Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
I needed a moment to breathe after Paige’s revelation.
I can’t believe she used a fucking diamond to magnify the ley lines’ effect.
I headed to my family’s hidden study room.
I can’t believe it worked.
The silence in the hidden corridor that led to my room was welcoming. I mentally drew that energy into myself, hoping to calm my brain. “How are we going to fix this?” I whispered to myself.
We had promised to help Paige, but I didn’t have the faintest clue where to begin.
One witch had managed to drain over seventy percent of the ley lines in the world.
My stomach clenched in anxiety.
What could that much magic in one place do?
I unlocked the room, the lights turning on in my presence.
“Hello, my dear,” the portrait of my ancestor Darragh greeted me. “You look troubled.”
“I am. Hang on, let me call Grandfather, so I don’t have to repeat myself.” I pulled my mirror out of my purse and enlarged it.
Grandfather answered quickly. “You don’t usually call mid-week. What’s wrong?”
“You both know me so well,” I said weakly. “Here’s the gist.” I explained the situation to them.
“Phew,” Darragh said. “Makes me glad I’m not alive.”
“Comforting,” I said dryly.
“That is quite the pickle,” Grandfather said. “I don’t think there’s anything in the grimoire about fighting giants.”
I fiddled with Grandmother’s engagement ring he had given me at Christmas, twisting it around my finger. “Not that I’ve found.”
“How far back have you gotten?” Darragh asked, his eyes glinting with mischief.
“Before the school’s inception, but I don’t think I reached two thousand years,” I said. “Why?”
“Were you wearing that ?”
I looked down at my clothing, a simple skirt and button-up shirt. “I don’t pay that much attention to my clothing while I research.”
“No,” he said impatiently. “That!” He pointed at my hands.
“My ring?” I frowned, trying to remember. “I don’t usually take it off unless I have to, so maybe? What does it have to do with the grimoire?”
“It’s a very old family heirloom,” Darragh said. “I assume you gave it to her, Declan?”
Grandfather nodded. “Yes, I had a dream that she was wearing it at the end of last year, so I gave it to her for Christmas.”
“It has been in the Doyle family for centuries,” Darragh said. “As long as the grimoire, if not longer. It has been tied to many magical spells locking parts of the grimoire.”
I examined the purple stones, diamonds winking up at me between them. “How do I use it?”
“You’ll have to figure that out yourself,” Darragh said. “I never owned the ring. It has one owner every second generation, when it’s handed down to the granddaughter of the previous owner. Or grandson, to give to his intended.”
I pulled the grimoire out of my purse, fiddling with the enclosure. “The book is linked to what is needed,” I said, more to myself than to my ancestors. I held it close to my chest and shut my eyes firmly. “I need information on the Gràineileachd. Or the ley lines being drained. Anything would help.”
Cautiously, I opened one eye. No brilliant flash of light or flickering pages. I was almost disappointed. I held the book on its spine and let the pages fall open, leaning forward eagerly.
“Anything?” Grandfather asked.
I sighed. “It’s the spell that linked my ring to the book.” I flipped the book around so Grandfather could see it. “It’s bound through bloodlines, apparently. Maybe it’s weakened since it was created, and that’s why it didn’t work properly.” Disappointed, I laid the book flat on the desk again.
“Maybe there’s a hint in the spell,” Darragh suggested. “I’ve never seen that page before.”
“Neither have I,” Grandfather echoed him. “Maybe it’s working better than you realize.”
Taking hope from them, I read over the spell eagerly, talking through the more interesting parts, since they both seemed eager to learn about their family. “The spell is woven through the different gemstones. The diamonds magnify the bloodbound properties—” I broke off. “Of course they do,” I muttered. “And the amethysts are the holders of the spell. The positioning of the gems are set so that the spell weaves back and forth amongst themselves, not building in power, but containing it.”
I sat back, a frown on my face. “If the spell is contained within the setting, then I would need to open it? That doesn’t seem right. I don’t want to damage the ring.”
