Page 83 of His to Hunt

“Supposedly,” he grunts. “I just don’t know what that means, exactly. I’m going to reach out to Saul and some other older wolves I know. They might have some answers.”

“Do you think it’s safe for me to keep messing with the book?” I ask curiously.

“No, but if it’s glowing for you and the cipher looks different, I don’t think you’re going to have a choice,” he sighs, standing up.

Victor makes a few calls. I keep flipping through the books. It would be nice if there were instructions. I’m not sure how to remove a veil or a seal or from what. Probably because I’m not actually a druid. I’m just descended from the one Mother Nature fate-blocked.

I spend a good hour looking through the book, getting nowhere. Victor doesn’t get anywhere with his calls, either. There are no legends or myths about a book like this. Not even in the ancient texts Ingrid has studied. It’s just the same information we’ve heard before.

“Wait, here’s something I didn’t see before,” I say, stopping on a page. “It looks like some kind of … tear.”

I’m not sure how I didn’t notice it before. I’ve looked at this page several times. Maybe it wasn’t here before, but along the inner margin is a cracked seam of golden light.

“Where?” Victor asks, looking at the page.

“Right there,” I say, pointing it out. “But I guess you can’t see it.”

“No,” he chuffs. “Be careful.”

“Maybe this is how I remove the veil,” I say. “Or remove the seal, I don’t know.”

I carefully touch the cracked seam. It doesn’t seem to be harmful in any way, but it makes my finger tingle. I trace the seam a few times, then ease a fingernail into it, which splits it wider. I glance at Victor nervously, then start peeling away the golden light.

“What the hell?” Victor snaps. “You’re ripping the book apart. Wait, there’s something underneath it…”

“You can see it now?” I ask.

“I see you tearing pieces of the page away, but there’s another page underneath it,” he says.

“I see that too, but for me, I’m peeling away light!”

Once I start removing pieces, I can see the pages underneath. I tear off enough that I can make out what is hidden. Enough to see mentions of Ishtar, her power, and the fight with Gilgamesh. There are pages and pages concealed beneath the spell.

“This has to be the veil,” I say, continuing to strip the golden light from the book.

It’s not an easy process. Every time I remove a portion, I have to find another crack in the seam. But eventually, I tear off the last of the golden light. The book is no longer glowing, and the cover is different. I turn it to Victor, who is staring in confusion.

“Can you read that?” I ask.

“I can.” His voice is filled with awe. “The title of the book is Balance.”

The remnants of the encoded book are on the table, and the golden shimmer is gone. The one in my lap looks a lot older, but outside of some wear on the cover, the veil seems to have protected the contents. I open the book cautiously, reading the first page.

“My name is Ishtar, but most know me as Mother Nature. If you’ve found this book, then it means you are a descendant of my last druid,” I read aloud. “It also means that we were not able to stop Gilgamesh, and all that remains of my power is now contained in these pages.”

“Sounds like the story I’ve heard,” Victor speaks quietly. “Except for the part about her power being locked in a book.”

I nod, continuing to read. “According to this, Mother Nature and Mother Fate were known as the Cosmic Twins. They kept the universe in balance. Mother Nature created life and Mother Fate made sure it thrived. Ishtar had druids. Nanaya had emissaries.”

“Nanaya? That must be Mother Fate’s name. I’ve never heard her actual name before, but it makes sense,” Victor says. “Finn said he was one of Mother Fate’s emissaries.”

“Yes, I think you’re right,” I say, flipping the page. “Yes, this seems to confirm that. Mother Fate chose her emissaries from Mother Nature’s strongest warriors. It says the warriors were neither beast nor man, but they were the best of both.”

“Shifters?” Victor asks.

“That’s what it sounds like. Not just wolves, though. Apparently, there were shifters of all types.”

“There are still a number of different shifters in the world,” Victor explains. “Wolves and bears are the most common, but I’ve met fox shifters and even rabbit shifters, too.”