June mentally questioned about how far Donovan’s devotion to the seers went. After all his talk about how he wanted to keep his pack safe, he had allowed ticking time bombs to live in the temple.
Reading her face, Thalia exhaled, “The alpha knows the risks and what the consequences will be if he has to intercede. Are you ready, Luna?”
When she nodded, Thalia helped her pass under the threshold. Instantly, the cloud of fatigue lingering over June washed away. In fact, she had never felt more alive. Stepping out of the beta’s grip, she inhaled deeply. “Goddess, that’s much better. I could run a marathon right now.”
“Glad to know,” Thalia commented. She cleared her throat and jerked her head towards the pews where a woman in white stood. “We have company.”
June felt her wolf tense when Mira started towards them, seeming to float rather than walk. The white robe she wore swished around her ankles, the hem of it stained brown with dirt. June didn’t move the seer raised her hands and cupped her cheeks, blue eyes meeting milky white.
“You seek answers.”
June’s breath caught at the airy voice that spoke into her mind. Even the wolf went silent for the first time ever. “Y-yes. I need to use the Luna Library. Can you show us where it is?”
Mira held her face for a second longer and then dropped her hands. Her robe swirled as she turned around and walked away. Hoping that that she had understood, June shrugged her shoulders at Thalia, and they trailed after the seer.
“Did you hear her, too?” June asked while they walked down the aisle.
“Hear what?”
“I heard her voice in my head,” she said.
“That sounds like she used a mind link,” Thalia remarked. “The Order is basically a small pack. It never occurred to me that they could have a mind link, but I guess you learn something new every day.”
“Lovely,” June muttered. “I was already wary about being in one pack, how am I supposed to be in two?”
The beta laughed. “One for each title, huh?”
She tried to find the humor in the statement, but it fell flat with her. She couldn’t even begin to explain to Thalia why because she barely understood. The wolf could even feel trouble on the horizon. June knew was that the foreboding was somehow linked to the seers.
At the end of the aisle, Mira turned left instead of right towards the stone staircase. Thalia angled herself in front of June as they stepped into a dark hallway with a low ceiling. She thought back to what Donovan told her about shifting being second nature and willed her eyes to change. With the aid of the wolf, she was able to see everything from the unlit torches nailed to the walls and the cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.
Gradually, the floor shifted downward, giving the illusion that the ceiling was getting higher. The faint light at the end of the tunnel steadily grew bigger. Finally, the cramped walls opened into a sort of foyer. In dead center off a long wall covered in ivy was a towering set of double doors with no knob or handle to open them.
“I don’t suppose you have a key, Mira?” June asked. The overwhelming energy was back again. She bet that this was the reason for her jelly legs. Whatever waited for her on the other side was life altering.
She waited for Mira to answer in her head, but the seer remained silent. Instead, she raised an arm, pointing at the doors as if that explained everything.
June bit back a sarcastic comment and took a step towards the doors, only to stop when Thalia’s hand clamped down her shoulder. Looking back at the beta, she forced a smile that she hoped was reassuring. “Relax, alright? I can do this.”
Thalia seemed to think it over and then nodded, dropping her hand. Still, June could smell the apprehension rolling off the beta as she walked up to the entrance. Rolling her shoulders back, June waited for something to occur, only to feel foolish when nothing happened.
“Okay, help me out here,” June muttered, speaking to the wolf. “What do I do?”
“Moon,” the beast growled.
June’s reaction was to look up. Of course, she only saw was the stone ceiling. Slowly, she scanned her eyes down the door and that’s when she spotted it. In the center, where the doors meet, was a small etching of a crescent moon. She put her palm to it, but again, nothing.
Thinking back to how she could hear her wolf in her head all the time, how her eyes were silver, and how Mira could speak to her, June waved Thalia to come forward. She traced the etching and asked, “Can you see the moon?”
