A Rip of Realms (A Shade of Vampire #39)(50)

Don’t think like that! I chided myself. There was no point expecting the worst. I just had to trust that the kids knew how to survive—against the odds.

“Your father’s on his way.” Caleb entered the chamber, looking stressed.

“And Sherus?”

“He’s brought some of the elder members of his council to join us. Apparently, none of the other kings recall the stones—they had completely forgotten that the star existed at all.”

“They forgot they put fae on a star to wither away to nothing?”

“Tell me about it,” Caleb muttered.

As much as I felt for the plight of the Shadowed, I wished we hadn’t brought it to Sherus’s attention. We’d be in the blocked-off dimension by now, trying to find the kids.

Nuriya entered the room, looking as harassed as Caleb did. Nuriya’s regal stance had dropped slightly—the jinni looked tired and defeated.

“They know nothing.” She shook her head in irritation. “Absolutely nothing. At first I thought they were being deliberately obtuse, but we questioned them for hours. Not a soul knows any more than I did—just that the star exists, and the creatures trapped within the stones are dangerous.”

“That’s more than most of the fae knew,” Caleb retorted.

“Where’s Mona?” I asked, noticing the absence of the witch.

“She’s gone to check on the portal. She will return in a while,” Nuriya replied, turning toward the door as my father appeared, his face stern and his blue eyes wary.

“The fae elders will be here shortly. Sherus and Lidera are bringing them here.”

I nodded—hopefully we would know something soon.

“I’ll take my leave,” Nuriya announced. “I’m not overly fond of fae.”

I looked at my dad. That wasn’t a good idea. I wanted the queen to hear what they had to say—hopefully it might jog some of her memories, maybe she might be able to recall more of what her grandfather said to her.

“Please, Nuriya, stay. We’re still in need of your counsel. You understand the ways of the fae better than we do,” my father requested.

“I do not understand the ways of the fae.” The jinni sighed, looking at me and then back to my father. “But I see that you probably do need me. The fae are tricky creatures.”

I smiled with relief.

A moment later, Sherus and his sister entered, followed by four other fae, instantly recognizable as the elders. Their faces looked like bark, cracked, wrinkled and rosy, as if they’d spent ten lifetimes in the wind and sunshine. I wondered how old they actually were, but figured it would be impolite to ask. Corrine appeared behind them, keeping her distance from the elders as she came to stand next to me.

“These are the elders,” Sherus announced, “the oldest generation of fae.”

He bowed low as they came into the room, and we all did the same—it seemed appropriate faced with such ancient men.

“Well met, creatures of The Shade,” muttered one of the elders, his voice raspy and quiet.

“Elders, we have asked you here to discuss the stones—the stones which are guarded by the Shadowed, one of which recently emerged from a portal in the ocean. We wish to understand more about them and what they contain,” my dad said respectfully.

The elders nodded, contemplating my father’s request. After a long pause, one of them replied.

“We don’t know what creatures are held within the stones. It is something that was never shared with us or our forefathers, those who sent the Shadowed to guard them.”

Sherus looked as surprised as the rest of us.

“I don’t understand,” the fae king probed. “Why would they guard something they knew nothing of?”

“It was in exchange for a gift,” another elder intoned.

“A gift from the jinn tribe that trapped the creatures in the first place,” another elder replied.

“Which jinn tribe?” Nuriya asked.

“One long before your time, daughter of the Nasiris.”

“What was the gift?” Sherus asked.

The elders all smiled at their king.

“The waters of immortalitatem,” they replied simultaneously.

Sherus nodded, understanding what the elders meant, but none of us did.

“The immortal waters, as they are now known, are a way of preserving life,” Sherus explained to us. “Few of the fae wish to use it—we live many years as it is. It is considered sacred…I did not realize it was a gift from the jinn.”

The elders nodded. I looked at Nuriya, who glanced back at me in confusion. Clearly she’d never heard of these waters either.

“It is strange that I have not heard of this,” the jinni replied slowly, looking at the elders with mistrust.

“It is a magic now lost to your people, I believe. The tribe that bestowed us with the gift died out long ago—they did not use the waters either, having no need to prolong their existence. Only one is reputed to remain alive…but she has not been seen for over a millennium.”

It was a lot to take in. Aside from the bizarre revelations that the elders were providing us with, it still didn’t seem to be getting us any closer to understanding what was in these stones. The only lead would be the long-lost jinni—but if she hadn’t been seen in so long, what would be our chances of finding her in a matter of hours?