Page 54 of Monster's Delight

“Do you know where to start looking?” Aiden asked.

“You’ve already done it. Keep going. I don’t know what order they stored things in there.” Darragh turned up his nose.

“Even knowing that we’re on the right track helps. Thanks, Darragh,” I said cheerfully, continuing to flip through the pages.

“Wait, here’s something,” Aiden said after several minutes of quiet searching. “Effects on a soul bond. What do you think?” He handed me the page.

I immediately recognized Grandfather’s handwriting. “This has to be it!” I scanned it quickly. “This is mostly notes on the bond itself. She could feel where he was located in the academy, and tell how close he was to her based on the intensity of the bond. The closer he was, the more she felt him. Okay...” I flipped the paper over. “Ah, here’s a scribbled out spell on severing. Also a note saying that it wouldn’t work because of the lack of physicality? I think? Is there more on the next page?”

“More crossed out spells on the next few pages,” Aiden said. “This is different handwriting.”

“Bridget’s?” I asked, curious.

“I don’t know. Must be.”

“Let me see,” Darragh said, and Aiden held up the page. “Ah, no, that would be Gael, the librarian. He often joined them in their research. Very helpful young man.”

I raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Does this Gael have a last name?”

“Of course he does. It’s Brecken.”

Aiden stared at me.

I couldn’t believe my ears. “Brecken knew about this? Why did he go on about my grandfather draining Bridget of her magic? That makes no sense!”

“Why would he lie?” Aiden’s eyes narrowed. “Unless he’s hiding something. Maybe he screwed up. Maybe he’s the one who killed her.”

“I wish we could see what happened the night she died.” I sighed heavily. “I don’t know who to believe anymore.”

“I might be able to help with that,” Darragh said brightly.

“How? Did she diehere?” The thought hadn’t occurred to me before.

“No, she didn’t die here. Her body was found in the main foyer in the middle of the night. Declan told me all about it while he cleaned up their study materials. He felt awful and had cried every night for weeks after.” Darragh pointed at the grimoire. “But you have a chance of seeing what happened that night. There’s a spell that might work.”

“I’m willing to try anything!” I exclaimed. “What spell?”

Darragh scowled at me. “Nobody names their spells in this family. It’s ridiculous. You’re looking for one of the first ones. It’s a past-seeing spell that will let you look into the past through a lens.”

A thought occurred to me. “Or amirror!” I gasped. “A past-seeing spell in a mirror of prophecy!”

“You have a mirror of prophecy?” Aiden asked.

“You know where Apollo’s mirror is?” Darragh interrupted. “That will be even better.”

I bit my lip. “It’s in Professor Dunlop’s office. And we still need the proper spell.”

“Two problems. One, find the spell, and two, access the office,” Aiden summed up with a grin. “How hard can that be?”

CHAPTER16

It turnedout to be quite difficult.

We finally found the correct spell halfway through November. It seemed to have been designed specifically for Apollo’s mirror, which was a huge stroke of luck, since Darragh said that it had been written around 600 AD.

I copied the spell out onto new paper, just in case the one in the grimoire disintegrated.

Harder still was figuring out how to get into Professor Dunlop’s office. It seemed as though he never slept. We finally enlisted the help of my friends. Una was going to break down in the foyer on the fifth floor, and Rhiannon would go retrieve the professor. Then, while he was consoling the crying Una, Aiden and I would sneak into his office and use the mirror.

---