chapter FIFTY-THREE
Samuel led us upstairs to a room that must have once been a study. The bookshelves were empty now; I assumed the books had been moved to his father’s new home. He pointed to some chairs around a coffee table, and we sat. Ms. Carmen’s map had been laid on the table.
The others stayed in the basement, agreeing the fewer people with me the less distracted I’d be.
“I’m going to take your amulet off now, Elena. Don’t try anything stupid or your friend will suffer for it.”
“I won’t,” I said, heard racing. I didn’t know how he expected me to concentrate on anything when Kevin was in danger, but I had to try.
My power fought to escape my control. Even though I didn’t use it often, I twas always free, and did not like being confined by the amulet. I managed to keep it in check, wishing I had full control. I realized I would have have full control of my power though; not entirely. While the power did belong to me, it was also its own entity, sharing my body.
“Focus on the map. Try to read it,” Samuel instructed, as if I didn’t already know what he wanted from me.
First, I only looked at the map, studying the markings on it. A small breath of magic emanated from it, but it was completely foreign. I couldn’t decipher a thing.
After a few minutes, I held my hands above the map. I didn’t want to touch it yet, afraid there might be some spell to harm if I did. I felt nothing malicious, so gently laid my hands on the surface. My whole body tingled from the power in the ancient document. I jerked my hands away.
“What’s wrong?” Samuel asked.
I told him what I’d felt.
“You can read it! I didn’t feel anything from it,” he said.
“That does not mean anything,” Vittorio said. “It may only mean her power is stronger than yours.”
Samuel glared at him, but said nothing.
Ignoring them, I picked up the map and tried to translate the strange markings on it.
“Try to relax, Elena. Meditate for a few minutes if you must. Perhaps it is like one of those magic eye posters where you have to look through the design to see the hidden image.”
I tried holding the map in various positions, not holding it, turning it every which way, but came no closer to translating it after half an hour. “I can’t do this alone. I need help,” I told Samuel.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I hesitated, knowing he wouldn’t like what I was going to ask for. I didn’t even know if it was possible, but my power whispered that it was.
“Well, what is it?”
“I think if I could try to join my power with Vittorio’s, I might be able to read the map.”
“Do you think I’m stupid? As soon as I take the amulet off him, you’ll try to overpower me.”
Do you think I’m stupid?” I replied. “If we do that, Clavius will kill Kevin, and that’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid.” I stared him right in the eye, unwavering.
Samuel pondered my request, and seemed to decide he could believe me. He untied Vittorio’s hands and took his amulet off.
Vittorio reached for my hand, and we let our power loose, swirling together around us. I again picked up the map with my free hand and scanned it casually, trying not to concentrate too hard on it. After a few moments, the letters on the page seemed to swim and rearrange themselves.
“Do you see that?” I whispered.
“I see nothing, mio amore.”
I watched the letters continue to move, hardly believing it was possible. They finally settled into a pattern I could read; they had changed to English.
“Give me a pen and paper,” I told Samuel.
He did as I asked, and I wrote the spell down. Once I had, Samuel rushed to tie our hands again and put the amulets back around our necks, then led us back to the basement.