Entangled Secrets. Pat Esden

      Chapter 5

      Two yellow diamonds sit in the corners of the triangle-shaped key: the power of witches’ spirits separated from their bodies. The Crone and the Mother, Saille Webster and Athena Marsh. The third diamond still lives, a witch named Emily Adams, the so-called Maiden that Merlin gifted his book to.

      —Transcript of interview with prisoner Magus Dux.

      Interrogation cell, EC-HCW headquarters

      First thing the next morning, Chandler sent Peregrine to find Devlin and Gar and tell them that she’d meet them in the coven office. It was an unnecessary task; she could have simply texted the guys and told them she was ready to go track down the loup-garou. But it had turned out that Brooklyn couldn’t babysit Peregrine and it would be easier to ask Chloe and Em in person if they’d be willing to take over the job. It would be even easier without Peregrine around. He already wanted desperately to go with her on the hunt for the shifter.

      With Peregrine headed to Devlin’s apartment, Chandler took off for the office on the second floor of the main house.

      As usual, the office was dimly lit and warm. The scent of leather-bound books and coffee hung in the air. Chloe was hunched behind the enormous desk, scribbling intently in a journal. In front of her, an assortment of fountain pens and ink, crystals, and a large bowl of pink salt were carefully laid out. Clearly, she and Em were in the middle of something important.

      Chloe glanced up. “I thought you and the guys were going to Church Street to look for The Thinker.”

      “We are.” Chandler gave the things on the desk another look, then abandoned her idea of asking them to babysit. Concentration and eight-year-old boys didn’t mix well. “I wanted to make sure you two didn’t need anything while we were downtown.”

      Em’s voice came from off to her left. “I’d kill for a bag of cheese puffs and a ginger ale.”

      Em emerged from a panel in the wall next to the grandfather clock, also known as the secret entrance to the coven’s walk-in vault. As she strolled across the room, a sense of déjà vu washed over Chandler. Merlin’s Book of Shadow and Light rested in Em’s extended hands, exactly the way it had in her vision. The only difference was that this time Merlin’s crystal already glowed in the center of the triangle on the book’s cover.

      Em set the book on the desk next to Chloe’s open journal. When Magus Dux had been captured and imprisoned, largely due to the Circle’s efforts, the High Council had claimed the enormous inventory of stolen and long-lost arcane books that had been in Dux’s lair. However, even the Council hadn’t dared lay claim to Merlin’s Book, not when the great magician himself had given it to Em. And, since Em was part of the coven, that technically made the entire Northern Circle responsible for its safekeeping.

      “What are you doing?” Chandler stepped closer to the desk and glanced at Chloe’s journal.

      Chloe snapped it shut. “We’re researching.”

      “Ah—that’s cool.” What had Chloe not wanted her to see?

      Em brushed her hand along the edge of the book. “When we were in Magus Dux’s lair, he claimed he had a spell that could heal the Vice-Chancellor’s son. We know that’s what he used to bribe the Vice-Chancellor’s wife into doing his dirty work.”

      Chloe jumped in, her voice tart. “We’re not sure Dux really knew what or where the spell was, but I’m convinced he believed it was somewhere in Merlin’s Book—and Em and Devlin agree.”

      “Could be,” Chandler said. She bit her tongue to keep from adding anything that Chloe might take wrong. Finding a cure for the Vice-Chancellor’s son, Aidan, was an understandably touchy subject with her. Five years ago, Chloe had been babysitting for the Vice-Chancellor of the High Council and his wife when Aiden had fallen into the family pool. Aiden survived, but the near drowning left him in a vegetative state. Chloe felt responsible for the tragedy and longed to right her wrong. In fact, shortly after the accident, she’d been caught in the boy’s hospital room in the middle of an unsuccessful healing attempt, involving a spell from an ancient book she’d stolen from her father’s office. No doubt, Chloe’s defensiveness was because she expected Chandler to question the timing of this research—or perhaps even if they should get involved with it at all.

      “I feel really bad for the boy,” Em said.

      Chandler nodded. “I do too. It’s strange to think that Aidan and Peregrine might have gotten to know each other at the Council’s junior events. There isn’t that much difference in their ages.” She let the subject drop as a pained expression came over Chloe’s face. “Sorry, I can’t help comparing the two of them.”

      Chloe pressed her hands over her eyes. “This whole thing just makes me feel so helpless. I need to do something—and I think we can. It’s not as if the Council doctors have been able to find a cure. All they do is keep Aidan stabilized. It’s nothing more than a living death…”

      Chloe’s voice faded into the background as Chandler’s thoughts jumped back to what she’d just said: I can’t help comparing the two of them.

      Two of them. Last night, in her vision. The second child. The boy-child lost in the forest, echoing Peregrine’s words. She knew the voice now, though she’d never heard him speak. It had been Aidan. The vision had predicted that Chloe—that the Northern Circle—would take this path toward helping him. That’s why she’d also felt a sense of déjà vu a few moments ago when she saw Em holding Merlin’s Book.

      “Are you all right?” Em asked.

      Chandler pasted on a smile. “Yeah, fine. It’s just overwhelming to think about.” She wasn’t ready to mention the vision to anyone, at least not until she had time to think it through and remember it all. The last thing they needed was for her to get something wrong and for it to send the coven spiraling into a worse situation than they were already in. She folded her arms across her chest. “It would be amazing if there were a cure for Aidan in the book. But we can’t afford to forget that Merlin has a dark side.”

      Chloe scoffed. “If you think after everything that’s happened, I’m not aware of the danger, think again. Merlin’s a cambion, just like his half brother. I get that.”

      “I’m just playing devil’s advocate.” Chandler gentled her voice. “You should look into this. But there are issues to consider—like the fact that Merlin’s Book is written in Archaic Welsh, right?”

      “Em and I were just talking about that,” Chloe said.

      Em nodded. “When I was in Dux’s lair, I performed a spell from the book. I couldn’t read the words, but Athena and Saille’s spirits helped me understand. One or both of them must know Archaic Welsh.” She slid a finger along the book’s key, touching one yellow diamond and then the other, as if to include Athena and Saille in the conversation.

      Chandler thought for a second. “I know Athena could read it, at least to a degree. If I’m remembering right, she mentioned once that Saille was fluent.”

      Chloe’s face brightened. “We’ll have to start at the beginning of the book and work our way through the spells one at a time, but maybe we can find it.”

      “Why not just ask Athena or Saille if they’ve seen a ritual or spell in the book that would work on Aidan?” Chandler asked.

      Em stared at her in amazement. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of that.”

      “It certainly can’t hurt to try,” Chandler said. Sadness weighed in her chest as she looked back at the diamonds. “Do you mind if I try to contact them? I’d love to hear Athena’s voice.”

      Em stepped