Page 52 of Monster's Delight

CHAPTER15

“Got what?”

I had almost forgotten that I’d been railed within an inch of my life and he hadn’t even pulled out yet.

“Sorry, but I think I got the riddle!”

“Really? That’s awesome! What is it?”

I pulled the book closer, examining the handles. They certainly looked flat. I pinched at them, but nothing happened. “Okay, so the pages before this,” I showed him, flipping back, “sayFind your center.Now,thispage is the center of the book, and in the center of the pages are these little dots that could be handles. And Darragh said that the answer was more obvious than I realize, to look within.”

“What about this writing here?” Aiden asked, pointing at the filigree on the doors.

“What writing?”

“Squint a bit. It’s in cursive. Not English, though.”

Once I saw it, I wanted to kick myself. “Ofcourse,it’s in Gaelic!” I read the words out loud and then tried to pinch the handles again.

This time, they were solid under my fingertips, and the two doors opened wide, revealing an open space inside the book. Inside was filled with pages upon pages of notes.

Aiden whistled, impressed. “That’s not something you see every day, and we live in a magic academy.”

I laughed, happy to have discovered the secret—or at least one secret—of the grimoire. I started pulling out the things inside.

“Um, shouldn’t we clean up first?” Aiden teased. “I get that you’re eager to clear your grandfather’s name and all, but I’m still inside you.”

I flushed at his candor. “Right.” I whimpered when he pulled out and he gripped my hips tightly.

“Make more noises like that and I’m going to get hard again,” he threatened.

“As a reward for finding some answers,” I muttered, already distracted. I cleaned up with barely a thought, summoning my clothes back on. “When you’re decent, uncover Darragh. He might be useful.”

“If you call that riddle useful,” Aiden snarked back.

“Hush. He was bound to secrecy.” I was perusing some very old spells now. I needed to find the ones written in Grandfather’s handwriting.

“Ah, you’ve discovered how to open the grimoire. Good girl,” Darragh said the instant he was uncovered.

“What exactly are we looking for in here?” Aiden asked. “Something about the soul bond between my grandmother and Doyle.”

“Well now, I’m not exactly sure,” Darragh said. “They were working on something together for quite a while after they graduated. I must say, I was surprised to see young Declan back again so soon after graduation. He always wanted a family and to settle down at Doyle Manor, but here he was!”

“Yeah, super helpful,” Aiden muttered under his breath.

I glanced up at him. “Hush.” A piece of parchment that had half fallen down from behind the portrait caught my eye. “That wasn’t there before, was it?” I asked Aiden.

“I don’t remember it.” Aiden pulled the thick paper out and unfolded it. He looked down at it for a long moment before handing it over.

It was a picture, modern compared to the portrait of Darragh, of Bridget and my grandfather when they were young. They were smiling happily at the picture-taker, arms wrapped around each other.

I wiped a tear away from my eye. “They were so happy. I can’t believe their parents made them break up.”

“I’m pretty glad they did,” Aiden said bluntly.

I frowned. “Why?”

“I wouldn’t want to fuck my cousin, now would I?”

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