“You guys are freaking me out,” Galen said. “What aren’t you saying?”
I wanted to know too. I was trying to pretend I was on top of things, however, so I waited.
“If Hadley feels a kinship with the book that might mean she has a strong tie with the individual who created it,” Aurora explained.
I balked. “I don’t feel a kinship with anyone.” My voice sounded screechy.
“Thanks, baby.” Galen patted my knee. “Good to know.”
I could not soothe his frayed nerves when I was freaking out. “Idon’t feel a kinship with anyone that I shouldn’t,” I growled. “I just … no.” I wagged my finger for emphasis.
“Okay, she is downright adorable,” Booker said on a grin. “Cute as a button.”
I was going to start smacking people if they weren’t careful. “I think I’m done talking to you guys.” I kept the book cradled to my chest as I stood. “I’ll figure a way to open it.”
“Because you feel a kinship with it?” Aurora challenged.
“Because it has to be opened. I don’t feel a kinship with a killer.”
“We don’t know for certain that’s Declan’s book,” Galen pointed out. “All we know is that Declan was interested in it. He may have wanted it because it was his or because of what it could bring him.”
I didn’t like that option either. “We need to get it open.”
He reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “Trust me, I get it.” His gaze moved to the book, then back to my face. “Do you hear it whispering?”
It was only then that I realized what they were really talking about. I loosened my grip on the book and looked at it. “It’s not talking to me like the trap. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“But you do feel something,” Galen insisted. “Explain what you’re feeling.”
It was difficult putting my thoughts about magic into words. I didn’t have the same references the others did. I hadn’t grown up on a magical island. Everything was still new, framed by my experience growing up in a non-magical family.
“Do you feel a hum?” I asked. “I don’t hear any noise but I sort of feel it.”
“What does it feel like?” Booker asked. He was no longer messing with me.
“I just told you,” I groused.
“I don’t mean that. Does it feel evil? You can tell the difference between white and dark magic.”
Warmth suffused my cheeks. “It’s evil. There’s no doubt aboutthat. It’s thinking evil thoughts and feeling evil feelings. Books can’t be conscious but it feels as if it has emotions.”
“That could be a remnant of whoever created it,” Aurora mused. “They could have infused a part of themself into the book. Whoever it was might not have even done it on purpose.”
Everybody fell silent and stared at the book. I was the one — of course — to break the silence. “What do we do?”
“Open it,” Aurora replied simply. She gestured for me to stand. “No one person can do it. It will takeallof us.”
She meant elemental magic. She wanted to use all of our magic to open the book.
“Do you think that will work?” I was hopeful.
Aurora bobbed her head. “It’s safer if we do it together.”
“The book won’t try to bite us,” I surmised.
Rather than make fun of me, she grinned. “That’s the goal.”
On an exhale, I nodded. “Just tell me what to do.”
