A Hero of Realms(49)

“And go where?” I said, my voice strained.

Julie hesitated again. “Maybe we should go to my father… The box,” she murmured.

Oh, joy. The Elder box-trap thing.

I would’ve let out a bitter laugh had I not been so devastated. Her suggestion had just signified my entrance into depths of desperation that even I hadn’t believed I would be forced to plunge into.

Even if somehow, Julie’s idea worked, how would we reach her father now that we had no jinni to transport us? My hunger pangs were growing stronger by the hour. Soon, they would be unbearable.

I didn’t have days to spend sailing the seas in search of Julie’s father’s ship. Besides, I didn’t know how long Aisha would be able to last in me. I didn’t know if she would last as long as Bahir, whether she possessed even half as much stamina as him. And once she came out, that would be the beginning of the end.

Julie drew in a sharp breath. “Look, Benjamin,” she said. “Whether or not we look for the box, or think of something else, we can’t just stay here on this island.”

“And where exactly is this island anyway?” I said. “Even if we were going to go looking for your father—whom you suspect is hovering around The Tavern somewhere—we don’t even know where we are. I have no idea how to navigate seas in this supernatural dimension.”

“I’ve spent nearly twenty years at sea,” Julie replied. “I know something about navigating these waters… Though I do need to know the exact location of this place.”

“And even if we managed to find your father’s ship in time, how would we get the box?” I asked. “We have no jinni available to airlift it.”

Julie drew in a deep breath. “I… I could return to my father,” she said, her voice low with resignation.

That made me pause.

“Return to your father?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I would go back to him.” She lowered her eyes to the ground. “There’d be no other way to get the box to you. It’s in my father’s study—which is usually locked—right at the base of the ship, so even if I managed to slip on board without anybody noticing and enter my father’s study, I wouldn’t be able to get off the ship without being spotted lugging a huge box… I’ve thought about it,” she said, more firmly this time. “Helping you is more important than my escape from my father.”

I stared at her, surprised that she would be willing to do this for me. Then I reminded myself for the umpteenth time that this was not just for me—this was for the safety of all realms. The Elders’ resurgence would affect all vampires, humans, and God knew how many other species now that the Hawks were no longer a strong enough force to keep the Elders restrained.

“Just wait here,” Julie said. “I’ll go back up to the castle and try to find out from Uma’s sister exactly where we are. The situation might not be as bad as we think. For all we know, we could be close to The Tavern.”

The former I found hard to believe, but I let Julie leave, watching as she scurried up the hill toward the stone building at the top.

Alone now—or as alone as I could be with two supernaturals fighting a war inside of me—I fixed my gaze back out on the ocean. The sky was still overcast, thank God. Without a jinni, Julie and I would’ve been roasted by now.

Wanting to take my mind off the hollow feeling in my stomach as I waited for the vampire to return, I started running further up the shoreline to look for any kind of vessel that we could use to leave this island. The main problem with Julie’s suggestion was that finding the box was only half of the battle. Even if she managed to get her father to hand it over to me, or somehow swiped it for me in some other way, then what? I’d have to travel to Cruor in order to be close enough to trap Basilius—the very place that I had been fighting tooth and nail to stay away from.

I shook myself. I need to stop trying to think so far ahead. Just one step at a time, or I will drive myself insane.

Whatever we decided to do, Julie was right that we could not just stay on this island. We had to keep moving. I sped up and reached the end of the current stretch of beach, arriving before a large cluster of boulders. I was about to lay my hands on the rock nearest me and clamber over the cluster to continue my search for a suitable boat to escape in when a familiar female voice spoke behind me.

“Benjamin Novak.”

I spun around. My jaw dropped to the floor as I found myself face to face with… “Hortencia?”

The small, fragile young woman, clad in a long dark robe, stood quite still before me, a silver visor covering the fleshy pits where her eyes should’ve been. Her lips were clamped tightly shut.