by Lily Webb
Whether or not he'd talk to me again was another question entirely, but first I needed to get to the bottom of Seth’s blank book. Everything came back to that, and lucky for me, I had a new friend who knew a thing or two about research.
“Well, I’m sorry to have interrupted. Enjoy the rest of your night, boys,” I said and turned to leave.
“Wait, that’s it?” Aidan called after me, charging down the steps to stop me. “You’re seriously just going to grill us and leave us hanging?”
“I have some other things I need to look into,” I said. I couldn’t give too much away.
“Please, Zoe, find who did this,” Aidan said, grief peeking through on his face for the first time. “I don’t think anyone else can.”
“Don’t worry, I will,” I said and left with the weight of the world on my shoulders.
Chapter Fifteen
After a sleepless night of ruminating, I rolled over Sunday morning in a fog to the sound of a flurry of text messages vibrating my phone on the bedside table. They were all from Mallory, and each of them was sent less than five minutes apart:
>>Mallory: Zoe, are you awake? We need to talk ASAP.
>>Mallory: Zoe, are you reading me? I’m not kidding, we really, REALLY need to talk. It’s about the you-know-what.
>>Mallory: You’re starting to scare me, Zoe! Please at least write me back to tell me you’re busy if that’s what’s going on!
>>Mallory: This isn’t funny!!!
The most recent screamed at me in all caps, which woke me up in a hurry:
>>Mallory: ZOE PLEASE JUST TEXT OR CALL ME BACK AS SOON AS YOU READ THIS!!!
Barely able to see thanks to the sleep still crusted in my eyes, I tapped out a response I could only hope was legible:
>>Me: Hey sry i was sleep. Whats up?
Mallory’s reply came instantly like she’d been sitting with her phone glued to her hand waiting for me to contact her — truth be told, she probably was.
>>Mallory: OMG FINALLY YOU’RE ALIVE THANK LILITH. WHY WERE YOU SLEEPING SO LATE?!
>>Me: Calm dwn im fine. What is it?
>>Mallory: I don’t wanna say via text. Get up and get your butt to the library. I have something I need to show you, and it’s urgent.
>>Me: okay okay ill be there in like fifteen
>>Mallory: HURRY
Groaning, I forced myself up out of bed and tried to make sense of the blurry world around me. Mallory wasn’t the type to overreact so I knew whatever she wanted to show me must’ve been good, but I couldn’t think straight, much less get dressed and dash to the library.
The smell of something baking in the kitchen drifted into my nostrils, and I would’ve given anything for just ten minutes to scarf down whatever deliciousness Flora was cooking, but I knew Mallory would have my head on a wand if I made her wait for something like that so I decided against it.
After throwing on the first set of clothes I could find and pulling my bag off the hook on the back of my door, I stumbled out into the living room. Luna sat on the couch licking herself, and when she caught sight of me, she howled with laughter.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, trying to tame my wild red curls. I could only imagine what I must’ve looked like.
“You, obviously,” Luna said. “What happened to you overnight? Did you get thumped by a broom?”
“Actually, it was just a bed that kicked my butt,” I said. “I had trouble sleeping.”
“No kidding. Why do you think I spent the night out here?” Luna asked as she returned to her preening.
“Good morning,” Flora said from the kitchen. Her hair rested in a loose bun on top of her head, and her apron was covered in stains.
“What are you making?”
“Brownies,” Flora said, smiling. “I thought it might be a good Sunday snack.”
“Do you ever sit still?” I asked. Flora laughed and shook her head.
“I try not to whenever possible,” she said. “Do you want to taste the batter? I think I still have some left.”
“I’d love to, but I have to get to the library,” I said.
“On a Sunday morning?”
“Afternoon,” Luna corrected her. She never missed an opportunity to poke fun at how much I slept, which was rich coming from her.
“Okay, on a Sunday afternoon? Why?”
