The God & The Shadow

Chapter 37

VERONICA

The war room was exactly how I expected it to be. Maps of countries and lands of the Fifth Realm were plastered on the walls and table, tiny figurines which I assumed were us scattered around.

Lore didn't join us for breakfast doing whatever gods know what, leaving me to put up with Cassian's gawking the entire morning.

Only his husband had noticed the prince's unusual behavior earlier, which meant that he didn't tell anyone what he had witnessed and was left to deal with his internal turmoil alone.

However, his somewhat reserved and composed demeanor had completely crumbled the moment Lore sat down next to me as we gathered around the round table.

"Are you alright?" Wilton asked when everyone had already claimed their seats and his husband remained standing.

He choked on his breath all of a sudden when his gaze shifted to Lore, causing some of the soldiers guarding the door to warily approach him. However, Cassian held up a hand, his other clawing at his throat, and they immediately fell back to place.

Cassian took his seat next to Wilton and straightened himself. "I'm fine." He amended with a raspy voice.

Lore sat back in the chair, the crown prince's face filled with what looked like trepidation and nervousness as he started talking. "Right. So, in the break of early morn, we will be leaving to attend the celebration that will be held in the Kingdom of Kottra. Our goal is to retrieve the Book of Virulence and find whatever we can about their plans for the war."

"The Book," he grabbed a large scroll from behind and unraveled it on the table to reveal the full layout of the Kottran Palace. He waved a hand over the entire blueprint. "Could be anywhere. The King himself would probably be so foolish to put it somewhere as obvious as the library, but the Queen..."

Cassian knocked his fingers on the table for emphasis. "She would know where to hide something so valuable."

Hermes hummed his apprehension and drummed his fingers on the table. I had asked Florens earlier during breakfast what exactly she had given Hermes for him to act the way he did the night before, to which she replied with a simple wink.

"Now," Cassian rested his elbows on the table and looked at us all, notably skipping past Lore. "We will need to spread out and find the book."

"How would we find it though? We don't know what it looks like." Taylor voiced out.

Wilton chose to answer this time. "Rumors say that the book glows, others say it floats to the nearest person." The prince turned his gaze to the god seated next to me. "What do you say, Lord Hades?"

I side-glanced Lore that still composed a stoic and bored demeanor. He looked like he was contemplating on whether or not to divulge such information to everyone, but he answered. "Neither. It will call to you and drag you to its location until it drives you mad enough to open it and use it."

Warren whistled in his seat and Olivia tensed, Taylor rubbing her back to calm her down. It was definitely not the most reassuring thing to hear, but expected from the book nonetheless.

"Didn't you say it was powerless without the Book of Scars?" I suddenly blurted, turning to him.

Lore faced me and raised his eyebrows in surprise, then eased them back down. "Yes, it is. Powerless when it comes to doing its actual purpose. But," He turned away from me and locked eyes with Cassian, which the prince turned away from immediately. "The books will always find a way to stay together and be used, for not even realms or time could separate such devices."