She handed the journal over and I stared, not entirely comprehending what I was looking at. Alice stabbed the page and began tracing a jumble of lines. Slowly, I made out the rune hidden behind the scribbles of black ink and felt a strange connection to it.

It felt familiar somehow, but I didn’t recognize it all.

Four swirling circles connected together through jagged triangles. But near the center, there was a whole lot of nothing, almost as if the runes were half-formed before the scribbled lines blotted out the negative space.

I flipped it around and waved at Astra. I did what Alice did and traced the lines till her eyes widened in understanding.

“That’s… Weird.”

“Weird, how?” I asked.

She pointed to the scribbles and slid her nail down the lines and toward the center. “These are connector runes; they don’t have a meaning but are used as a bridge to combine complex words. You can barely recognize it, but the swirls are for ‘heart,’ and the peaks form ‘blood,’ but the connector lines are reversed.”

Heart… heartless. No blood means nothing there?

The more I stared, the more I felt a pull towards the center of the rune. It itched my brain and stirred the voice in my head, but nothing strong enough to grab its attention.

Astra sighed and flipped through a few pages before shaking her head. “Whatever this is supposed to be, I have no idea. Perhaps Devon saw it during one of his hunts and thought it was interesting.”

The suggestion didn’t sit right with me, so I returned to my journal and kept reading through the entries.

It didn’t look good.

There was a distinctive tone shift after the entry with the stain. His words were more clipped, with more than a few looking half written. They all pointed to something about a decision, a choice he had to make. But from who or what, he didn’t say.

That was until I came across another page that sported a stain of red and black smeared across the top.

Noon

Condition weakening. No Cure. Potion failure. Salve failure. Ritual Failure.

Killed the hedge witch. Need solution soon.

The deal is tempting. Sacrifice not worth it. Maybe?

Tomorrow I visit the Prime. If I survive, I won't be part of the pack.

A memory flashed of Devon reacting to my retelling of events. Specifically of him learning that Elias wasn’t what he thought he was.

The anger looked genuine. And during the armory, his reaction again felt real.

But what the hell do you mean I won’t be part of the pack?

He knew. He had to have known. But why? If he did, why did he get mad at Elias? Why was he surprised about me?

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Alice scooted over and stared at the page. “Information?”

I debated about showing it to her, but I did and tapped the start of the journal entry. “The last line.”

She paused and took the journal, reading through the short block of words before freezing. I watched her eyes scan the page, rereading the last line just as I had.

When she set it down, there was a brief flash of anger before she schooled her emotions and went blank.

“Alice?”

“He knew.”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“Did you find something?” Astra asked, looking over from where she was reading.

I shook my head. “Maybe. Not yet. He might have written more.”

She nodded and turned away, leafing through the journal Alice had found the drawing in.

Alice said nothing, but she stayed looking over my shoulder as I flipped through the remaining pages of the journal.

Towards the end, before the very last page, was a final entry. One written in red ink without a timestamp.

DO NOT TRUST THE PRIME.

Failed ritual, I barely survived. When I didn’t take to the strain, I was tossed away like a broken toy. A USELESS pup!

He lied. I didn’t survive. She’s dead. I’m corrupted. There’s no cure. No hope.

But he’s not done. The prime will never give up, no matter how many toys he must break.

Enough. I can’t fight, but I can try.

He’s found a new pup, innocent, young. Has a little sister, a good kid. But he’s drawn his attention. It’s too late to stop the Prime, but I can warn the guy.

STOP HIM. Prevent his death.

Tomorrow, I bring him on a hunt. Before he’s pulled into the ritual. He deserves to live. His sister shouldn’t have to lose anyone else.

I won’t let him.

Towards the end of the page was a final entry written in black ink. It looked neater, unlike the almost scratch-like scrawl of the red ink.

We forged a pact. Biggs won’t touch her.

Another will rise and fall prey to his schemes. But all we have to do is make him lose interest.

The Prime will be stopped.

I handed the journal over and let Alice comb through it. It wasn’t until she set the book down did she finally meet my eyes.

“He knew.”

“Maybe not. I get the feeling that Devon tried to prevent Elias from doing something. And was under the impression that he succeeded.”

Her eyes flashed crimson and she leaned forward. “To do what? And why me specifically? Why would the Prime be interested in me?”

Astra approached and tried to read the journal, but Alice pulled it away and held it up. She tapped the bottom of the page.

“Why was I being protected? Why were you?”

“What are you two talking about?” Astra cut in.

I looked directly into Alice’s eyes and waited till her irises returned to normal.

“I don’t know. But does this change anything? We’re still fighting in three days, right? Or what do you want to do?”

“We fight,” she stated. “But we demand a reward.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Astra said. “You shouldn’t anger him.”

“No,” I said while turning around. “I can ask him. He might not answer, but he’s interested in me. We can use that and ask for him to answer questions.”

“I don’t like it.”

“It may be our only option. That or ask Devon directly. But he’s under an Absolute.”

“An Absolute? Why? What’s the matter? What did you find?”

Alice handed over the journal and Astra read through it. Her eyes flashed yellow, emotions flashing across her face before she set it down and opened her mouth.

Her tongue shifted, but no sounds exited. As she closed her mouth, veins popped along her neck and her eyes widened in alarm.

“Astra?”

She shut her eyes and leaned forward, collapsing onto the table as her chains extended and held her up.

I moved to her right and Alice her left but she pushed us off.

“That… It activated an Absolute. I can’t even talk about it.”

“What was written in the journal?”

“That bastard!” she shouted while cracking her fist across the counter.

She glared at the journals and reached for them before stopping herself. Instead, she slammed the table again and inhaled slowly.

When she looked up, her eyes were back to normal. She gritted her teeth and pointed to the journals.

“You can’t mention these to anyone.”

“We won't,” I said.

“Good,” she paused and turned to Alice. “Was there anything in the other journal?”

“Not much. A few more drawings, and some records about some rituals and some experiments. They all seemed to end in failure.”

“Then let’s get out of here.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes. I need to find Devon.”