Page 84 of A Time of Witches

“From your past,” Jacinda whispered. “In my present.”

Lilith nodded and was relieved when Jacinda seemed to be considering this idea rather than rejecting it.

“Did you find what was in the library?” Jacinda asked abruptly, clearly beginning to remember.

“The secret room?”

“A secret room…?” Jacinda said softly to herself. “That’s what she’s been hiding.”

Dragon batted at the base of the bird’s stand and those glittering dark eyes slid down to the small black cat. Lilith scooped him up.

Ghost or not, she wasn’t taking any chances.

“You think Sybil will be burned alive at the stake?” Jacinda’s voice wobbled and Lilith kicked herself for her frankness on their last meeting.

Helplessness built up with uncomfortable pressure in the back of Lilith’s throat. “I don’t know. I think I’m supposed to stop it, but I don’t know how.”

Jacinda tilted her head at Lilith. “You were there when she was arrested. What was said?”

Lilith explained what she’d seen, how the magistrate lorded over Sybil, how she’d remained strong. The poppet that condemned her.

“That’s it.” Jacinda sat up straighter. “The poppet. The only one who could have turned it in would be someone within the household. Someone here at the manor denounced her. If we can find out who…”

A flare of heat blazed at Lilith’s birthmark. She hissed and put her hand over it. “I think you’re on the right track.”

Jacinda’s gaze followed Lilith’s actions and her brows pursed.

“Maybe something in the book will help,” Lilith said, more to herself than Jacinda.

“What book?”

“The grimoire.”

Jacinda shook her head in confusion.

“I’ll show you.” Lilith waved for Jacinda to follow.

The ache in Lilith’s head was impossible to ignore, like her brain was trying to squeeze out from her skull.

Together, they went into the library with Dragon trotting after them. “There’s a lever here.” Lilith moved the books aside and pulled the bar set in the bookshelf. The trap door drew back, and Jacinda gasped.

“The room is in here.” Lilith ducked into the secret room, but when the candles lit upon her entry, Jacinda was not there.

“Jacinda?” Lilith went out into the library, but the teen was gone.

Likewise, the past had faded once more, revealing only the dusty, dilapidated room and Dragon, who sat by himself, his tail coiled perfectly around his four paws.

“Where did they go?” Lilith asked.

He gave a little chirp and ran into the secret room.

Alone and more determined than ever, Lilith followed. The candles flickered to life and the sweet scent of those eternal flowers greeted her with an ineffable fragrance that hovered between floral and herb—that fused real life with something otherworldly and coiled into her soul.

A golden glow framed the grimoire, the words shimmering as she approached. Had it been that way last time?

She unfurled her hand from the necklace pouch, the pink velvet crushed into the shape of her curled fist, and read the page before her, a different location than before.

The more you know yourself, the more guidance you will receive from the earth.