“Very little is in my control now, matron. The only thing that will change is I will finally know the truth.”
Celestia dropped my arm and stepped aside. I wasted no time racing to the weapons room. I’d half-feared Wrath would be there, working off excess emotions after our conversation. It was silent, empty. I hurried through each portion, running my hands over every gold design, searching for any secret compartment or object that might be a key.
I halted in the back of the room near the serpent mosaic. Like the first time I saw it, I swore there was something familiar about it… my mind raced, searching for a memory.
“Blood and bones.” I gripped the roots of my hair and gently tugged. “Think.”
I’d seen it before. I would bet whatever was left of my soul. If only I could—
“Devious demon. You’re brilliant.” I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming in glee. “I’ve got you now.”
I stood over Wrath’s desk and picked up the serpent paperweight.
Or what I’d originally mistaken for a paperweight. Turning it over, I studied the ridges and geometric design with a different eye. It could certainly be a key. Given the shape, it would fit on top of a hand mirror nicely. And it would explain why Envy had shared this information.
Without an invitation to House Wrath, he would not be able to search the castle himself. Showing up outside in the garden for a minute or two was one thing, but strolling through Wrath’s personal library would be another. Though, knowing Wrath, he likely had the interior warded to keep his brothers out. None of that mattered.
I held the Temptation Key to my chest, feeling the first pangs of hope. I wasn’t sure why Celestia worried so much about touching a divine object. Thus far it only gave me peace. Joy. After all of the starts and stops, this was a tangible lead. A true thread to tug on. Now all I had to do was locate the Triple Moon Mirror. And, armed with the key, I had a new plan forming.
Back in my personal suite, I pulled out my notes and a pen. If I could just figure out the enchanted skulls message, I would have a direction.
Enchanted skulls
Skull one: Angelus mortis lives. Fury. Almost free. Maiden, Mother, Crone. Past, present, future, find.
Skull two: Seven stars, seven sins. As above, so below.
I tapped a quill against my lips, staring at the notes, willing the answer to manifest itself. The first skull’s message was a little clearer now. I was positive it related to the Triple Moon Mirror and its ability to see into the past, present, and future.
It was the second skull’s message that I kept getting caught on. Knowing what I did now about the seven stars being another name given to the Seven Sisters, and the fact that Envy was interested in locating them, I wondered…
I sucked in a sharp breath, distracted by a new thought. If Wrath kept the Temptation Key in plain sight, then maybe he’d done the same thing with the Triple Moon Mirror. Maybe he couldn’t tell me anything about the curse, but he’d tried to help in a subtler way.
The case Envy had would fit a hand mirror. One such mirror had been gifted to me before I’d left for House Envy. Hope had me clutching the key and racing into my bathing chamber, pulling out the gorgeous mirror from where I’d kept it in the vanity. I’d admired the etching on the back before, but hadn’t considered it might be more than a pretty design.
Excitement filling my chest, I placed the Temptation Key on the back of the mirror and twisted. Or tried to. Finding the correct alignment was difficult. I shifted it a few more ways, tried several directions. I flipped the key over and studied the raised lines. Some of the excitement dissipated. They didn’t look like a match, but I didn’t want to give up just yet.
After trying every way I could to fit the two objects together, I finally accepted the fact that the pieces did not match.
I trudged back into my bedchamber and plopped back onto the bed, rereading the notes. What I needed to do next was find the Seven Sisters and ask if they knew where the Triple Moon Mirror was. The skulls had to be the key to figuring that out, if only I could solve their riddles.
Seven stars, seven sins. As above, so below.
I inhaled and exhaled, emptying frustration and previous theories from my mind. The Crone had said something I’d only partially paid attention to. I concentrated on that conversation, her words slowly coming back to me about the Seven Sisters. They dwell where no sin rules above all.
That was it. I stared at the message delivered by the second skull again.
Seven stars, seven sins. As above, so below.
I’d been so convinced the seven sins was the easiest part to decipher, but that might not be true at all. Perhaps it was the simplicity of that portion of the clue that was meant to stand out. I thought it referred to the seven princes of Hell. But what if it was a place within the Seven Circles? “As above, so below” typically was used to indicate balance.
The clue might point toward the place where all seven sins were used equally, where none ruled above the others. Just as the Crone had hinted at.
The Sin Corridor.
Heart thumping, I grinned down at my notes. That had to be it.
The Seven Sisters were somewhere in the Sin Corridor, and I had a feeling they were in possession of the mirror. It would explain why they kept moving through the realm, hiding from the princes. They were either magical thieves or keepers of the peace.
Regardless of the role they played for the demon princes, they were my salvation.