Chapter 38 Serena
SERENA
If I were a library in a spooky, stony castle, where would I be?
I collide with a body as I round the corner and rebound off a pair of rock-hard boobs. Alix stands before me, her harsh blue eyes pinned on mine.
“I’m sorry, I should have been watching my step,” I mutter, half expecting her to rip my head from my body. She’s got a good five inches on me and was raised with three brothers.
“Have you seen Zadyn? He said he’d be in the library, but I have no idea where that is,” I blurt, eager to break the uncomfortable silence.
“Is that a serious question?” She snorts, crossing her arms. “Library is that way. Don’t be surprised if he’s not in there. He and Eaton practically lived at that whorehouse before he left to find you.”
My stomach turns to lead. Alix angles her head, her long braid falling over her back as she takes an intimidating step closer.
“Just between you and me, Zadyn’s not the type to stay. Even if—” She breaks off.
“Even if what?”
“Oh, wow. You really don’t know, do you?” She looks at me with sardonic pity and brushes past, knocking my shoulder in the process. “Clueless.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I call after her, but she’s already halfway down the hall with her annoyingly long legs. I heave a frustrated groan and continue my quest.
“…not telling her.”
I follow the faint sound of Zadyn’s voice, feeling a bit of relief as I step into my version of heaven.
The library is stunning—dark, warm, and full of rich texture.
It’s even bigger than the one in Aegar, with hanging tapestries, lacquered wood and leather furniture, and a blazing fire beneath a stony mantle to offset the snow and mist swirling outside the arching windows.
It smells just right—like old parchment and endless wisdom.
“Not telling who what?”
Zadyn twists around in his seat, his cheeks flushing pink when he sees me. He waves a hand, and my hair is suddenly dry. I love it when he does that.
“Nothing,” he says quickly. I’m about to push for an actual answer when I notice the thick, dusty tome on the table between him and Eaton, and I can’t look away.
“What’s that?”
“This is a grimoire. It belonged to one of the original Blackblood witches.”
“We were hoping you might be able to help crack it.”
“How?”
Eaton grabs my hand and presses it to the worn cover. A jolt of electricity zaps through me, wracking me with violent tremors.
“What’s wrong?” Zadyn grabs my arm, and jerks back with a loud hiss.
I rip my trembling hands from the book, stumbling out of my seat. “You felt it too?”
Zadyn nods, revealing two singed palms.
The grimoire flies open. Words in another language flood my vision, swirling around the room like a tornado—so fast and dizzying that I reel back into the table. Zadyn is calling my name, but I can’t respond. Even closed, the writing remains pasted behind my eyes in vivid script.
I turn and slam the book shut.
The room stops spinning. With measured slowness, I pull back the cover.
“What the hell?”
The faded words on the page are gradually replaced by perfectly inked text. The volume is fully restored—its weathered binding now a sharp coal-black with gold foil running down the crisp edges.
“You and old books,” I say to Zadyn. “Bad combination.”
“I knew it. It must be keyed to black blood.” Eaton sounds as awestruck as I feel.
A shimmering aura coils around the grimoire, calling to me.
Hello, my Queen.
I recoil at the words—the same ones whispered to me by the traveling mirror in Kylian’s collection.
“Oh, I’m not—”
“Who are you talking to?” Zadyn asks.
“The book. The book was talking to me.”
Zadyn and Eaton exchange a look.
“This is incredible. Can you feel that?”
Zadyn’s chest brushes my back as he grazes the page with his index finger. “It’s magnetic.”
You come seeking answers.
Yes.
They will be yours, my Queen. You need only ask the right questions.
Is there a way to close the portal?
I’m met with silence.
Show me, I press.
In answer, the book slams itself shut.
Rude.
“Okay.” I roll my neck. “Let’s try this again.”
Show me something useful. How can we defeat our enemy?
A beat passes. Then the pages begin to flip, landing on a passage I can scarcely read. A drawing occupies most of the page—silver lines connected by dots, creating an interesting shape across the parchment like some kind of zodiac constellation.
I gloss over the scribbled words that look like they’d been written with thoughtless haste. “What is this language? Is this Ancient Fae?”
Zadyn reads over my shoulder. “Some of it, but there are a lot of words here I don’t recognize.”
“Do you think you can interpret it?” I ask Eaton.
“May take me a few days, but I’ll do my damndest.”
“What did the book say to you, Serena?”
I swallow before answering Zadyn. “It told me our answers are in here—that I just need to ask the right questions.”
“I’m sure this thing is full of valuable information. Besides. It technically belongs to you,” Eaton points out.
And as the book hums in approval, I can tell that it agrees.
