“My globe,” I said. “It’s fragile now. Like glass. When I throw it, the sphere grows and shatters against whatever or whoever it hits. It cuts people.”
“That’s curious.” His breath brushed my cheek. “It must have happened when you tossed one at the trap door to save Gian and me. When you are well, we could have one of our professors of magical sciences examine your globe.”
“That doesn’t sound very appealing,” I said. “I don’t want to be someone’s specimen.”
“We can talk about this later.” He kissed my forehead. “You should rest.”
His body so close to mine reminded me of the many cold nights we had spent trapped in the Somnium together. He felt safe. The rhythm of his breathing and the hint of his cologne eased me gently into a deep sleep. Nothing played in my mind, no nightmarish images, no replay of Veronique’s death. Nothing.
…
Light tickled my eyelashes, and the smell of autumn came in from the window. They lie to you. Seek The Red. He knows… I opened my eyes. Veronique’s voice sounded as if it came from inside the room. I sat up against the pillows.
It had been five days since the fight in the New York Public Library. Five days since I’d killed Veronique. And two days since Bastien left in the middle of the night while I slept. I almost thought he was an illusion, but Emily had assured me it wasn’t a dream.
Bastien had risked his safety to visit me, and I wished he could’ve stayed, but his haven, the wizard realm of Couve, needed him. He would’ve accessed the haven through an entry within the Senate Library of France in Paris. There’d been several attacks in that library lately, and I worried about his safety.
The door opened, and Emily came in. “Good morning. I came for your breakfast order. What do you feel like having today?”
“I’ll come down and eat.” I flung my legs over the side. My scabs and bruises were healing fast due to Nana’s magical gunk, and the puncture wound in my shoulder only ached when I raised my arm.
Emily picked up my robe and handed it to me. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She dug into the front pocket of her jeans and handed me Carrig’s watch. “I managed to get all the blood off it.”
“Thank you,” I said, putting it on, relieved to have it back.
“You talk in your sleep, you know that?”
I shot her a startled look. “What did you hear?”
“Everything. How Veronique died. What she said. That you have to find The Red.” Her almost black hair was longer than I’d remembered it. With her pronounced widow’s peak, her pasty white face still looked like a heart. One of her dark eyebrows shot up. “You don’t remember any of this, do you?”
Do I? No. I shook my head.
She sat on the bed beside me. “I think we have to go find that Red person.”
“The Red? We? Oh, hell no, you’re not going with me.” What was I saying? I wasn’t going, either. Maybe if I hid out at Nana’s house, the apocalypse would blow over without me. Besides, I had all the Chiavi.
The Chiavi. I sprang to my feet and plopped right back down, my ribs screaming at me. “Where’s my bag?”
“Right there,” she said, pointing at my messenger bag on the high-back chair in the corner.
“Not that. The velvet one.”
She grinned and crossed the area rug to the closet. “You don’t think I’d leave the Chiavi just lying around the room, do you? I hid it.” She reached inside, pushed against the wooden panel lining the back wall, and a section popped open. She dragged the velvet bag out and brought it over to me.
I undid the tie and placed the Chiavi and the ancient spell book onto the comforter, then lined them up. My fingers brushed over the crown and continued over the sword, telescope, cross, and scroll.
Emily sat on the foot of the bed, facing me. “They’re beautiful. Nana said they have individual powers.”
“Yeah, they do. I just have to figure out how to use them.” I slipped out of the bed.
“Where are you going?” Emily bounced to her feet. “Nana said you have to rest.”
“I’m fine. I just need my bag.” I shuffled over to the chair, grabbed it, and rejoined her on the bed. My trench coat was balled up on top and I took it out. I retrieved the hourglass, badge, Gian’s journal, and the leather canister and placed them on the mattress beside the other Chiavi. Before I touched the ancient spell book, I stopped, as though touching it would give me a curse.
Emily flipped through the ancient spell book. “This is in Latin. And look how old these pages are. I’m surprised they’re not crumbling in my hand.”
A strange scent, like licorice, escaped the leather case as I tugged the cap off. I tipped the cylinder over and two vials landed on the comforter. One was empty, and the other had a thick black liquid in it.
“That’s a strange smell,” Emily said.
“Yeah, I think it’s from the stuff inside that one.” I carefully removed the slip of parchment stuck inside the cylinder and unrolled it. The handwriting was familiar—the script matched the one in Gian’s journal. The paper crinkled as I flattened it on the comforter.
Emily turned another page in the spell book and studied it. “I can’t read any of this.” She waved her hand above the book and chanted, “Ad mutare anglicus.” She then ran her finger across the sentences as she skimmed the page. “That’s better.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I’m using a spell to transcribe the words to English,” she said. “So, what does the note say?”
I read it aloud.
To my heir,
On a page a bit past the halfway mark within a book bearing my name, within the house of books in the city of my birth, you shall find the entry into a mountainous, frozen land. The Four sleeps under the tallest peak, but be careful, for traps will deter your journey to finding the creature you seek.
The Chiavi, I have transformed into items, magical ones. Use them to get through the traps blocking your way. Find the etched clues to know which to use. Once through, change the Chiavi to their original forms by commanding, modificare. You will be left with seven rods. There are seven matching holes in the door holding the beast. Before inserting each rod into the door, recite, accendere, and the rods will glow. Once all rods are in the prison door, use the charm, rilascio, to open the door. Whoever opens the door will then control the beast.
The moment the door opens, the chosen one must drink the spell. Mix the blood from the heirs of the seven original wizards with the potion I have included in the canister. The mixture was concocted by Mykyl to create the beast. If mixed correctly with the blood of the heirs, the liquid will turn golden. The donors must be the closest living heir. Consuming the spell will change the chosen one to match the Four. For only the purest heir can consume them all and defeat the Tetrad. Make haste for the spell will end quickly, and the Seventh Heir will be lost.
Heir to heir, blood to blood, lies the cure.
Trust your wit. Trust the inner voice. For it was all determined before your birth.
May Saint Agnes guide you on your journey.