Caged by Damnation (Caged #2)(47)

I began banging my head against the shelf in front of me, wondering if I could possibly do anything more to push Ash away. A few tears fell before I looked to the others with renewed determination. Izzy jumped onto one of the desks, crouching the way a warrior would when bracing for a fight. Isis moved closer to Liam and me, while Griffin retained his post at the door.

"I guess if we're going to do this, we might as well get it over with," Isis sighed, "You are supposed to touch and see, but not use your senses, right?"

I nodded, waiting for Isis to finish her thought pattern.

"Well, Kit heard Asmodeus's words instead of you. So maybe you're supposed to tap into him and will yourself to find something that isn't there for the average person?"

I hadn't expected much from Isis, but her theory made more sense than the babble running through my own mind.

"Okay...."

I sought Kit out and his excitement was contagious. He wanted to run, but I firmly conveyed the need to find something that wasn't there. At first he seemed perplexed, but gracefully jumped from my form to the top of the bookcase. The ancient furniture cried in protest at his weight, but remained sturdy. His nose held to the wood, paws scraping gently at the dust, he looked at me in defeat. He didn't find anything either.

Liam tapped my wrist. "Try having him stay in spirit form."

Having heard Liam, Kit dissipated until he was completely transparent. Chameleon-like, he blended with the background; only a hint of vapor allowed us to follow his movements. I closed my eyes to look through his. The world was a maze of grays, but objects were distinguishable by acute eyesight and individualized scents. Something seemed off with the room, frozen in bubbled glass than lent a reflective light over all that it contained.

Kit shook his head, uncomfortable with his surroundings, and whined. He wanted back into the safety of my body. I agreed wholeheartedly, but knew that something was amiss. Only his love for me kept him searching. He glided across the splintered wood, his body hanging low to the ground, waiting for the threat to reveal itself. His nose sunk into the mountain of dust my hands had sifted through earlier, and he sneezed. A speck of electric blue light glared through the dust.

Leaning up, I blew the dust away from Kit and watched through his eyes as the scroll was revealed. Knowing that the scroll was there gave me the will to push through the illusion to grab the scroll in my hands. It solidified, taking comfort in its true form. His job done, Kit burst from the bookcase and sank gratefully into my chest.

Liam lifted me down from the chair I had been standing on and placed me on the ground in front of him. "You okay?" His concern was genuine, but I was in a state of shock at the evidence held within my hands.

Izzy left her perch on the desk to stand at my shoulder. A small hum and wide eyes told me she wanted me to read it, but I was afraid. My life was a tilt-a-whirl of risky turns, unpredictable events, and a dark hood placed overhead, keeping the light from tangling in my face.

Crowding together, the five of us peered at the rolled-up scroll made from canvas. From the little wording I could see without unveiling the body, it was written in blood. A shiver passed through each of us, a wave that descended from one member to the next without pause.

Drumming bombarded my mind, drowning out all else with the single notion that what I held could change my life forever. Izzy had wanted me to find it, but how had she known it was here? Why was it imperative that we read it, and how did it apply to me? I wanted these answers and more, but talking to her was futile. All I would receive would be the piddling sounds of a young bird capable of conveying needs only through delicate sound, abhorrent resonance, and uneasy movements that were more terrifying than understandable.

Light touches of Izzy's wings brushed against my shoulder and lay against the length of my back. Isis shied away at the iridescent feathers in her vicinity, moving more closely to Griffin and further from me.

I sighed and rested my head on the heaviest part of Izzy's wing, but was startled when her hand reached for mine. The simplicity of holding my hand was enough to make coherent thought spiral out of my mind. It was a human gesture, one meant to comfort me the way a friend would. I wasn't sure, but she seemed to remember me more with each passing second. Izzy still seemed lethal, but a kindness unique to her was beginning to make its way through the fires that had burned away her memories.

I handed Griffin the scroll and asked him to open it. He cleared his throat and stretched his arms out to allow the canvas to open in the center of our huddled group.

The scroll contained a border of runes, which I supposed were the inscriptions that hid it from my view and touch. The words were written in calligraphy, making it difficult to ascertain the content. The fingerprints of smudged blood didn't help matters either.

Isis narrowed her eyes and bent to gain a better view. "What does it say?"

Griffin's voice was dry of patience. "I might be able to tell you if your hair wasn't blocking the thing."

"Here." Liam grabbed the scroll from Griffin, moving away from our group and towards the skylight. "It's not written in any language I've ever seen." Crossing over to him, I saw that he was right. The scroll was written in a bizarre language that was closer to a combination of several I had seen in the ancient books of witches.

"It says something about a prophecy."

I turned at the words, looking at Isis in bafflement. "How do you know that?"