Page 65 of Unraveled
“Do you think I’m one of those hybrids?”
He inhales and shakes his head. “Surprisingly, no. At least not anymore.”
I peek at the neat calligraphy marking the parchment as he reads: “The hybrids will come under a blood moon to the unseelie halls.” He speaks in the fae tongue, and the hairs on my arms stand up. Ash meets my gaze and continues from memory. “Their eyes are a mix of human and fae with a power unlike anything we’ve seen before...”
He hands me the grimoire, and I’m reaching for it before I can think twice. It hugs my fingers in greeting, its small voice singing through my veins, bringing warmth even on this chilly evening.
“You seem far too happy about this,” he says dryly.
The smile that sneaks onto my face falls, and I blink through the haze of excitement that clouds my thoughts. “Sometimes magical items like this one speak to me in a way that’s strange to explain. They aren’t words, but feelings. This book is happy to be read by me. Even though I can’t actually read what it says.”
I study the symbols and words on the page.
Ash shifts closer and reaches for my hand. The moment we touch, electricity jolts through me. His eyes widen, and perhaps he felt the same. Hesitating, he shifts away, but not fully. His scent drives me mad. He’s thinking of letting go—and I don’t want him to.
Our gazes meet, and he moves my hand over the page as he recites in a voice that is honey to my ears.
“The hybrids will come under a blood moon to the unseelie halls. Their eyes are a mix of human and fae with a power unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
He moves my finger over the paper. Gooseflesh races over my skin as my heart drums faster. I follow each line as he says it, and his voice feels so familiar, so like the one from the grimoire.
“A blackened rose will bring destruction to those who ride the Hunt. Only when the king who cries tears of gold loses all, will there come a new hope, and the one with the black rose will fall.”
My eyes round and I stare at him, shocked. “Did you write this? Are you a soothsayer?”
“In the flesh.” He frowns and shifts back to his old spot on the balcony floor. I immediately miss him near me. “The stars have been speaking to me since I was a young boy. It’s a curse on its own. Everyone wants to know what happens in the future, but when it’s something tragic, they sharpen their pitchforks.”
“Is that what they did when you told them about this?”
He lifts a hand and waves it toward the castle grounds that expand beyond the rooftops. “No. My father forced me, hiscrown prince, to partake in the Hunt. Even though the prophecy clearly said it would bring on our downfall.”
“The prophecy says the blackened rose will bring destruction.” I stare at the rose canes growing over the wall, dread sinking in my stomach at the thought of how much I’ve been touching them. “Are these part of the curse then?”
“I’ve tried to destroy them multiple times.” He doesn’t even glance at them. “I still don’t know why they sprout everywhere I go, even ten years later...”
I’m not interested in premonitions and prophecies. No matter what that book says, I’ll help him. I care about Nera, Finley, Naheli—and him.
I hand him the book, and he sighs in relief as soon as it’s back in his possession.
“This is where I keep all of my premonitions, and I believe whoever stole the grimoires from our library was trying to find this one. But they didn’t know I keep it with me.”
I blush as the memories of days ago flood my mind. How he reacted when he saw me with it. How angry he’d been that I somehow had it.
“It looks more like a diary than a book that holds visions of your kingdom’s fate.”
He smirks and relaxes back against the wall, crossing his arms over his knees. “That was on purpose. It’s meant to look ordinary, and if unwanted hands get ahold of it, it will poison them. Only the king of the unseelie may glance at its pages.”
“But I opened it, and I’m fine.”
“A fact I’m still trying to figure out...”
I lower my gaze as shame weighs on my chest. “Naheli brought it to me,” I admit. Ash clearly didn’t want this to be read, not only because of what it contains, but because it could’ve killed me.
Something so powerful could be terrible in the hands of the wrong person, and I need to be more aware of what I am doing.
I glance at the wolf with a galaxy in her body. She barely shifted an ear when I said her name, not ashamed of her actions whatsoever.
“I figured as much. No one else in the castle would’ve been able to access the safe.”
