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She nodded. “Yes, but not too much light. When we found the vampire in San Diego, he and his coven were in a cave, but the cave had breaks in the top that opened like a skylight. It didn’t allow much light in due to the forest surrounding it, but there was enough. What if the shadow’s embrace is some kind of cave like that?”
I thought over what she implied and smiled. It was so obvious that I had completely overlooked it. I saw the shadows as some call to a magic, like my gift with the sun’s light. I had seen the being The Fates warned of as some kind of opposite equal to me, but she was absolutely right.
The shadows could be as simple as stating a location where the ancient being resided. I quickly stood and grabbed a book with ancient maps followed by a book with modern maps and began to overlay the two as I compared.
“Tell me, where exactly did you find your vampire?” I asked Madie. “The coordinates if you happen to know them.”
Madie nodded, “32°54’29.6°North 116°35’37.5°West, those are the coordinates. Paige’s coven had taken over the area for their ceremonies. There is a pulse of magic there heightened under the full moon every month and our pack tends to take our runs there when Paige is with her coven during the time.”
I nodded and looked the coordinates up on the ancient world map, my eyes widening as I found the location written there. The world map was written by ancient shifters and witches who had traveled the world. Today, it is not well known or taught as human technology evolved, but the ancient shifters and witches were able to move around the world more than humans could at the time, thanks to their abilities. Although the names of the places may have been altered by the current inhabitants, the world hadn’t changed significantly since the map was created. Maybe a different sea level in different places, but the coordinates were what mattered most.
“It’s the same,” I whispered.
“What’s the same?” Madie asked, leaning over to look at the maps.
I pointed to the passage in the book about the vampire she faced, a mention of his last known location before disappearing with an ancient name given to the place by the witch who wrote it. “He never left the area. He was there for centuries. The exact location written in this book is where you said he was last known to live.”
“How is that even possible?” she asked as she looked between the maps and the book of ancients.
“You were never taught this, for a long time it was secret knowledge that the witches had kept to themselves, however, the Crete Witches held onto a great deal of knowledge nearly forgotten, and once upon a time when humans knew us as more than legends and stories, witches, shifters, and vampires ruled over the world like gods, and they traveled all across the world in the process. The point is, Tinkerbell,” I smirked at the face she made before I continued, “If this vampire hadn’t gone far, chances are we can locate all the others and possibly uncover what it is that hides in the shadows.”
Chapter Eleven
Madilyn
As Brady and I continued searching through books, the sound of pages flipping filled the air, each turn revealing potential hiding spots for ancient, formidable creatures. He had a long list of vampires and shifters, both of whom were notorious for dealing with dark magic, and now we were taking a deeper look into the witches of ancient times.
“Here it is,” Brady announced as he pulled a large red leather-bound book from the very top of the shelves in the library. “Not sure how it ended up over here with the shifter section, but this is definitely the book we’re looking for.”
He blew off some dust from the spine and pages before setting the tomb on the table with the scattered papers and books we had already gone over. Our main book opened to a hand drawn portrait of a beautiful witch with long wavy hair and piercing eyes; black veins twisted along her arms and in the whites of her eyes, though they weren’t quite as dark as the dark witch Paige had gone up against. It was almost as though the dark magic was part of her instead of an invading power.
“I can’t believe we’ve had this the whole time I have been here,” Brady said with a shake of his head. “It’s going to be frustrating as hell if I find all the answers I’ve been looking for in this one book.”
“Like what?” I asked, leaning into the book and marveled at its age and condition. It was clearly centuries old, yet the color was unfaded and the material still held that new book scent with only a hint of dust to give away its true age.
“Like why and how Minerva was attempting to infect my coven with dark magic.
“Considering the experience you had with the vampire infecting that witch, I can’t help but wonder if such occurrences were well-known in their original era, but have since become lost knowledge.” He began to skim through the pages in his search for the answers he sought.
I frowned. “But if you have this book, shouldn’t you have known about it already? Or at least someone in your coven. How could this book have gone undetected in your family’s care for so long?”
Brady let out a huff and rubbed his face with his palm. “Unfortunately, we don’t always know what books we have. You saw what I saw in this book here.” He pointed to the page with Minerva’s portrait and the words detailing her stolen grimoire. “If no one bothered to read this, I doubt anyone would have ever discovered the book. Least of all in the shifter section where I found it.”
I frowned and looked over at the shelf and wondered to myself just how that could have happened. Just as I turned my gaze back to the book itself, I had my answer.
Brady cleared his throat as heat burst through my body. The page was filled with detailed pictures of shifters in the act of mating. Some were seen with different shifters, while others were embraced by either witches or vampires. The drawings were so detailed that I almost felt as though I was looking at something I shouldn’t be, and yet I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
“The mating between a witch and werewolf seems to be possible under the right circumstances. Mating between vampire and werewolf is less likely to be successful due to their natural rivalry. However, the witches and vampires seem to have the most success for a natural mateship, especially for those with the dark elixir in their blood.” I looked up at him to find him reading the words on the page, a crease between his brow as he thought over the words.
“What? Wasn’t this supposed to be filled with rituals and spells?” I asked. “This sounds more like a research journal.”
Brady nodded and turned the page, the pictures even more detailed between a man and a woman. The sight sent shivers through my body and the mate bond’s pull surged and made me more aware of Brady’s closeness.
“It’s both,” he said. “It’s some kind of fertility ritual. She talks about summoning something or someone with the successful mating of the pairs. ‘Seeds of life, roots take hold, fertility and growth unfold. As these seeds in soil I sow, Let abundance and life freely flow.’”
A wave of fire washed over us as he read the words on the page and the air in the room seemed to stand still. Slowly, he looked over at me and I could see his brown eyes darkening more as I looked back at him. I reached over to him, my hand moving with a life of its own as I ran my fingers through his crimson hair.
“Hair of fire, eyes of earth,” I whispered, the words that Paige had said to me coming out before I could stop them.
