“Yes, it’s in English.” It didn’t sound like he was trying to be funny, but the question was so odd. Now wasn’t the time for jokes.
“No, it’s not.” He scooted his chair closer.“It’s like symbols or something. It looks similar to Chinese.”
“Really?” He had to be messing with me.
“He’s right, Emma.” Beth looked at me. “Are you messing with us?”
“No, it’s because we’re direct descendants of her coven.” Amethyst’s eyes brightened. “I heard that powerful witches could do that.”
The front door opened, and Beatrice, Sage, Rowan, and Finn entered the room.
They hurried over, and when Beatrice’s eyes landed on the book, they widened.
“You found it.” Beatrice made her way between Amethyst and Beth. She touched the book. “When we were getting out of Mount Juliet, some of the younger coven members packed up the library. They didn’t mark which box contained the oldest books, not knowing any better.”
“It’s amazing. I’ve never been this close to it.” Rowan touched the book.
“Why haven’t you been this close?” If the book was that important to them, it surprised me that she hadn’t seen it until now.
“Because these books are so old we try not to touch them.” Sage nodded at them. “That’s the best way to preserve them.”
Beatrice gingerly turned the pages as she scanned the words. “How to find the others is near the back.”
“Maybe the full-blooded wolves should leave the room.” Finn frowned as he glanced from Beth to Aidan.
He had to stop this shit. “No, they’re staying. They are just as involved as the rest of us.” I dared him to disagree.
It shocked me when he kept his mouth shut.
I love you. Aidan’s voice filled my head.
I watched Beatrice inspect the pages toward the back. “It’s huge for just a curse, though.” I mean the curse sounded complicated, but not like two-hundred-pages complicated.
“This was her diary throughout her pregnancy. It really isn’t much more than her heartbreak and lack of understanding. Each time she tried to talk to the Murphy Alpha, he punished her.” Beatrice kept flipping through the pages.
“Punished her?” That sounded extreme. “How?”
“One time, he killed a rabbit and hung it from a tree outside her house.” Beatrice grimaced. “Another time, he had pack members sneak in and destroy her garden.”
“Did the Rogers pack do nothing about it?” Beth asked.
“That’s what made our packs enemies.” Aidan huffed and took my hand. “We were close until this whole thing went down.”
“So you guys didn’t hate us until then?” Finn’s usual animosity was gone, which was strange.
“No, we didn’t accept them like the Rogers pack did, but we didn’t actively dislike them.” Aidan shrugged. “At least, according to the story.”
“This is when she made the curse.” Beatrice turned the book to face us. Instead of the neat handwriting from before, this was messy and almost illegible. “This is when he left her before the baby was born. She talks about a girl being the catalyst of the alpha male’s demise. That if she came into her powers, there would be a girl to represent each piece of the star and together they would bring the supernaturals together in the new world.”
“So, five.” Beth nodded. “That makes sense. But a new world?”
“Yes, that’s what the witches called the United States then.” Beatrice flipped to the back of the book. “But this part has always puzzled me.”
“Blank pages.” Aidan touched the paper with his free hand. “Did she die before she could finish it?”
“No, it says only the blood of the star can guide you to the next, and when it’s complete, the women will be able to see beyond, once they’ve proven they are worthy.” She pointed to the last words written on the previous page.
“Great, so I have to find the girls, and then we bleed on here.” A witch set this into motion, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. During my short stay here, I’d learned that blood was one of the most powerful ingredients in any spell.
Rowan’s eyes lit up. “I can’t believe we get to be part of this.”
“And it sounds like that’s how you find the next marked girl.” Amethyst bit her bottom lip and raced over to the section of maps we’d put up the other day. She grabbed one of the United States and hurried back over to us.
“Yes, it does.” Beatrice moved the book off the table and motioned to the ones in front of Beth and Aidan. “Move them out of the way. I don’t want to risk ruining them.”
Aidan and Beth moved the books to the table next to us as Amethyst spread out the map.
“Okay, we can try it and see what happens.” Beatrice nodded in my direction. “Can you find something to prick your finger and drip blood on the map? Then, we’ll do a locator spell. If what the book says is correct, it should work.”
Aidan stiffened beside me and whispered, “Are you sure about this?”
“Are you expecting us to use her blood for something else?” Finn sneered. “After all this, you don’t trust us.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Aidan growled and stood. “Remember that conversation we had a few days ago? It’s still relevant, you know.”
“Then, why don’t we take this outside.” Finn wiggled his fingers. “I’m ready for a fight.”
Dear God. I wasn’t sure what the hell I needed to do to get him to quit acting like this, but he was pissing me off.
“You will stop being ornery.” Sage pointed at Finn and chastised him. “You’re always trying to pick a fight with him. If you want one, I’ll gladly remind you who is in charge of my household.”
Finn’s face turned a shade of pink.
We had more important things at hand than male egos. “It doesn’t hurt to try.” I put my finger in my mouth and bit down on my fingertip. I pulled it out as blood welled. “Where do I put it?” I had no clue what I was doing.
“Drip the blood anywhere, and it should move to where your target is.” Amethyst gave me a comforting smile. “Trust your witch side to know what to do.”
Yeah, that probably wouldn’t work out well. “I’ll try.” I held my hand over the map. I won’t lie. I feel stupid.
Aidan chuckled through our bond. You’re fine. I’m just not thrilled about you dripping your blood everywhere. I mean, I know you trust these witches, but …
What other option do we have? And honestly, I feel connected to them. I got that he was hesitant because of how he was raised, but it was time for him to get over it. I trusted them. I turned my finger over and five drops of blood landed in the center of the map. Amethyst’s and Beatrice’s hands hovered over the map as they quietly chanted.
It was creepy. The blood crept to the right, heading toward the Virginias. It inched over West Virginia and settled on a small city named Clarksburg.
“Holy shit. That was strange as hell.” Beth froze as if she couldn’t believe what she saw.