Page 60 of A Dawn Of Blood

“Alright, but what do I do? I’m already risking losing her.”

She thinks for a second. “Move as if you’ll touch it.”

I do as I’m told. The second I do, sharp claws burst out of the edges of the leaves and all the leaves snap in my direction, like countless heads with a single collective mind.

Frowning, I snatch my hand back and retreat.

“Try burning it,” my wolf suggests.

But that only makes the plant growmoreleaves, completely filling up the hole through which I need to go.

Damn it. “That’s the everroot vine. It feeds on fire, it must have grown here as a result of some explosion.”

“I have an idea,” my wolf tells me, “but you’ll have to be real fast.”

Impatiently, I nudge her to talk.

“Fire makes it grow, but electricity stuns it. Electrocute it, aiming for the roots, then use your Movement to go through the hole. You’ll only have a few seconds though.”

I give her a determined nod and get to work. I summon a whip and shoot it straight at the leaves, leading it down to the roots.

Instantly, the plant freezes and retreats, however little.

Without a second of hesitation, I dart through the hole, only a couple of claws managing to stick to my skin.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I find myself in a dimly lit space.

There she is, and this time, she’s not running away, she’s waiting for me.

The place she’s led me to looks strangely familiar, but it’s the animal that has the whole of my attention right now.

She lowers her slender black body onto her haunches and stares up at me with those yellow eyes of hers.

My breath catches. “Nymeria,” I whisper.

And it really is her, the realization making a flood of emotions sweep over me, so powerful that for a moment, I don’t know what to do with myself.

Then I rush to grab and pick her up. But the moment I reach for her, she disappears again, making me realize two things. Number one, I’m in the Forbidden Section. Number two, it’s the Lexarcanum she’s just darted into.

Chapter 45

Idon’t know what kind of magic this is, but I actually manage to enter the Lexarcanum, my breath held in anticipation.

As soon as I do, it all happens again, just like it did years ago, when the same cat led me to this exact same spot — my eyes dart to one of the top bookshelves to my right, a book wriggles its way out of it and I watch it land on the pillar at the center of the room.

Only this time, when I walk over and touch it, there are no visions knocking me unconscious. There’s just the feel of a dusty leather cover under my fingertips.

Still, it’s the exact same book. I’d know — the image of it has been forever burned into my brain.

And when I try to open it, nothing stops me.

It just… opens.

That alone would be enough to render me speechless, but then my eyes land on the enclosed letter, and I recognize the handwriting.

My heart stops. Then, almost instantly, tears well in my eyes, accompanied by such an acute feeling of longing, I can barely breathe.

I don’t hesitate. With shaky hands, I grab the book and take it with me to the floor. Holding my breath and trying to blink the tears away, I open the letter.

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