Page 78 of Witchlore
We run our hands over clefts in the stone, feeling furry moss, slimy crevices, and engraved graffiti until finally, when I think my neck is going into a spasm from being crooked at this angle, Kira says, “Here. The notation for Merlin.”
I shuffle until we’re both crouched like frogs staring at the tiny slot of back wall, Kira’s flashlight casting a glow on the gray stone. I see a rough, familiar symbol etched there. I tilt my head to the side.
“I suppose it could be, at this angle.”
“We need to put a little bit of your blood on it,” Kira whispers. “If it’s real, it will open.”
“Do you have a knife or something?”
Kira produces one from the pocket at the front of her dungaree dress. I briefly wonder what else Kira Tavi packed in anticipation of this expedition, but then I stare as she flicks open the shining blade. I’ve shed a lot of blood to get to this point and, honestly, it’s brought me nothing but trouble.But this is the end,I reason with myself.Nearly there.
“Here goes nothing,” I mutter, and press the knife tip into my thumb, just like I did when Bastian and I unlocked the journal inThe Witchlore of Bodies.I press my bloody thumb against the mark and hold my breath. The flashlight shakes in Kira’s hand.
“Come on,” she whispers. “Come on, come on—”
“Should I bleed some more?” I ask, pressing my thumb harder into the surface.
“Maybe wiggle it around a bit—”
“I am wiggling!” I protest, slightly hysterically, wanting to laugh and cry, wanting to run and also to punch something, really hard. Unhelpfully thinking,God, I wish Bastian was here.“What else should I do, a little dance?”
Then, suddenly, there is a grinding sound, getting louder and louder, and I pull my thumb away, my heart thundering.
“Is that good?” I ask.
“Either it’s working or it’s going to collapse on us!” Kira says, her voice getting louder over the monstrous grinding sound. I wince, reminded of the way the cave rumbled when Elizabeth died, the feeling of magic surging through me and turning the world over. The ground shudders under our feet and the rock begins to split. The back of the cave opens into darkness, and through the dislodged sand and trickle of pebbles falling from theceiling, I see with a lurch that it’s just tall enough for a person to stand inside, a coffin in the earth.
“This is it,” Kira whispers, when the grinding finally stops. As Kira flashes her light around the space, I see there’s a pentagram drawn on the floor in salt. My stomach flip-flops queasily and I can’t help thinking,It’s waiting for me.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
“Wow.” I swallow hard and step inside. I’m beyond relieved that the stone doesn’t close behind us, so the dim, weak light of the outside can still reach me, here in the heart of the earth. “So this is Merlin’s cave.”
“It’s not actually Merlin’s, you know, humans just have a habit of attributing places associated with historical witchcraft to him. All that poeticwizardnonsense. There’s very little historical evidence that he was ever here. It doesn’t mean it isn’t a powerfully magical location, though.” As Kira speaks, taking off her bag and starting to bustle, like she walks into ancient magical locations all the time, I wish it was Bastian giving me facts and acting like a know-it-all.
“Yeah, I got that.” I pull the ingredients out of my bag, along with the grimoire. Kira quickly moves the book, which is open on the page of the spell, to the top of the pentagram and pulls out a magnifying glass. “What’s next?”
“Put the ingredients on the points.” Kira kneels with her magnifying glass held over the page of the book. I obey and set the hair, the name, the bone in their places. With each one, I can’t help remembering what it took to get it.Stop thinking about him,Iscold myself.He betrayed you.I watch as Kira sprinkles Elizabeth’s earth out of the jar in the center of the pentagram.
“And now?” I ask nervously. Kira doesn’t even look up from the grimoire.
“You’re an ingredient. You stand on the last point of the pentagram and…” She hands me back her knife. “You bleed.”
“Right, yeah, a pint of blood,” I mutter, recalling how Bastian explained it to me when we first read the book together. “From anywhere?”
“From… from your arms.” Kira reluctantly looks down at my wrist. I sigh. It feels right, in a way, that this should be how I bring Elizabeth back. After all, this was how I tried to get back to her the first time, by joining her in death. This time, hopefully, she’ll be joining me in life. “Be careful, though. Don’t do it the same place you did before. We need you to bleed slowly, for the ritual.”
“Morbid.” I set the knife farther up, by the crease of my elbow. “How will we know that we’re done?”
“Because the resurrection will happen,” Kira says impatiently. “Now, cut yourself and be quiet, I need to concentrate.”
“Harsh.”
I feel a sudden tremor of fear and doubt crawling up my gut, all the way to my throat. The last time I did something like this, Elizabeth died. Kira might be pretty annoying, but I don’t want her to die and I’m scared of what will happen, how Elizabeth will come back—what if we make a mistake and only bring her halfway back, trapped between the living and dead, making everything worse? I feel like I can say none of those things to Kira, who lost her, too, but I need something to push me on. Something toget me to do this again, put a blade to my arm and bleed, hoping to see her.
“I know she told you not to talk to me and she was afraid of her mum but… was she happy with me?” I ask abruptly. “Can you just tell me, was she happy?”
“Yes,” Kira says, her face softening. “Yes, Lando. She’d never had a relationship before, she’d been too scared of being herself. You made her incredibly happy.”
