[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!🥲🧡]

- - -

~ 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.

I consult the copied dedications and read the first aloud.

"May truth come always before beauty, and wisdom before truth." I glance up at the pillars. "Alright, that puts wisdom first, then truth, then beauty. What about knowledge? Do we ignore that one?"

"No," Aurelio says. "Wisdom comes from an understanding of knowledge, so knowledge precedes the rest."

"Right. Goes without saying," Yumi mutters. "What the fuck do we do with that, though?"

"The next dedication, if you will." Aurelio nods at me.

"As the ink flows from my quill, so flows my love for you; like blood, in each drop spilled at your desire, all my secrets are revealed."

"So... we need blood?" Nic guesses. "Drip blood on the pillars, in the right order, and something happens?"

"That is what I surmise as well," Aurelio agrees. "Along with... how does the last one go?"

I know he probably has them all memorized anyway, but I read it aloud.

"Love cannot be silent;
it is a song demanding to be sung,
and though it were poison to speak it,
I would die with your name upon my lips,
that all may know this truth."

"Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all, does it?" Nic comments, chewing his nails. "Be kinda funny if you had to die to get into a tomb."

"I doubt that is the meaning," Aurelio says, examining the pillars more closely. "More likely, one must speak the correct word or phrase to activate the spell. It is merely a question of... what."

"Maybe 'Berenice,'" I suggest. "That would be the 'your name' in there, right?"

"Possibly," Aurelio allows, still examining the pillars, "but I suspect that this is a deeper and more complicated kind of magic. Come look at this."

I obey and join him where he stands before the pillar he'd identified as 'knowledge.' He points at the images engraved in a spiral, like a ribbon wrapped about its sides.

"These tell a story," he says. "One you may recognize."

I squint up at the engravings, but it's hard to make out the details, and I'm in no mood to play 'interpret the art.'

"Just tell me what you see," I growl.

He indicates a section of panel. "Here, through here," he points. "Look familiar?"

Suppressing my rising impatience, I lean closer. Fortunately for Aurelio, what he's talking about becomes immediately clear. One of the figures has gems for eyes – tiny chips of blood-red stone. The next panel shows the same figure being mauled by a lion with an eagle's head.

"Amarias, and Griffin?"

"That's my guess," Aurelio confirms. "There are other panels, too, that tell similar tales. It would seem that Inks and Quills have a habit of destroying one another."

"But... there haven't been that many, have there?" Nic asks. "I thought Griffin and Amarias were the first?"

Aurelio shakes his head, surveying the pillar. "They may have started our ancestral lines, but Amarias came from somewhere. Griffin, too. I would surmise that, whatever names they have been given, 'Inks and Quills' – or at least individuals with the potential to serve as such – have arisen sporadically, here and there, throughout time. These earliest panels appear to portray Ancient Egypt and Greece."

"Okay, so Solemnity had the whole history sorted out. What's that tell us?"

"I think he means the dedications aren't about Agatha and Berenice," Yumi says, taking a look at the engravings for herself. "They're about the Ink and Quill. The blood of the Ink, the name of the Quill. So only an Ink who knew his or her Quill could open the tomb?"

"We'll know if we're right soon enough." Aurelio looks to me. "Jaxon?"

Grimly, I slip my Sign from its sheath and hold the blade against my palm. "Knowledge, wisdom, truth, and beauty, huh?" I repeat, nodding to each pillar in turn.

"Correct," Aurelio says.

I take a breath and slide the knife against my skin, cutting myself just deep enough to draw blood. Then, starting with 'knowledge,' I press my hand to each pillar, walking counter-clockwise around the four points of the square. Finally, I stand in the center, a few stray drops of red spattering the marble floor, and speak the name dearest to my heart.

"Sylas Lovecraft."

Nothing happens. I look up at Aurelio and frown.

"Maybe it's—"

With the crack and scrape of moving stone, the floor beneath my feet drops away, the segments of the compass lowering to form a descending spiral stair. I teeter, on the verge of losing my balance and tipping backwards into the newly yawning dark, until two hands grip my arms on either side and steady me.

"Thanks," I say, glancing between Nic and Aurelio.

They release me in unison as I step to safety, and together we survey the result of our success.

"That's some Indiana-Jones-level shit right there," Yumi says admiringly.

"That said, let us proceed with caution," Aurelio advises. "This may not be the last trick old Solemnity has in store for us."

