Chapter 22

Flora’s P.O.V

“Flora…Argentine? ReedStone Pack?” Emma looked at the paper then towards me, before turning her attention back to the papers again. “They knew?”

I felt my hands and feet go numb from the shock of it all.

Yes, Malachi knew, that much he had made clear to me the night I got my memories back. But this room? This section? These all fell under Ezra’s jurisdiction.

She knew! She had known all along!

My knees gave out and I fell to the floor at an awkward angle and if it weren’t for both Emma and Daphne’s quick response, I would’ve fallen onto the files, crumbling the fine paper.

“Flora!” Both women said at the same time, settling me down properly against the back wall so I didn’t risk falling over once more.

“They knew…” I whispered to my friends, once I was able to speak past the knot in my throat. It was difficult to breath and I struggled to get air into my lungs.

“Oh shit!” Emma took my hand and began rubbing my palms. “She’s in shock. Daphne?”

“Shit!” Daphne wrapped and arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to her. Emma copied her and sat on the other side, doing the same. And even though I felt completely numb from head to toe, it still helped, having my best friends close to me like this.

“Maybe they researched you later?” Emma tried to comfort me. “They would’ve let you know but maybe forcing your memories on you would have had an adverse effect so they didn’t try anymore…”

I shook my head at her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

I couldn’t tell them that I already knew who I was, where I was from…because something kept telling me not to let them know this secret. I also couldn’t let them know about my conversation with Malachi.

I had gone too deep into this rabbit hole before even realizing it and now, I was in too deep and dragging my friends into this hole with me wasn’t an option. Some battles were mine to fight alone…and some secrets shouldn’t be brought to light just yet.

“It’s not just you.” Daphne said suddenly. “I think this has everyone’s details on it…like a record of all the Maidens that worked here and a way of remembering them even after they left with their mates! We can keep looking at the files. It might be interesting?”

Daphne was trying to distract me from the state of shock I had just gone into and I had to say it was working. I nodded for her to continue and so she did.

“See?” She held up Emma and her pages. “We’re here too! So even if we are to leave with our mates later in life, we would always be remembered.”

It was a nice thought, to be remembered forever…never being forgotten, but was that really the purpose of these records? Or was I reading too much into the situation?

“Let’s go through them together, shall we?” Emma told me, tugging me towards the papers. “We might find something that we are looking for?”

“Okay.” I nodded and the three of us went back to the pile we had discarded only a few centimeters away from us.

“This is the last one.” Emma picked out the paper right at the back. “Sahara Collin, ReefWood pack, 1823.”

“That’s almost two centuries ago.” Daphne shook her head. “The Lindersay Shrine was build over five centuries ago, according to what we learned about its history. So it’s impossible that there were only so few maidens till now. There must be more in the other drawers.”

Daphne picked up the keys and started opening the second drawer, but this time what came out were actual finance papers and no more of the list of Maidens. “Okay, last drawer.”

I felt my heart leap to my throat as Daphne found the key to the last one and inserted it into the lock. The click of the lock seemed to resonate all around the room and when Daphne opened the drawer, which seemed stuck due to unused…I almost didn’t want to know what was inside, but at the same time I was holding my breath to find out what was in it as well.

And then Daphne pulled out the only inhabitant of the drawer, something wrapped in a piece of cloth, similar to that of the files, but the size was much smaller…closer to that of a book.

“This is it?” Emma asked to be certain. “There’s nothing else inside?”

“No, this is it. This must be what we were searching for.” Daphne looked up at me to be sure. “Flora?”

“Open it.” I told her, my voice husky. “Please.”

Daphne nodded in understanding and started unwrapping the cloth from around the book. It was clear from the state of the book that this hadn’t been used in a while and that it had been hidden here a long time ago. There was dust in the cloth and the smell of it was old, very old.

When she removed the cloth, the book inside was a normal looking, with a dark red hard-bound cover with a picture of the full moon with some finer detailing. But somehow, I felt this iciness around my chest, like I was doing something I shouldn’t be doing. But I couldn’t help it either.

“Here,” Daphne held out the book for me. “Do you wanna open it?”

I nodded and took the book from her hand and placed it on my lap. It wasn’t big, but it was heavy and staying in contact with it made my heart heavier.

I flipped open the cover, found the first few pages almost illegible as the handwriting had nearly faded to nothing. The pages were frayed at the edges and the paper was a dark yellow, worn from use. I had a feeling that before being banned, the Blood Moon rituals were probably a frequent event.

“I can hardly read anything here.” I shook my head. “We need a magnifying glass and better lights.”

“We can’t do that.” Both women shook their heads immediately. “Our break in here isn’t exactly something we can brag about. Not to mention the fact that this book is ancient! Who knows what will happen to the book if we take it out of this room?”

“I know. This book hasn’t been used in a long time.” Daphne rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s probably been sitting here, collecting dust for years now. Any thoughts Em?”

“Look, here is says unity.” Emma pointed out at a section in the book. “I think this ritual is something about mating? Solidifying the bond?”

“Is it?” I tried to read the context, but everything was in bits and pieces, but from what we deciphered, that was possibly what the ritual was about. “Was it for people like me? The ones who couldn’t feel the bond?” Was this the reason Andre wanted me to know about the book?

“If that’s the case then no wonder the rituals were banned.” Em said. “Anyone could claim to be a mate and then bind them through a stupid ritual!”

I didn’t know why, but my mind immediately went to Andre. Was he…pretending to be my mate?

But I shook that thought out of my head immediately. No. Andre was a man of honor…he wouldn’t do such a thing. He didn’t even know me when he arrived! Why would someone, anyone, fake a mating bond? To what end?

“There’s more.” Daphne pointed out and we kept looking into the book page by page.

Most of the rituals seemed innocent enough, unless you noticed the use of blood in almost all of them. Moon rituals were supposed to be peaceful, serene…not violent. But the rituals here, the ones we could decipher were mostly the ones that had to do with mating and new beginnings. But why would any of these rituals need blood? It was beyond me and my friends were of the same sentiment.

“Shit.” I whispered as I turned the page. “There are pages missing”

Some pages right towards the end were ripped out and not in a neat way either. Large chunks of paper were still sticking to the bind and I felt sorry for this inanimate object…that was until one word at the corner of one of the pages came into view.

Sacrifice…

The icy fingers around my heart tightened around my heart until I couldn’t breathe. And somehow, I knew…I just knew, that this sacrifice had something to do with me and Clay.

It was time. I couldn’t wait any longer. It was time to talk to the one person I knew would understand me, the one person who was in the same boat as me…Clay.

But before that, I needed answers. And I knew the person who could give them to me.