Page 97 of Nocturn

“Ah, I have a small matter to attend to,” I smiled tightly.

He cocked his head, but followed. I had yet to reach Al’s, and my palms had already become damp. Finally, I reached the steps that would descend, and I turned to face Egan.

“I left something of mine inside.” I stepped closer to him until only a half-pace separated us. “Will you wait here whilst I retrieve it?” I kept my eyes wide and made an attempt to be guileless.

“Em.” His exhale made the tendrils of hair spilling out of my coiffure rustle. I placed my palm on his hand. His mouth twitched, and he finally nodded tightly. “Hurry.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Lore of Old

Iwasted no more time, rushing past him and down the steps. My breaths came from my lips in pants, but I did my best to quiet my panic.

The prophet had been right. My opportunity to go back down had presented itself perfectly. As soon as I stepped into Al’s workspace, I sped across to the bookshelf that swung out. I crouched to press the button and it clicked, swinging it open. The prophet stood near the glass pane, her eyes falling upon me as if she had been waiting for me.

I rushed inside, leaving the bookshelf slightly cracked. The urge to collect the grimoire would not leave me be, but I continued until I stood before the caged prophet.

“I need answers,” I blurted.

“They are suppressing your true nature, harbinger.”

I swallowed, asking the question Tabby had planted. “The injection redbloods receive once an annum suppresses our true nature?”

She hummed, nodding.

“It has been for close to a millennium. You are living in a system created to place bluebloods above all else, to place the council above all. Four councils, across the realms, ruled with an iron fist for many decades. Then a new designation appeared. Stronger than any blueblood could be. Powerful in body and magick, and immune to magick when Awakened. When the first Warlord appeared, a century before the five Warlords you know of, he nearly destroyed the four councils, but was ultimately felled by them.”

She paused, and it gave me a moment to breathe. I had not realized I had stopped.

“My error came when the Articles of Prophecy fell into greedy hands. I had foretold the arrival of the Warlords to be born next.” Her mouth pursed, the corners pulling tight. “Instead of destroying them, they Awakened them when they came of age to use as their weapons. To maintain balance, we need the Warlords to keep the Hollows’ population controlled, but they have never been truly in charge. Instead they are pampered and assigned handlers to satisfy their every whim.”

“They are but figureheads,” I breathed.

Everything began to align. Lord Vaner and how Al did as he ordered. Lady Drusilla’s role as the caretaker.

“You are the harbinger. Your arrival will make the Warlord see the truth. Only he can save all of us before we are naught but food for Hollows.”

“And as you mentioned before, this is a curse?” I gently touched my neck.

“It is a visible mark for the bondmate of Warlords to be found. You must stop the council. You must escape before Nocturn. For what they will do to you will set in motion what we will not be able to return from.” Her voice dropped to a lower register. “Evil will spill across the four realms. Death will prevail.” She blinked, eyebrows furrowing as if she were pulling herself from a dream. “The council does not see the truth. Greed and selfishness rules them.”

My mind reeled. Everything I had ever believed was a lie. A carefully constructed lie. It felt as though the ground shifted under my feet.

“Are the council immortal?”

“They are not physically, but they have developed a transfer of consciousness to make it so.”

She blinked those eerie, milky eyes. “With the alchemist, they have developed many experiments⁠—”

“They want Warlord magick.” Lucinda spoke for the first time. “That is why all four councils took one Warlord for each realm.”

“Is that why Cassiel’s magick is faltering?”

She stiffened. “He is weakened?” Her mouth twitched, and she paced from one side of the chamber to the other. “They must be injecting the feeders,” Lucinda hissed. “Al must have figured out what weakens Warlords.”

“Or their efforts are finally taking effect.” The prophet combed her fingers through her mass of hair. “We are out of time, Omega.”

Now I was an Omega? More boulders compounded on my shoulders. “What is an Omega?”