“I’m just saying we need to stay open-minded. Not lock onto a false belief that could endanger ourselves.”
I swept my honest gaze across the three of them. Caspian glared. Nikolai glared. Aelindor looked faintly amused, which was the best I’d get.
“The prophecy can’t point to Max, who claimed to bea miner,” I continued. “So tell me, how does the heir of two prestigious Zodiac Houses come from that background? I say we should look elsewhere.”
I leaned back, believing I was starting to get through to them.
“I’ve studied the Fourfold Vow too. It makes no sense.” I quoted, “‘He walks in shadow, she in flame.’” I glanced at Caspian. “For your benefit, since you don’t like to read.” I ignored his scowl and let my sharp gaze pin the other heirs. “It’s a he, or a she? Even the prophecy can’t decide if the lost one has a dick.”
I chuckled. No one joined me.
If I wasn’t mistaken, they looked guilty. As if they were holding something back from me.
“‘And four crowns must kneel’?” I snorted. “I’ll never kneel to anyone. Furthermore, the Coldiron verse is even more obscure. What Coldiron?”
“It’s cold iron. Very cold, I guess.” Caspian’s eyes sparkled.
Nikolai rolled his eyes. “You can’t be that literal, wolf. This is prophecy.”
“Like you know what Coldiron is, vamp.”
“An ancient record calls the metal the heart of a burning star,” Aelindor said, and the bickering died. “Declaring it fell with Lucifer Morningstar. It matches a text from a rare scroll written in the forbidden demonic language.”
“Lucifer. The most powerful fallen archangel and king of Hell.” Nikolai drew a sharp breath. “If he comes to the mortal realm—” He shook his head, cutting himself off, as if speaking the devil’s name might draw his attention.An old superstition, but I approved the caution in wartime. Nikolai was as ruthless as Caspian, but the vampire calculated where the wolf charged in blind.
“As I pieced it together,” Aelindor continued, “when the Q-bomb tore the dimensions open, parts of Hell’s region merged with the mortal world. Coldiron surfaced with it. But no one recognizes the star metal except archangels or archdemons.” He paused. “Whatever it is, the prophecy says it cloaks the lost heir.”
“Does that mean there’s a connection between Lucifer and the lost heir?” Nikolai asked, already cutting to the implication before the rest of us could.
Aelindor’s face darkened for a breath before he shook his head. “Lucifer owns a Zodiac House, but that could be a myth. We shouldn’t pursue it. We don’t have the resources.” His gaze settled on us. “I believe Coldiron is the reason we couldn’t locate the lost heir despite centuries of searching. Until now. Until Max came out of that mine.”
“Last time you ‘found the One,’ Caspian,” I said, folding my arms across my chest, “she turned out to be the White Witch’s agent. You were too busy romancing her to notice.”
“I was sixteen, asshole!” Caspian scowled. “I’ve slept with enough women since to know the difference.”
“And you blamed that one bad experience for turning you into a man-whore?” Nikolai snickered.
“I haven’t taken anyone to bed since I brought Max back—” Caspian stopped, realizing what he’d walked into.
I raised a hand before the wolf and vampire could degrade this meeting further.
“Did you get my memo yesterday?” I asked.
“On what?” Caspian said.
“The Sorting happens next Monday.”
“Isn’t it extreme to spring that kind of trial with no precedent?” Nikolai countered.
“Since when do you second-guess my every decision?”
“We’ve never had this kind of barbaric practice before.” His voice dropped to a low growl. “Every cadet walks through your dragon fire laced with detection spells? Are we the same as the White Witch and her Pallid Court now?”
When had the vampire become as protective of Max as Aelindor? He’d always been cold and aloof. He wasn’t even attached to any of his regular donors. Some had been with him for a decade, practically his live-in girlfriends. What were the names of the two women I saw with him often? Sandra? Lizzy? Melissa? I rolled my eyes. Whoever.
“We’ve had sleepers, spies, and agents of the White Witch embedded in our ranks for years,” I said, a muscle twitching in my jaw. “We’ve seen the damage they cause. It’s time to clean house.”
“This is an excuse to target Max!” Caspian shouted. “Admit it. You just can’t let it go.”