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A tiny green butterfly with streaks of gold across its wings landed on the bottom of the banister.
“Macon?” Gramma’s voice called from the second floor. “Is that you?”
“No, Gramma. It’s me. Lena.”
She swept down the stairs in a high-neck white blouse, her hair gathered neatly in a bun and her lace-up boots peeking out from under her long skirt. Against the perfectly restored flying staircase, she looked like a Southern belle right out of an old movie.
She glanced at the butterflies flitting around the room and gave me a hug. “I’m so glad to see you’re in a good mood.”
Gramma knew Ravenwood’s interior constantly changed to mirror my moods. To her, a room full of butterflies meant happiness. But for me, it meant something entirely different—something I had been clinging to tightly.
Hope, borne on green and gold wings. Dark and Light, like I had become the night of my Claiming.
I touched the wire Christmas tree star on my charm necklace. I had to focus. Everything had come down to this. Ethan was out there somewhere, and there was a chance we could bring him home. I just had to convince my family to lend their powers to us.
“Gramma, I need your help with something.”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
She wouldn’t be saying that if she knew what I was about to tell her. “What if I told you I found The Book of Moons?”
Gramma froze. “Why would you ask me something like that, Lena? Do you know where it is?”
I nodded.
She gathered her skirt, rushing toward the stairs. “We have to tell Macon. The sooner we get that book back to the Lunae Libri, the better.”
“We can’t.”
Gramma turned around slowly, her eyes looking right through me. “Start explaining, young lady. And you can start by telling me how you found The Book of Moons.”
Ridley stepped out from behind a marble column. “I helped her.”
For one long moment, I held my breath, until it became clear Ravenwood wasn’t about to fall to the ground.
“How did you get in here?” Gramma’s voice was as controlled as Ridley’s, maybe more. She’d been around a long time, and it would take more than my Dark-again cousin to throw her.
“Lena let me in.”
There was a flicker of disappointment in my grandmother’s eyes. “I see you’re wearing your sunglasses again.”
“It was kind of a self-preservation thing.” Ridley bit her lip nervously. “The world’s a dangerous place.”
It was something my grandmother said to us all the time when we were kids—particularly to Ridley. I remembered something else she said, something that might delay the confession of the Abraham story long enough for me to get the Book to Ethan.
“Gramma, do you remember the deal you made with Ridley the first time she went to a party?”
She looked at me blankly. “I’m not sure I do.”
“You told her not to get in a car with anyone who had been drinking.”
“Certainly good advice, but I’m not sure how it relates to this situation.”
“You told Rid that if she called and said her ride was drinking, you would send someone to pick her up, no questions asked.” I saw a hint of recognition pass across her face. “You said she wouldn’t get in trouble, no matter where she was or what she did.”
Ridley leaned against the column awkwardly. “Yeah. It was like a Get Out of Jail Free card. I definitely needed one of those recently.”
“Is this conversation goin
