Page 102 of House of Ruin
So she quickly flipped through the pages towards the very end of the tome. There lay the more advanced spells that Alecto never paid attention to. Because she’d never had to before.
Skipping the whole chapter on necromancy and the history of the Snakes communicating with the dead, advanced blood magic she didn’t have permission to practice yet, and a tiny chapter on Aether magic, Alecto landed on the page that readElder Magick and Advanced Spells.
Alecto could feel that the magic surrounding the journal wasn’t modern, and knowing that her mother belonged to this House, she hoped the answer lay here.
She ignored the pages of history and introduction to herbs, candles, and other spell ingredients that were common for the old magic. Finally, she flipped to the page where actual spells were written.
Unfortunately for Alecto, the old magic spells were written in a language she couldn’t read.
“Son of a bitch,” she cursed, throwing the Book to the side.
She fell back into the sofa and crossed her arms. How was she supposed to find a spell when she couldn’t read the language? Alecto couldn’t even identify which language it was.
“Have trouble sleeping, Black?”
Alecto’s heart jumped to her throat at Val’s voice. She looked to the stairs to find Val standing at the top, a smirk curling one corner of her mouth.
“Stalker much?”
Val chuckled and descended the stairs. She pointed at the shelves. “Whenever someone takes down the protection spell from the Book, I get a…warning.”
Alecto wasn’t even surprised to hear that.
“You can never be too careful with the Book. You know that, Black.”
“Sure. Well, it’s just me here. Nobody is trying to steal the Book. You can get back to sleep.”
Of course, it wasn’t going to be this easy to get rid of Val. Instead of leaving, she settled on the leather sofa next to Alecto. Before she could hide the journal, Val picked it up.
“That’s an interesting notebook,” Val observed after a moment of inspecting the black leather and the snake wrapped around it. “Want to share what this is about?”
The last thing Alecto wanted to do was talk about her mother with Val. However, Val had known about Demitria and Galliermo before Alecto did. Val always knew more than she let on. Her mind was full of secrets.
Maybe she could be useful and help Alecto open the damned journal. Maybe Val could even share something about Alecto’s mother.
“I think this journal belonged to my mother,” Alecto said. “I found it in the attic, hidden in a small metal box. Seems to be something of value inside, judging by the old magic spell around it.”
There was a frown on Val’s forehead. “Interesting.”
“I was looking over the elder magick spells to find a spell that my mother used to lock the notebook so I could find a reverse spell to unlock it,” Alecto continued. She dabbed a finger at the Book between them. “But it’s in a language I don’t speak. Do you know what this is?”
Without sparing a glance at the Book, Val said, “It’s Helish. All old magic spells are in Helish.”
Alecto blinked.
Val noticed her surprise and smiled. “Before there was Inathis and before there was Mortal Realm, Mother and Father made Hel their kingdom.” When Alecto didn’t reply, Val laughed. “What? You don’t remember the history lessons from high school?”
Alecto rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Tell me you know the language, with how well acquainted with demons you are.”
It was weird knowing that Val had some connection to the Imp Queen. Alecto had never met the creature, and she hoped she would never have to.
Val’s face fell serious. “I don’t. But I do know who does speak it, writes it, and understands it well.”
With her palms sweating and heart hammering in her chest, Alecto waited for Val’s answer.Oh, please don’t say the Imp Queen.
“Gill.”
“Oh?” Alecto asked, relief flooding her system. “That’s a good idea, really. Gill might know which protection spell exactly this is and how to break it.”