“No, but I might have a clue as to what it means,” Thalia stated. “The moon is a symbol for Nyx, the first luna. During worship, the current luna of the pack would sacrifice something in return for her blessing. It was usually one of three things: food, hair, or blood, depending on the time of year and how the pack was faring.”
“I’m starting to understand why you’re the beta,” June praised. She was glad Thalia had come along with her tonight. She wasn’t so sure she could’ve done this by herself. “Do you have a knife on you?”
Thalia shook her head.
“Okay, time to improvise,” June muttered. She let her canines drop and brought her arm up to her mouth. Before the beta could protest, she bit down, copper filling her mouth. The skin already stitching itself back together and she quickly pressed her bloody wrist to the moon.
When she pulled back, June watched in awe as her blood soaked into the stone. The outline of the moon filled and started to glow with white light. The sound of a heavy lock being turned echoed around off the foyer’s stone walls. This time, when June pressed her hand to the door, it opened.
/CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT/
The smell of mothballs and old books permeated the air as June stepped over the threshold, her mouth falling open and eyes going wide. While Donovan’s library had been impressive, this place was…utopia.
Bookshelves, built from dark oak and lined with gold trim, filled the huge room. The closest one to June had a ladder with wheels perched against it. Sitting there, waiting to be picked, were books of all shapes and sizes, some bound in leather and others sewn together by twine.
Above her head, the room was illuminated with moonlight, coming in through a large, rectangular skylight. On either side of the glass were two crystal chandeliers. While they weren’t lit, the moon’s rays reflected off the glass, leaving no corner dark.
But what really gained June’s attention was the mural painted on the back wall. Looking down on the library was a twenty-foot-tall woman with pale skin and flowing black hair, dotted with specks of silver stars. She was nearly naked, the only skin covered being her chest and the space between her thighs by a white sheath. Shoulders back, she gracefully held a wooden bow that was notched with a silver arrow, ready to be released.
Perched by the woman’s ankles, who June knew without a doubt to be Nyx, were two wolves, one with golden fur and the other black as night. The lighter wolf’s muzzle pointed at a man who sat with his back to a tree, eyes closed. He looked angelic with long blonde hair that fell past his shoulders and a cherub face.
Even though he was beautiful, he didn’t look like he belonged in the painting. June had to force her eyes off his face, her eyes snapping to his hands. They were folded together in his lap, so tight that his tendons poked out from underneath his tan skin.
When June looked at the gold wolf again, the one in her head sounded, letting out a low whine. The name came to her suddenly as if someone had just then put it in her head.
“Genesis,” she whispered and felt warmth bloom in her chest. June let out a laugh, unsure of whether she should feel absurd or relieved to have a name for the wolf in her head. “This is the strangest day of my life.”
“Luna?” a voice called from behind.
She turned just in time to see Thalia step towards the doorway. Realization crashed into June and she threw her hand out but wasn’t fast enough. The beta was flung backwards through the air several feet, crash landing on her back with a wheezed grunt.
Quickly, June
hurried out of the library and over to Thalia, crouching down. She tried to suppress her amusement, saying sheepishly, “I may have forgotten about the barrier. Donovan’s library is guarded by magic, I guess this one is, too.”
“You think?” Thalia snapped darkly and stood up.
“Again, my bad,” June coughed, hiding a laugh as she stepped back into the room. Glancing up and around, she felt idiotic as she said, “Uh, Thalia, I grant you entry.”
The beta didn’t look convinced that it would work as she shuffled forward. A lot slower this time, she put one foot forward, edging it past the doorway. When she wasn’t expelled backward again, she let out a breath and stepped inside, visibly shuddering. “I’ve never felt this much magic. It’s like the goddess is here with us.”
“I feel it, too,” June’s agreed, glancing at to the mural. She shook her head to regain focus, telling Thalia, “You can search the shelves on the right. I’ll take the left.”
