Page 94 of Dusk Macabre

Kiam wouldn’t answer a single one of my questions as we walked back. This time, I led the way, urging him to hurry. I just knew whatever he had planned was gonna be good.

It was me who shoved the door open when we reached the house. “Okay, so what is it.”

“We’re going back to the Second. Give me a moment,” he said, and took off down the hallway.

There was some shuffling in the background, and then he reappeared, tucking something inside his pocket. “Give me your hands,” he said.

Suddenly, we were in his ritual chamber. The crows were in a circle again, as well as the lit candles. “Why are we back here?” I asked.

My anxiety rose as I peered around the room, giving special attention to the back where the cave opening sat like a gaping mouth. While I knew it wasn’t probable, I couldn’t help but imagine Leander showing up and trying to steal my blood again.

Kiam was staring at me, his shoulders stiff. “That’s why we’re back,” he stated.

“I feel like if they were going to grab me anywhere, this Realm would be the most likely spot,” I admitted. “It freaks me out.”

“That’s why we’re going to keep them away from humans,” he grinned.

Kiam strolled across the floor and lifted a small, leather-bound book from the table, carrying it over to me. “Can you read this?”

“Of course I can read,” I retorted. “Oh,” I said. “Okay, maybe not.”

He took the book back. “It’s magical ink. This book details the history of a small part of New England, about some of the families there. Someone cursed a Fae prince to only fall in love with a human—which as you know, is probably the worst thing that could ever happen to them.”

“Oh shit,” I said, as my heart suddenly thumped against my ribs. “Remember I told you something happened, like an emergency or something with them? Oh, wait. You said that’s a history book, never mind.”

“No, you could be right. This book writes itself, look at the pages, the differences.” Kiam pulled it closer to me again.

Some of the pages were more yellowed than others. I couldn’t make out the language the script was written in, but there was a distinct difference in page texture and color. The last section was clearly newer. Goosebumps prickled along my skin as I marveled at the magic.

“Can you teach me how to read that?” I asked.

He sighed. “It's not so much a language as it is a cipher. Perhaps if you can master more, you may be able to translate it one day.”

So, there was hope. “Good to know. I’m assuming we’re going to curse those two motherfuckers the way their prince was?” My grin was so big it almost hurt my face.

“Yes,” he answered with a matching smile. “It should banish them for good.”

I shrugged a single shoulder. “Or they could send an army to rain hell down on us.”

He scoffed. “I doubt that. Let’s do this,” he said, motioning for me to follow him into the circle.

I stepped over the candles and joined him. “What will we do after this? Can we go look for cool stuff?”

He chuckled. “You’re entirely perfect. Yes, we can and will do that. I have some things in mind.”

“Does it include cemeteries?”

He smirked and lifted his hands in the air. The crows responded by flapping their wings and lifting from the ground, heading for the exit and clearing the space for us. “Maybe,” he said. “I can always find us a good graveyard.”

“Sweet, let’s get on with this so we can go.”

The light dimmed in the ritual space, and I glanced at the candles and saw that the flames had shortened. I wanted to believe I could see the magic. The air had a very slightly misty quality to it, something similar to smoke or humidity. Was that Kiam’s power and my own energy? I couldn’t be certain, but I wanted it to be.

While I stood there imagining my own personal power filling the space, Kiam leaned down over the circle with the symbols on it and a large brass bowl in the center. It was filled with material such as leaves, dried flowers, and then some unidentified powdery substances.

“Give me your dagger,” Kiam said, holding his hand towards me.

I slipped it from its holder, remembering I’d never cleaned Leander’s blood off of it. He took the weapon from me and then, with a long fingernail, scraped the dried blood into the bowl.