Page 69 of Chasing Stripes (Enchanted Falls #3)

SIXTY-NINE

A rtemis leaned against the counter of Honeycrisp Bakery, her fingertips tracing the edge of a map spread across the wooden surface. The familiar scent of cinnamon and yeast should have comforted her, but anxiety knotted in her stomach as she studied the intricate layout of Enchanted Falls.

“The eclipse begins at 3:14,” Rust announced, his voice breaking the tense silence. The lion shifter traced a path along the map, his mayoral authority evident despite the informal setting. “According to the magical sensors we placed overnight, there’s been unusual activity in the underground tunnel network.”

Artemis closed her eyes briefly, centering herself. When she opened them, she found Bartek watching her from across the room, his amber gaze steady and reassuring. Without a word, he moved to her side, his warm palm settling against the small of her back. The handprints beneath her clothing pulsed at his touch, golden light seeping through the fabric of her shirt.

“Better?” he murmured, his voice too low for anyone but her to hear.

She nodded, leaning subtly into his strength.

Thora prowled the perimeter of the room, her sabertooth shifter instincts making her restless. “Standing around won’t solve anything. We need to locate the ritual site before the eclipse begins. What does your mother’s journal say? Can I see it?”

“Aunt Tilly has it. She wanted to study it for a bit. I read it front to back and still have questions. Can’t we just search the tunnels on our own?”

“If only it were that simple,” Artair countered, the bear shifter’s massive frame dwarfing the chair he occupied. “The tunnels beneath Enchanted Falls extend for miles.”

Kalyna nodded, her fox-shifter eyes gleaming with concern. “And they’ve placed tracking charms throughout town. The second we mobilize, they’ll know.”

Artemis studied the map, something nagging at the edge of her memory. Her mother’s journal had contained so many details, so many half-remembered passages...

“The fountain,” she whispered, recalling a sketch in the margins of one page.

“What fountain?” Bartek asked, his head tilting toward her.

Before she could elaborate, the bakery door flew open with such force that the bell clattered wildly against the glass. Everyone tensed, magic and shifter energy surging defensively before they recognized Tilly rushing inside, clutching the worn leather book to her chest.

“I’ve found it!” Her normally calm voice trembled with excitement as she hurried toward them, loose strands of hair escaping her usually perfect bun. “The missing piece. It was in your mother’s journal all along.”

Artemis stared at the familiar tome her aunt placed reverently on the table, her heart constricting. She’d read those pages dozens of times since discovering the journal, yet Tilly looked as though she’d unearthed buried treasure.

“What did you find?”

Tilly’s flour-dusted fingers trembled as she opened the journal to a marked page, pointing to what appeared to be simple decorative flourishes along the margins. “These aren’t just embellishments. Look at the pattern they form across consecutive pages.”

Artemis leaned closer, Bartek’s solid presence at her shoulder as they both studied the tiny markings. What she’d always dismissed as her mother’s artistic tendencies suddenly revealed themselves as something far more deliberate – a series of interlocking symbols that formed...

“Coordinates,” she breathed, recognition dawning. “They point to the town square.”

“Specifically,” Tilly added, her voice dropping to a near-whisper, “beneath the central fountain.”

Rust shook his head, skepticism evident in his posture. “We’ve scanned the town square repeatedly. There’s nothing unusual there.”

“Except,” Tilly countered, tapping a passage in the journal, “the fountain was renovated exactly one month after your parents died.” Her eyes met Artemis’s, gentle but unflinching. “The original foundation stones were replaced.”