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“Nowwho’s lying?”

We’re silent for the remainder of the journey and I focus on holding tight to Eamonn, my muscles aching from the strain. I direct him toward Calysian, and we move from the main road onto a winding trail where our fastest speed is a jolting trot.

Finally, the trees clear, and the temple comes into view. Ancient pillars stand crooked and fractured, worn smooth by centuries of wind and rain. Marble is streaked with moss and creeping ivy, while the stones closest to the entrance have been blackened by fire. The air feels heavy and oppressive, charged with a faint hum that sets my teeth on edge.

Rustling sounds to my right, and I catch sight of Fox tied to a tree at the edge of the clearing. Hope is nowhere to be seen, and I force myself to turn back to the temple.

Shattered statues lie across the ground like corpses, their faces weathered and featureless. Words and symbols have been carved into the temple’s facade—too faint for me to read…even if I could understand the language.

Even if I’d managed to sneak away from Calysian days ago, I wouldn’t have found this grimoire. I’d been so convinced it was hidden in the forest somewhere before Calysian admitted it was in a temple.

Now I know exactly why Calpharos would have left it in such a place.

Calysian stands in the center of the temple, hands on his hips as he ponders the altar, his head angled strangely. Eamonn slows, his hooves striking cracked stone.

“This is it.” His voice is heavy with weariness. This form has cost him. “You know what to do.”

My heart kicks in my chest but I dismount, stumbling toward the temple entrance on unsteady legs.

“Calysian.”

He ignores me, and my body breaks out in a cold sweat. “Calysian, please.”

His gaze remains on the altar. “This was always the plan, Madinia.”

“Your plan was to leave me alone in bed and come here without me?”

I thought I wanted him to look at me, but when he does, dread coils in my stomach. There’s nothing human left in his eyes.

“Last night I dreamed,” he says. “Strange dreams about another life.Mylife. You were in them.”

My throat tightens, but he shakes his head, already dismissing me as he returns his gaze to the altar. “Soon I will know the truth.” A wave of his hand, and the huge slab of marble laying across the altar goes flying, crashing into the cracked remnants of a pillar.

“Calysian. You don’t want to do this.”

My pleas are useless—just as Eamonn warned they would be. And yet something in my chest wrenches as Calysian ignores me.

The ground shudders beneath our feet, and I drop to my knees. Even Calysian stumbles.

“Creas!” He roars, “show yourself!”

A low, female laugh. Huge cracks appear in the stone floor and I stumble to my feet.

Calysian’s sister. Once again, she’s attempting to prevent him from taking his grimoire.

Eamonn lands on my shoulder, now in the form of a small bird.

“Are you ready?”

I dodge a chunk of marble as it falls from somewhere above my head. “No!”

Calysian reaches down, into the space below the altar. He pulls the grimoire free, and the cover flies open, the pages a blur. Dark power fills the temple, and my knees turn weak.

“Now, Madinia!” Eamonn’s voice is incessant, and I close my eyes. His low voice urges me on. “Reachpastthis power. Do you feel its link to the third grimoire?”

“Yes.”

“You need to break the link and grasp it for it yourself.”