“She must,” the Red Prophet added. Karen rolled her eyes.
Darius shifted his weight in frustration, but he did not argue. Although Charity hadn’t been in the magical world for long, she knew a Seer’s reading was like a cheat sheet for a final. These Seers agreed on the path forward, even though they hated each other, which inspired plenty of trust.
Still, Charity worried about what would come. It was pretty clear from all her dad had said that there would be a trial. That Grandmama would be judged and might even be asked to step down. Tensions would be high. Charity hadn’t assimilated very well in the Flush, and she’d been actively trying. From what she’d seen of Reagan, she assumed Reagan wouldn’t try at all. That would drive Grandmama crazy, which would add even more complication to an already complicated situation.
“You must leave behind a small force to protect the back door, Romulus,” Karen said.
“The Brink being the back door, of course,” the Red Prophet added.
“The power players must take the heir into the Realm…” Karen wiped her brow and shook her head. “That is all that has been revealed at this time. There are a lot of moving parts. After a break, I’ll try to look again and get more details. For now, however, we’ll have to go with the bigger picture.”
“All of this is about what we’d deduced,” Romulus said, and Roger nodded. “It gives us confidence. I thank you for that. You relay your findings…quite clearly.”
“I’ll try not to take offense,” the Red Prophet said, and cackled.
Romulus ignored her. “I do wonder, however. What is our end game?”
“The shifters have shown you what duty means,” the Red Prophet said, and jumped off the table like a cat. She straightened up and swiped at her hair. “You must do your duty, regardless of the outcome.” She sobered and her eyes cleared. She met Charity’s gaze. “Your quest is incredibly important—not just to the Realm, but to all the worlds. Your task is to restore order. It is to find balance. You have all the pieces. Now they will be set in motion. At the end of this, you will either have righted the wrong, or you will die, and your family and friends with you.”
Adrenaline spiked through Charity’s blood and shivers washed over her. She’d gone from a lonely, poor kid to all of this in a matter of months. She couldn’t believe anyone would go along with her role in all of this, but there was no question that they were.
“No pressure,” she mumbled, and the Red Prophet cackled again.
Ten
The next day, in the dead of night, I put my hands on my hips and sighed in annoyance as we waited in front of a jagged line cutting through the sky, marking a gateway into the Realm. Everyone in this group had more than enough magic to step through without even a twinge of pain or fatigue, but they had stopped to assess the situation all the same. I got the feeling they were worried about what was on the other side.
I hadn’t progressed that far yet. I’d purposely sat out of the Seer readings, so I didn’t know what to expect. When you pretty much only had downhill to go, hearing your fate seemed like overkill.
“I wanted to send an answering message down with a demon,” I grumbled. “It doesn’t seem right that my journey should be hijacked by a bunch of fae.”
“That’s the sort of thinking that is going to get everyone in trouble,” Penny replied, chewing on her lip and staring at the gateway.
“How do you figure?”
Emery stalked back from the group of planners like a fighter getting ready to enter the octagon. Darius stayed in the cluster, speaking to Romulus as Roger, Charity, and Devon listened in. Everyone else waited nearby, Steve leaning against a tree and a sour-faced woman whose name I didn’t remember standing guard ten feet away, looking out at the empty field.
We’d chosen a gate about a hundred miles outside of New Orleans. There were reasons for it, but I honestly hadn’t paid attention to any of them. There didn’t need to be one more boss in this outfit, and I didn’t like planning anyway. Give me a castle to storm, and I was in. Chatting about what waited beyond the keep? Yawn.
“Because you’re going to get bored and cause trouble,” Penny replied.
“I beg your pardon,” I said indignantly. “I do not cause trouble. I create mayhem. It sounds much cooler. And yeah, probably. But still. I should be sending a message to my father through a demon, then…like…”
“See?” Penny pointed at my face. I slapped her hand away. She pointed again. “You don’t know what comes next.” She nodded like I’d answered a question. “This is the right way.”