Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms 3)

“We wait for what?” Magnus prompted, but the others were silent.

They waited. Nearby, a skull-sized chunk of marble dislodged from a pillar and crashed to the ground—Magnus noticed it had been ornately carved into the shape of a rose. A glance confirmed these rose sculptures adorned many spots in the temple. Strangely, he hadn’t noticed that detail until now, when it was all toppling down.

Magnus looked up warily at the roof. “How long must we wait?” he growled.

“I don’t know,” Alexius said.

“I’d think a wise and magical Watcher like you would know these things.”

“And yet, I don’t know everything.” Alexius looked impatient, perhaps a little bit desperate, as if he’d expected things to go differently.

Then something caught Magnus’s eye. A mark on a clear patch of floor behind Cleo.

“What is that?” The sinking sensation in his gut was enough to tell him he already knew the answer to his own question.

“It can’t be,” Alexius said under his breath. “It can’t. How could they know?”

Drawn on the pristine surface was another symbol identical to Alexius’s. The blood was still red and fresh.

Someone else had gotten there first.

CHAPTER 23

JONAS

AURANOS

I can only hope this message finds you in time. You must go the Temple of Cleiona, as quickly as you can. There you will use your blood to draw the symbol of earth on the floor. This will reveal the earth Kindred. However difficult you find this to believe, you must trust me and do what I say.

Claim the crystal and keep it safe until we meet again.

Jonas, Lysandra, and Felix had set off for the temple the very next morning. Jonas nearly stumbled at the crumbling site of the first rebel battle, which had gone so horribly wrong. Of the two dozen rebels who’d volunteered to stand with him that day, he alone had walked away. Crawled away, really.

Lysandra touched his shoulder. “Jonas, are you all right?”

“Perfectly fine.”

“Why don’t I believe that?”

Her concerned gaze made him grin weakly. “It’s funny . . .”

“What?”

“You never used to look at me the way you are now. You used to look at me like you wanted to kill me.”

“I did want to kill you. Still do, sometimes.” She offered him a smile.

“Come on, you two,” Felix urged, marching ten paces ahead of them. “Let’s go find some treasure.”

Lysandra grabbed Jonas’s arm. “Are you absolutely sure you trust him?”

“I’m sure. Despite any admissions of his past from last night, he’s earned my trust, Lys. Again and again.”

She nodded. “All right. If you trust him, then I will too. Your golden princess, on the other hand . . .”

He began to climb the temple steps behind Lysandra. “I know you don’t like Cleo, but that she wanted me to do this for her . . . is it stupid that I consider that an honor?”

“No, it’s not stupid.” She glanced at him over her shoulder and her light brown eyes met his. “So what happens if we find it?”