The Black Lotus | Vol.1, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

13.

Makaela was grateful she packed a coat. It was the middle of January and Montreal didn't show any signs of leaving winter in the past. A disrespectfully cold breeze tore through the air as she and her companions left their motel room-which Sebastian hadn't even paid for. When she was passed out, he had used an unlocking charm to sneak inside.

Luckily for them, the owner of the motel hadn't found out.

Causing problems with ordinaires was the last thing they wanted to do. Using magic in their presence was forbidden by the Eldenarian Council. The Eldai-casters appointed by the council themselves-monitored all magical activity, punishing those who broke the rules. If Thorian truly did control the council, they would do well to not tip off the Eldai.

Shivering, Makaela tightened her jacket tighter around her frame and hurried down the sidewalk toward Lucien L'Allier, a subway station in the borough of Ville-Marie, Montreal. It was a thirty-minute walk from the motel, which she wasn't too jazzed about. But seeing as they had no money to hail a cab, walking was their only option.

She nudged Sebastian with her elbow. She lifted a brow at her.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"The Obscurio...what did it show you?"

He stopped walking for a second. Makaela stopped with him, letting Remy pass them by. The sixteen-year-old was too busy marveling at the architecture to notice. He was likely taking mental pictures with his brain, saving them for examination.

Sebastian's mouth had flattened into a thin line.

She didn't care if the question made him uncomfortable. If they were going to be allies like he said, she wanted to know everything.

"You said it showed you something. What did it show you?"

"It showed me two things," he replied. Gesturing forward with his chin, he urged them to catch up with Remy. The two of them resumed walking. "The first was a memory of my eighth birthday."

Her eyes widened. "The day your mom disappeared."

He nodded.

Just days before the purge, Xandra Tedorof went missing. The news spread through the magician community like wildfire. It wasn't every day the queen of a house vanished into thin air; the specifics, or lack thereof, made this case particularly intriguing. Makaela still remembered the look on her father's face when he found out. Unlike her other housemates, he wasn't surprised. Something behind his golden eyes suggested he knew what happened.

She was no stranger to the man keeping secrets from her. She always thought it was because of his position as leader of the council. Nowadays, she found herself wondering about all the things he didn't tell her before he died.

"Why did it show you that?" she asked after a short period of silence.

"No clue."

She gave him a quizzical look. "That can't be all."

"No," he said. "It showed me other things too."

"Like?"

"I saw me, standing on a terrace overlooking a crowd of magicians." He glanced at her. "You were there too."

"Where? In the crowd?"

"No. You were up there with me."

She blinked twice, confused.

"The ring- It whispered things to me. It kept saying 'King' and 'Save the Light'."

Her throat tightened.

"My father used to call me that," she said, her voice just above a whisper. "He would say I was 'the light of the world'. I always thought he was just being cute." Her mind went back to what Olivier and Xander told her.

"He's the Black Lotus and you're the Light."

She was starting to think that her father's nickname was more than just a cute moniker. He had to know what she was, what she was destined to be. That man knew everything. Yet, he never told her. He never got the chance to. Anger filled her face.

He should've been there to guide her, to help her on her journey as the Light. Her mother too. Everyone should've still been alive, safe inside the white walls of their palace in the forests of rural southern France. Instead of trekking through the greyscale streets of downtown Montreal, she should've been accompanying her father to one of his council meetings or taking magic lessons.

None of this should've been happening.

"I hate that stupid prophecy."

Sebastian snorted. "You and me both."

"So, the ring told you to save me?"

He shrugged. "Pretty much."

"And you just listened to it?"

"You don't ignore stuff like that."

She supposed he was right. There was no blowing off a prophecy. No matter how hard one tried, destiny always won in the end. As she peered at him, she resisted the urge to giggle. The tips of his nose and ears had turned a bright red. He sniffled, rubbing the sleeve of his lightweight jacket across his face. He walked with his sharp shoulders hunched, as if that would guard him against the cold.

"What else did the Obscurio tell you?" she asked.

He opened his mouth. Then he closed it. "Nothing. That was it."

She jabbed a finger at him. "Don't you dare lie to me."

"I'm not lying." He swatted her hand away. "And don't tell me what to do."

There was something he wasn't telling her. His stolen ring had shown him something else, she was sure of it. But she knew Sebastian enough to know prying only made him tighten him up more. He was like a Chinese finger trap.

Whatever he was keeping from her would come out in due time. And if it didn't, she would make it.

"Are we almost there?" Remy whined from ahead of them. "My feet are starting to hurt."

Sebastian took a look at the street sign to their left. Makaela did the same. According to the sign, the Lucien L'Allier was just up ahead.

She took a breath, letting the frigid air soothe her frazzle nerves. Remnants of the night before still lingered around her. Every noise produced by the bustling city around her kept her on edge. She eyed every ordinaire who passed them by, analyzing every aspect of their being to make sure they weren't a Shade in disguise.

A few shot her weird looks. It took Sebastian to whisper in her ear for her to calm it down. The feeling of his breath on her earlobe made her knees weak.

The trio of young magicians eventually made it to the entrance of the subway station. A dual set of escalators, each going in opposite directions, filtered ordinaires in and out of the opening leading underground. Brick walls wrapped around the outside, sectioning it off from the rest of the sidewalk.

Remy rubbed the back of his neck. "What is this? Some kind of basement?"

"I'm...not sure," Makaela said. She turned to Sebastian for answers.

He shrugged. "I guess we're supposed to go down."

Swallowing hard, Makaela stared into the gaping opening before her. People pushed past them, some muttering courtesies while other grumbled curses. Makaela scowled at them. She had half a mind to throw a few spells their way, but she kept her cool.

She took another look at the entrance of the subway.

Trapping herself underground in some strange ordinaire structure didn't make the most sense to her, especially if they were potentially being tracked, but if the subway could take them out of Montreal, then she'd just have to suck it up.

She glanced at her companions. They both nodded reassuringly. Slightly more at ease, she nodded back. The three of them stepped onto the elevator and began their descent into Lucien L'Allier station.