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Emily squinted, looking at the page with an almost comical intensity. “So, is this talking about the wolf curse? And how do we know what objects to provide?”
I shrugged. “Hell, if I know. We just made a major breakthrough in figuring out what this thing was. Let the guys figure out what to do next.” Of course, I was only teasing, but damn, was I tired of staring at books. I loved reading as much as the next person, but my eyes were strained, seeing spots from staring at printed words all day.
“Does it say anything else?” she asked.
I pulled back the book and scanned the page. “Basically, each object will contain some type of puzzle or riddle that the user needs to solve. This puzzle tells you what objects are needed to release the curse, and once provided, the object will disappear, taking the curse with it.”
Emily took in the information, mulling it over. I could tell by the way her eyes glossed over, and she stared off in a daze. Finally, she spoke in a tone so quiet, I could barely hear it sitting only four feet away.
“So, if we complete the puzzle and deliver the objects, the curse will end. But if we don’t, the curse will worsen, and all the wolves will turn feral? Assuming this is even related to the wolves. What if she put another curse on us?”
I nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Great. That’s no pressure at all,” she said, stretching her arms before standing up from the tower of books we’d built that surrounded us on the floor. “Let’s go tell the guys what we found.”
We brought them to the office to speculate what everything meant. Griffin inspected the object, turning it to view every angle, every nook, and cranny. It was a large, gold-encrusted circle that gleamed in the light, with four legs in the center at its bottom.
“Hey, what’s this?” he asked, holding out the object and pointing along the side.
An inscription in a language that none of us recognized. We each took our hand in reading the inscription, trying to figure out how to pronounce the words. But when Emily read it, something happened.
The inscription glowed, and the circle shell popped open, revealing another object—a square base with a circular body—with four panels that connected in the center in the shape of an X. At each corner of the panel was a vial, with one nestled in the center of the X. On each panel were stanzas of what looked to be a poem or a riddle of sorts.
Along with the object, a note flew out, written in what we could only assume was blood.
Cassian read the note out loud. “If you don’t want your mutts to stay feral, solve the puzzle. Otherwise, say goodbye to your friends, as the curse will expand.”
“Well, isn’t that just great,” Griffin grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “I guess Morgan was right about Samara taking out the wolves.”
We looked at the inscription on the object, setting aside the tension of the note for the riddle within the box. Fortunately, it was written in English and not whatever ancient language of the previous inscription, which I assume was a spell if only Emily could read it.
Cassian read the inscription on the panels aloud.
“Elements of four and separate to be.
Never engage and to never agree.
Together hold strength but are too flawed to see.
Only a fifth can bring them together.
Without the fifth, they will always untether.
The path to triumph can only survive.
With the greatest of sacrifice, by the number of Five.”
