A Crown of the Gods (Shadows and Crowns Book 4) by S.M. Gaither

Author:S.M. Gaither [Gaither, S.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Cas and Laurent had made a deal.

She would accompany him to Mistwilde…eventually. Soon, even—but not before he, Elander, and a small band of her other, chosen emissaries took a few trips and laid the groundwork for her visit. They could come and go easily enough now that the Air spirit had allied herself with them, which meant that Cas could receive first-hand updates on a daily basis.

Once the preliminary work was done, and the situation in Mistwilde was deemed stable enough, she would travel to that realm herself.

So it was that she found herself waking up alone the morning after her trip to see the Goddess of Time. She vaguely remembered Elander waking up much earlier, and his lips brushing her forehead in a gentle kiss, before he left her to sleep and headed downstairs to meet Laurent.

She suspected they’d left while she was asleep partly because they were afraid she would go back on their agreement.

But she’d had no plans to insist on accompanying them. Not this time, at least. The situation in Mistwilde was delicate and important, and it weighed heavily on her heart and mind—but she had other things to deal with this morning.

Her fingers and toes tingled with anticipation as she stepped into the washroom. Sunlight streamed through the window, concentrating in the corner where her target—the locked cabinet—awaited. Those beams of light were guiding her toward the crystals she’d stashed inside of that cabinet, she wanted to think.

This is the right decision.

Dangerous or not, I have to do this.

She quickly retrieved a few of the crystals, tucked them into her pocket, and then quietly made her way to Nessa’s room and announced herself with a soft knock.

Nessa was already awake, poring over lists of supplies and logistical diagrams, preparing for the arrival of all of the different leaders they had been sending summons to. It was a confusing jumble of notes and numbers that made Cas’s head hurt worse the longer she looked at it. Nessa was entirely engrossed, however, and clearly in her element as she made more notes, crossed out others, and mumbled thoughtfully to herself. Fourteen days remained until the date they’d set for that meeting. Nessa was confident that the turnout would be larger than they expected—and she was planning for this.

Cas sat with her, listening and occasionally offering input when asked for it. She kept mostly still and attentive, but her hands were restless, digging into her pocket and subtly tapping the smooth, warm faces of each crystal she’d tucked away, counting them over and over.

After a few moments, she couldn’t hold her question in any longer: “Could I ask you a favor?”

Nessa laid down her pen and arranged some of her notes into a neat stack. “Does it have to do with those gifts that Caden gave you?”

Cas’s chest tightened, but she fought through it and calmly said, “Zev told you about them, I’m guessing?”

“Yes,” said Nessa. “And he told me to keep an eye out for you doing something stupid with those gifts.

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