“Mallory found something she wants to show me,” I said with a shrug. “I have no idea what it is, but based on the hysterical text messages she sent me, I’m guessing it’s a big deal.”
Flora’s eyes went wide.
“Do you think it has something to do with the murders?” she asked.
“It better. No one wakes me up on a Sunday for nothing,” I said, and Flora chuckled.
“Anyone who’d dare is a fool,” she said. “I won’t keep you then.”
“Sorry, I’d love to have coffee and catch up. We haven’t seen much of each other lately, and after the way I dashed out on our double date, I feel like the worst friend in the world,” I said. Flora frowned and nodded.
“You’re either the worst friend, the best journalist or some combination of both,” she said, though she winked at me.
“No one else could get away with a joke like that,” I said.
“I learned from the best,” Flora said.
“I dunno about all that, but okay. Anyway, I better get going, or Mallory’s going to file a missing person report on me,” I said. Flora laughed.
“We’ll catch up later then,” she said.
“Definitely,” I said, and walked out into the blinding early afternoon sunlight to head toward Veilside. As usual on the weekends, the streets were alive with people, activity, and tons of noise — none of which I wanted.
Thankfully, the walk to Veilside wasn’t long and not even Voken the gargoyle gave me any trouble when he saw me coming up the steps of Veilside’s entrance. A week or so ago, I’d thought I was going to be spending all this time in the library for grades, not to solve the murder of a teacher and a fellow student.
Such was my life anymore.
Mallory greeted me inside like an eager puppy dog. She grabbed my shoulders and shook me like a crazy woman.
“What is it?” I asked, trying not to fall down from dizziness.
“You’re never going to believe this, you’re just never going to believe it until you see it,” Mallory said, pacing back and forth.
“You could start by telling me what it is,” I said. Mallory froze in place, her eyes wide and bloodshot. Had she been at the library all night? It wouldn’t surprise me.
“It’s the book,” Mallory said.
“Yeah, I gathered that. What about it?”
“I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my time in this library, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Mallory said. She grabbed me by the hand and dragged me further into the library, toward the very back at the same table she was using the last time. It must’ve been her haunt.
“Feast your eyes on this,” she said, jabbing her finger through the air at one of the six or so books spread open on the table. Once again, a hand-drawn depiction of the triangular teardrop formation Seth had tattooed on his wrist stared at me.
I plopped into the stool and read over the passage about the shape as quickly as I could. I didn’t believe my eyes at first, and I had to read several passages twice before they fully registered. According to the text, the book I’d stolen from Delia’s office wasn’t just any old book, and it definitely wasn’t an ordinary journal.
It was a living, breathing magical document — powered by blood.
“This can’t be real,” I said, feeling weightless. The entire library seemed to spin away from me in a blur of cracked leather covers and musty pages.
“The history books don’t lie,” Mallory said. I fixed her with a stare that said otherwise, and she rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Okay, they lie sometimes, but I don’t think they’re lying about this. It all fits perfectly. The book goes on to describe the Black Br
otherhood too, and it sounds like they were one strange group of dudes.”
“Strange how?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.
“It wasn’t just a group of warlocks hanging out and playing Pilliards. They were a secret society of blood magic practitioners,” Mallory said.
“Blood magic? What’s that?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. It’s a form of magic that’s been banned in Moon Grove for almost as long as the town has been around,” Mallory said.
“Why? Is it really that dangerous?”
“Are you kidding? It’s one of the most dangerous forms of known magic. It’s beyond powerful, but it’s chaotic and unpredictable because it requires life to work,” Mallory said.
“Requires what?”
“You heard me: life. Blood magic is sacrificial, though probably not in the way you’re thinking of right now,” Mallory said.
“If you don’t mean by offering up a human being, how else could it be sacrificial?” I asked.
“Through blood sacrifice. That could be something as simple as mixing your own blood with the ingredients in a potion to amplify its effects or as dark as dipping your wand in an enemy’s blood before casting a transmutation spell to turn yourself into them,” Mallory said.