✧ ✧ ✧

With the flashlights Nic and Yumi brought (magic is great for some things; flashlights are convenient) Nic, Aurelio and I descend into the dark, leaving Yumi to keep watch. Surprisingly, the noise of several tons of marble dropping into recessed slots to form stairs failed to draw attention, but we weren't taking chances we didn't need to take.

I count the steps as we wind our way down, and reach thirteen at the bottom. Our beams of light reveal we're in a space almost like an inverse image of the rotunda above, with four pillars of black stone instead of white, though these have smooth, unmarked sides. The stairs take up most of the space between them, and the outer walls are closer than those above, forming a tighter cylinder.

Set into this, and corresponding to each of the pillars, is a small entryway leading into a blackness beyond. The doorways seem to be spelled, too, swallowing our flashlights' beams and concealing what lies beyond.

"We got choices," Nic says, starting towards the nearest. "Who wants to see what's behind door number one?"

I grab the back of his shirt. "Whoa, whoa, whoa – hold up a minute. What happened to being careful? I don't gotta trade you for Yumi, do I?"

Nic rubs the back of his neck and laughs ruefully. "Well, she's less fun, but she does have the greater gift of common sense, I guess."

"I got a feeling we only get one shot at this," I say, turning to look at each doorway in turn. "'Rel?"

"I concur. This setup seems too much like a trap for my liking. Thoughts?"

"We leave and come back better prepared?" Nic suggests. "Magic or no magic, a couple of shaped charges should knock out almost anything mechanical."

I glance at him. "Yeah? You got some spare plastic explosives lying around?"

Nic shrugs. "Maybe."

"We don't have time," Aurelio interjects. "The sudden appearance of a stairway in the rotunda is sure to draw attention, eventually. More importantly..." He points at the black, polished floor. "Listen."

We fall silent, ears straining, and in the quiet I hear it clearly.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, like the second hand of a gigantic clock.

"I think we're being timed."

"Fuck." Nic covers his mouth, and even in the dim gloom I see the beads of sweat standing out on his brow. "I'm not good under pressure. That's why I quit Le Cordon Bleu," he groans.

"Fortunately for us, 'Good Under Pressure' could be Jaxon's middle name," Aurelio says.

I make a face. "Sounds gross when you say it. But yeah, lemme think a sec."

I examine the pillars, matching them to their counterparts above.

"It's not 'beauty.' That'd be like picking the jewel-encrusted holy grail. 'Knowledge' and 'wisdom' are waypoints. So... truth. It's truth."

"I agree with the reasoning, but... are you certain?" Aurelio asks.

"Certain as I'm gonna be," I say. "Still, you should stay here, Nic. Just in case." Then I stride forward through the chosen door.

I'm a little surprised when Aurelio follows me. Within, we find a cube-shaped chamber of the same black stone. The floor is engraved with many lines, forming what I recognize as a true labyrinth – a convoluted design with a single path in and out. At the center of which sits a man.

"Well... if you have, in fact, 'chosen wisely,' Jaxon," Aurelio remarks. "I suppose we may assume that this is Solemnity himself, and not our hapless predecessor."

The man is, of course, a skeleton, and I only guess his gender from his outdated clothes. His eyeless sockets are black and empty, his toothy jaw hangs wide, and – to complete the cliché – his fleshless hands clutch a dusty tome.

Walking forward, I grasp the book and pull it free. The skeleton, having been held together by nothing but cobwebs and a weak adhesive spell, collapses like a puppet with cut strings, disintegrating into a pile of disarticulated bones. The skull bounces and rolls a bit, coming to rest on its side.

Ignoring its eyeless yet accusatory stare, I open the book and examine the first few pages. For a moment, I'm confused, and then I swear.

"Oh, fuck."

"What? What is it?" Nic asks, calling from the other side of the obscured door. "Did you find it? Is it the Devil's Song?"

I don't answer, and merely shake my head, though I know he can't see me past the void-like barrier.

"What is it?" Aurelio snaps and snatches the book from my hands. He scans the page quickly and reads aloud.

"To my dearest brother, Solemnity –
The truth alone may set you free.
Speak it now, or else this room
Forevermore shall be thy tomb."

No sooner have the words left his lips then, with another crack and grind of sliding stone, the entrance to the little chamber seals shut.