Chapter 24
Nadia read one of Gail’s journals as she walked through the kitchen, munching happily on a strip of strawberry licorice.
She’d found a box of different kinds shoved in the back of the pantry behind a half-empty bag of flour and a box of baking soda that might have expired sometime last decade.
She slowed when she reached the counter and finally stopped, her head aching.
Apparently she couldn’t learn a new language in a couple of days.
Still, something nagged at her. It sat just out of reach, irritating in the way unfinished thoughts always were. She couldn’t put her finger on it, and it was driving her crazy.
The house was too quiet. Bussy and Margaret were at a school play, like most of the pack. Nadia had tried to go with them, and they’d both refused, saying she needed to stay home and be safe.
She was about to be an Alpha wolf, damn it. It was too bad Emily and Philip were gone. Hopefully Philip would be home soon, even though Em had now moved.
Nadia glanced around the kitchen. Stainless steel appliances reflected softly off the white marble countertops. Everything was clean but lived in. Comfortable. It was a good room. A safe room. She tapped her foot against the tile, once, twice. The irritation didn’t fade.
What was bothering her?
Her memory finally kicked in. Oh yeah. At the football field, she’d caught something. She tugged her phone from her back pocket, sliding the journal onto the sparkling counter, and pressed a button.
Gail answered immediately. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Nadia. Real quick. Do you have a second?”
“Of course. You caught me right during intermission at the school. It has been such a wonderful play so far,” Gail said. “Do you need help with the journals?”
Not unless Gail could transplant her brain into Nadia’s. “No, but I do need to find Solomon. Have you heard from him?”
“Oh, honey. He’s giving both Caidrik and Luca trial after trial tonight, remember?” Gail asked. “They wanted to get them all finished.”
“I know. I just wondered if he was free. It’s not like he goes on the challenges.”
Gail chuckled. “That’s true. Perhaps these trials wouldn’t be so difficult if Solomon had to attend.”
That was a fair point. “He said something earlier out at the football field.”
There was cacophony of voices through the line, followed by a muttered apology. “Sorry about that. Everyone is in line for the wine bar.”
“It’s fine,” Nadia said. “Solomon said something interesting.”
“That’s new for Solomon,” Gail chuckled. “What did he say?”
Nadia closed her eyes, replaying the moment. “I think he said something about having to get further instructions from the museum to go along with some sort of challenge.”
There was a short pause on the other end. “Huh. I don’t remember that, but he might have.”
Nadia opened her eyes. “We don’t have a museum.”
A beat passed.
“Do we?” It was true Nadia had only been in the territory for a couple of months, but still. She would have noticed a museum. Everyone noticed museums. They weren’t exactly subtle.
“You know, we were starting a museum about fifty years ago, but then it was decided we didn’t want a bunch of humans coming through town anyway.” Gail paused. “So yes and no, I suppose?”
Nadia closed her eyes and dug deep for patience. “All right. Where would the museum items be located?”
“That’s a good question.” Gail went quiet for a couple of moments, and Nadia could hear the faint clink of something being set down. “You know, the only place I can think of is the main lodge in town. In the basement.”
“There’s a basement?” Nadia hadn’t spent a lot of time in the main lodge.
“Yeah. I mean, no one goes down there because it’s a basement and we’re wolves, but I know there are some pack artifacts secured down there. So I’m assuming if there were museum items, that’s where they ended up.” Gail sighed softly. “I can’t remember much about it, to be honest.”
Nadia looked toward the windows. Darkness had already fallen, settling thick and heavy around the house. “Do you think there might be updated laws there? Ones that don’t require a fight to the death?”
“Huh. Heck if I know. We haven’t worried about the grimoire or the challenger laws in so long, I guess there could be something. It just hasn’t been an issue since the Nightsoms always have heirs.”
Nadia rubbed her chilled arm. They had an heir now, but she didn’t want the job. She sighed. Unlike the previous evening, the sky was fully clouded over, with no moonlight anywhere to be seen. The light from the kitchen barely pushed past the glass. “How do you get into the basement?”
“The door is off the larger kitchen. If you want,” Gail said, “I can meet you at the lodge tomorrow and show you where everything is.”
Excitement tickled through her. Maybe she could find more books than the grimoire.
