Page 98 of A Dusk Of Stars

Lorcan motions for me to take a seat — I’ve noticed he hates talking while people are just standing around. But this also means nothing really bad has happened. Otherwise he’d say something straight away.

All three of us take our seats. In silence, I watch Lorcan follow suit and slide a piece of paper down the table to me. A meadow with a cross sticking out of the ground.

“We need you to take a look at this photo, Miss Novak,” he says.

I do, my eyebrows immediately pulling down. “I…dofeel something.” I look up at him. “Is that the third spot?”

“Obviously we don’t know yet, do we?”

“Oh quit antagonizing the girl, Lorcan,” I hear Serra’s voice boom from behind me and I crane my neck to watch her enter. “When will you finally realize that last one wasn’t her fault?”

“She was being reckless,” Lorcan grits out as we watch her walk over to the table, “refusing to understand a very simple, very important fact.” He makes a point of not looking at me. “That there are some decisions you simply don't come back from.”

I sense Alaric and Raven stirring, probably to defend me, but I throw them both a pleading look, stopping them from interfering. After all, I deserve no defense whatsoever.

Serra takes her seat, letting out a sigh. “How could she have known her very presence would cause the second piece to come to life?”

“Dozens of people died, Serra,” Lorcan insists.

“Yeah, they died,” she replies matter-of-factly, “and there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

I grit my teeth, forcing myself not to fall into the guilt and self-pity trap.

“That’s right,” I cut in, making everyone’s eyes snap to me as it finally hits me. Why would I try to figure out the whole ritual thing on my own when I could just ask? I just need to be careful not to raise any red flags. “But there’s something the two of youcando. I’m this close to strengthening the bond with my wolf enough to shift.”

Are you?my wolf growls mockingly.I didn’t get the memo.

“Shut up please,” I tell her. Still, it makes my lips curl into a smile, how clear it's becoming to me — that she's not exactly telling the truth when she says she doesn't care about me.

“What do you need?” Lorcan asks with a squint. “Now, if it’s yet another request to access the Restricted Sections—”

“It’s not.”

He looks at me for a second. “Then ask and we’ll give it to you.”

My eyebrows shoot up. That easy, huh? “I need a way to represent all three bloodlines in a single ritual.”

I sense Alaric and Raven shooting me looks, while both Lorcan and Serra frown. “What would you needthatfor?” Lorcan asks.

Just stick with the idea, I tell myself. It’s in a nonchalant voice that I say, “I’m having trouble with my shifter part, right? But if I got to somehow visualize and connect with the other parts of myself—”

Lorcan cuts me off with a sigh. “How many times do you need to be told—”

“I won’t be able to awaken any of the other powers until I’ve mastered shifting,” I finish his sentence, impatiently. “No, I get that. I just think it will increase my chances of doingshiftingproperly.”

Alaric adds, “You know, to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.”

I throw him a grateful smile.

Lorcan and Serra exchange a look. “Makes sense,” Serra says.

But it’s only when Lorcan doesn’t say no, grumbling instead, that I feel that I’ve won this round. I’m having trouble suppressing the smile. “Well?” I ask, eager to get to it.

“Unfortunately,” Serra says with a sigh, “it’s not possible.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she starts with a slow shake of her head, “a ritual is a kind of language, right?”

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