We spend the next two days surrounded by towering mahogany shelves, scouring the library for any sort of lead.
Eaton works on interpreting the passage, comparing it to other lost languages while we read up on spells and enchantments to offer any kind of solution, temporary or otherwise.
But nothing we find can draw on enough energy to manipulate the portal.
“I think I’ve got some of this worked out.”
“What have you got?” I move around the table, peering over Eaton’s shoulder.
“It’s some kind of spell. Well, more like notes on a spell. But it’s confusing. A bunch of gibberish. It’s like trying to solve an equation with numbers you’ve never even heard of.”
“Does it say anything about the portal?”
“No.” I frown as Eaton continues, “It’s all coordinates and random notes.
There are pages of them here.” He flips onto the next one.
“I can’t quite figure out what they were attempting to do, but whoever wrote this was very interested in astrology.
” His finger plops down on the sketch weaving between the words. “This constellation in particular.”
“Do you recognize it?”
“It’s called the Aurea Dei. Translates to Halo of the Gods. It originally consisted of seven stars, but two have gone dark, so now there are five.”
“What could that have to do with defeating Kylian or closing the portal?” Zadyn says.
“I have no fucking clue.” I sink onto the table, exhaustion tugging at me. “Hey book?”
Its ears perk up at the sound of my voice.
Yes, my Queen?
“What does this have to do with the portal?” I ask, hoping this time it just spits out the answer like Siri and makes everything a hell of a lot simpler for us.
But the book seals itself up again, spitting dust at me in the process.
“Cool. Thanks so much.”
It’s dark by the time Eaton leads us to the empty kitchens, slipping into a large pantry and emerging with his hands full of snacks. Tragically, none of which include a Butterfinger.
“Damn it,” he mutters. “I really thought that grimoire would be the key.”
“I did too.” Zadyn sighs, slumping back against the counter where I’m perched. “There’s got to be something we’re missing.”
“I think that’s a given,” Kai says around a mouthful of grapes. Zadyn shoots him a dark look.
“Do you know who it belonged to?” I ask Eaton.
“Not sure exactly. My grandfather once told me it belonged to one of the first Blackbloods, but he never figured out who.”
“One of the High Queens?”
“It’s possible.”
That would explain the book mistakenly calling me queen.
“Maybe if we could figure out more about the portal, then we might be able to understand the science behind it.”
Eaton shakes his head. “That’s where you’re wrong, sunshine. It’s not science. It’s magic. And it doesn’t always tend to make a lot of sense.”
Propping his elbows on the butcher block island, he starts, “From what I’ve read, it dates back to the beginning of our world.
No one is certain how it came to be. Some texts say it was a natural perforation that occurred during the forming of Solterre—making it easier for those with enough skill and power to walk between worlds that shared similar rifts.
The High Queens began to worry about the kind of creatures that were passing through and decided it needed to be regulated. So they installed the Guardians.”
Kai holds up a hand. “Random thought, but how could my brother have actually gained control of the portal?”
“I think the bigger question is how was he powerful enough to kill two Guardians?” Dover points out.
“It doesn’t make sense. You’d have to be god to manipulate the portal like that. Even the witches couldn’t.” Eaton rustles his golden curls, his eyes landing on me. “Hence the Guardians.”
“So just to be clear—the portal was essentially a gate?” I confirm. “Well, doesn’t every gate have a key?”
“If there were a key, then why wouldn’t the High Queens have used it themselves instead of sticking the Guardians out there?” Mar says.
Furi? I ask. Your previous rider…did she ever mention anything about the portal or a key?
I do not know of any key, Blackblood.
“There could be a million explanations for that. Maybe they didn’t know about it or never found it,” Dover suggests.
“The only ones who could answer that question are the witches,” Eaton says.
“But the Blackbloods are all dead. Except for Serena.”
That does present an issue.
“What if we…” I trail off because the idea is just absurd.
Zadyn turns to me, his big brown eyes turned the color of whiskey by the fire in the hearth. “What if we what?”
“I was going to say—what if we try to contact them?”
“The witches?”
I nod.
“You want to have a seance,” he says evenly.
Silence.
“I can’t tell if you think it’s a terrible idea or a genius one.”
My friends exchange a wary glance. All except for Eaton, who chuckles.
“That is absolutely horseshit insane. I love it.” He claps once, his blue eyes sparkling. “But why stop there?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re going to do this, you might as well go straight to the top of the food chain.”
“You think we should try to contact the dead High Queens?” Dover gapes at him.
“No.” Eaton walks around the counter and stops in front of me. “I think you should try to contact their goddess.”