Page 34 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

LENNOX

With the snap of her fingers bags appeared next to Luce, as if they had been waiting in hiding until she was ready to reveal them. “I brought supplies, I figured witch relics are not easily obtained in the Blood Court.”

“You assume correctly,” Luka confirmed.

Luce wasted no time, pulling items from her bags, placing candles and vials of witch relics on the table along with a map of Lethenia.

I took the map from her, spreading it out on the table and using the bottles to secure the edges.

“What can I do?” Kara asked.

Luce pulled Hecate’s spellbook from her bag and handed it to her. “Find the page with the location spell.”

Magic flooded my fingertips at the sight of the book. Magic oozed from the book, sending a tingle down my spine. Kara shuttered as she took the book from Luce’s hands.

“What is that?” Declan’s gaze was fixed wholly on the book.

“Hecate’s spellbook,” Luciana answered.

“Why does it feel like that?” Nico shuttered.

Luciana looked up from her bags. “The book is powerful. It hosts the origins of the witches. It’s a magical book.”

“The pages are blank,” Nico mused. Kara looked at him quizzically as she flipped through the pages.

“You can’t see the words?”

Nico shook his head. “Neither can I,” Luka added.

“Like I said, it’s a magical book, only those who it allows can read the book.”

“Well, aren’t you special?” Nico joked.

“You won’t get the book to show you anything talking like that, wolf boy.”

“So how does this work?” Declan approached the table, tucking his wings in tight to make room for us all.

“I’ll use the book as a beacon to help find the journals, once the ingredients are mixed together I will put them on the map. When the spell is complete the map should reveal to us where the journal is.”

“And we’re supposed to trust this spell?”

Luciana gave Declan a seething gaze. “Half of witch magic is about faith. Try to have a little, bird boy.”

Declan’s black wings rustled behind him as he crossed his arms. “It sounds risky,” Declan continued.

“Sometimes you gotta take risks, Dec.” Nico slung an arm over Declan’s shoulder only for the harpy to shrug out of his hold.

“I found the page,” Kara interjected.

“Perfect. Set the book on the table,” Luce directed. “While I gather the ingredients, can you light the candles, Lennox?”

I spread the candles out along the perimeter of the table before lighting them with the flick of my fingers.

“Ready, Luce?”

“Ready.”

Luce dumped the contents of the bowl onto the map. “Will you light them, Lennox?”

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