Ink & Quill

Chapter 33

[A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took longer than usual to post! I'm hoping to finish this story by the end of the month, so (hopefully) more chapters will come soon😅. Also, sorry for another cliffhanger – I had to end it somewhere!🥲🧡]

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~ Jaxon ~

A little after noon, we head back to the library. I ride with Nic and Yumi, tailing Aurelio's silver Jag.

There's no time for subtlety or secrecy anymore. Aurelio still urged caution, reminding me that Edwards needed Sylas alive, and can't do anything without the Devil's Song, but I don't care. If we can't crack the code to Solemnity's tomb, I'll storm Edwards's island on my own, if I have to.

"Little good it would do you," Aurelio had said, when I'd proposed this solution. "If you could even find the place without coordinates, it's shielded. As I already explained, the only way you're getting ashore is if Edwards allows it."

My second idea – pretending to have the Song even if we didn't – was shot down as well.

"Unfortunately, when Linden's machines work, they work quite well," Aurelio told us. "His 'deception detectors' fall into this category. Our only hope of getting close enough to Sylas to even attempt a rescue is to play Linden's game."

And so, Nic and Yumi had taken what they'd needed from the supplies my brother had provided, and with the dedications from Agatha Bodewell's books copied out, we'd headed off to try our luck at Solemnity's tomb.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to sense Sylas – to tap into the connection we share – but without success. It's as if a constant and comforting sound, to which I had become accustomed, had ceased, leaving only cold silence in its place.

"Hey, Jaxi. You okay?"

Nic leans forward from the back seats to touch my arm, and I jump as if shocked by a static charge.

Nic winces. "Sorry – dumb question. You seem a bit out of it, is all."

"I can't feel him," I say, rubbing the center of my chest. "It's like he's just... gone. I thought I'd be able to sense him, no matter what."

"He's obscured, remember?" Yumi says. She has the wheel and keeps her eyes on the road. "Between being on water and Edwards's shield spells, what did you expect?"

"I don't know." I sigh and turn back towards the window. "I guess I'm afraid I've really lost him, this time; that no matter what happens, he's done with me for good."

Nic pats my arm. "Hey, you stuck your knife through my hand, and I'm not done with you. Don't give up on Sylas just yet."

"I'm not," I say. "I just hope he doesn't think I have."

✧ ✧ ✧

The library is mercifully quiet at this time of day, with most students either in classes or taking a break from studying to eat lunch. The few still bent over books or staring at computer screens don't look up as we pass, and the rotunda is deserted.

Rather than mount the metal steps to the walkway above, we remain on the ground level. The floor is marble, and the pillars stand at the center, forming the corners of a square about two meters across. At the center of this is a decorative, compass-like design, divided into quarters, representing elements, seasons, and cardinal directions, all arranged around a circle, standing for the sun.

"Alright," I say, examining the four pillars. "So we got beauty, wisdom, knowledge and truth. Which ones are which?"

Aurelio points them out in order. I've heard it said that there's no such thing as a true photographic memory, but my brother comes close, so I trust he got it right.