Page 55 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

“I’ve listed everything we know so far.”

– History is meant to repeat itself with Archer and Dorothee. (Unclear which history, as their great uncle and aunt’s deaths were ruled accidental.)

– The Kingstone heir (Archer) is meant to kill the last De Loughrey dynasty (Doe) when Aquila is at its peak. (Best guess: the night of July 7th during the Aquila Ball, held to celebrate the constellation that gave the school its name, and the founding day. Needs further research.)

– Something mysterious happened to James Kingstone and Dorothee De Loughrey the first. (Possibly James killed her, but why? And how did it kill him as well?)

– We need to locate a specific Book of Shadows.

– We need to decipher Mairead’s riddles. (We have two so far.)

– Spirits are attempting to kill Doe. (Unknown reason — possibly to prevent history from repeating.)

“You think James killed Dorothee?” I asked, looking up from the notebook.

Jesse nodded, his enthusiasm unsettling, though we’d grown used to his excitement over puzzles and quests.

“I’m nearly certain. Consider the prophecy we found, you know, the one about the Kingstone heir taking the life of the last De Loughrey dynasty. It might not have been about you but rather about them. It was written on the back of their picture, after all. It also mentioned history repeating itself, so...” He faltered, catching sight of my darkening glare. “I’m not saying you’ll kill her, Archer. But understanding why James might have done it could move us forward.”

I considered his words, the possibility circling in my mind. It wasn’t a new thought, but it never quite made sense. I recalled a letter I’d found as a boy in the attic at my grandfather’s house. It had been hidden in a wooden box with James K. carved on the bottom, addressed to his lover.

“He loved her,” I said aloud. “Why would James kill the girl he loved?”

“If he truly loved her, then your theory’s rubbish, Jesse. Love makes you protect your person,” Nathaniel said. “If anyone even so much as touched a single hair on my girl’s head without her permission, I wouldn’t hesitate to push them off a cliff.”

We both turned to him. Nathaniel didn’t bother to meet our gazes, sorting through his tarot deck with a casual air.

“That was almost attractive, Nate,” Naomi quipped, entering the room. She caught my glare and shut the door behind her. “You forgot to lock it.”

“Don’t call me Nate,” he replied without looking up.

She smirked, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. “Would ‘psycho’ suit you better?”

“Sure.”

Naomi sat on the foot of my bed, leaning back on her elbows. “What are we discussing, other than his psychotic obsession with his girlfriend?”

Nathaniel ignored her, unbothered by the jab.

“I was filling them in on the Book of Shadows and our theory about Archer’s great uncle possibly killing Doe’s great aunt,” Jesse explained, his attention shifting to Naomi.

She nodded towards Nathaniel, eyeing the tarot cards. “Why the sudden interest in Maisie’s hobby?”

“I can read the cards too,” he muttered, shuffling the Alderidge blood deck.

“You hate tarot as much as I hate how you lot treat my bedroom like a common room,” I grumbled, desperate for a quiet evening.

Nathaniel picked up a card, twirling it between his fingers like a magician. Holding it up, he revealedThe Star.

“Cradled in the palms of the stars’ blood,” Nathaniel quoted the last part of the riddle. “We’ve got no clue about the jewellery part, but Maisie and I guessed that maybe an answer was hidden in one of the many tarot decks she inherited from her grandmother.”

“And?” I pressed.

“Nothing so far.”

“Stars’ blood could imply a bloodline,” Naomi suggested. “But as far as I know, we don't have any children of stars attending this school, only boring politician children.”

“Summary: we have nothing so far,” Jesse said, letting himself fall into the place beside Naomi.

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