“Yikes,” I said as a shiver raced up my spine.
“I know. The thing is, it eventually ends up eating the caster alive from the inside out, and it doesn’t discriminate. Some of the most powerful witches and warlocks in history have been brought down by blood magic. The stuff literally consumes and corrupts the user’s blood,” Mallory said.
Was that what killed Seth? It seemed to fit perfectly. Callum said Seth was found in the alley with barely a drop of blood left in his body. What if Seth’s blood had been used to power some sort of dark magic — like the book of his I’d taken from Delia’s office? Had Seth simply given too much?
And what if Professor Grimm had been teaching his warlocks’ group blood magic along? If it was really as dangerous as Mallory said, and illegal to boot, I wouldn’t have blamed Delia for ratting on Nolan. No person in a position of authority had any business teaching their students that kind of volatile magic.
The use of blood magic would explain Professor Grimm’s alleged illness. If he’d been practicing it his entire career, it was a miracle he was still alive. It also hinted at why I’d found a piece of glass covered in blood in his backyard, though I still didn’t have a clue why he’d need something like that.
“That’s not the only thing I found,” Mallory said.
“Great,” I laughed. “I don’t suppose it can get much worse than this.”
“Oh, I dunno about that,” Mallory said, looking away from me.
“What is it?”
“A list of alleged members of the original group,” Mallory said. “Remember how I told you I’d keep an eye out for anything about your family?”
“Yeah, and…?”
“There’s a warlock on the list with the same last name as you who’s the supposed founder,” Mallory said. A lump formed in my throat.
“What? Are you sure?” I asked.
“Positive. See for yourself,” Mallory said and slid another book in front of me. Sure enough, toward the top of the list of members, there was a warlock named Albert Clarke.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” I said. “Clarke’s a common last name.”
“Right, but I did some digging in the library’s records, and there’s almost no way you two aren’t related. The family tree runs right down the line,” Mallory said. She pulled a piece of paper out from under her stack of books and laid it over the one I’d been reading.
On it was a hand-drawn map of my entire lineage, or at least as much of it as Mallory had been able to trace. Several branches up from Grandma Elle and Grandpa Frank Clarke, her husband who’d died before I was born, was the name, Albert Clarke. He was apparently married to a woman named Kalliope Malor.
And at the very top of the tree was the name Virginia Dare — the first known witch born in North America and a direct descendant of Lilith, the Prime Witch.
“I don’t understand,” I muttered, struggling to put the pieces together.
“Zoe, you’re related to both Lilith and the founder of the most powerful blood magic group in Moon Grove’s history,” Mallory said in awe. “No wonder your powers are so advanced without any training.”
“But no one in my immediate family was magical,” I said, hearing my voice from outside myself.
“Are you sure about that?” Mallory asked, pointing to my mother and father’s names on the tree.
“Well, not exactly. They died in a car crash when I was tiny,” I said. “I don’t remember much about them, but I’m pretty sure I’d remember them casting spells or flying if they’d done it.”
“Probably, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t have the gift. Maybe they just kept it under wraps?” Mallory asked. “If you didn’t live in a magical community, I could understand why.”
“We most definitely didn’t,” I laughed, though I had no memory of anything other than Grandma Elle’s farm, which I knew I didn’t live on until after my parents passed.
Could one or both of my parents really have been magical? And if they were, why hadn’t Grandma Elle ever told me after all these years — especially when I came clean to her about my new life in Moon Grove?
“You know, Raina once told me that magical ability can sometimes skip a generation, but skipping multiple ones?” I asked.
“No, that’s highly unlikely. Not impossible, but I’ve never heard of it happening,” Mallory said.
“Well, I only have one family member left, and I know for a fact Grandma Elle isn’t magical, though I can’t say the same for her husband since I never met him,” I said.
