Painful Memories

Chapter 18

Dread rooted my tail to the ground, my insides churning with fear. Jacob gestured to me, a grin on his face. "Now, where were we?" When I didn't respond—I couldn't respond—he answered for me. "I believe you were going to retrieve the Lost Soul Pendant for me."

Fear bubbled in my stomach, almost choking me. "I—I don't even know where it is! Please, you have to believe me. I wouldn't even know where to begin looking." Even as the words left my mouth, I knew I was lying. The pendant acted as a beacon for those who'd worn it in the past. Whenever they got close to the pendant, it would physically pull them towards it.

Of course, the real Lost Soul Pendant had been destroyed years ago, similarly to the Loyalty Pendant. But that didn't mean that someone couldn't have created a decoy. Thank the gods he didn't know that. The only question was, who would have had the means to do so? Not many outside our family knew about the existence of the pendants.

I exhaled shakily, running my fingers through my curls. When Jacob spoke, I jumped. Even Uncle Noah flinched. I hadn't realized we'd all been silent for that long. "You have two weeks, Isadora. If the Lost Soul Pendant isn't in my possession by then..." He didn't continue, but he didn't have to.

I shivered. His unspoken threat was clear. As he headed towards the door, he said over his shoulder, voice dripping with malice, "You'd better keep up your end of the bargain, Isadora."

It took every ounce of control in me not to empty my stomach onto the ground. Even Uncle Noah was pale. Without so much as a glance at him, I left the dungeons. Speeding through the palace, I burst out of the entrance, my entire body trembling violently.

The tears came fast and hot, flowing down my cheeks in rivulets. I sank to the ground, sobbing through the nausea that threatened to overwhelm me. What was I going to do? I cried until I had no tears left, until my eyes felt tight and puffy.

When the arm came around my shoulder, I lost it. I barely turned my head in time, vomiting on the ground. If only the memories could be released that easily. After a few minutes, the nausea eventually subsided, leaving me weak and shaky. A voice, calm and quiet, broke through the fog that had settled over me. "I'm here, Izzy. Come on."

Kai wrapped his arm around me as he pulled me off the ground. It was all I could do to focus on the feeling of his arm around mine. I think I was in shock. I barely registered arriving at the palace and swimming to our suite. I felt more than saw the eyes on us, but I couldn't so much as lift my head to check.

When we finally reached our suite, I nearly collapsed. Only Kai's arm around my shoulder kept me upright. "I'm right here, Izzy." Never letting go, he used his free hand to wipe the tears off my pale face. "Do you feel up to telling me what happened?"

I kept shaking my head, eyes wide as I stared at him. "I—I had no other choice. He—he said he was going to..." I couldn't continue.

I could see the confusion in his eyes. "Who, Izzy? What do you mean, you had no other choice?" His voice was calm, a direct contrast to my own.

I closed my eyes, taking several deep breaths. When I felt my heartbeat return to normal, I opened them and looked at Kai. "I went to the dungeons. I wanted to try to get answers from Uncle Noah about why he did what he did. Jacob was also there. I screamed at Uncle Noah, trying to figure out what could have possibly lead him to do what he did."

Kai had never taken his eyes off my face as I'd spoken, but I noticed a flash of anger cross his face when I'd mentioned Jacob. "What did he say?" His voice was dangerously calm, as if he was desperately trying to control his temper.

My chest was heaving as it worked tirelessly to pull water in and push it out. I felt sad, tired, and numb. "That I had no idea what Jacob had said. What he had done. Apparently, they spend quite a bit of time alone in the dungeons. One day, they got to talking, shared a bit of their histories, and that's when Jacob told him about Mrs. Carla and Ella's deaths. He also mentioned the Lost Soul Pendant, how—if and when he got out—he was going to use it to bring them back."

A shiver ran through me as the words left my mouth. "I told him that Jacob would say anything to gain sympathy. That I hoped he knew that." My heart began to pound, the words I'd yet to voice tangling in my throat, nearly choking me. Kai pulled me to him and I laid my head on his chest, taking a shuddering breath.

When I finally spoke again, my voice broke. "Uncle Noah finally revealed Jacob's plan. If Uncle Noah didn't help him, he'd..." I trailed off, choking on tears. I took a deep breath and tried again. "He'd kidnap our family and use the Lost Soul Pendant on us until we slowly lost our sanity and killed each other."

Kai slowly shook his head, disbelief and fear stark on his face. "What did you do?"

I swiped at my eyes with the back of my hand. "What else was there to do? I let Jacob out." My voice was quiet. "The Lost Soul Pendant is gone." Another tremor passed through me. "But what if someone created a decoy? A—A fail safe in case the original was ever destroyed?"

Kai shook his head again. "I'm not following."

"What if my grandfather had created a decoy pendant, identical to the original in every way? That way, if the original were to disappear, no one would notice the difference." My head was spinning.

I turned to Kai, eyes wide. "The problem is, I don't have any idea where to start looking for it. It could be somewhere at Rosewood. It could be in any of the realms."

The suite door swung open a heartbeat later, both of us whirling around and speeding towards the sound. Mom floated in front of us, her face deathly pale and eyes wide. In my quick scan of her body, I couldn't find any injuries. I wondered what had her so spooked.

When Kai froze, his eyes locked on Mom, I followed his gaze. There, clutched tightly in her fist, the stone glowing bright as the sun, was the Lost Soul Pendant. I crumpled on the ground, my own thoughts swirling around in my head. The pendant acted as a beacon for those who'd worn it in the past. Whenever they got close to it, it would physically pull them towards it.

It made perfect sense. I slowly got up off the ground and swam to Mom, carefully taking the pendant and closing my hands around it. Kai put a gentle arm around her as he ushered her inside. I was breathing unevenly as I turned to Mom. Where did you get this? My hands were shaking so violently, my signs were barely recognizable.

She shook her head, eyes haunted. I found it in our suite this morning. Someone must have slipped it under the door earlier. The way her own hands were trembling suggested that she may have a general idea of who it could be.

It was my turn to shake my head. "Impossible. He literally just got released. There's no way he could have..." I trailed off, words failing me as I realized that's exactly what he did.

He must have snuck away while everyone had been distracted by the prisoner exchange. The game had just changed big time. I only hoped we could adapt to its new rules fast enough. Before it was too late.

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