Antebellum Awakening (The Network Series #2)(76)

“Do they ever talk about dark magic?” I asked, breathless now. Dahlia’s eyes showed true trouble for the first time.

“Ya. Once or twice. Mostly just historical stuff, ya know. Speculation over the Almorrans, that one nasty High Priestess . . . what’s her name, Evelyn? Oh, and dragons. Stuff like that. Between ya and me,” she said, leaning in closer, her eyes darting around and her breath engulfing my face in a blast of what smelled like pickles. “I swear I saw a dragon over the castle the other day. No one believes me, but I know what I saw. Bad times are coming.”

“Is that all?” I asked impatiently. “Nothing else?”

“Ya!” she cried, recoiling as if I’d burned her. “Look, it’s not my business what they want ta talk about. They pay, I’m happy. Although I’m happier when they leave. Got it?”

Sensing that she didn’t have any more information to give—and I was out of pentacles anyway—I ended the conversation. Dahlia had told me more than she could have possibly known.

Almorrans, Evelyn, dragons.

“Thank you, Dahlia,” I said. She waved me off with another twiddle of her fingers and I left the close little pub, grateful to get out of the dark corners and the overpowering smell of vinegar.

My thoughts whirled as I walked back to Chatham Castle under a cloaking incantation. Once I made it to Letum Wood, I found a familiar trail and jogged back to the Forgotten Gardens. The distance helped me work out some of my frustration and think clearly. The conclusion I came to was so dark, so frightening, I didn’t entertain it for long. I allowed it only in manageable blips and snatches, worried it would ignite my soul and consume me in Miss Mabel’s—and Angelina’s—evil.

I’d hear them talk about a book from time to time.

Instead of going to the Witchery, I headed to the library.





Book of Spells


“Can you keep a secret?”

Leda’s lips twitched: I’d interrupted her studies. She didn’t move from her hunched-over position at the long table.

“What is it about?” she asked with a long-suffering sigh.

“I need help,” I said. “You’re the first witch I came to.”

“Yes, you do need help,” she agreed, looked down at her book and mumbling, “more than I can give.”

“I need help finding a book,” I said. “Or, at least, a book about a book.”

“You want me to help you find a book about a book?” she repeated in disbelief, her eyes cutting into me with a look that said, You’re joking, right?

“Yes, and I won’t go away until you help me.”

She considered that with a glower. I was nothing if not determined. Perhaps she was using the chance to look into the future and see that I was being honest: I wouldn’t leave until she helped me.

“Fine,” she muttered, closing Witches of the East and folding her arms across her chest. “You have fifteen minutes.”

“It’s a history book,” I explained. Time was ticking, and Leda would hold me to the minute. “An ancient history book.”

“As ancient as the Mortal wars?”

“Yes! But maybe a little before that.”

Her pale brow wrinkled over her eyes.

“Before the Mortal Wars?” she asked in disbelief. “Bianca, there’s almost no information that predates the Mortal Wars. It was all destroyed. Remember?”

I rolled my eyes. “Right, but there has to be something.”

Leda shook her head.

“Not here in the Central Network. We have some old scrolls, but not many. Almost all the Almorran books were burned.”

Her words made my heart catch. Almost all.

“Can you show me what we do have?”

Leda glanced around. “Fine,” she whispered, leaning in close. “But you have to follow me without question and don’t make a sound. I’m not supposed to know where they are. If the librarians catch us they’ll ban me from coming back to the library at all, and I’ll make your life a nightmare. Understand? A nightmare.”

“Agreed.”

Leda stood up, pushed away from the table, and started toward the far corner of the library without another word. She wound through several rows of bookshelves, leading me into a back area I’d never seen before. Once there, she glanced over her shoulder, reassured herself that no librarian had followed us, and whispered an incantation in front of a bookshelf of old scrolls labeled Findings from the Southern Covens. The shelf swung toward us with a low groan and Leda waved me inside ahead of her.

We stepped into a room beneath the grand stairs. The sloped stone ceiling gradually slanted upwards. A few beams of sun spilled into the room from a high window, illuminating the walls with dusty light. Bookshelves were cut and chiseled into the walls themselves. Leda strode into the gray room without hesitation, ducking when she turned a corner. I wondered how many times she’d been there before.

“How did you find out about this place?” I asked, running my fingers along the chilly walls as I followed behind.

“I made friends with one of the librarians, Rachael. She showed it to me. Don’t tell anyone!” she hissed, shooting me another glare. “They’ll banish me from the library.”

“Relax,” I muttered. “I’m not going to tell anybody your secret. The last thing I want is you sulking around without any place to go but the Witchery.”