Page 18 of House of Ydril

“First I need to do this,” I say as I crack open the book and place the leaf, thorn side down, on a blank page of the book.

I feel Nuala leaning in, but my eyes are fixed on the leaf. I draw in a breath as soon as I see it start squirming, as if it has a mind of its own.

With bated breath, I keep watching until it settles. Slowly, I flip its tip over and see the thorn’s managed to dig into the page. “Success,” I yell out as Nuala lets out a happy squeal.

“Now what?”

“Now I do this.” I take the bowl in my hand, draw in a breath and pour it all over the two blank pages in front of me. They drink it all up thirstily.

But nothing happens. I frown. “The thorn is supposed to start feeding off the leftover energy of the person who used the book. And the ink is supposed to give shape to it so we can get some kind of hint.”

“I don’t see anything,” Nuala states the obvious.

“Maybe we need to wait.”

“Why don’t you try using your runes?”

I don’t say anything. I just throw her a look.

“Alright, sheesh, sorry.”

“Moswen said there’s not a lot of spells that would work without runes, but this plant has its own magic, so I was supposed to be able to pull it off anyway.” I let out a deep sigh, disappointed that nothing’s happening.

“Someone just walked in,” Nuala says. I look up to see her sniffing the air.

I don’t even have time to turn around before I hear a familiar voice drawl, “What do we have here?”

I turn around to see Sarya walking up to us. Instead of her usual overalls, she’s wearing a gorgeous red dress.

“Hi Sarya,” I say flatly, hearing Nuala let out a frustrated sigh to my right.

Sarya stops and squints at the table behind my back. “Is that little Miss Chosen trying to do magic?” she asks with a mocking laugh. “Now that’s something I’d like a ticket to.”

I shrug, determined to ignore her stabs. “Sorry, we’re all sold out.”

“But seriously,” she insists as she starts pacing in front of the two of us. “I’m not surprised that this one,” she says, gesturing at Nuala, “didn’tget selected…”

Before I can react, Nuala cuts in, her voice filled with anger. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

Sarya does stop pacing and turns to look at Nuala, but then just lets out a chuckle. “Have I offended you, oh powerful shifter?” she asks mockingly. “Should I be afraid for my life?”

With the corner of my eye, I see Nuala push her chest out and draw in a pissed-off breath, so I decide that we’ve had enough of this nonsense.

I grab my friend by the upper arm and say. “She’s just being an asshole, Nuala. Let’s go.”

“Asshole?” Sarya gets in my face, anger filling her golden eyes. “Watch it,” she hisses, making both Nuala and me freeze in place.

When she continues talking, her voice is light yet menacing. “After all, you’ll be in the Trials with me and there’s a lot that can go wrong in moments like those.”

Fighting the need to gulp, I raise a finger of my right hand to signal to Nualanotto react.

“Is that so?” I ask flatly, finally daring to take a step back. I need to get the book, Nuala and myself out of here as soon as possible. But a part of my focus has to be on Sarya’s hands, just to make sure she doesn’t have time to use her runes.

I turn around and I reach for the book I was using for the spell. But that only draws her attention to it.

And she’s fast. She’s fucking fast. Before I can react, she’s already slammed the palm of her hand onto the open book. “The House Olarel sigil? Where did you get this?” she asks with a frown.

My eyes dart to the book and I see that its pages are no longer blank. They have an ink stain in the shape of a black bird on them. A raven, I think. But I don’t say anything. I immediately turn back to Sarya. “I’m afraid that’s none of your business,” I snarl, my patience wearing thin. “Let go of the book.”

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