Midnight Truth (Shifter Island #4) - Leia Stone Page 0,44

can go with you. You’ll need someone to watch your back lest Kian or Snade try to thwart you in that too. After you get your soul stone, you can have your first portal lesson with your mother tomorrow.”

“Okay.” I squeaked.

Soul stone hunting with Reyna.

No big deal.

Chapter Seven

Turns out soul-stone hunting was a big deal. Just like I’d feared. And while Gramps tried to explain it all to me, the whole thing sounded like mystical voodoo.

“How do you know it’s here, on High Mage Island? What if it’s really on Shifter Island? I am an alpha heir after all.”

Grandpa shook his head. Back at home, in his bed, he looked less frail—barely. After chuckling, a wheezing, asthmatic sound, he said, “High mage would be dominant.”

I thought of all the times when my wolf refused to come to the surface and shrugged.

“Your soul stone will be here, somewhere on the island. Trust me,” Grandpa went on. “Once you find it, you can put it with the others in the black pouch in the spirit pool room. That way, they’re kept safe.”

“So why are we going to the spirit pools if her soul stone is here on school grounds?” Reyna asked, her brow furrowed with confusion.

I was grateful I wasn’t the only one wondering that.

Gramps handed me a long, light blue crystal. “Because this crystal plus the water will help you connect with the energy of your soul stone. Once you’re fully in tune with spirit, your soul stone will give you a vision to lead you to it—like a magnet.”

A vision? Cool. I could get down with that.

“That’s it?” I asked, a little wary. So far, things Gramps said weren’t always simple.

He nodded and then furrowed his brow. “Well, then you’ll need to follow the vision of your soul stone, fetch it, and finally, bring it back here.”

A vision from my soul stone? Another thing I’d never heard of. Yeah … totally not worried.

“What if it doesn’t lead me to it? Like what if there isn’t a”—I waved my fingers in the air to indicate magic—“vision.”

“The young always worry about things they can’t control,” he said.

Was that to me or Reyna? Because she was maybe ten years older than me. Tops. Hardly old compared to his millennium.

“Just go with Reyna, Nai. It will all work out.” Then he faced his shield. “You’ll need to be on guard. Nai won’t be focused on the real world here, and with tensions as they are among the mages, she’ll need your eyes and ears—at the very least.”

She pursed her lips and gave him a curt nod. “I’ve got this, but will you be okay here?”

“Sure will,” he said, nestling back into the stack of pillows. “Let’s hope we don’t need anyone else but ourselves tonight. I think everyone is stressed enough to keep to their own castles, but…” He pointed at me, dressed in battle gear Reyna had loaned me. “You might want to change into selkie armor. Chances are you’ll be wandering the grounds … possibly even the island. The seal skin protection would be a good idea.”

Seal skin? “I don’t have that.”

“Not to worry, I do. A present for you from King Ozark,” Grandpa said, his eyes getting droopy. “He’s a good man … and a good king.”

I remembered the way the selkie king had handled the mage Jakko’s betrayal and nodded. I didn’t even know King Ozark knew Gramps.

“I’ll give it to her,” Reyna said and then pulled me toward the door. “Anything else?”

I waited for more directions, something more than his vague “relax and find your soul stone” pep talk, but he closed his eyes.

“Nope. That should do it.”

As soon as we stepped into the hall and the door was closed behind us, I grabbed Reyna by the arm. “Please tell me you know how this goes.”

“I’ve never done this before either,” she said, interrupting me in that brusque way that made me feel stupid. “But Geoff won’t let you fail. The only one who wants to make sure Kian doesn’t get spirit power more than you is Geoff.” She cocked her head to the side and then added, “And maybe me. Now, let’s get you that selkie armor.”

The slick black wetsuit looked similar to the leather body armor we wore but even nicer than what Reyna had leant me, and it felt like a second skin. There were layers over my vital organs, molded plating covering my chest, back, abdomen, and pelvis; only these layers of protection were practically