And yes, Lena, I’m afraid you are.” She touched Lena’s cheek. “Which is why you’re here, if you recall. To find what you need, to make sense of something senseless. Now, you’d better get started.”
“There are so many books, Marian. Can’t you just point us in the right direction?”
“Don’t look at me. Like I said, I don’t have the answers, just the books. Get going. We’re on the lunar clock down here, and you may lose track of time. Things aren’t exactly as they seem when you’re down below.”
I looked from Lena to Marian. I was afraid to let either one of them out of my sight. The
Lunae Libri was more intimidating than I had imagined. Less like a library, and more like, well, catacombs. And The Book of Moons could be anywhere.
Lena and I faced the endless stacks, but neither one of us took even a single step.
“How are we going to find it? There must be a million books in here.”
“I have no idea. Maybe…” I knew what she was thinking.
“Should we try the locket?”
“Do you have it?” I nodded, and pulled the warm lump out of my jeans pocket. I handed
Lena the torch.
“We need to see what happens. There has to be something else.” I unwrapped the locket and placed it on the round stone table in the center of the room. I saw a familiar look in
Marian’s eyes, the look she and my mother shared when they dug up a particularly good find. “Do you want to see this?”
“More than you know.” Marian slowly took my hand, and I took Lena’s. I reached over, with my fingers intertwined with Lena’s, and touched the locket.
A blinding flash forced my eyes shut.
And then I could see the smoke and smell the fire, and we were goneGenevieve lifted the Book so she could read the words through the rain. She knew speaking the words would defy the Natural Laws. She could almost hear her mother’s voice willing her to stop—to think about the choice she was making.
But Genevieve couldn’t stop. She couldn’t lose Ethan.
She began to chant.
“CRUOR PECTORIS MEI, TUTELA TUA EST.
VITA VITAE MEAE, CORRIPIENS TUAM, CORRIPIENS MEAM.
CORPUS CORPORIS MEI, MEDULLA MENSQUE, ANIMA ANIMAE MEAE, ANIMAM NOSTRAM CONECTE.
CRUOR PECTORIS MEI, LUNA MEA, AESTUS MEUS.
CRUOR PECTORIS MEI. FATUM MEUM, MEA SALUS.”
“Stop, child, ’fore it’s too late!” Ivy’s voice was frantic.
The rain poured down and lightning sliced through the smoke. Genevieve held her breath and waited. Nothing. She must have done it wrong. She squinted to read the words more clearly in the dark. She screamed them into the darkness, in the language she knew best.
“BLOOD OF MY HEART, PROTECTION IS THINE.
LIFE OF MY LIFE, TAKING YOURS, TAKING MINE.
BODY OF MY BODY, MARROW AND MIND, SOUL OF MY SOUL, TO OUR SPIRIT BIND.
BLOOD OF MY HEART, MY TIDES, MY MOON.
BLOOD OF MY HEART. MY SALVATION, MY DOOM.”
She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, when she saw Ethan’s eyelids struggling to open.
“Ethan!” For a split second, their eyes met.
Ethan fought for breath, clearly trying to speak. Genevieve pressed her ear closer to his lips and she could feel his warm breath on her cheek.
“I never believed your daddy when he said it was impossible for a Caster and a Mortal to be together. We would have found a way. I love you, Genevieve.” He pressed something into her hand. A locket.
And as suddenly as his eyes opened, they closed again, his chest failing to rise and fall.
Before Genevieve could react, a jolt of electricity surged through her body. She could feel the blood pulsing through her veins. She must have been struck by lightning. The waves of pain crashed down on her.
Genevieve tried to hold on.
Then everything went black.
“Sweet God in Heaven, don’t take her, too.”
Genevieve recognized Ivy’s voice. Where was she? The smell brought her back. Burnt lemons. She tried to speak, but her throat felt like she had swallowed sand. Her eyes fluttered.
“Oh Lord, thank you!” Ivy was staring down at her, kneeling beside her in the dirt.
Genevieve coughed and reached for Ivy, trying to pull her closer.
“Ethan, is he…” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, child. He’s gone.”
Genevieve struggled to open her eyes. Ivy jumped back, as if she’d seen the Devil himself.
“Lord have mercy!”
“What? What’s wrong, Ivy?”
The old woman struggled to make sense of what she saw. “Your eyes, child. They’re… they’ve changed.”
“What are you talkin’ about?”