They went their separate ways, June hoping that she was right about an answer waiting for her among the books. At the nearest shelf, she sat down on the marble floor and pulled out a heavy book with a red cover and black spine. Dust wafted around her as she cracked open the text, reading over the old English, and carefully turning the aged, cream-colored pages.
When the book proved to be useless, June put it aside with a huff and reached for the next one. Over the next few hours, she established a rhythm of skimming through hundreds, maybe a thousand pages, only to be left reeling. Half of the texts she had thumbed through was written in Gaelic, Ancient Greek, and even something that looked suspiciously like Latin. As she willed the dead language to turn into English, she made a silent promise to come back soon and organize the mess that the lunas before her had created.
Around her, the stack of books steadily grew, and she hadn’t even cleared the bottom shelves. Despair ate at her insides at the thought of giving up.
June had added four books more to her pile when she came across the weathered journal that was falling apart at the seams. She opened it carefully, reading the first page:
Eleanor Gamby, Luna of the Ashby Pack, 1899
Flipping through the pages, June realized it was more of a diary than a journal. Most it was about the luna’s day to day life and her kids but towards the end, the writing turned frantic. The luna’s topic of interest veered from what flowers to plant in the garden to her mate’s mental decline.
On the last page, two sentences were written:
The guide has graced our bond with his incantation. My faith in the goddess has been reborn, it prevails as my Johnathon sleeps still, sound of mind once more.
Diary in hand, June rose from the floor. Across the aisle, she found Thalia hunched over with her nose in a book. The beta looked up when she heard June’s footsteps. “I think I found something. Listen to this: ‘In the instance of wandering souls, a luna may induct the guide’s incantation to seek out those who have been lost.’”
June passed over the diary to Thalia, asking incredulously, “How do you feel about coincidences?”
The beta scanned the marked page, and her eyes went over June’s head to the mural, murmuring, “Praise be to Nyx.”
She nodded in agreement. “Let’s go find ourselves that guide.”
Mira waited outside of the library, still as a statue. Without a word, the seer turned and started down the cramped hallway. June and Thalia trailed followed, both jumping when a loud bang sounded behind. Looking back, June saw that the library had sealed itself shut.
Facing forward again, she waited until they were in the short hallway to ask, “Mira, I need to talk to Lycos. Do you know if he’s awake?”
“No seer sleeps in the light of the goddess’ moon.”
June wasn’t about to attempt unraveling whatever that meant. “Take us to him…please.”
She added the last part as an afterthought. Out of those she had met in The Order so far, Mira scared her the most. Though she remained silent, and her eyes were whited out, June had a suspicion that the seer missed no detail.
Mira continued to walk. Out of the hallway, they cut across the front room and paused at the top of the spiral staircase. When the seer stopped, June realized that she wouldn’t go any further. Hesitantly, June reached out and touched Mira’s covered arm. “Thank you.”
The seer nodded once, very slowly, and June pulled back her hand. To Thalia, she said, “Lycos is in the basement. C’mon.”
The beta let June lead as they began their descent. Neither of them spoke until June felt herself begin to sweat. Wiping her forehead, she saw that Thalia was fanning herself. “I thought shifters were immune to temperature change.”
“Maybe in fiction,” the beta scoffed. She pulled the collar of her shirt away from her chest. “Goddess, it’s like a sauna down here.”
An acrid scent floated through the air then. The two shared a look, and June knew that whatever they were walking into wasn’t going to pleasant.
Thalia must’ve been thinking the same thing because her next words came out gruffly, “Stay behind me.”
June’s lips pressed together. “I can handle myself.”
The beta expression turned sour. “I mean no offense, Luna. I know you’ve had training, but you have to remember that you’re a new shifter who hasn’t had any experience in regard to controlling your strength. Trust me, this is more for Lycos’ sake than yours.”
