“Never,” Quinney replied. “You say a demon was doing the ritual? Like an offering?”
“How in the hell should I know.” I shrugged.
“It looked like that,” Kyden offered.
“Hmmm,” Tyde pondered. “Best we look to the Diabolus Somes for an answer.”
“The what of the what?” I burst out.
Amusement flickered through me. Obviously, Kyden was getting a rise out of my stupidity. I shot him the look at that one. The amusement grew.
“It’s our history,” Quinney explained. “After you destroyed Magnus, Misa brought it here. Our status of superiors in the Underworld leaves us the best choice to watch over it—to keep it safe. It could be detrimental to the worlds if someone who wanted power obtained it.”
Well, what in the hell were we waiting for? “All right, well go get the damn thing.”
Tyde was off in a jiffy, back seconds later with a book that definitely looked like it dated back to the beginning of time.
“Good lord, what is that thing made of.” I leaned forward to examine the thick book.
Tyde handed it to Quinney and she ran her hand over the cover. “The cover is ultrathin sheepskin, but the inside is plain old paper.”
She opened the book, and paper wasn’t quite the appropriate word. Maybe once it was paper. Now, it looked like newspaper—all crumply and worn.
I glanced at the writing, annoyed to say the least when I couldn’t read a word of it. “What language is that?” It looked like scribble.
“Latin,” Kyden answered.
My gaze fell to his. I’d actually wondered this long ago, but with all the other shit going on, it just never came up. “Speaking of that, why do you know how to speak Latin?”
“Immortals are old, Álainn. Latin was once the language spoken. Many vampires still to this day use it. You have heard them, have you not?”
I thought back. The memory of the vampires that wanted to off me for killing Lazarus was a memory I chose to lock away in the vault. But they did use a language that night that I hadn’t recognized. “The Vampires at the lodge.”
Kyden nodded. “You see why it would be important.”
“I guess I do, but why haven’t I learned it?”
Laughter came around.
My irritation hit the roof. A bunch of demons, laugh at me? Oh, hell no! “What’s so damn funny?”
“Nexi,” Tyde amused. “Do you honestly think if a vampire saw you he would care to even use words against you?”
Misa snickered. “He’d probably just book it.”
I waved away the compliment. I didn’t like being put in the spotlight, so I quickly moved along. “So, read it. What does it say?”
“A thousand years ago, we took the original Diabolus Somes that was in the Kurdish language and transcribed it into Latin,” Tyde said with a little shrug. “It was easier to read.”
Kurdish, Latin, it was all gibberish to me. Translating it into English would have been the best choice. Of course, why would anything be easy, it never was. My curiosity always did get the better of me. “Where is the other copy then?”
“The humans have it,” Tyde answered. When he saw I needed more than that, he answered my next question. “Since we had this copy, there was never a need to get it back. Besides, they have it bunkered down. It won’t fall into the wrong hands.”
My gaze fell upon Quinney as she began to read. “Darkness is glory—the truth lies before you.” She looked away from the book to meet my gaze. “Quote from Beelzebub.”
“Lovely,” I exhaled.
She gave a soft nod in agreement, then read some more. “I exist in all and subsist in the hidden.” Our gazes met again. “Quote from Satan.”
I exhaled deeply. “Even better.” Spookiness was all around, and my body reciprocated as such and shivers of fear ran through me.
Kyden wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. “There is nothing to fear here. They cannot hurt you. The ones she speaks of are gone.”
“I know, it’s just spooky.”
Quinney flipped through the book a while, and stopped as she ran a finger down the page. “Ahh…here it is. The rituals.” She glanced back up to Kyden and I. “Do you remember what the rune that was drawn looked like?”
Kyden shook his head without hesitation.
“I remember,” I said.
He arched a brow, looked incredulous. “You remember something you only saw for a moment?”
I shrugged. “Well it was scary and that type of things stays frozen in my mind.” I glanced back at Quinney. “Do you have a pen and paper?”
