The Pages Turn Themselves - Elara

The Pages Turn Themselves - Elara
We didn’t stop moving when we reached the house. My legs were shaking—not from exhaustion, but from the adrenaline still coursing through me. I could still feel the hum of the dagger even through Austin’s pack. It was as if it had a pulse of its own.
Leo and Marcus met us halfway up the steps to the main hall, both wearing matching looks of concern and relief. No words needed to be spoken; they could read everything from our faces.
“Straight upstairs,” Austin said, his voice low and firm. “We don’t stop until the dagger’s secure.”
We moved quickly up the grand staircase, the echo of our boots on the wood bouncing through the quiet house. Halfway up, Leo slowed and glanced toward the front door, frowning.
“I’m going to reinforce the border,” he said suddenly. “Especially the southern ridge—where you came through. If Taylor’s tracking you, that’s where he’ll hit first.”
Austin gave a quick nod. “Good call. Keep me updated.”
“Always,” Leo said, already heading back down the stairs with long, purposeful strides.
The rest of us continued upward, our pace brisk. By the time we reached Austin’s office, my mind was racing again. The dagger pulsed faintly from inside his jacket, and every instinct I had screamed that it was more than a weapon—it was alive.
As soon as we stepped into the office, Austin closed the door behind us. Marcus moved to the side table, pulling a cloth over the surface before Austin carefully set the dagger down. Even from across the room, I could feel its energy pressing against my skin, sharp and ancient.
My curiosity burned brighter than my caution.
“Wait here,” I said suddenly.
“Elara—” Austin started, but I was already out the door. My feet flew down the hallway and around the corner toward the library. I could feel the book calling to me, a faint vibration that made my fingertips tingle.
When I reached the library, it was sitting right where I’d left it—on the edge of the reading table, its weathered cover half open as if it had been waiting. I grabbed it, clutching it tight to my chest before hurrying back upstairs.
When I entered the office again, I closed the door firmly behind me and turned the lock.
Austin and Marcus were leaning over the table, both hovering their hands near the dagger but not touching it. I could see it then—the faint shimmer of energy coming off it, like heat waves rising off sunbaked stone.
“Did you figure anything out while I was gone?” I asked, breathless but teasing.
Austin arched one brow, lips curving into a smirk. “We solved the whole mystery, actually. No need for your library trip.”
“Ha-ha,” I said dryly, giving him a playful shove with my shoulder. He chuckled softly, his eyes crinkling at the corners. The tension eased just a little between us, even if the air still vibrated with the dagger’s power.
Marcus was watching us with his arms crossed, clearly trying not to smile. “You two bicker like an old married couple.”
Austin only shrugged, that grin still tugging at his mouth. “We’re efficient that way.”
I rolled my eyes and moved closer to the table, the book heavy in my hands. “Jokes aside—I think we should see if the book can tell us more about this dagger. Maybe Lima left clues about what to do with it.”
Austin’s expression shifted instantly—protective, cautious. “You’re not going in alone, Elara. I will always come with you.”
I knew better than to argue. I also didn’t want to.
“Fine,” I said softly, settling the book onto the desk.
Austin carefully lifted the dagger and placed it into a hidden compartment beneath one of the old tomes in his office. I heard the faint click of the mechanism locking before he turned back toward me, pulling the chair closer to his.
Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he sat and tugged me gently into his lap. My pulse jumped at the familiar warmth of him—the safety that came with it—and I balanced the book on our knees, opening it carefully.
The pages fluttered like they had a mind of their own, the air in the room shifting. I turned to the section where we’d first seen the dagger—where Lima and Nathan’s tragedy had ended—but before I could stop it, the book flipped open on its own.
To the very last page.
“What in the world—” I muttered, trying again. I flipped it back to where I wanted, but the moment I let go, the pages turned themselves back to the end, as if guided by invisible hands.
Austin frowned, brow creasing. “Maybe it’s showing us what we need to see.”
I sighed, feeling that same hum of energy tickle my skin. “Then I guess we listen.”
I ran my fingers over the rough parchment, the faint indentations of the text beneath them. Taking a deep breath, I blew gently across the surface—like I had before.
The world folded in on itself.
Light. Motion. Cold air.
Suddenly, we were no longer in Austin’s office.
We were standing in the forest again—but not as it was now. Time moved strangely around us, the seasons bleeding together in a whirl of color. Lima and Nathan’s bodies lay crumpled by the old tree, the place where love had once been promised. Then, slowly, their forms began to decay, the forest reclaiming what had been lost. Leaves covered them, roots crept over bones.
And still, time pressed forward.
Spring. Summer. Winter. Decades, maybe centuries, rushed by in seconds. The clearing became wild again, the bench falling to rot, ivy swallowing everything.
Then—movement.
A shimmer of light and the faint echo of voices.
It was us.
Austin and I—digging, searching, our hands brushing against the soil as the dagger appeared again. My heart lurched. The vision replayed everything we had just lived. But then it didn’t stop.
The image flickered. Shifted.
Now it showed him.
Taylor.
Ten rogues at his back, running through the forest, their eyes locked in the direction of the clearing. His face was twisted in anger, but there was hunger there too. The dagger’s energy was calling to him—pulling him closer.
The scene jolted to an end.
The impact was like being shoved underwater and thrown out again. I gasped, sucking in air as the office came rushing back around us. The book lay open on our lap, its pages blank once more.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke. Austin’s eyes locked with mine, trying to make sense of what we’d seen. My pulse was still racing. I could feel his heartbeat beneath my palms, steady but hard.
Marcus broke the silence, his voice rough. “What did you see?”
I swallowed hard, still staring at the book. “We saw the end of Lima and Nathan’s story,” I whispered. “But it didn’t stop there.”
Austin’s jaw tightened. “Taylor’s coming.”
Marcus’s eyes widened. “Here?”
I nodded slowly, dread pooling in my stomach. “He knows where we went. He’s on his way.”
The air in the room grew heavy with the weight of what that meant.