Luckily, it doesn’t take long for Simon to come stumbling in. “What happened?” he asks urgently, looking between the two of us.
“She wants to go.”
“Are you okay?” he asks me.
“I’d like to go back now,” says Cera pointedly.
Simon shifts in annoyance but doesn’t respond. He approaches a side door and does a motion with his wand before glancing back at us. “The portal should be functional,” he says.
“’Should be’?” asks Cera.
“I’m still a student!” he says defensively.
She rolls her eyes and saunters forward to inspect the door. I don’t know what there is to look for, but she nods to herself a few moments later and pulls the door open. Behind it is the same dense, gray material that I’ve come to associate with portals.
I’m more than ready for her to leave, but Cera hesitates and of course takes a moment to look back at me with a chilling grin. “I’ll be seeing you, Mary,” she says.
“Bye,” I say pointedly.
Cera’s smile grows, and she dips her head before stepping into the portal. The door slams shut behind her, and the room falls utterly silent for a few beats.
Simon and I look at each other, neither sure what to say. I’m weighing her ominous message and the possibility that she played me with relief that she let the two of us live. Simon just looks overwhelmed.
“Did you get what you wanted?” Simon asks, breaking the silence. He starts to rub at the circle on the floor with his foot, breaking the lines of dust.
Before responding, I head for the closet door to look around. There is a terrible, illogical feeling that she’s somehow still here. Of course, when I open the door, I only see mops and yellow wet floor signs.
“Honestly?” I say, giving the supplies a hard look. “No clue.”
Chapter twenty-five
Back at the Institute, Simon and I separate, the weight of what I just did pressing into me. This was my first, official act against Aris. Summoning Cera, asking for spells, it wasn’t to one day become a peaceful garden fairy: it was to find a way to resist him.
I’ve put it off long enough, to be honest, giving myself excuses: I’ve moved on, I’m beyond it, I don’t care, it’s not my responsibility. But I realize now that I owe it to everyone who died to fight. To fight Aris with everything I have.
I’ve felt an irrational kinship towards him for some time now. I can’t explain fire; it burns because it has to. But it must be extinguished.
When I get back to my room, I find a leatherbound journal on my comforter and go still.
The book.
How she got it here so quickly, how she knew which room was mine, I don’t know. I try to ignore the fact that she was around all of my things, witness to personal items, while I approach my bed anxiously. My steps are slow and purposeful, as I worry that she might have set a trap—maybe she, herself, is lying in wait?—but nothing comes for me.
When I pick up the book, my hands are shaky, but I’m fine.
It gives off a pulse, like the books in the wooded house, different from the history and theology books in the library here. Thumbing through it, I see pages upon pages of symbols: alchemical, runic, some that even look like braille. Below each are a few short words in a language that I can’t understand.
I’m considering seeking out Simon for a translation spell when a few sheets of paper fall from the back of the book. They’re clearly new additions, and, luckily, in English. The first page begins:
Here it is, my side of the bargain.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, each symbol in this book can fulfill a singular purpose. Combining symbols changes each purpose. The more symbols, the more complicated the spell. In these pages, I’ve outlined how to use the symbols and how to cast a spell.
Before you start, know the first and most important lesson: everything has a cost. Be prepared to pay the price.
Remember, you asked for this.
C