She stretched her arms above her head as the tension in her shoulders and heart started to loosen. “I’ll spend the night here, but I hope to leave tomorrow and continue my search for Evariste. That is, Lord Enchanter Evariste. I think I might return to our home in Torrens to do a bit of research.” She dropped her hands into her lap and smiled atPegasus.
Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dimness, he was easier to see, for his coat faintly glowed with flickers ofstardust.
“Thank you,” she said, “for taking me to Mulberg so I could heal Roland, and for bringing us here. I don’t know if I could have saved Roland without yourspeed.”
Pegasus flicked his tail and twitched his lowerlip.
“Are you going to return to the sky tonight?” Angeliqueasked.
Pegasus moved closer to Angelique and dropped his head to sniff herfeet.
Angelique offered her palm for him to sniff, but he ignored it and instead briefly lipped at her hair. A moment passed, and he turned his attention to the dry bush by the bench, but he didn’tleave.
Angelique wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she was grateful for hiscompany.
He stayed with her until Puss, true to his word, came for Angelique to summon her to dinner. And when Angelique arose the next morning, ready for the return trip to Torrens, he was waiting outside—his coat pitch black in the early morning light—then laid down in his wordless invitation for her to climb on hisback.
Chapter 7
Angelique pluckeda promising book from a shelf and only glanced at the title before adding it to the stack she held precariously balanced in her other arm. The next one she pulled out appeared to be written in an entirely foreign language, so she slid it back into place with a quiet “tsk.”
The arm that held all the books ached something fierce, so with only one additional glance at the shelf, Angelique hopped off the stool and made her way over to the desk, carefully setting the books on its woodensurface.
She massaged the back of her neck and looked from her stacked books to the library—which was now looking markedly vacant given all the tomes she had piled around the desk. “Somewhere in here, there has got to be something that can help me findEvariste.”
She rearranged a few stacks, choosing what books to prioritize, then plopped down in a chair and opened the nearest book to its table ofcontents.
Her eyes traced over the list of topics—mostly advanced techniques for craftmages, but she was hoping to find a charm or spell that might help her find her teacher. “Heat charms, invisibility spells, warding off mice, spinning gold—nothing on locating lost people or items.” She sighed and pushed the book aside, already reaching for the nextone.
She had already used all well-known spells and charms to search for Evariste, but she was hoping she might be able to stumble on something less known, or something that used archaic and long-forgottenmethods.
The old methods weren’t often used or dabbled in because they were considered potentially dangerous or nearly impossible to harness. (There was a reason why they were part of the oldways.)
Conversely, the older methods were more prone to being negatively or positively affected by emotions—which technically meant if she found the right spell, she might be able to use love to power it. But as she hadn’t found anything helpful, Angelique wasn’t ready to go scour the Conclave in search of one of Evariste’s many female admirers.Yet.
She was hoping, however, that she might be able to use the bracelet Evariste had given her when she first became his apprentice. It was supposed to serve as a tracking spell so he could find her, but Angelique was rather hoping she could reverse the spell and use it to findhim.
Angelique skimmed through the table of contents of another book. This one had a spell to find lost items.Perhaps it could be modified?she wondered as she set itaside.
She grabbed the next book, and tried not to grimace at the piles she had to sift through, but she had no shortcuts for her research. If the Conclave knew she was looking into old magical methods, the officials wouldn’t bepleased.
The Elves of Alabaster Forest likely would be able to help—it was said they used old magic to cross the ocean and arrive on the continent years ago. But Angelique had used the portal in the salon to trod their borders when she first arrived back from helping Gabrielle and Puss in Carabas nearly a month ago. And though she shouted, they had notcome.
Something suspicious is going on with the elves as well, Angelique vaguelynoted.
Something tapped on the windowpane.
Angelique pulled her attention from the book, putting it aside when she saw a butterfly hoveringoutside.
It had wings edged in black with swirls of forest and olive green. Its wings were long—so much so that the ends of its lower wings trailed slightly behind it, making it look like a cloak swept behind thebutterfly.
She hurried from the library, running to the front door. When she threw it open, she saw the butterfly making its way around the corner of the house, its delicate wings fluttering in the nippy fall breeze that was starting to tug on the half-green/half-orange and -yellow treeleaves.
Angelique jogged up to the butterfly and held out her hands, cupping themtogether.
The butterfly landed on her palms and glowed before its wings unfolded into a paper letter. The magic-made butterfly faded away, leaving only the messagebehind.
Angelique grimaced when she saw the stylized V and C that made up the Veneno Conclave seal. Reluctantly, she broke the seal and opened themessage.
