Page 139 of Gift from the Stone

A Cheshire smile crosses his face, and he rubs his hands together, excited for the challenge before taking off in a sprint, out of the room and down the hall.

“Here, girls, drink your coffees, then you can find him. It’ll give him a minute to hide good.” Gaster laughs, passing us our cups.

The perfection of the coffee makes me and Oakly hum at the same time and I grin over my rim at her.

“All right, so what do I do?” I ask, clapping my hands together after I chug my coffee and set it down.

“Close your eyes and think of Codi. Picture him. Then focus your mind on finding him. Set that as your intention. Tracking Codi. When you push your magic out, it’s going to feel like an imaginary string is pulling you toward him. Follow it,” Oakly says, coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with me as we stare in the direction he went.

Closing my eyes, I picture Codi in my mind just as he was moments ago. The feeling that comes over me reminds me of the one and only time I went fishing in my life on that godawful business retreat my father dragged me to.

It feels like I threw my line out, and I’m waiting for the tug on the other end. The moment my gift picks up his signature, the line draws tight, sending a small vibration through me, then begins to pull.

My eyes fly open, and I immediately take off speed walking down the hall, Oakly on my right giggling, Gaster on my left, encouraging me to continue following the feeling.

Around and around hallways we go until we climb the stairs to the second floor. For a moment, I’m jolted by the noise from the prisoners as we pass by them, their snarls, curses, or begs to be freed, but I ignore it all as best as I can, single-mindedly focused on following the string.

Coming up to a shut door at the end of the corridor, I immediately sense it’s not just Codi in that room, so with a huge smile on my face, I push through and am met with four grins and an unamused Codi, who’s sandwiched between them.

“Found you,” I announce cheerily.

“Using our E.F. members to practice your tracking, are you, Primary?” Caspian asks.

“Yes, and I did it.” I beam.

They all four move as one, surrounding me. Tilting my chin up with his finger, I meet Corentin’s bright whiskey eyes.

“Good job, princess.” He praises.

Fuck, I wonder if they’ll practice with me.

Maybe naked…

Twenty-Three

Willow

It’s gorgeous.

As I step out of the transport, my feet sink slightly, and my mouth gapes open at the stunning beach in front of me. The white powdery shoreline stretches out in a graceful curve, decorated with shiny seashells that glimmer like scattered jewels beneath the sun. Crystal-clear waves lap tenderly against the towering cliffs to my right, their rhythmic melody echoing through the air.

Following the sound of the water hitting weathered stone, I see the vague silhouette of the mountain ranges in the distance, then glancing to my right, it’s polar opposite. Sand stretches on, meeting the oncoming blue abyss.

“Stand right here, little wanderer, just like this,” Draken giddily demands, moving me to stand with my legs spread about shoulder length apart.

“Draken, what in the world are you doing?” I giggle as he continues to nudge my feet apart.

“You’re now standing in both Terian and Aquaria.” He beams.

My eyes widen as I look around, taking in the scene behind me. I was so mesmerized by the beach I didn’t bother turning around.

“Marka is truly right on the line between the two territories,” I breathe.

The large and lush trees that take over most of Terian are thinned out at the shoreline and they thicken the more into the territory they go, whereas on the Aquaria side, they continue to thin out until there’s nothing but beach shore and sand dunes.

“Exactly on the line. The community is right up the road in the least forested area. Let’s get a move on. We’re in and out quickly,” Corentin demands, placing his hand on my lower back, steering me onto the path that’ll lead into the community.

After spending the entire day at Rebel Castle yesterday not finding much more useful information, Corentin decided we’d have breakfast then head straight here to find Layton’s parents, or at least hopefully find them.

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