Page 56 of Somnium

Shaking her head, she closed her computer with a snap. Pretending this whole thing wasn’t driving her crazy was already exhausting, but if she really needed to know what was going on, Sera would tell her. At least, that was what she chose to believe for now. She stood from the table and shuffled to her bedroom to quickly swap out her work scrubs for a pair of cloth shorts and an oversized t-shirt.

Shimmying her shoulders against the soft fabric, she flopped back onto her couch and cued up something mindless to watch until 7:30, when Elias would be arriving with dinner. Just the reminder that he would be with her soon helped to steady her, and with any luck, a good binge would take her mind off things until then.

Halfway through an episode of her favorite sitcom, she found her mind drifting back to the dining room and the computer that sat closed on her table. Taunting her.

Twisting on the couch, she glared into the darkened corner, blowing out a puff of air from the corner of her mouth in a fruitless attempt to remove a loose curl from her face.

“Dammit …”

She scrambled up from the couch and padded into the dining room before dropping into the chair and throwing the screen open. It flared to life, already displaying the search engine with that one, gods-forsaken word still waiting patiently in the search bar.

Cadi squeezed her eyes shut and hit enter.

The search instantly returned several pages of results, nearly making her eyes go crossed. No better place to start than the top. She pulled in a deep breath, ignored the way her stomach was trying to turn itself inside out, and clicked on the first link.

A sigil is a symbolic design created to represent a specific intention or desire, commonly used in spiritual and magical practices among both mythic and human practitioners as a way to focus energy and bring about specific results. It serves as a personalized emblem aimed at manifesting particular goals, with the belief that it taps into the subconscious mind to aid in their realization.

That didn’t seem so bad. Sera did give off a certain “witchy” vibe, so maybe she was just into that sort of thing. The temple walls were practically covered in sigils, so if there was ever a place to copy them down to be repurposed, that would be it.

Although, that still didn’t explain her cagey behavior when Cadi had asked about it. If her intentions were innocent, why the deflection? There had to be more. Navigating back to the results page, she clicked the next link.

Her screen was immediately filled with examples of different types of sigils, ranging from a few simple lines to elaborate shapes with multiple, complex layers. Some even contained actual drawings of items such as castles, plows, or goblets, all uniquely tailored to the individual needs of their user.

While beautiful and fascinating, Cadi’s frustration grew with every link she clicked that failed to yield any new information. After a while, she leaned back in her chair. Silence filled her apartment, the occasional buzz of cicadas drifting in through her open patio door the only sound outside of her racing thoughts.

The way the sigils in Sera’s notebook appeared nearly identical to the temple sigils with a nagging difference still bothered her. She pressed her lips together, deciding to try her luck as she typed a new query into the search bar: “Significance of an upside-down sigil.”

She opened the first result.

When a sigil is inverted, its magical properties are effectively reversed. A sigil that is designed to bring blessings would instead cause the loss of those blessings when turned upside down for use in a ritual. This practice is often associated with the dark arts, and may be used for malevolent or manipulative purposes.

Cadi’s stomach sank lower with each word she read. So much for innocent.

She pressed her fingers to her mouth and continued to stare at the words in front of her. If Sera was copying the sigils from the temple with the intent of inverting them for use in some sort of at-home easy-bake ritual … nothing good could come of that. Not only was human-controlled magic notoriously unpredictable, but manipulating the sigils of a god, especially one as powerful as Oneirios, would have serious consequences. No wonder Sera had been so on edge.

A shiver ran over Cadi’s skin as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to come up with any alternative explanation. Then, the memory came back to her of an overheard conversation, mentions of a ritual with Sera and⁠—

Elias.

The room dipped. Whatever Sera was up to, Elias was involved. He had to be. Why else would he be meeting with people, including Sera, who was scrounging for sigils, and discussing some sort of ritual? It all lined up in a way that Cadi very much did not like.

The sound of a key in her deadbolt made her pulse race, and she looked up just as Elias stepped into the apartment carrying a plastic bag with take-out from her favorite noodle spot.

“Hey,” he said, smiling as he crossed to where she sat frozen in front of her computer. The softness in his voice eased her tension, but only slightly, the memory of Sera’s panic still fresh in her mind. It didn’t feel possible that Elias, of all people, would be involved in something heavy enough to make Sera react that way.

He couldn’t be.

His welcoming kiss lingered against her lips just long enough to make her a little dizzy before he pulled away, his eyes shifting to her computer screen.

“What are you working on?” he asked, leaning closer, only to jerk back when Cadi snapped the screen shut.

“Nothing,” she said, giving him a sweet smile that she hoped was enough to distract him from the undertone of panic in her voice. He raised an eyebrow, his eyes flicking between her face and the computer.

“Okay …” he said, still eyeing her as he stepped into the kitchen and grabbed two bowls from her cupboard. Cadi blew out a breath and stood from her chair to begin clearing off the coffee table. Sure, it wasn’t the classiest move to eat in front of the T.V., but she preferred dinner on the couch over the dining room. She told Elias it was because the seating was more comfortable, but in truth, being on the couch just made it easier for her to sit close to him.

Elias set the bowls down with a soft clink, and Cadi lowered herself onto the cushion beside him, folding her legs underneath her.

“How was your day?” Elias asked, shoving a fork full of food into his mouth.