The Immortal Heights by Sherry Thomas Read Free Book Online Page B

the rest of the pastries. And then Kashkari asked, “So, where are we going?”
    The fire wavered, throwing out a few sparks.
    There were no drafts in this enclosure of sand. Nor was the fire fueled by anything that could shift and give movement to the flames. The flicker had been caused by the elemental mage who wielded the fire, a small lapse of concentration, perhaps.
    Titus glanced at her. There were dark circles underneath her eyes and a new hollowness to her cheeks. She had always steadfastly protested that she was fine and that she had had all the rest she needed these last few days, sleeping plentifully under the influence of the panacea—choosing to gloss over the fact that she had very nearly died from crossing the blood circle and that the sleep had not been some lazy indulgence, but her body fighting for her very survival.
    She turned to Kashkari. “We are going to Atlantis.”
    That was exactly what they were going to do, from the very beginning. Still, her words gave Titus chills.
    Kashkari’s hand tightened around the neck of his water canteen. “I thought so.”
    â€œYou don’t need to come with us unless you wish to,” she said. “Your friends here will be glad of your help too.”
    Kashkari glanced westward, even though he could see nothing beyond the firelight and Titus’s shadow on the wall of sand. “I wish to go with you,” he answered quietly. “It might be delusional on my part to hope my actions will matter, but better that than sitting back in the belief that they won’t. Not trying is the surest way of never making any difference.”
    â€œWe are most grateful to have you,” Titus responded, much to his own surprise.
    His mother had once had a vision of two boys, seen from the back, approaching the Commander’s Palace. Earlier he had assumed the boys to be himself and Wintervale, as one of the boys had some trouble walking—and Wintervale had never walked properly after his display of tremendous elemental power off the coast of Norfolk.
    Titus had further assumed that the vision cemented the choice he had made to terminate his partnership with Fairfax, because she had proven not to be the One.
    Now he knew better than to make any more assumptions. Now he knew the potential pitfalls of duplicating his mother’s visions down to the last detail. He would no longer reject help simplybecause it did not seem to fit in with a future seen through a small lens at a very limited angle.
    For all he knew, the two boys could be Kashkari and Fairfax, approaching the Commander’s Palace after Titus was no more. And he prayed that she would have the help of someone as calm and competent as Kashkari, rather than be all alone in the end.
    â€œYes, most grateful,” echoed Fairfax, offering Kashkari her hand to shake.
    They all shook hands, sealing a pact that was a lifetime—and more—in the making.
    â€œSo,” said Kashkari, still looking slightly stunned at what he had got himself into, “how exactly will we go to Atlantis?”
    â€œKeep in mind that every option going forward will be terrible. My most workable solution right now is a destination disruptor for a translocator at Delamer East,” answered Titus.
    â€œI’m not sure I’ve heard of such a thing,” said Kashkari. “A destination disruptor, that is. I know Delamer East is a big interrealm hub in the Domain.”
    â€œA destination disruptor does more or less what you think it does. It plays havoc with a translocator’s route. The translocator my disruptor is tailored for handles a fair bit of transatlantic cargo. I was told that if I managed to get the disruptor to work properly, we might materialize within fifty miles of Atlantis.”
    Once upon a time, mage realms could only be found by thosewho had seen them with their own eyes. In other words, no outsider, mage or nonmage, could locate a realm without the