A Promised Prophecy

Chapter Sixteen

James stepped away from me and joined Cybill. Even though I just met him, I wanted to ensure his safety enough to know that she didn't stab him in the back the minute they got far enough away. It wasn't a heroic endeavor but for my own sanity. If Cybill was dangerous, I'd rather know now than find out later. I watched them walk away until they were specks in the distance and close enough to Silverleaf that I knew James would have back up. Now it was my turn to get to safety. The general city of Silverleaf didn't feel safe, especially with the emergency alert indicating that the witch who stole my powers was nearby. The safest place for me was the Vault.

I ran a little further away from the main path to get a better view of them. From my position through the tree line, I could see only one of the crystals in the second rung that rotated with the other two—and it was moving. I took that as a sign of a perfectly usable escape route. I looked upward to the Crystals of Time and focused. Instead of rotating freely, the crystals moved with my intention, shifting planes and aligning to a straight vertical line and I was transported to the Vault of Oracles.

The Vault appeared untouched since my last visit. Celeste only used it when working with apprentices, and it looked as though James didn't at all. Since only a select dozen people were apprentices under Celeste, gaining access became an honor reserved for training.

The vault felt much like a large stone box, with three of the walls made of marbled stone and one side entirely of glass. The location was a secret, but anyone who gained access learned it was located in a rock cliff, partially underwater. On the far end of the room, there were two large ceiling-to-floor statues of women holding out their hands. From their hands flowed water into a small pool that encapsulated their feet. Behind them was a see-through glass wall, where the sea waters crashed into the building. It would be terrifying if it were my first time, but at this point, I was used to the potential scare of water crashing through the room. Sometimes the waves would rise so high that they made it to the top of the building and, while well-built initially, years of excessive water caused some damage, and the water would pour into the room, filling the pool at the statue's feet.

In the center of the room was a table, cauldron, notebooks, and everything else Celeste used to teach us. There were new things too; different books, new chairs, and I noted there were coffee mugs that weren't moldy. Those items belonged to people who had been here recently. I pulled my hood off and sat at the table.

I wondered if Celeste knew I broke my promise. I had hoped she'd be here, in this room, when I left for Silverleaf. Without my phone I had no way of contacting her, no answers, and no support. All the girls in Deadly Witches were presumably dead and I was supposed to join them. With the calming sound of waves, in the loneliness of the Vault of Oracles, it finally dawned on me how screwed I was and, even more than that, how terrified I felt. I covered myself back up with my hood, curled into a ball, and listened to the waves, hoping for some relief from the jittery feeling I felt in my body.

After an hour of sitting in the Vault with no update I started to worry. What if the situation were an ambush? At the end of the day, that didn't affect me unless they took out the leader of Silverleaf. Then, the crazy woman would gain access into the Vault, and I'd be just as dead as I was if I never even came here. Then another hour passed.

Still, I'm not stupid. I need to stay in place.

I needed to gain access to Celeste or someone else for help and this room was filled with magical items that could help me...if I still had my magic. There weren't many items that worked without a user's inherent magic. Travel stones were an exception, not the rule.

Four hours after leaving James and Cybill I started getting hungry and realized I hadn't eaten anything since before I left for Dreadshade summit. La Voisin had drinks and appetizers. Besides, if James was still there and Cybill had answers I might get some help. I felt stupid but I couldn't sit around for too long. That woman worked quickly to take out the entire coven of Deadly Witches and others. If she was set on finding me, it was only a matter of time. It was a risky choice to leave the Vault, but of all places, I felt La Voisin would be a pretty safe location to travel to. I put my hood on and looked just above the waves to find the crystals to bring me to La Voisin.