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Jolon and Syler stood naked, dripping all over the tile floor, as we all stared at the offender.
“The grimoire,” I breathed.
Chapter Eighteen
Lorn
The grimoire taunted me from where it sat on the coffee table, waiting for me to open it. Blowing out a breath, I ran my hands along the textured fabric of my jeans and drummed my fingers on the tops of my thighs. I should open it, but I was afraid. It didn’t look all that different. What if the pages were still blank? What if the magick didn’t work for me because I was a tribrid? What if the answers I needed didn’t lie inside?
The what-ifs were killing me.
I know you’re nervous, baby, but you need to just rip it open and find out what’s inside, Axel encouraged.
The worst that can happen is that it’s blank again. I think you should open it,Chayton added.
I knew they were right. Scooting to the edge of the couch, I reached for the book. Power buzzed my fingers when I caressed the old leather cover. Blowing out a breath, I placed the grimoire into my lap, counted to three, and lifted the cover.
Bright light exploded in warm rays that nearly blinded me. Strong wind streamed into the room, emanating from the Book of the Keepers, and my hair whipped around my face, the strands tickling my neck. I brushed it out of my eyes and watched letters dance on the pages, coalescing into written text and images.
The strongest power I’d ever felt surged into me. Ancient whispers filled my mind. I gasped, sure that these were the voices of the previous Keepers. Spells and incantations filled my mind, committing themselves to memory. My magick rose to greet the new power, and my hands glowed. The black that had once interspersed my magick faded, leaving my signature color a vibrant purple, and then the gold rays of light wound around it, mixing it once more, fortifying it, and making it indestructible.
The pages flipped, flowing between one answer, then the other, and I absorbed it all.
“She’s fucking glowing,” Tye said, amazed. “Her eyes are lilac.”
“Lorn,” Dason called, worried. “Are you okay, little one?”
“It’s all here,” I told them, “All the answers we need.” I sobbed. “It worked.”
Axel whooped. “Fucking finally.”
He was right. We really needed this win.
The magick settled, the glow fading and the wind gentling to a light breeze. A spark of golden magick flashed in front of me, and grew, revealing a hidden letter. Once it was revealed fully, it dropped to rest against the pages of the grimoire.
The wax seal was gold with an engraved S. I traced a finger over it.
Handing the grimoire to Chayton, who sat beside me, I took the envelope and stood. Rounding the couches, I paced toward the glass backdoor and dared to slide my finger below the seal.
Dainty, feminine handwriting covered the page, and the first thing I noticed was my name inscribed at the top.
I gasped.
What is it?Jolon gently eased into my mind. My mates were tense behind me.
I skimmed the letter. Voice watery and tight, I said,It’s a letter from my mom.
Holding the sheets in trembling hands, I read.
My dearest Lorn, my Little Light,
If you are reading this, it means you have found the Grimoire, and sadly, it also means I’m not with you. I’m so sorry I had to leave you. Sadly, the darkness that is our burden has been consuming me for far too long. The love I have for your father has helped keep the darkness at bay, and when I found out I was carrying a precious daughter, it was like the light inside me came back to life. I wish I could watch you grow, but I’m writing this now as I carry you inside me, because somehow, I know I have only a short time with you. Perhaps my purpose was to bring you into the world, my bright Little Light. You’re the greatest gift I’ve ever been given, and you’re destined to be a gift to the world as well. My greatest wish is that you find the true and genuine love I won’t be able to give you.
That brings me to the next important point, as the fact that you are reading this without me also means you are mated and have unlocked the Book of the Keepers. I hope with all my being that all your mates are kind and pure and will love you without a need to control or manipulate. I hid this book because one of my mates wasn’t who I thought he was. His soul is as dark as the Shadow Realm itself. The power that came with being a Keeper was too great a temptation, and soon, he was using my power for evil instead of good. His darkness offset our bond and left me so off balance I had to run to survive.
That’s how I met your father. He was supposed to have been my enemy, and yet he took me in when I was lost and alone. I don’t regret forsaking my mate bonds because it led me to Carlisle, and brought you to us.
Nevertheless, Elan’s thirst for power is voracious, and the evil that coats his soul is powerful and dangerous. There is no telling what kind of power he has found in my absence, despite not having access to the grimoire, which means you are in grave danger. I can feel Elan searching for me as if he senses a new Keeper is imminent. You must be careful, and you must defeat him. I believe doing so will help restore the balance between darkness and light, not only for you, but for all the realms.
