Page 55 of Fate Promised

“Do you think he thought the bowl may be on the vanishing isle?” Triska asked. “Is that what he needs for the incantation?”

Fergal harrumphed. “We can check that easily. All we need to do is ask this bowl to show us where the last two missing bowls are.”

Koschei bent forward and waved his hand over the flame.

“Wait!” Fergal grabbed his arm, but it was too late, an image wavered in the flames.

22

Juri stared as the image in the flames turned into the same one he’d seen in the bowl back when Hoyt first used it in the sewers. The light-colored walls, the wide window with the cragged mountains and dusty hills visible beyond it were all the same. A few trees hunched against the wind.

He peered into the flame. The landscape was none he’d ever seen, clouds of dust unfurling as the wind hit the tops of the hills. No suns shone down; instead a reddish-gray pallor spread in a monotone wash over the earth. “Peklo. The bowl remains in Peklo.”

Fergal shifted closer. “That’s what I was afraid of. Keep your voices down, we don’t know where this is. Or who’s listening.”

Koschei pointed. “Don’t be silly. I know where this is. Look, it’s my crest.” Sure enough, cut into the white wall was a gold insignia. “This bowl is sitting in one of the front parlor rooms of my home down in Peklo. I thought my home down there would have been destroyed like the one up here.” He smiled slightly. “I can’t believe it’s still there.”

“Morana must have moved in when she was stuck down there,” Juri said. “And set up the bowl for her dealings with Hoyt.”

Koschei whipped his cloak back. “She shouldn’t have been able to enter my palace.”

Fergal pointed. “Check the bowl again. We still have one of them unaccounted for.”

Koschei waved his hand again; this time, only darkness shone in the flames. “Nothing. The last one must be destroyed.” He placed his palm flat down in the bowl, and the flame went out.

The voice rang in Juri’s head. Hans.

He stepped away from the group. Only their Alpha could communicate telepathically and over long distances with the other pack members. Juri could speak to Hans when Hans opened the link, but he couldn’t reach out to him on his own.

“Och, Kyril can—” Juri stopped himself. He’d spoken aloud, and the others all turned and stared at him. He shrugged. “My Alpha contacted me. We’re talking.”

Fergal’s brows shot up. “Telepathic communication among the vulk? Really?”

Juri took another step away, frowning. How many vulk secrets was he going to reveal accidentally?

Hans said.

Juri told the others what Hans had said. “Did you see a boat? Or a squall this morning?” he asked Fergal.

Fergal shook his head. “No.”

Juri took a minute and filled Hans in on what had happened over the past couple of days, including the rune, his binding with Triska, and the absence of necromancers on the vanishing isle. He explained about the island being an old junction and a power source for those who lived on it.

He explained about the Herskala bowls and what they’d discovered and overheard.

There was a long pause, and Juri watched the gulls land on the water. They bobbed on the waves sleepily, but as one, their heads turned east toward Ryba bay, and they took off. Arrow was probably fishing below them. He shook his head. That dragon was a menace, but he liked him anyway.

Juri asked.

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