Page 46 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Then explain it,” I demanded in a low voice, mindful of the others behind the door.

“I saw it. I saw all of it. Nathaniel did too. He saw you and Dorothee dancing together in the middle of a storm, her—” Mai’s voice faltered, and Nathaniel stepped in.

“I saw your hearts beating for each other, Archer,” he said. “I saw you both clinging to each other at Gwyneth’s Lake. Everything starts tonight. This is the beginning of the end.”

Before I could respond, Mai spoke again, her voice laced with fear. “I saw you holding a dagger. I saw the Aquila constellation, and I saw Dorothee—covered in blood. You were holding her, and then you were screaming.”

Her dark eyes glistened, and unshed tears threatened to fall.

My heart raced, but I fought to suppress the panic rising within me. For so long, all I’d had was a single ominous sentence, a vague warning I’d dismissed. I never thought I’d have to face it until now—untilsheappeared. Until the fog began to lift and the puzzle pieces started to fit together.

“That’s rubbish! Archer isn’t a killer,” Naomi argued, her voice low but resolute.

I shook my head. “Your grandmother said there’s a way around this fate if we find the Book of Shadows.”

Nathaniel’s eyes met mine, filled with pain. “We’ll find this book, and we’ll stand by you, brother. You know that.”

I ran my hands over my face, sinking back into my chair and resting my elbows on my knees. “I don’t want Dorothee to know. It’ll scare her, and her fear might lead her into the spirits’ traps again. We need her to even stand a chance of finding this damned book.”

Restless, I stood once more and approached the photograph of James and Dottie hanging on the wall. Taking it down, I turned the frame over, removing the old picture and rereading the inscription on the back.

Aquila stood highest; the beat of the night painfully quiet.

The Kingstone heir holding her heart in the palm of his hand.

When morning came at the break of dawn, the last De Loughrey dynasty had fallen.

Act two.

Sine doctrina vita quasi mortis imago.

Without learning, life is but the image of death.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

DOROTHEE

After spendingthe rest of the Halloween night with Jesse in the ominous library, I buried myself in bed under my duvet for all of Sunday. I continued to switch between my bed and the bathroom floor.

On the morning of November first, I emptied whatever was left in the pit of my stomach into the toilet, puking my guts out. Processing everything had been manageable until I started questioning it all after I came down from my adrenaline high. The memories sharpened, and I vividly recalled reliving Gwyneth’s death. How she had tried to kill me and used my trust against me.

Adding to that, I hadn’t slept for the past two nights. Every time I thought about the possibility of dying by the end of the school year, my heart raced. Strangely enough, I felt a spark of happiness stir inside me. Finally, there was something to look forward to. I knew that if our research failed, I might end up six feet under, but as crazy as it sounded, I felt like I finally belonged somewhere. I couldn’t wait to uncover all the secrets the woman I was named after had kept hidden in her heart.

“Miss De Loughrey, could you repeat what I just said?”

That was, of course, assuming I survived history class with Professor Kane.

I straightened my spine and looked at the blackboard behind him. It was freshly cleaned, giving me no clues about the topic.

“I apologize, Professor. I wasn’t listening.”

Professor Kane pushed off the desk he had been leaning on and approached my desk. He glanced at my empty notes and sighed.

“I noticed. I said that in three weeks, we’ll visit the Catholic Church in Owley, where Pastor Richard has offered us access to the church’s documentation from the trials.” His dark eyes burned with disappointment as he recounted his words. “I want to have a word with you after class,” he added before turning back to the front of the room.

After such a hellish weekend, the first reward was detention.Wonderful.

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