“What is that little design of circles on the bottom corner?” Darragh asked, pointing it out.
“It looks like a doodle,” I said dismissively. But I listened to him and looked at it more closely. “Two large, one small, two large, two small, one large,” I muttered, my frown deepening. “Why does that look familiar?”
Grandfather gasped. “Siobhan, how many amethysts are on your ring?”
My eyes widened. “It’s the pattern of the setting! Is it a key?” I pulled the ring off and lined up the settings with the design. The open pages shimmered and vanished, leaving a border an inch thick around a space, similar to a chest. I transferred the ring to my other hand and reached into the book, pulling out a sheaf of papers. “That’s everything,” I said after checking. I took my ring away from the circles, and the pages returned, as solid as ever.
“What is it?” Grandfather and the portrait echoed each other, making me laugh.
“Hang on,” I said, putting the ring back on my finger and pushing the grimoire further onto the table to make room for the loose papers. “I haven’t had a chance to look at them yet.” The pages had dates, which was helpful. “These spells were written two thousand years ago,” I said excitedly. “I think we’re on the right track!”
After reading the first page, I nearly squealed, “They’re not spells. They’re diary entries! One of our ancestors, Finnegan, and his wife, Gwenhwyfar, were in charge of the task force of capturing the Gràineileachd after the ministry didn’t succeed. This is their account of the events!”
“I had no idea,” Grandfather said, looking shocked. “Read them out loud to us!”
I had already read the first one, so I put the page aside and picked up the second one.
“I’m impressed at the quality of the paper,” I said, fingering the edge. “There must be a spell of longevity on it. This one is written by Finnegan.” I cleared my throat and began to read, stumbling only slightly over the strange way of writing some of the words.
“Now that the full task force has gathered, we have broken off into smaller groups. My Gwenhwyfar has been selected to lead the Magical Creature division. They have an idea to design a creature that drains magic from a being. I, of course, am in charge of overseeing the entire task force. It’s a big job, and I hope I will do the ministry proud. Some of the other groups disagree with that method. They want to kill the god, but they have yet to come up with a method that would work. Complicating things, the ley lines are weaker than they should be.”
“That magical creature division sounds interesting,” Darragh said. “Anything more on that?”
“Give me a moment.” I rifled through the papers, looking for anything that might pop out at me. “Ah. Here’s a different handwriting.” It was much tinier than Finnegan’s, and I realized this must be Gwenhwyfar’s hand.
“We have succeeded in cross-breeding a feline with wings. The resulting kitten is the cutest thing on four legs. She is constantly hungry, and we are kept busy creating magic for her to eat. She’s growing at a remarkable rate, but she still plays like a kitten. We’re hoping that the next kitten born is a male, so we can breed them and get the next generation. The more of these we have, the better a chance we will have to drain the Gràineileachd.”
There was a rough drawing of the kitten, big eyes, and swirls on her fur similar to that of Moonbeam. Writing with arrows to the swirls indicated that they were a pale purple.
I poked at the drawing excitedly. “This is it! My ancestors created the manducare!”
“Sorry, a what?” Grandfather asked. “How do you know what that is?”
“Oh my God, that’s right, I never told you!” I quickly summarized how Aiden and I had found the manducare and had been taking care of it ever since. “I was afraid to tell you about her in case you were like our Magical Creatures professor,” I admitted. “Even though our backup plan was to send her to you if she got too big for Aiden’s room.”
Grandfather laughed. “You’ve had a busy semester. I’m glad she’s safe with you. Strange how she showed up right at the moment that the ley lines vanished.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I said. “I think that the mother was hunting for the closest source of magic in order to have her baby. All the nexus points in the north have been compromised thanks to this dam of magic that Paige initiated in Australia. She was drawn to the school, because the nexus point was the last bit of magic around and the school has reserves.”
“That makes sense,” Darragh said.
“If the manducare are drawn to magic, then there’s about to be a migration of them to Australia,” Grandfather pointed out. “If they haven’t started already.”
