Chapter 19 Blood Magick #2
The shadows over Foresyth run deeper than I feared, and I hate to think of you facing them. But Foresyth is in your blood, just as it is in mine. Blood of my blood. If you’ve found this Circle, then I know it’s really you. I made sure only you would be able to uncover its location.
The Book will call to you as it called to me. But if my theory is correct, you may have the power to resist it. Resist it.
Be careful of the Meister. His power lies not just in magick—but in his deception.
He bends truth to serve his needs, and that makes him more dangerous than anyone else.
I’ve been studying the Gnostic texts, and I believe our rituals aren’t just drawing power from the abyss—they’re feeding it.
The demiurge, the architect of the material prison, grows stronger with every invocation.
Find our father’s journal. Only then will you understand the cycle of suffering in this House—and how to stop it. The coordinates are at the bottom of this page.
If there’s one thing I regret, it’s that we never met. I will look forward to it in another life.
Sub rosa,
Julian
The words on the page swam before my eyes, but one line stood out as though it had been etched into my bones: Blood of my blood.
My father . . . was Julian’s father, too.
The man I thought I knew, the man who raised me, had buried a past so deep I was only uncovering it now, in the dirt, in blood, like an animal.
A scream was budding in my throat. My face paled, and I started to sway on my feet, reaching down to steady myself against the cold, barren earth.
I flipped back through Julian’s journal frantically, searching for something—anything—that would explain it away. But it was right there, hidden in plain sight. His cryptic words, his obsession with Foresyth’s secrets, and now, this. Blood of my blood.
Julian was my brother.
The world around me tilted. My knees buckled under the weight of the truth, and I reached out to steady myself on a nearby tree. My breath came in short, sharp bursts, each gasp pulling me deeper into the storm of realization crashing over me.
And how did Julian lead me here to this Circle? I hadn’t found it, Nina did. But I had pulled the cards for her . . .
A sharp pain erupted at the base of my skull—a migraine threatening to split my head open.
The Tramping Ground lay still before me, but the revelation roared in my ears, drowning out everything else.
My father’s ties to Foresyth, Julian’s research, the dark call of power that lingered in every corner of this place.
They were all connected. My father had hidden so much from me, and now I was caught in the same web of secrets. Anger was replacing shock, rising like smoke in my chest.
I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my head, but the questions kept coming, each one more terrifying than the last. Who could I trust now?
Definitely not the Meister, who was at the core of this betrayal.
Aspen, who had always seemed one step ahead of me?
Sequoia, who was tied so deeply into this magick that she’d nearly drowned in it?
Or could I trust none of them?
I had to find the truth. I had to finish what Julian started. The threats that loomed over Foresyth weren’t just shadows of the past—they were real, living forces. And now, they were threatening to swallow me whole.
A branch snapped in the distance. I twisted my head behind me in the direction. Someone was here. Had someone been following me? My breath hitched.
I stood, dumping Julian’s journal and the gloves back into my satchel and getting to my feet. I had to go quickly. If Julian’s words were true, someone here didn’t want me to find out the truth. I ran back down the thicket of woods, my eyes scanning for the white-marked oak.
Another branch snapped. Closer this time. I stumbled forward, heart hammering, searching for the white-marked oak—there. The string, my lifeline, should be here. I reached for it, fingers grasping at nothing but air.
The tree was bare. The string was gone.
My heart rate quickened. I burst into a run, tracing my steps as best as I could. I pushed away branches caught in my hair and jumped over fallen logs. But my bag caught in one of the branches and then the world tilted on its axis. I landed on my knees.
My senses reeled, my heart thundered against my ribs, and a metallic taste flooded my mouth. I tried to move, to scramble back to my feet, but something heavy pressed down on me, pinning me to the earth with an unyielding force.
Panic surged, each beat of my heart echoing in the silence of the forest. With a desperate gasp, I strained against the weight that held me captive, my muscles burning with exertion.
Then, as suddenly as it had descended, the darkness lifted.
A blinding light seared through the veil of shadows, and I squinted against its brilliance, disoriented and dazed.
I glimpsed the silhouette of a figure looming over me, their presence ominous against the backdrop of screeching galls above.
And then, a sharp blow struck my head, sending shards of pain ricocheting through my skull.
Stars exploded behind my eyelids, and my consciousness slipped away like sand through my fingers.