Page 87 of A Dusk Of Stars

She opens the book for me on the bookmarked page. “And I saw that you tried deciphering this bit right here. Only, you don’t seem to be able to figure outthisparticular mysterious symbol.”

It makes me frown.

“When you first mentioned it, right here in the cafeteria…” She clears her throat in discomfort. “We still weren’t sure about you and I didn’t want to burden you.”

I hold my breath as she glances around the room, leaning a little closer and dropping her voice. “It’s the symbol for Baldur, Miss Novak. The Bringer of Suffering.”

My mind exploding, I just watch her get up. “Hope this helps, and have a pleasant afternoon,” she says and walks away.

As soon as she’s out of sight, I get out of my chair and rush over to Alaric. Confused, I glance around for a second, but it seems Raven has flown away somewhere. “Come on,” I tell my friend, “let’s go somewhere more private.”

***

“This changes everything, Alaric,” I tell him as soon as we throw ourselves on my bed. It’s almost midnight and this is the place I feel most comfortable talking about this right now.

“What the hell’re you talking about?” my friend asks with a frown.

I crack the book open, pointing at the scribbles. “I’ve tried deciphering this, right? And sure, I’m fairly certain these three are symbols for the three Original bloodlines — fang for vampires, eye for faes, moon for shifters. These two are water or something like that. I know the top part of the central symbol is suffering, which sounds like it should help, but it doesn’t. The meaning of a composite symbol is rarely a simple combination of its parts and there’s no record of this particular symbolanywhere. Which basically means I’m stuck, right?”

I lock eyes with him, excitement flooding my entire body.

“Um, yeah,” he says, sarcasm in his voice, “I believe that’s exactly what’s happening here.”

“Well, you can shove the sarcasm up your scrawny butt, Alaric,” I tell him with a smug smile, “because Serra just told me what the symbol means.” I watch his eyebrows shoot up. I drop my voice to say, “It’s the symbol for Baldur.”

“What the…”

“Yeah,” I say with a couple of vigorous nods. “Andthat’swhat I meant when I said this changeseverything.”

“So you know how to interpret it now?” he asks with a spark in his eyes.

It throws me off. “Um, I mean, no—”

He laughs. “But I can shove my sarcasm up my butt, is that what you said?”

“For crying out loud,” I say with a frustrated sigh, “I may not be able to tell youexactlywhat it means, but…” I throw him a grin, jabbing my finger at the central symbol. “It’s got Baldur himself at the center. Whatever it is, it’s a ritual that will allow us to do something to him.”

Alaric shakes his head, pressing his lips tight. “Or allowhimto do something tous.”

I frown. “It’s an Old Norse ritual, Alaric,” I reply matter-of-factly. “Theyneverhave the caster represented in the schematic.”

“Of course,” he groans, slapping his forehead, “how could I have forgotten that?”

I roll my eyes at him. But then excitement floods me again. “It’s a victory, Alaric. With some luck, I’ll be able to stop the evil ancient vampire before he ever sets foot on this earth again.”

Seeming impressed, Alaric nods. “I propose a celebration with a party pack of nachos.”

I smile from ear to ear. “Motion seconded.”

It’s at that moment that I get a text. It’s Bane saying, “Lights out, Cinderella.”

I check my watch, my eyebrows pulling down. Is heseriouslyexpecting me to go to bed atmidnight? “Sure, right away. Night,” I reply, but instead of actually doing it, I just go to get the nachos out of my desk drawer.

What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?

I’m back on the bed, chatting with Alaric with the open bag of nachos between us when my phone pings again. “If you’re in bed getting ready to sleep, why are your lights still on?”

For crying out loud. What kind of fascism is this? For a second, I consider replying, “I don’t know, maybe you’re stalking the wrong person?”

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