What if the laws had already been changed?
She didn’t want Caidrik and Luca fighting to the death.
There had to be a better way. “All right,” Nadia said.
“Do you think there’s anything down there that would be useful? ”
“Oh, honey, I have no idea. But if Solomon thinks there are more instructions somewhere, it’s as good a place to start as any.” Gail hesitated. “You do have to realize there are probably individual pack members who have artifacts and relics and maybe old books tucked away.”
Nadia nodded, even though Gail couldn’t see her. “We’re not big on history, are we?”
“No,” Gail said easily. “We’re bigger on here and now, really.”
That needed to change. “I’d prefer we look toward the future,” Nadia said.
“I suppose once we do,” Gail replied, thoughtful now, “we should also look more toward the past.”
“You’re poetic, Gail,” Nadia said dryly.
Gail laughed. “Thank you. It’s nice to be appreciated. For now, I have to go. Meet you tomorrow after lunch?”
“All right,” Nadia said into the phone. “Enjoy the rest of the school play.”
“I will. Don’t worry. This is going to be over very soon.”
Hopefully. Nadia said her goodbyes and ended the call, slipping the phone back into her pocket.
Instead of heading toward the front, she walked to the back door and looked outside.
It was too dark to see far, but light snowflakes drifted down through the black, sparkling briefly before disappearing against the ground.
It was actually a pretty night. Cold, but quiet.
The kind of night that made her want to run in wolf form, but she might find more journals or even written laws, and she couldn’t bring those home in her teeth.
She chewed on her lip and glanced back at the journals on the counter.
She’d come as far as she could with those for now.
Her gaze drifted toward the direction of town, already mapping the distance in her head.
The lodge wasn’t too far away.
She looked restlessly around. Caidrik was out there, hopefully not being killed, and she was tired of being protected.
Tired of feeling like she wasn’t strong enough.
If she wanted to be the Alpha female for this entire pack, she should start acting like it.
She shoved a sheath knife into her back pocket, pulled on a jacket, and jogged into the garage.
Emily’s SUV sat where it always did. She wouldn’t mind if Nadia borrowed it.
Being careful with her sister’s rig, Nadia backed out and headed through town, staying slow and steady.
She watched both sides of the road, already knowing what she’d see.
Enforcers moved with her, four of them, two on each side, pacing the SUV in full wolf form.
She didn’t try to lose them. They had a job to do, and she wasn’t interested in making things harder.
Yeah, they would probably report back to Caidrik in the morning, but at the moment she didn’t care. He had his hands full.
The lodge came into view, dark and quiet, exactly as she expected. She parked and jogged up the stairs, not surprised to find the door unlocked.
The enforcers fanned out around the structure, silent and efficient. Nadia moved inside and flipped on lights as she went. She reached the kitchen and scouted until she spotted a door near the back deck that looked like it hadn’t been touched in years.
She opened it, flipped on the light, and started down the stairs.
Cold air hit her immediately. She stopped for a second, breath fogging, surprised she’d had no idea this space even existed. At the bottom, she turned on more lights and stared.
The room stretched long and wide, packed full of junk.
Boxes were stacked in one corner. Old desks sat crooked against a wall.
Steel cases lined the far side, dull and scarred.
She went to those first. Inside were slabs of slate etched with different designs, small statues, pieces wrapped in cloth she didn’t unwrap yet.
She moved on to another bin and found knitted goods, carefully folded.
A pink hat sat on top, soft and absurd, and it made her smile.
She actually would create a museum with all of this. They should have one to better know their history.
This was more fun than she’d expected.
She kept going, box after box, until she finally found one full of books. It was about time. She opened the first two and frowned. She couldn’t read a word. The pages were old, leather-bound, scuffed, some of them missing entirely.
“Well,” she muttered, recognizing the script. “This is the old language.”
A spiral notebook caught her eye, half-buried beneath loose papers and folded notes. She lifted it carefully. This one was more modern. Not recent, but not ancient either. Twenty years old, maybe thirty. The cover was bent, the wire along the spine dull with rust. She flipped it open.
Her breath caught.
At the top of the page, written neatly and underlined, were just two words.
Translation Key
“Holy crap,” she whispered.