My jaw dropped. “I hadn’t thought of that. Hopefully, they don’t plan on stopping at many magical settlements, if everyone behaves the way the UK ministry did.” I wrapped my arms around myself. “We’ve already lost one manducare in Scotland. I shudder to think what might happen if they capture too many. We’re going to need every last one of them.”
“I might be able to find them, if they travel in packs,” Grandfather said. “Give me twenty-four hours. That should be enough time.”
“Enough time for what?” I asked. “What are you going to do?”
Grandfather grinned mischievously. “I’m going to hack into NORAD’s radar, modify the code a bit to look for magical hotspots, analyze for flying life forms, and then compare over the last two months. Where the two coincide should be where the manducare are visiting on their way south.”
“Go Grandfather,” I said in awe. “Good luck.”
Grandfather chuckled. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You think I’m going to let you go off to Australia to face off against a giant without me?”
“I’d go with you if I could,” Darragh put in. “I’m glad you’re still a sensible fellow, Declan,” he added fondly.
“All right. See you soon, Grandfather,” I said, and turned the mirror upside down to end the call. “I need to talk to Professor Akhtar,” I muttered, quickly gathering the papers and putting them back in the grimoire where I’d found them. “He needs to hear Paige’s story, and he needs to see these notes.”
I left my study room after a quick goodbye to Darragh and headed for the main part of the library. Paige and Hazel were still sitting at their table.
“Come with me,” I said. “We’ve got to tell Professor Akhtar.”
Paige blanched. “I’m going to get expelled,” she moaned.
“No, you’re not. Because you’re going to help fix it.” My expression softened, and I added, “People make mistakes. It’s how you deal with the aftermath that shows your real character.”
“But I haven’t found a solution!” Paige waved her arms over the books spread on the table. “I’ve been looking for two months!”
I shrugged. “You’ve been looking in the wrong places. Let’s go talk to the professor who studies nexuses like they’re his specialty, and his TA, who—oh wait, that’s me.” I grinned. “And I have a solution.”
“Really?” Paige gasped. “Already?”
“I’m not going to repeat my plan, so let’s go ,” I said again.
Paige got to her feet, looking panicked as she stared from one book to another, and started gathering her things.
I sighed impatiently at the delay.
Hazel skirted the table and stood next to me. “You have a plan?” she whispered. “How are you going to deal with the diamond? The backlash from simply removing it could be catastrophic.”
I winced. “Okay, I don’t have a plan for that part, but I do have one for dealing with the giant.”
“Giant, she says,” Hazel muttered. “A giant drove my family out of their home.” She shook her head in disbelief.
“I’ll start looking for your family in Patagonia,” I said. “Chile is pretty small. Shouldn’t take me long.”
Hazel laughed. “You’re joking, right?”
“I was punning, actually,” I admitted. “Chile, long? I was trying to lighten the mood a bit.”
“That’s terrible.” Hazel patted my shoulder. “But I do feel a little better.”
“I’m ready,” Paige said.
I led the way to Professor Akhtar’s office. Aiden was with him, which was a relief. I really wouldn’t need to re-explain myself.
“Professor, I know how to deal with the giant,” I said the second we entered the room.
“What giant?” The professor looked completely confused.
I paused and then laughed. “Paige, maybe you’d better start. I forgot to explain the problem before presenting the solution.”
“This sounds like it might take a while,” Professor Akhtar said, holding up a hand. He conjured up enough chairs for everyone to sit, and then indicated that Paige could start her story.
At the end, he looked very serious. “You should have contacted someone from the Australian magical council before performing such a large magic on their land.” He sighed. “But what’s done is done. Siobhan, you said you had a solution?”
“I haven’t figured out what to do with the diamond issue yet, but the giant, if he’s really woken up—”
“He has!” Paige insisted, interrupting me.
I swallowed back my impatience and held up my grimoire to the correct page. “You really need to see what my ancestors were up to two thousand years ago.”