"Can I trust you?" I asked him. "They kill you, you know. Eventually, they will torture you to your death."
"Yes," he murmured. "I know. I always knew it. They will torture me because I will protect you. I saw that long ago," he shrugged. "But that will not happen now.
Not unless you manage to change our current course. Are you willing to do that?"
"Of course I’m willing!" I snapped. "I will do whatever it takes. Can you tell me what to do?"
"No," he replied. "But I can give you something. Something that I already gave you and you allowed it to slip back into their grasp."
"The box!" I gasped.
He nodded. "Yes. The box of murderous souls. This will be the second time that I sacrifice myself for you, Keeper. When they realize that it is gone and that I am missing, they will realize what I have done. And they will hunt me down until they find me. Fix this before that happens," he implored me. "Save us all."
"Cadmus is in this box," he told me. "His soul will be in your hands. If something happens to it while he is separated from his body, it will permanently be so. Take great care."
My heart pounded loudly. Cadmus was in the box.
"What do I do?" I cried. "What am I supposed to do with the box?"
He thrust it into my hands. "Save us all," he answered simply.
"I want to. I’ll try, but…"
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But he was gone. I was standing in the Wastelands alone and there was no one left to answer my questions. I clutched the intricate carved black box and closed my eyes, willing myself to wake.
And then I was. I opened my eyes to the blackness of night in Camelot. The box of souls was in my hands. I stroked the textured top. My husband’s soul was trapped in my hands and there was currently nothing I could do about it. I’d never felt so helpless in my life. I lay still for a few minutes, trying to collect myself.
"Are you awake?" Lucan asked softly from his vantage point across the fire.
I sat up and nodded. "Yes. I… grew cold. I couldn’t sleep." I opened my knapsack and placed the box gently inside.
"I’m not tired," he told me. "Feel free to try to go back to sleep. You should rest.
As you said, tomorrow will be long and tiresome."
I studied him, my heart heavy in my chest. He was so beautiful and strong. And if I couldn’t think of what to do or how to save us, then everything that he was would end here in this life. Once he died here, since his soul was trapped in a box, he would be no more. And what a horrible, horrible tragedy that would be for the world. He was a beautiful person.
"I don’t think I can," I replied. "I’m so cold. Do you… do you mind if I come and sit by you so that I can share your warmth?"
He looked at me for a moment, studying my face. What I had requested was very brazen for these times, something a lady would never do. But I wasn’t a lady. I was a goddess and I would do whatever the hell I felt like doing.
"Of course," he finally replied. "You may share my warmth."
Picking up my knapsack, I crept to his side and settled in, curling up next to him with my bag clutched in my arms. Being here, next to this man who normally knew me better than I even knew myself, was comforting. It was like being home. And to a girl who had traveled through a thousand different lives and bodies over the years, it was heaven. I closed my eyes and slept.
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Chapter Sixteen
The sound of a dry twig breaking woke me and my eyes popped open. I was alone, both Lucan and Hecate were nowhere to be found. I sat straight up, the box of souls still in my arms, as looked around.
It was early morning and the fire had died down to embers. Everything but my blanket had been packed up and was waiting to be loaded onto our horses. I shook my head slightly to clear the sleep from it.
Another twig popped and I spun around, finding Lucan walking toward me.
"You should be glad I pose no threat," he observed. "You sleep like the dead."
He was right. I really did. But I knew, I had always known, that he would protect me from any bumps in the night. Not that I could say that to him right now. Instead, I gazed around.
"Where is Hectate?" I asked.
"I’m here!" she called, approaching us from the left. "I was hunting for some breakfast."
My mouth twitched. "Really?" I smiled. "And what, domestic goddess, did you find?"
"Don’t doubt me," she shot back. "Do plump, ripe blackberries appeal to you?"
"They do sound delicious," I admitted. "Do you know anyone who could find some for us?"
She glared at me, swinging a basket full of berries that I knew she had probably conjured. This witch had not walked over the countryside to find berries. I knew that much to be true.
She handed them to Lucan and he sat on the ground, offering them to me. I took a handful and put one in my mouth, enjoying the juicy rich taste. They weren’t lotus blossoms, but they were delicious nonetheless. I licked the stickiness from my fingers before returning my attention to the witch.
"We should ride," Hecate muttered, looking in concern at the horizon. "They will approach us soon enough. We do not want to be here when they arrive. And I had a dream last night. There is a place I would like to stop along the way. I feel drawn to it even now."
Lucan stared at her curiously, but didn’t ask any questions. He simply nodded.
"You’re correct. We should ride far from here."
He reached down and offered me a hand, helping me to my feet. I stood face to face with him, his lips mere inches from my own, before he took a step backward.
"I readied your horse," he mumbled, gesturing toward Celine. "Everything is set."
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I nodded and approached my horse, stroking her velvety nose for a moment before swinging up into the saddle. She was anxious and exhaled in short puffs, stomping her front foot.
"It’s alright, Celine," I soothed her, patting her neck.
"No, it’s not," Hecate contradicted. "It’s really not. There is danger out there. I can sense it, the horses can sense it. We should be on our guard."
"And that we are," Lucan stated as he mounted his horse.
Following him, I nudged Celine into movement and we took off like streaks across the Camelot countryside. Behind us, heavy black clouds rolled and thunder rumbled throughout the land, but rain never came. The air, which was normally so damp and life-sustaining here, was now arid and empty.