Chapter 17
”Where is Celeste with the food?” Morgan was starving, and everyone else was already present. She was dying for some crab rangoon and lo mein.
”Just saw her pull in,” Jake said as he sat down next to Morgan.
The aroma of fried rice and sweet-and-sour chicken wafted through the Blackmoore kitchen as Celeste set down a couple of large bags on the counter. Morgan perked up instantly. Her stomach rumbled in response to the enticing smells.
”Finally!” Jumping to her feet, she grabbed a pair of chopsticks and began to rummage through the bags, opening the white cardboard containers and setting them on the table so they could pass them around.
They settled down at the table, the kitchen filling with the sounds of clattering chopsticks and muffled conversation. Morgan bit into a crab rangoon, savoring the crunch and the creamy filling. As she swallowed, she caught Luke”s eye across the table. His smile was warm, comforting—a silent promise that no matter what happened with this celestial alignment business, they”d face it together.
Morgan cleared her throat, setting aside her food for a moment. ”We should probably discuss what we found out today,” she said, looking around at her sisters and their respective partners.
Jake nodded, setting down the container of beef and broccoli. ”I visited Alex Summers in jail today.” He recounted their conversation, mentioning Alex”s claim that he”d stolen the stones from Maynard Dove to protect them.
”That sounds like a load of bull,” Jolene interjected when Jake finished speaking. ”Why would he suddenly develop a conscience?”
Jake shrugged. ”That”s just what he said, but I felt like he was holding something back.”
Mateo then shared his and Jolene”s conversation with Astrid Nightwhisper about ley lines and magical stones. Morgan listened, her mind spinning as she tried to make sense of the rapidly unfolding situation.
”That makes sense,” she said when Mateo was done. ”Fiona and I had a visit from Sofie Dove, and she said something similar about the sticks, stones, and spells.”
”Sofie Dove?” Jolene”s eyes widened, her forkful of noodles suspended halfway to her mouth. ”You”re saying she came to visit you two?”
Morgan nodded, reaching for a spring roll. ”Yep, green cape and all.”
”And she mentioned you need a three-tiered approach?” Mateo asked.
”Yes, and that”s not all. She claims that Maynard is the one to watch out for,” Fiona said.
Luke made a face. ”Sure, that”s what Maynard said about her. So who do we believe?”
”Neither.” Jake spooned some lo mein out of the carton. ”No one can be trusted, as usual.”
”I agree,” Morgan said. ”Sofie also said that she and her brother had different ideas of how to control the lines, and his was going to result in a bad outcome.”
Celeste frowned, her blue eyes thoughtful. ”So that part is true. The two of them are at odds.”
Fiona picked a stick of teriyaki out of the carton. ”I guess so. At least Maynard didn”t lie about that. But maybe they both have bad intentions.”
”Good point.” Morgan turned to Calvin. ”Did you guys find anything in the old maps?”
”We think we might have gotten closer. If the lines we saw were the ley lines, then the epicenter is to the west of a little stream that runs through the woods,” Cal said.
Fiona pointed at Cal with her chopstick. ”I know that stream.”
”Only problem is that some of the other landmarks seemed off, so we couldn”t pinpoint it exactly,” Cal said.
”Still, you got close. At least we know what direction to go,” Luke said.
”And there”s something else that might help.” Celeste pushed her lo mein around with her chopsticks. ”We found an old navigational instrument, and it”s the same instrument that Rebekah”s ghost keeps showing me. I think it might be something that could help us.”
”Why?” Morgan asked, intrigued.
Celeste shrugged. ”Rebekah kept gazing through it, and when I touched it, I felt a... resonance, I guess. It was cold and kind of... magnetic.”
”Interesting,” Morgan murmured, her mind whirring with the new information. ”Fiona made a ring of stones to mute the effects of the center stone.”
Fiona nodded. ”And some protective necklaces to go with Morgan”s sage-and-rosemary spray, so the two of those should help protect us from any weird creatures that are in the woods.”
”Great.” Jolene glanced out into the dark. ”I know we only have three more days, but I don”t think we want to venture out there in the dark. How about we get up early tomorrow and head in at first light?”