I came across the same section that Alaric had shown me about the Stonebound, the image making my pulse accelerate. I continued flipping through, skimming through sections that I would have loved to have spent hours reading and studying. I planned on spending tomorrow deep in the Archives, learning all I could about possible protections and ways to help Sara-Kate. But the thought of looking here first was too great. I just had a feeling that there had to be a reason this book was here and not with the others.
I slowed down when I came to the section on emergence and protective rituals. In the few pages I could read, it reiterated that for a Bloodwright to emerge, they must lose a blood relative and that if they were of a certain bloodline, they had the potential to emerge. The section continued to elaborate on how many awakenings, ever since the Stonebound came into existence, have become “unstable.” Therefore, a protective ward, typically in the form of a pendant or ring, is needed to stabilize the awakening in order for the potential Bloodwright to emerge and find their mentor. My heart stuttered as I clutched the pendant at my neck. I didn’t have my father’s ring, but I had this. Maybe I could ward this for Sara-Kate and give her some more time.
All else that would be needed would be a blood relative and consent from the protected party. If I could just figure out which Bloodwright lineage Sara-Kate may descend from, perhaps I could make something work. But that would take time, and I wasn’t sure how much she had left.
As I turned the page, a few pieces of folded parchment fell out from the back of the book. I gently picked them up, unfurling them as I took in what looked like several family trees or genealogical records. There was one marked Gaines, Duvall, Monroe, Whitlock, and Pollard—all names of those in the Council leadership. I glanced through the pages, my breath catching as I noticed more recent entries with circles and question marks in a sloppy handwriting I didn’t recognize. Down the Duvall line, there was the familiar name of Ashe Gilmore, who looked like a third cousin of Seraphine. Her name was circled and then marked out. An annotation of “unstable” was written in red ink, sloppily.
I glanced at the Monroe line and gasped when I saw Michelle Nelson’s name also circled and labeled as a fifth cousin to Elias. The same annotation of “unstable” written in the margins of the parchment.
My hands felt numb as I continued to glance through the papers, the tug on the bond between Alaric and me sharpening as he continued to wait for me, growing more restless by the second. A flare of concern and panic washed over me, as if Alaric was starting to feel my own panic.
“Just a little longer,” I whispered to myself, trying to calm myself down while also staying focused on the task at hand. I slowed my breathing, willing a feeling of calm to echo down the bond.
I flipped to the Whitlock lineage and found Sara-Kate’s name circled and underlined, appearing to be a distant fifth cousin of Nico. My blood ran cold. Here was irrefutable proof that Sara-Kate did, in fact, come from a prominent Bloodwright line. And Alaric had lied to me about it. He had this book before, possibly made these notes, and looked me in the eyes and told me I was being paranoid about Sara-Kate.
Tears stung the back of my eyes as I rushed to put the papers back whereI found them, too upset to keep looking—and realizing the rush of emotions was cascading down the bond made it clear to Alaric I was upset. There was no way he’d leave me right now. I’d have to come back here later when I was calmer to read more. But before I placed the book back in its warded hiding place, I glanced at my own family line, the fear of what I would discover overwhelming me for a moment.
Just as Sara-Kate and Ashe’s names had been circled and underlined, mine was also there next to Uncle Dan’s, listed as a direct descendant of the prominent Pollard line. There was an annotation written to the side of my name in red: “Line intact. Twinflame possibility.”
I shoved the book away, gathering my things as I made a beeline for the front of the school where Alaric and Sara-Kate waited. I pulled the book I had checked out from the library earlier that day to show as my excuse for taking so long.
I fought the tears that threatened to fall; my bond to Alaric softened the closer I got to him, but also stabbed me in the chest. Heknew. He knew and had been watching, and said nothing, did nothing. For Ashe and now for Sara-Kate. Why?
I wanted nothing more than to confront him, shove him, scream in his face and demand he tell me why he lied to me, why he didn’t do more for Ashe, why he wasrefusing to help Sara-Kate. Why was he making notes of possible emergences but not doing anything to help those who emerged? But I couldn’t. Not yet.
I was going to the cabin with Alaric this Friday. Alone and away from the Council or anyone who could overhear or intervene. I’d have to wait until then to get the truth out of Alaric.
But there was still one person I could confide in until then. Uncle Dan.
I’d be an idiot to think that Alaric didn’t notice anything was off with me. When I had returned to the front of the school, he arched his eyebrow in question, the sudden relief in his eyes displaced with suspicion. I made an excuse that I got tied up with the librarian, but I had a feeling he didn’t believe me, the bond tying us together pulling painfully, like he knew I was lying but wasn’t going to call me out on it. At least not yet.
Alaric walked me home in stilted silence, not reaching for my hand like we had grown accustomed to doing whenever we walked together. The natural inclination to touch was as easy as breathing now that we were bonded, but at the moment there was an unspoken barrier between us. He walked me to the elevator, then quickly made his exit. He turned and disappeared before I had a chance toeven say goodbye. I watched his parting figure through the closing doors of the elevator; the tether connecting us felt strained and breakable.
When I made it to the apartment, I was surprised to see Dan striding from the kitchen to his office, a cup of coffee in his hand. I dropped my bag by the front door, tearing after him. He sloshed his coffee when he turned to sit, surprised to see me so suddenly behind him.
“Damn it, Mari,” he swore, placing the cup down, careful not to get it on any important documents. “You scared me.”
“I need to talk to you.” I ignored his comment, the tone in my voice turning urgent. Dan nodded, gesturing for me to close the door. I could hear Tiffany humming from the kitchen as she and Iris prepared dishes for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner we were to have as a family of three.
His hands gestured in the direction of the secret room as he maneuvered the book on the shelf, activating the mechanism that opened the hidden door. I made a beeline for the room, only feeling like I could take a proper breath when he closed the door behind him and nodded for me to sit at the old wooden desk. The same one where I had found my father’s ring missing.
“I think Alaric may also be aware of the rising emergences.” I spoke bluntly, and the panic I was trying to calm only rose higher and higher within my chest.
Dan’s eyes widened. “What makes you think that?”
I quickly explained my suspicions about Sara- Kate: how I was worried about her possibly emerging as a Bloodwright and how I’d brought it up to Alaric, and how he dismissed it. I then confessed to sneaking in here to take my father’s ring, hoping maybe it could act as some sort of protection for her, but when I came to get it from this room, I found it gone.
His eyes grew wide, glancing frantically around the room. He began searching more drawers at the desk and then various old books.
He sighed. “It looks like everything else is here. But why would Alaric take the ring? And how did he manage it? I was with him the entire time I was showing him this library.”
“Think Uncle Dan,” I replied. “Was there a moment when Tiffany asked you to step out? Did you take a phone call?”
Realization made his face fall as he rubbed his hands together anxiously. “Richard called me. I just stepped out for a moment.”
“So hedidhave the opportunity.”
“I was gone less than two minutes.” Uncle Dan tried to reassure himself. “And the magic shouldn’t have allowed him in.”
