Page 104 of Foresyth Conservatory
But then again, truth had always been my currency of choice.
She smiled with her eyes, even though her lips remained a straight line. “As the daughter of Detective Blackburne, I would have expected nothing less. But with this many Council members in attendance, we have the capacity to arrest him and take him to tribunal court based on your statement.”
My mind was racing. “We don’t have proof. I have a few letters, but those could be denied in a setting like that. Especially if he holds favoritism on the Council. We need to catch him at his own game—tonight. I have a device here,” I said, pulling out a switchbox I had been working on for the past few weeks. “It’s like a music box but it transmits sound in real time, including speech. Take it to the Council tonight, and when they hear him confess to his crimes, you can initiate the arrest.”
“You did have a plan,” she said.
“I wasn’t planning on you being the one I gave this to,” I said, giving her the switchbox. “But it’s not you I trust, it’s Julian. I trust you’ll do what’s right for him.”
She grabbed the box from me and tucked it into her cloak. She pulled something out with her other hand. “I ought to give you this.” She handed me what looked like a black pebble. “Daniel gave me this—years after you were born. He said if I ever meet you, that I ought to give you this. I’vecarried it with me ever since. Your father loved you very much.”
I examined the stone in my hand, looking at it from all angles. My father had left me a clue, all those years ago? What did this common pebble even mean?
She motioned to take her leave, but I held her arm. “Wait, I don’t know what this means.”
“I have to go. We’ve been seen together long enough. I’ll be listening with the full Council tonight. Good luck.”
And with a flash of her red cape, she was gone, and I was left with the common rock in my hand, which I turned every which way. I stared hard at it for minutes, trying to sift through my library of memories. It looked familiar, but then again, it was a common pebble—from my father. Like something I’d find in his laboratory.
And that’s when the memory fluttered to life. This was the same pebble that had disappeared in his jar of soil when I was a kid. It was the magic trick I had never figured out. I looked at it closely again and realized that there was something carved into it. But it was so small, so miniscule, I had to pull out my magnifying glass to make it out.
It was anHand then a dash, as if the start to a chemical formula. The stone wasn’t an ordinary pebble—it was packed carbonate. And then, in that singular moment, I figured out the trick.
“Nina,” I called, “if anyone comes around to my station, tell them I’ve gone to the bathroom. Say that I’ve gotten sick.”
“Wait, what? You’re sick?”
“Just cover for me,” I said, cutting her a glance. She nodded and I shot out of the room, through the crowdof magickal Advisors and Council members, and headed straight to the lab.
Chapter 34: Things Fall Apart
The Symposium had dwindled into dusk with murmurs of conversation quieting. The Council members would take a day to evaluate our work, then submit their assessments to the Meister. Though he had no intention of sharing them with us, I thought bitterly, as the elemental ceremony was expected to be our final assignment.
A general sense of nervousness hung over dinner, though each of us showed it differently. Aspen was on his second glass of wine, Nina meticulously arranged her food, and Leone, uncharacteristically, didn’t have a book with him. Conversation had naturally tapered off after the day’s presentations, but I suspected the real reason for the quiet was the looming ceremony. I couldn’t help but imagine Julian sitting here a year ago, knowing it would be his last meal. The thought alone made my stomach churn.
Doubt clouded my mind with a litany of things that could go wrong. Maybe I should have heeded the Al-Ahmar’s suggestion and let her arrest the Meister, but I knew there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. My father had worked on the case for years to no avail, with no concrete evidence to overpower the Meister’s political sway on the Council. We also needed to destroy the book and ensure that the practice couldn’t trade hands like it had before. It was the only way.
“Is everyone . . . ready?” I asked, clearing my throat after managing only a couple of bites of dinner. I didn’t have much appetite and found myself mimicking Nina’s habit of rearranging food on her plate. I looked around the tableto see reluctant nods and furrowed brows. The weight of putting them all in danger settled heavily on me. I tried to project confidence, but I knew I was falling short.
“Trust your instincts, Dahlia, they’ve gotten us this far,” Sequoia said brightly, and I felt a bit lighter.
Us.
I might have felt weak then, but at least I was no longer alone.
*
We huddled back into the sitting room where Richard had rearranged the furniture. The room seemed eerily quiet after the activity of just a few hours earlier. Aspen and Sequoia took their usual spot on the loveseat, Leone by the fire, while Nina and I shared the chaise as usual. It was as if it were any normal night of Circle. But when the Meister entered, the atmosphere shifted; the air felt charged, almost electric. Even the hairs on my arms stood up at his presence.
“What a successful day.” He sighed happily, cradling a parcel in his chest. His pupils were dilated, the same look of ravenous hunger I’d seen the night he first shared the Book with me, and the night he came to my bookshop. But he maintained a professional reserve over it, presenting himself as our mentor, as if ready to guide us through an innocuous lecture.
“The Council was very impressed by your presentations. I look forward to reviewing your evaluations tomorrow,” he said, a smile creeping across his face. “Shall we do a quick reflection on the day before we start tonight’s main event?”
We exchanged glances around the room, none of us eager to begin. My gaze remained fixed on the fabric bundle across the Meister’s chest, containing the source of hisevil. I dropped my eyes and forced myself to focus on the conversation instead.
We each took turns around the Circle, sharing our discussions with the Council members and their feedback on our work. After everyone had spoken, the Meister turned to me.
“And you, Ms. Blackburne? Anything of note?” he asked.