June let the topic drop and didn’t argue when Thalia moved a step down to be in the lead. At the bottom of the stairs, the beta stopped so abruptly that June nearly ran into her back. Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, the scent of burning flesh filled her nose. She briefly registered the half scream and choke that speared her throat as her eyes were drawn to the center of the basement.
Nyx’s guide was tied to one of the basement posts by rope. His head rested against his chest with his eyes closed. Across his chest were thin, red lash lines that only a whip could produce. Someone had burned him as well. Black and red splotches where his skin had melted covered the expanse of his shoulder and the length of his arms.
The scene was a little too familiar. June hadn’t thought about her nightmare with Bran for a while but now it rushed back, hitting her like a train. Bending over, her stomach lurched, and she hurled.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Thalia moved forward and untie the guide before laying him to the floor. As June stood, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and watched his chest weakly rise and eyelids flutter.
Thalia turned to her, frantic as she asked, “What do we do? Should I mind link Vick?”
“No, no, no,” June protested. She moved across the room on shaking knees and lowered herself beside Lycos’ head. She pressed two fingers to his throat and let out a breath. “His pulse is weak.”
“Luna,” Thalia drawled. “We need to—”
June jumped back when a strangled voice spoke, “Lu…na.”
Her eyes were wide with horror as Lycos’ opened his. They were glazed over with pain but that didn’t stop him from trying to sit up. Unsure of what to do, June helped him only to freeze in place. She stared, unblinking, as his wounds closed, the whip marks and burnt skin faded instantly, turning baby pink.
The guide’s face shined with new life once he was completely healed. Like nothing had happened, he addressed June, saying, “You weren’t supposed to be here, Luna. This, unfortunately, is not one of the perks of working for the great mother.”
“Did you...did you do this on purpose? Were you trying to die?”
“Only temporarily,” Lycos snickered, sounding like Eddy. “Veros was supposed to stick around and make sure I didn’t come back too early. But I guess good help is hard to find in these modern times.”
June was stunned to silence for a moment. It took a second for her to remember how to speak. Finally, she asked, “Why did you do this if you weren’t trying to…kill yourself?”
The last two words come out in a forced choke.
“I do not have the same abilities as the seers, June,” Lycos said sadly, “the only way I can communicate with the goddess is when my borrowed form is in a state of rapid decline and distress.”
“And what happens if you die?” Thalia asked, stepping forward.
“I’ll wake up elsewhere,” Lycosa answered. “It could be minutes after death or centuries. Both have happened.”
“That must be lonely.” Thalia’s face was crestfallen. “I can’t imagine never being able to stay and settle down.”
“I am never alone, Beta, I have the goddess,” Lycos’ spoke so surely, yet his eyes shined with uncertainty. Composing himself quickly, he looked at June. “Did you find what you were looking for in the Luna Library?”
She didn’t bother asking how he knew she was in there. Instead, she quickly told the guide about the diary and what Thalia had found.
When she was finished, the guide sat in silent thought. It was a long moment before he spoke again, saying, “I haven’t thought about the incantation in a century. Over the span of my existence, only three lunas have ever had to use it. Four, now.”
“But it’ll work?” June pressed. She looked at Thalia. “On both of them?”
Remorse filled the guide’s eyes. “No, the incantation is only for alphas. The ritual is a sacrifice of power. To recall a soul is to first give something up.”
The words weighed her down like an anchor and while fear made her blood run cold, June knew she would risk anything to bring Donovan back. “I’ll do it.”
“Give me a moment to write out the instructions,” Lycos stood up. He started for the door in the back of the room but stopped. Focusing on Thalia, he vowed, “Save the human and she shall return. I guarantee it.”
Thalia’s smiled stiffly. “Thank you.”
Lycos nodded and stepped into his chamber, leaving the door open. Thalia stayed back as June followed him. In the low light, she watched him go to the back of the room where a foldable table was pushed against the wall. At it, he wrote something on a slip of paper and then came back over to her.
Genesis: (Book One of the True Luna Series) Page 22