“Maybe that’s where it came from then,” Mallory said.
“Yeah, maybe. Can I keep the tree?”
“Of course,” Mallory said, smiling.
“Thank you for doing this. I appreciate it, even if it isn’t all good news,” I laughed. Mallory gave me a sad smile and shrugged.
“Sorry,” she said.
“Not your fault. Don’t shoot the messenger and all that,” I said. “Anyway, let’s get back to the book.”
As much as I valued what Mallory had done for me, I didn’t want to think about what it meant. Had everyone been lying to me about who I was my entire life? Regardless, Grandma Elle and I had a lot of talking to do the next time I got her on the phone.
“Right, yeah, of course,” Mallory said, looking uncomfortable. “What about it?”
“I think I know who the killer is,” I said.
“Who?” Mallory asked. “Don’t leave me hanging from my broom like this.”
“Nolan Grimm,” I said. I didn’t have concrete proof, but I would’ve bet my life — bad pun, but true — that it was Nolan Grimm who’d killed both Delia and Seth, even if Seth’s death was accidental.
“Great minds think alike, evidently,” Mallory said. “It fits perfectly. Delia knew about his little group, and she knew about the dark stuff they were up to thanks to Seth’s book, which was probably much more threatening to Nolan than anything else.”
“Exactly,” I said. “I’m not sure I’m willing to say he killed Seth, though. Everyone I’ve talked to about it said Seth was Nolan’s favorite student and that Seth worshiped him in return, so why would Professor Grimm want to hurt him? That’s the only piece I can’t figure out.”
“I don’t think it’s that hard to understand. If Delia confiscated that book from Seth, and if she knew what sort of things Grimm was getting up to with the warlocks, she would’ve put two and two together. She knew it wasn’t just any old book, and Grimm was probably terrified about what Delia might learn if she figured out how to access its secrets, so I bet he killed Seth for allowing the book to be taken,” Mallory said.
The realization bowled me over, so strongly I almost fell off the st
ool. With my heart hammering and my throat drier than a desert, I slung my bag up onto the table and dug out both Seth’s book and the shard of glass.
“What are you doing?” Mallory asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
“If it’s true this book is powered by blood, something tells me there’s probably only one way to see what’s inside it,” I said as I opened the book to its middle and put the sharpest edge of the shard of glass against the center of my palm.
“Are you crazy? You don’t know what’s going to happen if you do this. You could end up just like Seth,” Mallory said. “This is a terrible idea. We should just turn it over to somebody who knows what they’re doing and let them see what they can find.”
“You’re probably right, but I’ve never been one to play it safe,” I said. “Besides, if we did that, we might never know the truth, or at least not the whole truth. I didn’t come this far to chicken out now. The reputation of Veilside and, frankly, the whole town depends on what’s inside this book, and I’m going to find out what it is no matter what.”
“I don’t like this at all,” Mallory said. “But I know I can’t stop you, so I’m just gonna stand back and dodge the fallout.”
“Some friend you are,” I laughed as she ducked behind a nearby bookcase, but I didn’t blame her. If the roles were reversed, I would’ve done the same thing.
Mallory wasn’t wrong to be afraid — it was probably me who was wrong to be so reckless — but there wasn’t any time to waste. I couldn’t be sure whether Seth was murdered or killed by his own unfortunate magical practices, but if he had been killed by Nolan, every second I wasted was another opportunity for Nolan to strike again.
“Here we go,” I said, and held my palm above the book. I winced as I pushed the edge of the glass into my palm to produce a drop of blood. It trickled down the side of my hand from the puncture and dropped onto the open page. I held my breath, not sure what to expect — but nothing happened.
“Talk about anti-climactic,” I sighed, leaning back in the stool.
“Seriously,” Mallory said from behind the bookshelf.
“I guess I’ll just have to take it to Raina after all,” I said and slammed the book closed in a huff — which sent a piercing shriek roaring through the entire library.