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I see Winter’s head rise at that, maybe she thinks it’s wrong to go behind my aunt’s back as well. I shrug. But I can’t worry about feelings right now.

There’s something else I want to look into as well. I can’t get Selene’s words out of my mind—that Vortex’s powers have been given to my bonded mate. I really do wish she’d been a little more precise. I mean I’m guessing that mate is Khaosti, but I could be wrong. I was thinking that if I found out a little about Vortex and his powers, I might notice something.

I run my fingers over the wood worn smooth from centuries of use. Then I slide open the top drawer and find cards linedup in perfect rows, written in an elegant, looping script. I grab a handful and start flipping through them, muttering under my breath.

Each card has a title then beneath it, a list of reference numbers which I presume must be the location of the books. The titles include a lot of names of things or people or places that I don’t recognize and absolutely nothing relating to Lucifer or his mirror or Hecate or Hell. I slide the cards back and pick up the next bunch. “Nope, nothing,” I mutter.

And then I see it. “Vortex.” At last—someone I recognize. The first reference is some sort of rune that looks a little like a flame followed by 2 numbers: 5/14

Gripping the card, I turn around and study the library. Each of the bookshelves has the stamp of a rune on the side. Yay—cracked it. I walk along the shelves until I find a rune that matches my reference. Then I count up to the 5th row and fourteen along. It’s a small book, bound in red leather with the title embossed in gold:The first Flame. I pull it out, flick through the opening pages, and start reading…

In the beginning...

Before there were gods, before the Astrali, before even the realms themselves, there was only the Void—an endless, silent abyss, stretching across eternity. Neither light nor dark, full nor empty.

It simply was.

Until something stirred in the nothingness.

A mirror, vast and eternal, shimmered into existence at the heart of the Void. A mirror which reflected all that could ever be.

And in its depths, two beings took shape.

Vortex—the First Flame—was raw creation, power unrestrained, a force of fire and chaos, his very breath capable of shaping worlds. He emerged as a dragon—vast, winged,wreathed in flames. He was the first of his kind, the only of his kind. His fire breathed life into the universe, his wings stirred the winds of existence.

Selene—the Mother of Stars—was balance, wisdom, celestial grace, her presence bringing order to the chaos, shaping the stars into constellations, pulling light from darkness. She took the form of an alicorn—majestic, silver-winged, radiant as the moon. From her came the flow of magic itself, the celestial fire, the force that would weave the fabric of the cosmos.

They were the first, the only ones to pass through the Eternal Mirror, and from them, the cosmos itself began to take shape.

A shiver runs through me. The Eternal Mirror. I’ve never heard of it before, but it resonates with something deep inside me. And Vortex was a dragon shifter? Khaosti leans over my shoulder. “What have you found?”

“Did you know Vortex was a dragon shifter?”

He frowns. “Of course. That’s common knowledge. He was the only one to ever exist. Just as Selene was the only Alicorn. Until you.”

“It’s not common knowledge to me.” Though now I think about it, I did know. I remember reading about it as a child—my guardians did try and teach me some things other than fighting—but it had obviously slipped my mind. And I remember something else. At the temple of Selene, there was an image engraved in the marble plinth of Selene’s Statue. Of an alicorn and a...dragon.

But Khaos is a wolf shifter, not a dragon shifter. I’d have noticed. I suppose that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not my mate. It sounds like Vortex has lots of other powers.

I place the book on one of the small tables. I want to read more. But I have a limited amount of time and there’s other stuff I need to know. I head back to the cabinet, open the seconddrawer, and hand a pile of cards to Khaos: he might as well make himself useful.

“How about this?” he says handing me a card that says “Genealogy” along the top. The reference is a single rune, like a drop of blood, and no numbers.

A tingle of excitement runs through me. Am I going to find out something interesting at last?

I find the shelf with the rune. All the books are identical, and they’re numbered. Unfortunately, there’s a good chance that they only start after the coven moved to Valandria, in which case, I’m out of luck. I run my finger along the books as I move along the shelf. There are hundreds. I pick one at random, open it.

The book is basically a list of births and sometimes deaths. Some are open ended—I suppose they were still alive when the coven fled the city a thousand years ago. I doubt they are alive now, from what Winter said of her people. There’s also a brief biography. Marriage, children, jobs… It’s fascinating and I lose myself in reading about these people who once lived in this place.

They also have a designation after the name. Spellcaster. Healer. I flick through the book and don’t see any mirror mages. The book covers one hundred years. I pick up the next and finally find one, except the witch has been deleted. There is a thick red line through the name. What does that mean?

I put the book back and head farther along the shelf. The people I’m interested in were born long over five thousand years ago, but luckily the books seem to cover the period before the coven fled to Valandria. Except when I get to where I expect to find Hecate, there’s a book missing. Why do I think this isn’t a coincidence? I have a quick look on either side, but I know when Hecate was born—I asked her. And she’s definitely in the missing book.

I head to the end of the shelf and peer out. Khaos is seated, his booted feet up on the table reading about Selene and Vortex. He looks up, as though he can sense my focus.

“I think someone has been here before us,” I say. “The book I want isn’t there.” Maybe Winter would know if anyone else had been here.” I look around but can’t see her.

“She left about an hour ago.”