I’m not afraid of heights.”
Just of inaction. And of losing my magic.
So this would be easy-peasy.
“Seriously, be careful,” Ana said.
“No need to worry.” I gave her a quick hug, then looked at Cade. Now was not the time for a hug. I needed my head clear for this. And we weren’t really at that stage yet. Hugging goodbye was relationship stuff.
We were currently at the staring hotly phase of this thing.
I saluted, then turned and started down the stairs.
I was only about ten feet down, with the ocean wind buffeting me, when I realized that maybe there was a little reason to worry.
These stairs were really more like jutting rocks inching their way down the cliff face. I clung to the stone as I descended, carefully placing each booted foot.
Halfway down, pebbles shifted beneath me. My skin chilled as adrenaline spiked. I scrabbled for a handhold, but I lost my balance.
And fell.
My heart leapt into my throat as I flailed, grasping for the cliff.
All I met was air.
Chapter Two
A scream lodged in my throat as I reached for solid ground. Gravity dragged me down the stairs as the stone cut into my chest and belly.
Finally, I grasped a crevice in the rock, digging my fingertips in. I jerked to a halt, half on and half off the narrow, jagged stairs.
Panting, I clung to the stone, arms shaking and skin chilled with fear. Once my mind had calmed—not much, of course—I scrambled onto the stairs and clung to the stone cliffs. Thank fates, the treads on my boots did a good job of holding onto the rocks.
Why the hell did superhero chicks in movies always wear high heels? What if you had to climb down a mountain cliff to consult some mysterious seers? What then, Hollywood?
I chuckled nervously and shoved the inane thought away. I hadn’t been scared of heights before, but that was changing.
Slowly, I got to my feet and continued down the stairs, keeping a wary eye out for bits of gravel.
Gulls swooped by me, eyeing me with beady black eyes as the wind tore my hair from my ponytail. I flattened myself against the cliff and shouted, “I have no bread. Go fishing!”
The gulls flew off, cawing their displeasure to the wind.
“You and me both, guys.” Why couldn’t the seers hang out in the forest? Or at the Whisky and Warlock?
But then, nothing good ever came easy.
I kept climbing, slowly and steadily, my limbs shaking with the strain. The wind bit at my cheeks, and I focused on it, trying to ignore the danger.
Crashing waves roared as I neared the shore at the bottom. By the time I stumbled onto the stony beach, my heart was pounding and my breath came short.
I took a moment, panting, and enjoyed the sight of the waves. Sparkling blue water rolled against the pebbles, and behind me, the cliffs towered.
“Whew. All right.” I dusted off my hands and set off toward the left, seeking the cove that Cade had mentioned.
I found it quickly—hard to miss on a straight beach—and ducked inside. It was short and narrow, a stream of ocean water flowing back, and I followed it along the slender gravel beach.
Soon, I turned a slight corner, and a massive cave loomed in front of me.
“Holy fates.” I stopped and stared, awed.
The mouth of the cave was at least three hundred feet tall and just as wide. I could see right in. Cracks in the cave’s earthen ceiling allowed light to stream through. Green moss coated the dark stone walls, and the ocean flowed in to form a pool in the middle of the cave. A circle of land surrounded the water.
I hurried into the cave. Magic sparked against my skin, an unfamiliar signature that filled my mind with a calming sense of knowing.
Knowing what exactly, I had no idea. But since this was the Cave of Seers, it made sense. Seers knew stuff. It was kinda what they did.
It was dark in the cave, with a strange carving on the wall that looked like a large head. Planks of wood were scattered around, old and rotten, along with some metal tools flecked with rust.
How had this place once been used? The tools looked really old.
Slowly, I circled the interior of the cave, searching for a seer or a clue or something.
“Just bits of old stuff,” I muttered.
A large rock sat in the middle of the cave, right at the edge of the water, bathed in a pool of sunlight that shined down through a hole in the rock ceiling.
I shrugged and climbed up onto the rock. It looked as promising as anything else.
As soon as I reached the top of the boulder, magic rushed over me, fizzing against my skin like carbonated water. It glowed bright all around me, a golden light that nearly blinded. I fell to my knees, my head spinning.
When my vision cleared, I was no longer in the cave.
A huge tree towered overhead.
No, it wasn’t huge. It was ginormous, humongous, ridiculously giant-sized. So big I couldn’t see the top, and I couldn’t conceive of the circumference. My brain felt like it was short-circuiting as it tried to comprehend.
As far as I could tell, it was as big as the world itself.