“Yeah, let’s just find another way to fake our deaths,” I replied sarcastically.
That may not be the only way out, Oberi added.
“We’ve tried everything,” Ava insisted. “All I’ve got is my Aunt Maddie’s journal, and there are no clues in here about escaping. Unless…”
Ava rifled around in the bag that hung on her chair, then pulled something out of it. Pages rustled as she flipped through it, looking for a hint. “Let’s review this one more time. We have drawings of my Aunt Maddie’s visions, along with some cryptic messages that don’t make sense. Then there are the blood stains—”
“Blood stains?” Ivy overheard our conversation, and their interest piqued. They abandoned Kallie and Marcus, who were still playing with Kallie’s illusions. Ivy hummed lowly as they examined the journal.
“I can’t seem to figure out the blood stains,” Ava admitted. “The page here seems older than the others, which has to meansomething. But is it a clue, or an accident?”
“Oh, it’s a clue, all right,” Ivy said. “Spilled blood can leave behind information, like what the individual was doing at the time the blood was spilled, or even convey thoughts they were thinking.”
“How do we access that information?” I wondered. “None of us have ever worked blood magic before.”
“I’m a vampire, my dear. Vampires are quite intimate with blood magic. Let me see.” Ivy took the journal from Ava.
“Ew, are you licking—?” Ava started, but Ivy shushed her. A heavy darkness entered the room… like we were in the presence of something disturbed.
Ivy’s eyes are turning black, Oberi muttered beside me. I froze in place, waiting to see what Ivy’s blood magic would uncover.
“It’s Erasmus,” Ivy said breathlessly. “It’shisblood.”
“The same vampire who wiped Amalie’s and Dante’s memories?” I asked.
“The very one,” Ivy said.
I tilted my head. “I thought vampires couldn’t bleed.”
“They can,” Ivy explained. “When you become a vampire, your blood freezes in your veins.Ibleed, because I’m half-merfolk, but most vampire blood is thick like lead, and it doesn’t flow well. They’ll still bleed if you cut them open, but it doesn’t spill as fast, and it’s not going to kill a vampire that’s already been changed.”
“How did Erasmus’ blood end up in my journal?” Ava wondered.
“I don’t know,” Ivy replied. “Your aunt must’ve run across it on her travels and knew it was important to your prophecy. It looks like it’s been sewn into the journal.”
“What clues did he leave behind?” Ava asked.
“Under the water, yet on land,” Ivy said.
I furrowed my brow. “What does that mean?”
Ivy handed the journal back to Ava. “I don’t know. That’s all I heard. It’s got to meansomething, right? I mean, if Ava’s aunt thought it was important enough to leave in the journal, it has to be leading you somewhere.”
“It’s code— some sort of clue. The Divinity Keys…” Ava said thoughtfully. “Erasmus knew where Dante hid the key.”
“We know the merfolk key was left on the ship,” I added, putting the pieces together.
“Right, so the clue must be telling us where the ship is…” Ava trailed off. “But of course it’s under the water, because it sank. What couldyet on landmean? The ship can’t be underwaterandon land at the same time.”
“Maybe some sort of cave you can only get to underwater?” I wondered. “Except… how would the ship get there? Unless the cave entrance was big enough…”
I repeated the clue out loud, as if they would help us decipher it. “Under the water… on land. Under… the island?”
Ava drew a sharp breath. “The lake!”
The same time she realized it, Kallie shouted from the other side of the Lair. “Holy shit! You guys need to see this!”
Something creaked, like a door opening on hinges. The air in the Lair shifted, like someone had opened a hole in the rock. I felt my stomach bottom out as I heard thethrumof magic echo through the Lair.
