Page 85 of Burn of Obsidian
“They’re the Undead, soldiers belonging to Gideon.”
“Holy toadstool, like actually undead?” Ruhne zig-zagged in the air. “In Asherah, we have Hollows, which are like zombies, I suppose. Do the Skulls eat people, too?”
“So he just walked into the museum?” Jax asked, forcing the conversation back.Alice nodded. “Three people were pronounced dead, and more still to be recovered.”
“Recovered?” Thea asked, absently touching her shoulder.
“Gideon used arcane to bring down the ceiling, burying the celestrial display as well as a few members of the public.” Riley pursed his lips. “He’s no longer hiding, and with two of the pages – ”
“What of the third?” Jax interrupted. “Is that not still in the States?”
“Harper checked with her connection, and they confirmed it’s still locked in their vault,” Alice added. “She’s currently trying to get it transported here, but so far, no luck. It’s under a private owner, who’d leased it out to the Institute.”
Jax nodded, stroking a purring Reaper. “Cassiel has the first page, not Gideon.”
Riley waited for him to continue.
“Although, he could still strengthen the chalice with the single page.”
“Is that the guy who hurt Harper?” Thea asked, eyes darting between everyone. “Why does he want the documents?”
“To unlock the secrets the chalice holds,” Jax replied. Not that they yet knew what the documents held. He’d only caught a glimpse of a single page, and without the others, the information was useless.
“All this from the cup of death.” Thea winced. “I told Harper to hide it at the bottom of a mountain surrounded by dragons.”
“There are no dragons here.” Ruhne snorted. “But seriously, who’s this Gideon dude?”
“Someone who wants control,” Riley said. “He wants the Daemons to reign above all, and will destroy everything in his way unless stopped.”
“He was once their king, and now he wants to become a god,” Jax sighed. “If not for the chalice, he would have found something else to empower his army.”
“Unless we stop him,” Alice added, the blue fractures in her green eyes glistening. “We’ve stopped someone far more powerful before.”
Riley smiled, cupping the back of his mate’s neck. “So we have, sweetheart.”
“If Cassiel has the first page, he was the one who paid Thea to steal it,” Jax said. “Which made Gideon send the hound to track the fence.”
“And me by default.” Thea nibbled her bottom lip. “So, we can’t let Gideon get all the pages.”
“That’s what we’re working on,” Riley said. “We need to get the third page before Gideon does.”
“Then let’s do that.” Thea met Jax’s gaze. “If we can’t get the page to us, then we go to it.”
“What do you suggest?” Alice asked. “Harper’s already trying to negotiate a price, but the owner’s being persistent.”
Thea smirked. “Well then, it looks like we’re just going to have to steal it.”
Chapter 32
Thea
Thea’s eyes darted around the private jet, wanting to soak in every detail as quickly as possible. She’d never flown private before, and knew it was unlikely she would again. There were two seating areas, the first at the end of the plane with a three seater sofa, as well as four chairs surrounding a table. The second, which was situated directly behind the cockpit, consisted of four recliners facing one another.
Thea sank deeper into the soft leather of her recliner, glancing up to find Jax with his eyes closed opposite her. His jaw was tense, his fingers digging into the armrests. They hadn’t even left the tarmac yet.
“Tell me about this page, document things?” she asked, feeling her stomach flutter when he settled those sapphire eyes on her. She hated the reaction, not knowing whether it was genuine, or the bloody bond Thunder had forced onto them both. She had felt it try to tangle around her, tethering to her soul before her wild magic had fought it. “What are they?”
Jax cocked his head, and she swore those flutters turned into full on bloody butterflies. “They’re instructions. Separate, they are useless, but together, they reveal details on how to activate the chalice.”