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“Sigils?”
“They’re symbols used in magic,” Jesse says, squatting down beside me. “I don’t recognize them all, but this one is for protection.”
He points to the symbol on the far left. I study the swirls and lines, opening myself to feel whatever magic it may possess, but I feel nothing. It’s just a scribble carved into wood.
Jesse points at the third symbol to the right and says, “That one is for sight and divination.”
“How do you know what these mean?” I ask as I trace the sight sigil with a light touch.
“Tamelen.”
My head whips up to meet his gaze, my lips pulling down into a frown. Tamelen was a witch that the vampires trusted, but it turned out she was a double-agent the whole time. She infiltrated the vampire clan to get close to Jesse’s father, and was instrumental, along with Jesse’s sister, Jasmine, in killing the king and nearly taking all of us out with him.
“You can’t trust she was telling the truth,” I say. “These could mean the complete opposite of what you think.”
“Move back,” Steph says, pulling her phone from her pocket. “I’ll send a pic to Aunt Bernie. She might be able to translate them for us.”
Jesse and I stand and take a few steps back. The first flash of Steph’s camera makes me blink, and I gasp as I see a tall form standing in the corner when I reopen my eyes just in time for the second flash.
“What is it?” Jesse demands, crowding in close to my side.
I blink a few more times, but the figure disappeared within a fraction of a second of my noticing him.
“I don’t know,” I say finally. “There was a tall, masculine figure in the corner when Steph started taking pictures. He was only there for a moment, then he vanished.”
“Did you see any features? Could you describe him?” Steph asks as she pockets her phone and moves toward me.
“No. It was too quick.”
“There’s nothing else here,” Leif says as he and Erik join our circle. “We should search the other cabins.”
The others look to me for my response, and I nod before turning to lead the way out of the building. Leif is right. There’s nothing here but rotting wood––
“Wait,” I say, spinning back around and rushing toward the fireplace. Bending over, I run my hand over the wood in which the sigils are carved. “Look at this.”
The others crowd in behind me, silently watching as I stroke the wood with wonder.
“What exactly are we looking at?” Steph asks in a puzzled voice.
“This floorboard is smooth and unblemished. It’s the only piece of wood in this entire cabin that isn’t roughly splintered, half-rotted, or covered in black mold.”
“She’s right,” Steph says, stepping away from us to survey the entire room. “That board must’ve been replaced when the witches carved the sigils.”
“And it was done within the last hundred years,” Jesse says, his voice deep and quiet.
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“Look at this,” he says, running his finger along the seam between the right end of the board and the one next to it. “It looks like this used to be one long board, but someone cut out this section to replace it with the marked one. See the smooth, straight edge? This was cut with a handheld circular saw, and those weren’t invented until the late nineteen-twenties.”
I inhale sharply. He’s right. I study the piece for any other signs that might narrow down its age like the type of nail or screw used to secure it into place. But I don’t see any. Something stirs in my gut, and I slowly stretch out my hand and dig my fingertips into the small gap between the boards. Applying a small amount of pressure, I try to wiggle it.
A collective gasp echoes around us as the plank pops free. I set it aside and lean forward to peer into the hole left behind. If my heart could beat, it would be racing as I spy a small cloth bundle. Reaching inside, I pull it free and meet Jesse’s eyes.
He’s frozen, his body tense and ready to pounce if something––magic, or otherwise––should attack me when I reveal whatever this is. He gives me a small, curt nod, and I hear Steph suck in a deep breath and hold it as I slowly unfold the edges of the cloth.
“It’s…a necklace,” I whisper as I pinch the chain and hold it up for the others to see.
From the aged, slightly tarnished silver chain hangs a magnificent pendant. The silver edges are etched with a filigreed design with one side holding several tiny crystals that look like diamonds. The center is a large, pear-shaped ruby that glints even in the dim light filtering through the worn boards of the cabin.
