Sure enough, as I stepped into the huge room, many of our pack members were already gathered but no purple heir was in sight. The council members were standing in their usual spot, the white magic born of Manhattan at the forefront.
Sabina gave me a gentle nod, and I was reminded of how different she was to Violet. My friend had rough edges, and was sometimes hard to handle, but her heart was pure gold. Sabina was refined and smooth, like a diamond polished to perfection, but there was also a coldness that lingered beneath her skin, like sometimes she let the power control the shifter and not the other way around. She was a lot older than Violet, at least a hundred years if the gossip was true. She’d been the Red Queen’s friend, and I wondered how she was containing her grief.
My group had paused on the edge of the dais. Torine noticed me there and waved me up to stand with them. Calista and I exchanged a single look before she gave me a nod and I was on my own. With a deep breath I strode forward and took my rightful place at the head of the council, Finn by my side. I wasn’t quite queen yet, but there was something in faking it until you made it. I needed the extra boost of confidence, especially after Violet’s revelations about the mecca. The buzz of energy beneath my skin was almost unnoticeable today, but I still felt different. Restless.
Sabina was still staring at me. Could she see the mecca’s changes also? Was she also wondering why I seemed to be connected to it?
The magic born almost looked like she was going to approach me, but thankfully Selene chose that moment to enter the room, her entourage of twenty making a big show of pushing shifters to the side so she had a clear path.
“Nice of you to join us, Selene,” a council member reprimanded her. “Kindly hurry yourself to stand with Arianna. We have a task to get underway.”
The slightest of pink tinged her cheeks and I could almost see the retort she was holding back. She didn’t waste any more time, though, reaching my side in seconds. She could haul butt when needed.
Someone other than Torine took the floor this time, Glenda, the second oldest of the queen’s council. “Thank you all for being here. This could be one of the most important trials of them all.” She had a commanding presence – her hair a deep carrot red, her eyes bronze – and a no-nonsense attitude. She had been my tutor for a short time in my youth.
“Sabina, if you could do the honors,” she said, turning to the magic born. “It’s time for the gods and the mecca to decide on the final task before the battle. The points that will be earned today will be instrumental in ensuring weapons and other advantages for one heir in the final battle.”
The magic shifter wasted no time, unleashing her power and repeating her actions from the previous time she’d called the scrolls forth. Glenda was the one to stare out into the high ceilings, and eventually call a scroll down to her. It felt like she took years to finally unroll it and read from the parchment.
“Scavenger hunt through the Island,” she shouted out into the large room. All of our people erupted into conversation, some cheering and others groaning. I swallowed roughly, and wiped my damp palms on my pants.
This wasn’t one of the worst tasks, but it wasn’t an easy one either. It would require us to leave the boroughs and head to the Island, alone, no guards or help from outside sources.
The Island, a stretch of land below Brooklyn and Queens, was technically a neutral zone. This was where we held most peace Summits, with one side of the land containing a residence for the wolf queen and the other side a mansion for the bear king. There were often bears there, which could be a worry right now. The fact that we had no queen, the mecca appeared to be leaking, fae might or might not have been involved in all of this, and the bears were still not to be trusted … led me to believe this could be far more dangerous than a simple scavenger hunt.
“Heirs,” Glenda said, “you have ten minutes to prepare yourselves. You’re allowed as many weapons and as much food as you can carry, but do not weight yourself down too much. There is a single item that has been hidden away. The first to retrieve it wins. You have twenty-four hours to complete this task.”
Noise erupted again and I quickly hurried down to find Calista and my guards. My advisor pounced on me immediately. “I’ve already sent some of your people back for supplies and weapons. You need to spend the next ten minutes studying this map closely.” She whipped up her tablet and I could see quite a detailed map of the Island. There were plenty of landmarks, and I knew some of them might come in handy.
I had always been a quick study, and I had been to the Island plenty of times, although the trip in my fifteenth year stood out the most. Nothing like your first kiss from a bear to really get your heart pumping. I still hated that it affected me so much. At fifteen he’d been small and not at all intimidating. He’d also been kinda charming, and very funny.
I pushed the memories aside, needing to focus. No matter how many times I tried to forget that bear, every time the Island ever came up I was thrown back to that night, to the summer festival, the stars, the warmth of his lips on mine…
Focus, Arianna!
My eyes ran across the map multiple times. I used techniques I’d learned from Calista to imprint the image in my mind. She had a naturally photographic memory. For the rest of us, we had to do what we could.
“Take note of exit points in case of ambush,” Calista whispered. “Water sources, if you need to hide your scent.”
She continued on and on, pointing out everything. I had noted most of this already, but this was another one of her techniques. Apparently talking things out loud, or listening to someone else doing it, jogged the brain. I’d be more inclined to actually remember what was said rather than what I saw on the paper.