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“Lysander,” I murmured, knowing he’d followed me over.
“I see it.”
I crossed the room and yanked open the storage room door as he covered me. But there was no one inside. The room was just as overstuffed and crowded as the last time I’d looked inside to store all of the books Rodriguez had left on his desk.
At the back of the room where objects had been draped in dustcloths, one cloth had slipped off, revealing not a tall wardrobe like I’d thought but a tall white arch. The arch was glowing, as if moonlight had been trapped in its stone.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I’d seen that arch before, in Viktor’s fortress. In the room I’d been held hostage.
“Kage!” Lysander’s face had gone pale. He’d turned to look behind us. “What the hell is this?”
Kage stepped up, peering over my head into the storage room. “What?”
“That.” Lysander’s voice was strained as he pointed.
“The arch? I spoke to Rodriguez.” I could feel his eyes on me. “After we brought Regan back. We had people sent to the fortress. Rodriguez wanted anything that might prove useful one day. Anything that could help us with the Veil. I assume he put it there.”
I glanced up at Lysander. His face was transfixed. He stared at the arch with a stormy intensity.
“What is it?” I asked him quietly.
“I thought it had been destroyed in the fire,” he said at last.
“What is it, exactly?” Kage asked casually.
“It’s a portal,” Lysander said.
I turned to face the two men, looking back and forth between them. “What’s going on?”
Kage was frowning. “I don’t know. Lysander?”
“I saw this before. In a dream.” Lysander’s voice was strangled.
“The arch? If you’ve seen it before, why does it bother you now?” Kage asked.
“Not just the arch. This. All of this.” Lysander took a deep breath. “I saw us, here, looking at the arch.” He met my eyes. “I saw us pass through it,” he said reluctantly.
My eyes widened. “What?”
But Lysander had closed his. “I thought this moment was a long way off. I didn’t know …”
“Didn’t know what?” Kage demanded. “Just what sort of a dream was it, Lysander?”
Lysander opened his blue eyes. “One of foresight.”
Kage looked alarmed. “What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means a dream that can’t be ignored,” Kage explained. “A prophetic dream. One that’s destined to happen.”
My hackles stood up. “That’s impossible. Nothing is destined to happen.”
Kage gave an awkward laugh. “Orphos believes differently.” He studied Lysander. “Does this have anything to do with Lunaya?”
Lysander backed away from the room. He reached my desk and leaned back against it, palms flat on the wooden surface. He looked like a man who had seen a ghost.
“Lunaya?” I stared at Lysander. “I don’t understand. Just how much do you know about what’s happening there?”
Lysander stared at me. I realized his expression wasn’t just fear. It was guilt.