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I wondered whether Ruisangors could be fatally wounded or whether they were actually immortal. Or whether there was a difference between Legacy Ruisangors and Transformed in this regard.

“There are many things, Miles, that you cannot imagine,” Julie said quietly, with a focused stare, touching a snow globe with a miniature representation of the white Victorian lighthouse of Blairville, which stood on the edge of Alarik’s desk.

Intrigued, I stepped closer, inspected the object with the black wooden base decorated with floral carvings Julie was now letting go of, picked it up carefully so that the snow began to swirl in the water, and first examined the barely noticeable ice crystals that had formed irregularly around the glass ball, then the structure on the cliff above the raging waves.

However, something white on the table, among old coffee-stained folders and stuffed binders that were only part of the mess, stole my attention, and I put the snow globe back down, leaned forward, and picked up the little paper crane.

He seemed to enjoy folding them...

A smile stole across my lips.

This man.

“I'm quite sure my uncle has nothing to do with these strange candles,” Emely said with certainty.

Julie turned to us, more or less unconsciously taking the snow globe back into her hand. “But a certain Quatura does.”

“You mean...” I began, letting the paper crane sink before looking in amazement at Julie, whose appearance in all the candlelight radiated something mysterious.

“She was a Fire Quatura.”

Once again, Julie looked at the snow globe in her hands, and I noticed how the flakes that had just been moving in the water were slowing down until the water eventually froze.

“Something rare.”

In a hurry, Julie put down the snow globe.

“She must have been powerful,” she eventually added, staring into the void. “Not everyone can store their element outside their body without it wanting to return to its original source.”

So much knowledge about the species that I would have to acquire if I were to stay here longer...

A queasy feeling crept into my stomach, and I turned away from the others, trying to concentrate on the books on the shelf in front of me and not on the dark throbbing in my head, behind which nothing but a heavy emptiness lay hidden.

We all began to walk around the room.

Alarik was at a meeting, but if Harlow was here, we'd better hurry. Who knew if she would mention the burning light to Alarik.

I couldn't help but smile when I spotted a small miniature model of the Vanderwood main tower enthroned on one of his shelves between two elegant metal bookends.

“Alarik has a book about snakes,” Larissa laughed, pushing the massive encyclopedia back onto the shelf.

“Alarik has books on every piece of crap,” Emely sighed, circling his desk, which we had already searched a thousand times.

“And I love it,” I whispered, barely audibly, but Miles looked up from another shelf and grinned in amusement.

I pressed my lips together to hide my smirk and continued to focus on the bookshelves.

Sneaky

original_soundtrack

“Julie,” Miles said, stopping in front of the small table with the whiskey set. “Just between us.” He ran the tip of his index finger over one of the crystal glasses. “I need to talk to you about something.”

Larissa looked from one of the bookcases to Miles before raising both eyebrows and looking at me.

I also wondered what Miles had to talk to Julie about. The two hardly knew each other.

“What are you waiting for?” Julie asked, busy rummaging through one of the drawers of a dresser. “You don’t usually have any inhibitions.”