Page 66 of Cursed Wolfsbane

CHAPTER 30

BRIAR

“Hey, pretty girl!” Bastian calls as Saint and I approach the front of the cathedral. “These two were starting to get worried about you.” Malachi raises a brow at Bastian for ratting him out, and Xander shoots his twin an exasperated look.

“Sorry we were late.” Here’s hoping they won’t ask why we were not on time. Saint already feels bad enough about the accidental mate bond. He doesn’t need the Wyldharts telling him he shouldn’t have done it.

Bastian pulls me in for a quick hug, burying his face in my hair as he does so. He inhales a few times before releasing me. “You use a different shampoo or something? You smell different. A bit frostier, I guess.”

That’d make sense with Saint’s winter berry scent. When mates bond, their scents change and mix together.

“Maybe it’s all the hotel products I’ve been using?” While I brought my own hairstyling products and conditioner, I’ve been using the hotels’ provided shampoo and soap. I’m not sure Bastian will buy that excuse, but it’s all I’ve got right now.

“Huh.” Bastian looks at me quizzically for a second before dropping the topic.

I glance over at Saint, and he’s staring at the ground, guilt radiating from his slumped posture and bowed head. Once we’re done in the cathedral, I need to talk to him about what he wants to tell the Wyldharts. But, as usual, I have to tackle the most pressing problem first, and hope I can get to the rest of them at some point.

“You ready to go in?” Malachi asks.

I gaze up at the church before answering. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Bayeux is even more spectacular in person than in a trippy mage vision spell.

It has a massive curving façade with a large apse, two ornate towers, and a soaring green copper capped crossing tower. While the towering limestone cathedral has Gothic elements, it started as a Romanesque cathedral. All that survives of the church’s early construction is the crypt underneath the choir. I’m betting that’ll be where we find what we’re looking for.

“Yeah, I guess so. But, Saint, what happened with my magic yesterday?” We still haven’t gotten a chance to talk about it, since we’ve been constantly moving from one problem to the next. And the absolute last thing I want to do is accidentally explode this beautiful cathedral. It survived the Hundred Years War and the bombings in WWII. I refuse to be what finally takes it down after a millennia.

“I don’t really know, little shadow. Your magic exploded out of you in a wave. It formed a defensive dome over your wolves and me while tearing through Patrick like a detonated brick of C-4. If you’re worried about the church, I think it’ll be fine. Your magic very specifically targeted only the person who was trying to hurt you, not the surrounding area.”

I breathe out a slightly relieved breath. While that’s not assurance that I won’t destroy the church, it also sounds like I’m not a ticking time bomb. Here’s hoping we don’t encounter anything wild in the cathedral that could provoke my magic.

Giving Saint a small nod, I head over to the west entrance. Malachi brushes past me to heave open the heavy red door, unwilling to let me go first. I can’t help but stare in awe at the soaring rib vault, stained glass windows, and intricately carved Caen stone. As we walk down the still and silent nave, our boots echo on the stone floor, creating an eerie atmosphere. While I had hoped it wouldn’t be busy, I didn’t expect that we would be the only ones here.

“Well, this is fucking creepy.” Bastian’s voice echoes in the empty cathedral as we make our way to the transept.

I snort. “I mean, you’re not wrong. I wonder why it’s so empty. There’s still half an hour until it closes.”

“It’s a Thursday evening in mid-December, not the height of tourist season. I bet the cathedral just has less traffic on the offseason,” Xander explains.

I guess that makes sense, but it’s still weird being the only ones in the massive Gothic church. When we walk under the crossing tower, I pull out the map that’s tucked in my peacoat pocket. Even though I have it memorized at this point, I still check that the same northern part of the choir is circled.

The choir is dominated by dark wood choir stalls with intricate carvings, a checkered floor, and small paintings of previous bishops on the ceiling. We spend a few minutes poking around the space to make sure we don’t miss anything important.

When we don’t find anything, the four of us head over to the stone steps on the left side of the choir. Malachi goes down first, and I follow him. Xander, Bastian, and Saint trail behind us. I have a death grip on the handrail as I try not to trip on the roughhewn steps. I breathe out a sigh of relief once I get to the bottom.

The thousand-year-old space has a subtle vaulted ceiling, Corinthian columns decorated with angels playing musicalinstruments, and a stone altar in the middle. At one end of the crypt is a tomb with a mural of Saint Michael and the Virgin Mary.

We split up to check the area faster. There’s only twenty minutes until closing time, so we have to hurry. I’m in charge of searching around the plain stone altar. It’s made of the same Norman Caen stone as the rest of the cathedral. Even after going over it multiple times, I can’t find any secret compartment or hidden message.

As I’m starting to think this whole trip was for nothing, Saint calls, “I think I found something.” He’s standing by the furthest column from me and staring up at the ornate leaves toward the top of it.

I rush over to him, eager to see what he found. Saint waits until we’re all gathered behind him before pointing up at one leaf. “See that oval indent? Anything about it look familiar?” I move closer so I can see it better. I gasp when I realize it’s the same wolfsbane design as my mom’s gold locket, only it’s inverted and inset.

I look at Saint in confusion. There’s no way this is a coincidence. “That’s Mama’s locket design.”

“The prophecy mentioned something about a necklace of gold in it. Maybe that was a clue?” He’s probably right. While prophecies are cryptic, every word and sentence are included for a reason.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” I reach behind me and unclasp the necklace. I trace my fingers over the wolfsbane engraving one last time in case whatever this is destroys it. Mama’s locket is one of the last pieces of her I have. Yeah, I have our old house, but she brought most of her treasured possessions with us to Wolves Hollow. Patrick took great pleasure in destroying her things one by one. Her locket is the only thing I managed to save.

With shaking fingers, I reach up and press the locket into the perfectly sized indent. I hold my breath as the seconds tick by and nothing happens. Suddenly, with a loud grinding sound, the top of the column splits apart.

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