Page 84 of At the Mercy of Midnight
They studied it together, heads nearly touching as they leaned over the ancient thing.
Silas traced a hovering finger above the glyphs, careful not to touch it again. “It’s like nothing I’ve seen before. This isn't a normal seal. Usually if the owner passes…” He grimaced atthe reminder. “…A glyph-lock would be null, and anyone could access it.”
His mind spun as they studied it.
“Maybe the glyphs need a specific word,” Amelia said. “Or a spell?” They exchanged a long look before lapsing into a pondering silence. “We could try opening it.”
Silas’ lips pressed into a thin line. “It might not be safe to.”
A small, bitter smile ghosted across her mouth. “When has anything been safe since the Rift?”
Silas didn't answer.
Together, they stared at the cursed book on the table, the ticking clock of their survival pounding in their ears.
Somewhere in the dark corners of his mind, he wondered…what if the answers inside were worse than the questions they already had?
Hours later, he closed the leather-bound journal and looked up. Amelia sat in the wingback chair, looking down at him on the floor.
“That’s it,” Silas said, setting it aside. He tried to absorb the knowledge as a scientist, and not as a boy who had lost his father and was trying to make sense of it.
“Are you alright?” Amelia asked.
“Mm,” he said with a small nod.
The room was quiet, and he filled it with a heavy sigh.
Right. Enough of that.
Silas stood, standing before her. She just looked up at him.
“Up,” he demanded quietly.
“What for?” she asked, leaning back in the chair.
“We’re going to practice using the bond.”
Her eyes fell to the stack of books she had been reading through, before nodding with a weariness. “Yes, we should learn to control it better.”
“If we can,” he said, offering her a hand. She hesitated briefly, but reached for it, allowing him to pull her to stand. “Until we know more, when we aren’t researching, we will be practicing, yes?”
Amelia nodded her head in agreement.
“Think about something emotional,” Silas asked.
She cocked her head. “We know we can manipulate emotional responses already.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Let’s start small and work our way up.”
She sighed softly, looking away into the dark grate of her empty hearth. She stared into it for a long moment. He watched her closely, seeing her bottom lip shift, her eyebrows pull together as she imagined something he couldn’t see.
It hit him quickly, like he had tumbled from a cliff without warning.
Sorrow, anger, and pain mingled, a bitter tangle of emotions that almost had him doubling over with it. It kept going, rising and falling, washing over him like waves of anguish and betrayal. He started to pant as the feeling overwhelmed him, squeezing at his heart. He gritted his teeth as it swelled.
“Stop,” he ground out.
Amelia jumped slightly, blinking as though coming out of a daze.
