Chapter 77
Aurora
Lira and Mira exchanged one of those looks that made me instantly suspicious—the kind that said we’re about to drop something big on you, and you’re not going to be ready for it.
“So…” Mira started, drawing it out like she always did when she wanted to milk the drama. “We found a witch.”
I blinked at her. “A what now?”
“Not us personally,” she rushed to clarify, hands waving around like that somehow made it better. “She can translate the book. Like—no effort. A few seconds, tops.” Mira’s voice picked up speed the more she spoke, like she couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “And she’s not just some random spellcaster, Rory. She’s good. The real deal.”
I just stared at them, dumbfounded. My brain felt like it had frozen mid-step. A witch?
“What?” I finally managed, my voice sounding way too small.
“And,” Lira added, practically bouncing now, “she could help us with the other book too. The important one.”
“Wait,” I said slowly, my voice quieter than I meant it to be. “You’re saying… she could unlock it?”
Riven, who had been silent until now, tugged absently at one of her braids. “Yes. But it’ll cost you. Witches don’t do that kind of work for free.”
I sat back, my pulse thrumming in my ears. “How…” My throat was dry. “How did you even find her?”
“Don’t kill us,” Mira started, holding her hands up like she was about to confess to a crime.
That alone made my stomach twist. “Why do I feel like I’m not going to like what you’re about to say?”
She bit her lip, then blurted, “We asked someone for help.”
I groaned and closed my eyes, already massaging my temple. “No.”
“You didn’t even hear who!” Mira argued, her voice pitching up like she was offended.
“I don’t need to,” I muttered. “If it starts with the letter Z, I’m not interested.”
That earned me a very dramatic eye-roll. Mira crossed her arms, lips twitching in annoyance. “Do you really think we hate you that much?”
I opened one eye to glare at her.
She huffed. “It’s not Zayn.”
The breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding slipped out all at once. My shoulders sagged. “Thank god.”
“Then who?” I asked, wary but curious, bracing myself anyway.
The three of them exchanged a look that made my stomach flip all over again. Lira smirked like she was waiting for the fireworks, while Riven just shrugged, clearly enjoying the suspense. Mira was the one who finally answered.
“Kael,” she said.
I blinked. My brain stuttered, trying to process the word. Then I blinked again, because surely I’d misheard.
“…Kael?”
“Yeah,” Mira said quickly, rushing into it now that the name was out in the air. “He’s—look, he’s good with old texts, better than he lets on. And apparently he knows someone who knows witches. We figured he might point us in the right direction.”
I just stared at her, mouth opening and closing, no words coming out. The image of Kael’s easy smile and sharp eyes flashed in my mind, colliding violently with the memory of his fist slamming into Zayn’s jaw.
“You—” I finally found my voice, but it came out thin. “You went to Kael. For me.”
Mira winced like she already knew I’d react this way. “Technically we all agreed,” she said, motioning between herself, Lira, and Riven. “It wasn’t just me.”
Lira grinned unapologetically. “You’ve gotta admit, it’s a genius move.”
I shook my head slowly, disbelief coursing through me. “You’ve got to be kidding me. “Why would he even help us?” I demanded, throwing my hands up. “And how the fuck did you get the idea to ask him of all people?”
Mira opened her mouth, clearly ready to launch into some excuse, but I cut her off before she even got the chance.
“And what exactly did you tell him?” I pressed, narrowing my eyes at her and then at Lira, because if anyone was bold enough to rope Kael into this, it was definitely her.
Lira didn’t even look guilty. In fact, she smirked, like she’d been waiting for this moment. She lounged back on her bed, propping her chin on her hand like she had all the time in the world.
“Did you see the way he was looking at you the whole field trip?” she asked casually, like she was talking about the weather. “I mean, come on, Rory. He looked like he wanted to eat you. Literally.”
I blinked at her, heat creeping into my cheeks despite the fact that I wanted to throw a pillow at her head. “What the hell does that even mean?”
“It means,” Lira drawled, clearly enjoying herself, “we figured we might as well take advantage of the situation. The guy’s into you—don’t even try to deny it—so we took a chance and asked him.”
I stared at her, stunned into silence.
Mira jumped in quickly, maybe sensing I was about five seconds away from exploding. “We didn’t tell him everything! Relax. We just said it was for your project, that you needed help translating some old book.”
“Thankfully, he didn’t ask a lot of questions.” Riven said.
I pressed my palms over my face, groaning into them. “Oh my god. You’ve got to be kidding me. You three actually dragged Kael into this. Kael. The guy who literally punched Zayn over some petty argument”
“Which,” Lira pointed out, “was really hot.”
Mira smacked her with a pillow, muttering, “Not the point.”
But the damage was already done—my mind was spiraling, replaying every look Kael had thrown my way, every sharp grin, every moment that had felt charged with something I couldn’t name.
I groaned, pressing my palms against my face again. “I can’t… I just—”
“Relax, Rory,” Mira said quickly, hands fluttering like she was trying to calm a small storm. “You don’t have to figure everything out right this second. Just… know she exists. The witch. She’s real. And she agreed to help.”
I peeked between my fingers, my pulse racing. “Help? What does that even mean? Unlock the book? Translate it? Like… instantly?”
“Yes. Exactly that,” Lira said, leaning forward, her grin softening slightly. “She’s serious. Efficient. And—well—she doesn’t trust a lot of people. That’s why she only agreed on one condition.”
“Condition?” My stomach twisted.
Mira and Lira exchanged a look that immediately made me nervous, the one that screamed brace yourself, this is big. Mira cleared her throat. “Yeah… she doesn’t like visitors. People. Crowds. She said… you have to come to her. Not the other way around. You. And one more person.”
“One more person?” I whispered, the words feeling heavier than air.
Riven finally spoke, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Someone who can get you there.”
“And where is this witch, exactly?” I asked cautiously, my heartbeat starting to pound in my ears.
“She lives deep in the woods outside the city,” Lira said, her voice low, like saying it aloud made it more real. “Far from anyone who might stumble across her. Old cabin, surrounded by trees, magic thick enough you could probably feel it from a mile away.”
I stared at her, my brain freezing mid-thought. “The… woods? Outside the city? And I… I have to go there? Alone?”
“Not alone,” Mira said quickly. “One more person. Someone you can trust—or, well, someone who has the car and can actually drive you there without getting lost in the middle of nowhere.”
I blinked. “…And that person is?”
The three of them exchanged that same look again—the one that made my stomach do backflips. “Kael,” Mira said.