Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” I murmur. “After hearing all that, I think so too.” But who would do that? The only people who can are the Regals. Korah found her way to Earth, but she ventured there long before we were ever born. Did she return when we were born and swindle us to Earth? If she did, I would assume she did it to protect us from Decius. Perhaps our previous selves died, we were reborn, and she moved us. But that would be a vicious cycle, wouldn’t it? Constantly going back, knowing we’re going to die, only to bring us to Earth when we’re reborn?
None of this makes any sense, and now that I know all this about our parents and what they suffered on Earth, I need to find answers.
Chapter 94
WILLOW
Ruby Falls is a serene part of Blackwater that many visit during the spring and summer, according to Caz. It’s also where Hassha has agreed to meet us.
It wasn’t easy finding a way to deliver a message to Kessel. Kessel’s High Guard (aka Milandra) keeps a transmitter in her bungalow for emergency purposes only, in case any women who ventures from Kessel to the mainland needs their assistance. Caz had to travel to Vanora, and it turns out his lead belonged to a Mythic brothel. According to Juniper, Mythic brothels are a place where Mythic women make anyone’s fantasies come true visually…while also performing sexual favors. I wasn’t fully comfortable knowing Caz went to a brothel of all places, but I understood. Plus, I know him. The last thing he would have wanted was to be touched, and I trust him. He found one Mythic woman who claimed to have encountered a Kessel woman once. She said she had the transmitter information. It took Caz paying the Mythic prostitute a ton of rubies just to retrieve that information. Fortunately, the woman wasn’t lying because Milandra responded to his transmitter request the same day.
Caz sent his men out with orders to keep everyone away from Ruby Falls for the day so we can meet Hassha privately.
Just off the shore, I find myself comforted as we step out of the SUV. Caz removes himself from the driver seat while Danica and Warren climb out of the back. We stand on black sand that squishes beneath my feet, but ahead, past smooth rocks swathed in moss, is an incredible view of a waterfall.
The water cascades down protruding rocks tinged red, pooling into an oblong gorge. We climb over smooth stones and boulders to reach the gravel on the other side, closest to the waterfall. The scent of mud fills my nostrils, the gravel beneath my feet sparkling in the light. When I’m closer, I realize exactly where that glint of red on the rocks is coming from. These aren’t simple rocks that make up the waterfall. They’re interwoven with rubies. The rubies twinkle beneath the gray sky and adorn the rocks on either side of the falling water. From where I stand, a cave is behind the waterfall’s belly.
“Does the name of this location make sense now?” Caz smirks as he stands next to me.
“It does,” I breathe. “Wow. It’s so beautiful here.”
“To be here, it must be reserved. We collect a list of visitors, seeing as some would come to mine the place and collect rubies. We don’t allow that here. We like the rubies at the falls to stay in place. It keeps the area sacred. Mining here is against Blackwater Law.”
I nod. “I see. That’s good. It makes it all the more special to be around it.”
Warren and Danica meet up to us, facing the water too. They’re hand in hand, though Danica is hanging on much tighter to him than he is to her. She informed me this morning that she caught him standing on the guardrail of the guesthouse, like he was about to jump off. I look at my brother now, and though he looks the same to me, I can’t imagine the thoughts running through his head.
“Come,” Caz says. “I’ll show you the cave.”
Caz leads the way across the gravel to a set of built-in stairs in the rock wall. The gurgling of the waterfall grows louder, the water crashing into what appears to be a bottomless black gorge.
With the final step up, we’re inside the cave. The roar of the water is louder, but soothing. The cave leaks inside, water trickling from the ceiling. Some drips onto my cheek, and I wipe it away with a smile, taking in the view of rubies glinting marvelously inside the cave. I look through one of the gaps on either side of the waterfall, and ahead is plush green land that travels to the beach. It would make a great place to spread a towel, bring a picnic basket, and enjoy the day.