When I resurfaced, I was back in Lilith’s cave. Gasping, I climbed out of the pool and pulled out the rolls of parchment beneath my cloak. They were soaked. Before they could disintegrate, I dried them with my magic, thankful to see that they were still readable. I turned back to face the Ancient, who was now floating in the pool. I held out the leather binder to her.
She crawled out of the pool and towered over me, snatching it from me. She flipped through the pages with her bony fingers. Seemingly satisfied, she handed it back to me. I was confused. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with them. Hell, I didn’t even know what they were.
I looked around the cavernous chamber. Rhys hadn’t arrived yet.
“Rhys?” I said, looking up at her.
She pointed toward the door. I assumed that meant I was to go and fetch him. Tucking the binder beneath my arm, I hurried out of the chamber and along the tunnels.
I ran out toward the entrance of the cave and saw Rhys sitting on a boulder, staring out at the ocean.
“Rhys!” I shouted.
He jumped to his feet, a look of relief on his face, and climbed up toward me.
He held my hand and pulled me close to him.
“She wants to see you now,” I said.
He gripped my hand and we walked back to the chamber.
The Ancient was still standing beside the pool, her thin arms crossed over her chest. She spoke up. Rhys looked at me. “She says you have a bundle of maps.”
I withdrew them from my cloak and handed them to him.
He flipped through the pages.
“What are they?” I asked.
“Not now,” he said, turning back to the Ancient. He continued talking to her.
When there was a gap in their conversation I asked anxiously, “So what now? Did I pass her test?”
He looked down at me and nodded.
I didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified. At least now I would have Rhys by my side for the rest of the way. It just unnerved me that I still had no idea what this involved.
He pulled me down closer to the witch. Lilith was so freakishly tall she even towered over Rhys. I sat down on the floor beside the pool as they finished their conversation.
Finally the witch turned to me and, looking me directly in the eye, rasped, “Mo-na.”
The sound of my name coming out of her decaying lips sent chills running down my spine. I stood up again and walked closer to her, gripping Rhys’ arm as I did.
Then she said something else to me.
I looked at Rhys, my eyebrows raised. Even he looked reluctant to translate for me, hardly making me feel better about the situation. “She is asking, ‘Are you ready to become a Channeler?’”
I nodded, even as my stomach churned.
She hissed at me again.
“She wants you to say yes,” Rhys said.
I looked her.
“Yes,” I said clearly.
She chewed on her lower lip and then gripped my hand. She forced me down on to the floor and hissed at me again.
“Sit cross-legged,” Rhys said.
I did as I was told.
Rhys bent down next to me and sat opposite me on the floor. He placed a hand on my knee. It wasn’t often that Rhys betrayed fear, but looking at me beneath the Ancient’s grip, now he did.
The Ancient’s hands closed around my skull, her sharp fingers digging into my scalp.
An excruciating pain erupted from where she was touching me and ran down my neck to the base of my spine. I cried out. Rhys’ grip on my knee tightened.
She spoke again, and then let out a harsh cackle.
I looked at Rhys through squinted eyes, tears of pain dripping down my cheeks.
“She says now is the time that you need to trust me more than ever.’”
Chapter 26: Kiev
Now that I’d dealt with my siblings, it felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off my chest. I wasn’t completely alone in this madness. Although they were hardly enthusiastic, I trusted that they wouldn’t betray me.
As soon as they left, I hurried back into the bathroom. Anna’s head rested against the wall, her eyes closed, mouth hanging open.
I feared for a moment that I’d already lost her. I gripped her jaw and made her face me.
She was breathing lightly. She had passed out.
“Hang on, Anna,” I whispered.
I picked her up in my arms and hurried back into the bedroom to place her down on the mattress.
I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and wet it with cold water before proceeding to wipe her face with it. I rested it on her forehead, and sat by her bed, holding her hand. Willing her to come to consciousness.
I kept changing the towel when it became warm. Helina came in briefly to hand me her perfume, but didn’t stay.
After about an hour Anna came to. I breathed out in relief.
Her eyelids flickered open and she started coughing.
“How are you feeling?”