RYKER''S POV


    When Cami sent an urgent mind link telling me that she needed me in her room, I had thought of a million


    possible things, what I didn’t think was that I would see her and Christine sitting with the two dolls in between them


    I immediately knew that whatever she was going to say would be absolutely absurd but it didn’t prepare me for the


    words that actually came out of her mouth.


    “Would you like to repeat that?” I asked slowly and her cheeks heated. At least she knew that it was an insane.


    “I think it is a good idea to find out who the dolls belong to. I am not going to main anyone, I''ll just make a cut on th


    arm or something,” she shrugged. “I don''t think it is a big deal. It isn''t like I will be killing anyone.”


    I pinched the bridge of my nose muttering a few choice words under my breath before looking up at her again. I was


    more shocked that Christine had even agreed to this but she seemed to be in full support. I opened my mouth trying


    to think of where to start discouraging them from but no words woulde out. I didn’t even know where to start.


    “You don’t know how to use this,” I said finally. “You could really hurt someone.”


    “How bad could it be?” Christine shrugged. “Besides, it is a cut on the arm, not a knife in the heart or something. I


    assure you, it will not be as hard or as difficult as you want to think it is.”


    “Exactly,” Cami echoed. “The way I see it, we could have done it without telling you both but we wanted you to be


    here. We want to know who she was able to get easy ess to.”


    The annoying thing about everything was that she was right. She could very well have done it without talking to me


    first and there was absolutely nothing I could have done. I nced over at Juan who just shrugged, he clearly had no


    interest in getting into it with anyone. I dragged over a wooden chair and sat down.


    “Fine, do your experiment.”


    Both of them seemed surprised that I had agreed. I had half a mind to change my mind but the truth was that I was


    curious as well. Cami took out a small dagger from the side table and I watched as she carefully sliced down the


    arm of one of the dolls. It wasn''t anything deep, it was small enough to leave a mark. We all waited but there was


    nothing. I watched her do the same to the other doll but once again, there was nothing.


    “Did I do it wrong?” she asked and I shrugged. I didn’t know how to answer that. “Maybe I should try it again and-"


    “No,” I cut her off with her hand inches away from making another incision. “We don’t know who the dolls are for anc


    that''s fine. Just put them away, please, we can think about themter if they evere in handy.”


    “But”


    “We have much bigger things to worry about, Cami,” I stood to my feet. “You should be happy that those don’t


    belong to any of us. Maybe the person they belong to isn’t even here. There is no way for us to know and I would ver


    much rather keep it that way.”


    After much persuasion, Cami agreed to hide the dolls back up. Once I was sure that her hand wasn’t going to slip


    with a knife, I made my way out of the room and towards the training room. There was still a shit ton that the guards


    needed to learn before Reina attacked. I couldn''t help but think about Juan''sment and if she was at the top of


    her powers but unfortunately, I didn’t have the answer to that so we had to train as if she was.


    We were in the middle of the training when a maid walked in. “Your majesty, I was sent to inform you that a Mr.


    Briggs had arrived.”


    I didn’t need to hear any other thing before I called off the training for the day. Briggs was waiting in the hallway anc


    he looked a lot better than thest time we saw him when he was at death''s door. Cami must have been informed


    as well because she was already embracing him by the time I arrived.


    “Thank you foring,” I told him extending my hand to him for a handshake and he waved me off.


    “Please, it was not as if I could refuse you. After everything you did for me, it is because of you that I am alive right


    now. If you had asked me to climb a mountain I would gave,” he joked. “What do you need my help for? Your letter


    said that it was urgent.”


    “It is a matter of privacy, would youe with me?” I ordered the maids to take his things to one of the guest rooms


    while I led him to my office. He was clearly bothered and curious the entire time but neither of us said a word until


    after I had shut the door. “For safety reasons, I need to know that you are Briggs. Tell us something that only you


    know.”


    He seemed shocked. “What is this about?”


    “We have to be careful,” Cami told him in an apologetic tone. “Just tell us please.”


    “I buried your father''s letters in a box at the base of a tree and hid the key in a hole. Will that suffice?”


    “Yes, it will” I let out a sigh of relief knowing that he was real. “The problem is Reina.”


    His brows furrowed. “The witch? I would have sworn that she was gone. I heard rumors that-"


    “l am sure you also heard rumors that Cami was dead,” I cut him off and he nodded slowly. “I don’t know what


    happened but they both managed to survive a fall off a cliff. We had used the dagger that we found in the attic- the


    one that specifically said it could kill her but it didn’t work.”


    “That''s weird, I have heard of that dagger. I have never seen it being used in my lifetime but I heard that when the


    priestesses of the goddess realize that their leader has backslidden, they would take the dagger and kill them with i


    It should have worked.”


    “But it didn’t,” I said simply. “Is there anything that might clue us in as to why? Is there anything you might have


    heard over the years? You are our only hope right now. Reina is set to attack in a few days and we need to have the


    advantage. We need to know exactly what we can do to win or else everyone here will be lost.”


    “Why is she attacking? Is it still about your powers?”Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.


    Cami shook her head. “After the fall, I lost those powers. I can’t ess them at all. I feel empty. I don''t think they


    exist anymore. If I am being honest, I am not too upset about that, the weight of those powers on my shoulder is


    enough to give anyone pause. I am d that they are gone.”


    He smiled softly. “Unfortunately, I don’t know anything. There were lots of rumors surrounding them. Some said that


    the one killing her had to die as well, others said that only their blood was needed on the dagger to ensure the evil


    party died. Others would say that only one the goddess had blessed could wield it. I don’t know which is true.”


    I tried not to groan in frustration. He had done enough for us, he had done what he knew to do and that was fine.


    “Thank you, Briggs. You must have had a long journey. You should go and rest.”


    He nodded and I watched him disappear. It wasn’t until he was gone that I finally let out a low curse and buried my


    face into my hands. We were no closer to finding out how to kill Reina. All we had was an apparently useless knife


    and a bunch of rumors.


    “We will figure it out,” Cami said softly with a hand on my shoulder. “We always do. Besides, there has to be some


    layer of truth to rumors right? We just have to find it.”


    I ced a lingering kiss to her temple. “We will. We just don’t have enough time.”


    “Then we make time,” she said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “We will make the best of the days that


    we have left and we will find a solution, I know we will."


    I hated being the pessimist. “What if we don''t?”


    “Then we improvise,” she shrugged. “We might not know how to use the dagger but I''m pretty sure that no one can


    survive their head being cut off, right?”


    I raised a brow in amusement. I never thought Cami of all people would say that. I kissed her again before pulling


    her to her feet.


    We made our way out of the office and I had no idea where I was going but all thoughts suddenly flew out of my hea


    when I noticed Riley walking down the halls. I wasn''t sure if Cami had seen what I saw too but I rushed over to my


    sister and grabbed her arm that was wrapped in a bandage.


    “What happened to you?” I asked and she shrugged. “How did you get the cut?”


    “l don''t have a cut, I''m fine,” she pulled off the bandage to show me and I let out a sigh of relief.


    “Why do you have a bandage on your arm then?”


    “it''s because of Audrey,” my brows furrowed. “I didn’t want to tell you so you wouldn''t worry but when she was


    ying a few hours ago, I think she cut herself on something. She was bleeding terribly. I helped her bandage it up


    and wrapped my own too so she didn’t feel weird.”


    “Audrey cut herself, how?”


    “I don''t know, really. One minute it wasn''t there and the next it was. It just appeared.”