Bile shot up my throat, but I swallowed it down. I buried my face in my hands to hide the emotion I was sure was written all over my face.

“But let us remind you that Father Fuckface had put us and our mother under a curse, one that altered and controlled us . . .” Thorne’s voice was much softer now. “It is difficult to accept the lives we lived prior to our awakening after the One Hundred Years’ War.”

“And while seven centuries is a long time for your mortal minds, it is not for ours. It has flown by even while it dragged on.” Sage began braiding strands of her blue hair nervously. “We are not being coy when we say we don’t know⁠—”

“We need Everest.” Thorne’s voice was soft but urgent.

“So let’s go get him,” I cried. “What are we waiting for? What is he waiting for?”

Sage crossed the room to me, then wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “Everest has been at this game a long, long time. Longer than us. If he’s not here with his soulmate, then he has a reason.”

“Seek the one who paid the price, Change the name, she won’t play nice. Release the son, betray the vice. Deep in the Lore they’ll feel his bite.” I chewed on my thumbnail. “That’s what the prophecy said. The second half of that is about Everest. We all know it. But we don’t know who this female is. The one who paid the price. We need to find her.”

“And the Angel of Tides,” Lennox added softly. “We need both of those people, and I fear we’ll need them before we can set Everest free.”

Warner snapped his fingers. “Tegan, that face. What?”

Tegan just shook her head once. “I have a theory on the Angel of Tides, but I need to confirm it before I speak it out loud, for their safety.”

“Seek the one who paid the price, change the name, she won’t play nice.” Tenn spun his silver rings around his fingers. “Could that be Cassandra or Pippa? Both of them could fit that description.”

Jackson pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll text Mum.”

Tenn looked to the angels. “You two . . . you know things you’re not allowed to tell us about this?”

They nodded but their expressions were grim.

“We came to check in with you, but we need to get back to hunting for answers for how to rid our world of them.” Thorne cracked his knuckles, which was such a human movement it was jarring to see on him. “That tome has a magical barrier we’re going to have to break, so we’re trying to find those answers ahead of you.”

Tegan narrowed her eyes on them but said nothing.

Tenn shook his head. “I just don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing right now.”