Axl stepped up, and followed the spines, murmuring each letter as he went.
“Hellbringer,” Larissa breathed, putting the letters together first. “It spells Hellbringer.”
Mab smiled. “It does, and when you add one final letter…” She flew down and retrieved a book from the floor, slotting it back onto the shelf. “…I believe we will have the final piece to the puzzle.”
The moment it touched the shelf and Mab ran her power down the spine, the shelf spun.Oh my gods, it’s happening. It’s really happening!
“What was the final letter?” I heard Ilia ask.
“S,” Mab said softly. “Hellbringers. It’s time for their return.”
Half of us in the room gasped. I hadn’t forgotten what I’d read in that book. The shelf started to slow its rapid spin, and when it finally stopped, there was just a single golden book perched in the shelf. Along the spine was the letters combined:Hellbringers.
“Yes.” Mab clapped her hands together. “Finally found the last piece.” She looked at me. “The three of you together. I’ve never felt that before. I believe you’ll be the key to everything.”
Three?I looked at Asher and Connor. She had to mean us.
“We’re the Hellbringers?” I asked, not sure what I meant by that.
Mab shook her head. “Now that … that I don’t know. But you’re definitely part of something much larger than the world we know. Only time will tell what your role is.”
Ah, yes, that old “time will tell” caper. Since the book was sitting right in front of us, I decided to worry about my role in it all later. Asher moved forward as I reached for it, like he was going to stop me, but I got there first. Yanking it up, I tried to ignore the zap of power from the book itself. My hand instantly went numb, but feeling returned in a few seconds.
There was nothing on the shimmery gold cover. I wondered what it was made of. It almost looked metallic, but it was soft. Flipping open the first page, I held it out to Ilia. “Can you read this, girl?”
She leaned forward, red curls bouncing as she moved her head around, looking from all different angles. “Nope. There’s nothing there.”
Winner, winner.
“I don’t see anything either,” Asher said.
Fuck.
Pulling the book around again, I searched the page but there was nothing. I flipped to the next page. Nothing. And the next page.
I was just about to throw the freaking thing across the room when I decided to take a deep breath and keep flicking through the pages. Each blank one had me feeling more despondent. When I reached the very middle, a glow caught my eye. The page was shimmering, and as I held it there, script wrote across the page.
“Can you all see this?” I whispered; my eyes locked on the flowing, unfamiliar writing.
“No,” Ilia said.
“Yes,” Asher and Connor both said.
“I can see it too,” I said, voice still soft, “but the words are not written in English.”
“It’s also not Atlantean,” Asher added.
Mab fluttered closer. “If you’re all as powerful as I’m reading in your energy, you only have to use your power to understand it. There’s no language you don’t know. Not anymore.”
The heat at my center sprang to life, like it wanted to figure out exactly what Mab meant. The words swirled on the page, the gold almost blinding, but as I blinked a few times, it started to become understandable. It wasn’t like it was now written in English, but somehow … I did understand it.
If there is one truth that all who wield power should learn, it’s that time is their enemy. Eventually time will catch up to you. With age. Or if not age, then with power. No one stays the most powerful forever.
Checks and balances are what keeps the world turning.
The gods rule today.
But their balance is coming.