“Just draw it in the air,” she replied. “I’ll be able to identify it.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, concentrated back to the rune on the ground. After a moment or so, it became clear. I lifted my hand and drew what I had seen. I focused on the pentagram with the tribal thingy in the center. It was a little unsettling how easy it was to draw. It almost seemed natural.
Just as I closed the circle of the rune, a loud gasp snapped my eyes open and I nearly shit myself. The rune was right in front of my face, suspended in the air and glowed bright. It looked identical to what I’d seen on the ground, only mine was pure light—no darkness surrounded it.
I jumped on Kyden’s lap, latched my arms around his neck in a death grip. “Fucking, f**k, f**k. What is that?”
Kyden squeezed his arms around me, lifted his head so he could see around my neck. “Good question.”
Quinney stood slowly and approached the rune. “Well, that’s a clear indicator. I didn’t mean for you to actually draw it.”
“Just take it away,” I screamed. “Get it. Get it.”
Tyde jumped up and waved his hand in front of the rune. “I’ve never felt anything like this.” He cocked his head to the side, then his gaze met mine. “It’s not from Black Magic.”
“I don’t care what it’s from,” I screeched. “Just get rid of it.”
“I am quite sorry, Nexi,” Tyde replied, still very much intrigued, “but I cannot.”
Scared out of my wits, I looked at Quinney, then Misa, nearly begged for help. “You two get rid of it.”
Both Misa and Quinney approached the rune that sparked with bright white light. Misa reached out and touched it. It crackled loudly, which sent her screaming back. “Note to others, don’t touch it.” She shook her hand as if electrocuted. “That hurt.”
Quinney glanced away from the rune to me, then pulled me off Kyden’s lap to stand in front of her. “You must diminish it since you were the one who created it. Withdraw the rune quickly.” Her voice was urgent.
“I don’t know what to do.” I kept my eyes fixed on the damn glowy thing, waited for that moment where something drastic would happen and have me screaming bloody murder.
“You need to close it. Finish the ceremony,” Quinney demanded. “Focus on that. Focus on the need you had with the rune being completed, and now you wish for it to leave.”
I needed it gone. That was a must and didn’t question her. Hopefully, she knew what she was doing. Quickly, I closed my eyes and focused inwards.
“I thank you for coming to me, but now I ask you to go. You have served me well.” Seemed like the thing to say.
A loud crash, followed by a huge gush of air made me fall back onto the couch. With the move, my eyes opened to see the rune create a flash of light, then it vanished.
“All right, Álainn?” Kyden said in my mind.
“No,” I shouted aloud. “What the f**k was that?”
Misa, Tyde and Quinney stared at me with something close to awe, which made me sink deeper into the couch. Not again. Their expressions told me I was not going to like the conversation ahead.
After an incredibly long moment of silence, Misa said, “Sooo…you can draw runes.”
“Yeah, I see that.” Idiot! “But why can I do that?”
“Stumped me.” She glanced at Quinney. “Do you know?”
Quinney shook her head in a quick fluid movement. “Runes are a part of Black Magic.” She pointed at me and gave a knowing look. “You don’t use Black Magic.”
“No. I. Do. Not,” I spoke each word clearly to ensure everyone here understood that I wouldn’t go near such magic.
Kyden interjected. “I wonder if it’s from the bond with Magnus. You may have siphoned some of his ability.”
“Could that be true?” I asked.
“It’s only assumption I can come to. Since you shouldn’t be able to do what you just did, it can be the only cause.”
I lifted my chin in defiance. “Well, I won’t be using it.”
Kyden brushed his hand across my cheek and smiled, very gently. “It didn’t look dark to me. The runes I’ve seen are a mirror image of Black Magic. Yours was bright and white. I don’t believe you have anything to worry about.”
Quinney took her seat, her face an image of wonder. “I have to agree. I’ve never seen a rune that was white. Nor have I seen one that’s drawn in the air like that.”