Page 83 of Wicked Thirst
She reached up and pulled a book off the top of the pile and placed it on the table in front of Gerda. She pointed toward the lines on the page.
Then Adrienne pulled the next book down and opened it to a specific page as well. She ran her finger over the lines. “And here too.”
Gerda gave a light nod and placed her hand over Niche’s as she reached for another book, stopping her before she could grab it. “I know of what you speak.”
“Then you can help us?” Hope sprang in my chest.
She shook her head. “The request must come from the Witch Queen. It is strictly prohibited to give this spell to anyone else.”
Zinnia lifted her hand. “I respectfully request this spell. Please.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to finally come to my library, child.” She waved her hand and dusty brown magic fluttered down the rows of stacks. It was like watching a small gust of wind carrying leaves in a movie. “The knowledge here will help you along your way.”
“I will remember that.” Zinnia paused. “And we all will visit more often.”
Gerda gave a knowing smile. “I know.”
That little prediction brought everyone up short. Did she know something we all didn’t? Her tone implied that she did. Maze and Tilly chuckled at the same time.
Tilly shrugged when all eyes swung toward her. “She’s not wrong.”
Astrid glanced toward Zinnia. “You know that’s a little tidbit I’m going to think about later.”
“Agreed,” Serrina, Tabi, and Zinnia all said at the same time.
The fluttering of pages was the first sign that something was happening, then a thud that sounded like a book slamming into something. Then more page flutters. The book sailed out from the stacks and landed in the middle of the table. Dust sprinkled all around it. Brown and dark as they were, the pages were clearly ancient. The edges weren’t square like in modern books. They were jagged and frayed all along the edges.
Gerda crooked her finger at the book and it slid across the table toward where she stood. Then she gave the same motion to the other Queens. “Look here.”
We all leaned forward, staring down at the ancient book. Adrienne leaned in closer and placed her hand over the pages. “But how do you interpret this?”
Silence. We all looked up to where Gerda stood and she was gone, disappearing into thin air. Adrienne made a tiny sound of annoyance in the back of her throat. “It’ll take days to interpret this. The language is ancient, as are the drawings.”
Niche nodded in agreement. “But you know who could translate it in seconds.”
“No.” Adrienne shook her head. “I don’t want to.”
“It’ll make this go so much faster.”
I didn’t want to force anyone to do anything that would make them uncomfortable, but time was ticking. “We need faster.”
Tabi leaned on the table. “I hate to say this, my friend, but Niche and Piper are right. We need this as quickly as possible.”
“Ugh. Fineeeeee.” She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Astrid, can I please have some paper and a pen?”
Astrid flicked her wrist and a pen and paper appeared in front of Adrienne. When she wrote her note across the page, her movements were sharp and punctuated with annoyance. She folded it up and handed it back to Astrid. “Can you please send that to . . . my mother?”
The paper burst into flames in Astrid’s hand. “Done.”
“Now what?” I glanced around at the others. We should be doing something else, something to move us forward. My energy bounced around inside of me, and I felt the need to go and do something. Standing here waiting wasn’t on my bingo card.
Kylian placed his hand on my shoulder. “Still.”
“What?”
“You’re making me feel how anxious you are, and it’s making me uncomfortable.”
I glared at him. “Yeah, I’m not sorry.”
