War for the Skies (completed) (Book 1 of the Heroes of the Realms series)

Chapter 47

We went back into the restaurant after everything had cleared out and apologized for the inconvenience- if you could even call it that. We ordered more steak, but made sure this time that it was free of mind-controlling elixir, and dug in. Dawn didn't order anything, but quietly picked at the vegetable side dishes we ordered.

Something about the lightning bolt had stuck to me after my competition with the Ravager. The shortcut... it had to do with something about the lightning bolt and I was sure of it, but again I still couldn't place my finger on what it specifically was, which bothered me.

After seeing my troubled expression, Skylar placed a hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing... it's just... I feel like I know how to get to Rome easily, or at least to the Cursed Lands. I know that I know how to, but I just don't know what... wait..."  I got confused at what I was saying myself.

"It's fine, you'll remember," she smiled, which made my heart beat ten times faster, but she had a sad expression hidden under her joy. It reminded me dreadfully of Lukas before he confessed that he wasn't going to continue on the mission, and I had to ask if Skylar was going to drop out as well.

"Are you hiding something?" I asked, gently placing my work next to my plate. I had only finished half of the steak and the scent it gave off made me want to swallow the whole thing, but this issue made me worry.

"What? Um, no," she quickly turned to face her plate, intently staring into it as if the steak would give her the meaning of life.

The other three looked at Skylar skeptically, and I was doubtful myself that she wasn't hiding anything, but I didn't want to push the topic. Instead, Theo did.

"Skylar, tell us if you're going to quit the group or something, because I don't want any last minute confessions like Lukas," Theo mumbled through the large pieces of steak in his mouth.

"No, I'm not going to quit the group, at least... not exactly..." she didn't take her eyes off of the plate.

Her answers worried me more and more, and the fact that the restaurant was completely empty except for our waiter and us made it feel even more eerie.

"Skylar, what do you mean not exactly?" I leaned forward.

"Um, we're wasting time. How about we... uh... check please!" she said, waving her hand at the waiter.

She clearly wasn't going to answer any of our questions, but I was feeling afraid, and I needed answers. The waiter walked over quickly, as he probably had nothing else to do, and dropped a leather booklet in front of us. Mia took the booklet, put a wad of cash in it, closed it, and handed it back to the waiter. The waiter looked inside and grinned. He started to walk away, but he turned and gave us one last smile before heading back into the kitchen.

We sat in our seats in silence for a while. Skylar still hadn't taken her eyes off of her now gone plate.

After about two minutes, Mia got up and said "Come on, we're wasting time," and started walking toward the door. Dawn and Theo followed, but Skylar was slow at getting up. I could tell something was bothering her, and I could also tell that she wasn't going to spill the beans. Once we all went out, we looked at each other in confusion. What were we going to do now?

The sky was dark and barely any cars passed through the streets. It was still more crowded than when it had been with the Ravager, but something seemed off. It was too quiet. And I don't think that Skylar's bad mood was a coincidence.

"So... what?" Mia asked.

Theo leaned up against a street lamp, which made a sound so unstable I was always on the lookout for it falling down on our heads. "We go to Rome. It's that easy."