Page 189 of House Ignis

"What?" she whispered, flipping again. Blank. Her voice climbed, turning frantic. "I was halfway through translating this one last night—I swear it was here!"

She flipped faster and faster. Page after page of the journal was now empty, the ink gone as if it had never existed.

"What the fuck is this?" I snapped, panic clawing through me. "How could this happen?"

Jules leaned closer to the paper, her expression tightening.

“It reeks,” she whispered. “Dark. Metallic. Like ash and old iron.”

"Dark magic?"

“Maybe,” she whispered. “There are old enchantments that can destroy written magic, but I've only ever read about them. Forbidden stuff.”

“Could someone do it from somewhere else?”

Jules stared at the empty pages. “I don't know.”

My mouth went dry. "You had this last night. You didn't see anyone?"

"No one could've touched it," Jules insisted. "Darcy was with me all night.

Void was perched at the window—he would've raised hell if anyone came close. Ava, this was done without anyone stepping foot in the room."

"Someone erased it between last night and now," I said, the thought feeling heavy and impossible. "Someone with old power. Someone who knows how to make words disappear."

Her eyes widened. "You mean—"

“Veyari,” I whispered. “What if whoever Jax found knows we have his journal?”

Jules paled. "If that's true—Gods."

“We need more,” I said. “Every scrap. Banned books, old records, anything that mentions Aelmyra or the monoliths.”

Jules hesitated, then swallowed hard. "There's a place," she breathed. “The royal archives,” she breathed. “The restricted stacks beneath the palace library.”

My chest tightened so hard I couldn't breathe.

Home.

I hadn't been back since the funeral. The thought alone made tears burn behind my eyes.

"You don't have to—" Jules started, reaching for me.

“No.” The word cracked out of me, hard and final. “Yes, I do.”

“If those books tell me why Jax crossed the borders—if they tell me who took him—I'm going. I can't stop now."

Her eyes sharpened. "But how will you get in? You can't exactly walk into the royal archives unnoticed."

I bit my lip.

Jules's face suddenly lit with realization.

“The Flame Festival. Two weeks from now. Everyone goes. The city will be flooded with people, the guards busy with pageants. You'll be expected back. That's your chance."

The Flame Festival. Bonfires. Wine.

Ignis's colors blazing down the streets of Zymarra.