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Jessup, was Jackson right? Am I their only hope?”
Just the thought of such an awesome responsibility, such tremendous pressure, made me want to run as far and as fast as I could.
Jessup nodded solemnly. “I’m afraid he was correct.”
“ What does that even mean? How can I be the only one…”
“ Who could save them?” he supplied.
“ Yes.”
“ Because you are in possession of the only bracelet that is not trapped inside Atlas. You hold the key to capturing the escaped Lore and unlocking the city.”
At his words, my head swam, making me feel faint all over again. It was just so overwhelming. Too much was happening too fast.
“ And how am I supposed to go about accomplishing that? No one has had to use the bracelets like that in decades.”
“ Princess, you alone hold the power to wield the bracelet. Only royal blood can imprison a spirit in the pearl, just like only royal blood can set them free.”
“ You’re saying that whoever is doing this has forced one of my parents to open the cells?”
Jessup looked suddenly uncomfortable. “That or the traitor is of royal blood.”
My stomach dropped into my shoes at the shock of such a betrayal, the horror of it. I never would’ve even considered a royal. That must’ve been why Jessup looked so uncomfortable. It was treasonous to even suggest such a thing. And yet, he’d taken the risk because it needed to be said. And he was all too right—it could very well be a royal.
“ How will I- I mean, I don’t know how to—” I stammered, more flabbergasted as the seconds ticked by.
“ Fear not, Princess. Just as in the days of old, you will have the help of the Sentinels. And it is a gift of the fates that you are in the company of one of the greatest our race has ever seen.”
Once more, my eyes strayed to Jackson. His back was turned to me as he talked and gestured with another Sentinel. Just then, he threw his head back and laughed, a dark, rich sound that sent cold chills racing down my legs.
“ Jackson,” I whispered.
“ Yes, Princess. He’s arguably the best there is. In all my years, I’ve never seen a warrior such as him.” Pride, mingled with something I couldn’t identify, bubbled in my stomach. “And he is yours.”
At those words, my heart leapt in my chest.
Not that way, you ninny! That would be positively scandalous!
Determinedly, I pushed those thoughts aside, putting Jessup’s last declaration out of my mind.
You would never want that anyway, I reminded myself.
Taking a deep breath, I hopped off the table.
“ So when do we start? How do we know?”
Jessup sighed, his brow wrinkling in worry. “Well, it will only be a matter of time before the loosed spirits find their descendants and awaken them. And with the shield down, their powers will be fully functional. Hopefully we will be able to spot their activity and set them up for capture before lives are lost.”
I thought of all the kids in my school. I had no idea which ones were which, though history tells us that they are each marked in some physical way by their heritage. Though I didn’t know them well, I found that I still didn’t want to see harm come to any of them. And that’s what would happen if I couldn’t stop it in time.
“ Right now, Princess, I require your help in ensuring your safety while we figure this out. I’ll need your word that, for the rest of the night, you will stay in your rooms. We will have additional Sentinels dispatched to you, but until we can formulate a plan, I need to know that you are safe.”
Everyone who knew me knew how much I hated restrictions. I liked to come and go as I pleased, and, until recently, that hadn’t been much of a problem. I’d always taken pride in outwitting and outrunning my Sentinels.
In fact, it was for that reason that, since arriving at Slumber, they’d been very careful to assign me Sentinels that blended in so seamlessly that I rarely knew who they were. And that’s the way I liked it. But these circumstances