"Where did I put it?" I rummage through the dresser drawers, tossing clothes onto the floor. "I swear I had my phone when we got here." I pause. "Didn't I?"
The details are a little fuzzy, considering. Between months passing and the insanity of our escape from the Fae Ward…
You've never been good at keeping track of your belongings.
"That's not true." But even as I say it, doubt creeps in. When was the last ti I saw my phone? Is it still in the Fae Ward? The idea that soone might have access to my texts leaves a little sick to my stomach.
Oh? Rember that ti you lost your house keys three tis in about five minutes?
"That was different. I was distracted."
And your favorite shirt? The blue one?
"It probably got mixed up in the laundry." I move to the nightstand, rifling through the drawer. Nothing but a few hair ties. A luxury item, and I try my best not to lose them.
What about your necklace and ring?
My hand flies to my throat, fingers searching for a weight I already know isn't there. It's been months.
"They must be in my luggage back at Westwood." But even as I say it, uncertainty gnaws at . Did I put them sowhere else for safety, instead? Well, it doesn't matter. Either way, they're in Westwood. Soone's probably stolen them by now.
Those pieces of jewelry were more than accessories—they were protection, ways to hide what I am. Hopefully they don't fall into the wrong hands. Not that I'm sure what anyone can do with them.
Shaking those thoughts off, I head back to my dresser. It has to be there, if it's anywhere at all.
"What are you two discussing?" Grimoire materializes beside , his child form perched on the dresser. Sotis he's nosy.
"Just my old necklace and ring." I push aside a stack of sweaters, but there's still no phone. "The ones Selene made wear to suppress my magic."
A strange sensation tickles my mind—like fingers rifling through my mories. The jewelry appears in crystal clarity: the athyst pendant and its matching ring.
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Grimoire's voice booms in my head and ears, making stumble back. His eyes glisten with excitent.
"God, Grim." I rub my temple. "No need to shout. And I thought we talked about these before?"
He scowls at . "I would rember discussing the Goddess' blessings. This is the first I'm hearing of them." He pauses. "Though, if I hadn't seen them, I suppose I might not have realized…"
"The... what?"
What is he talking about? Selene's voice holds an edge of wariness.
"The Goddess' blessings," Grimoire repeats, more insistent. "Those weren't re trinkets to suppress magic. They were divine artifacts."
Sohow, this feels right. Those things never seed normal. "What do you an by that?"
Grimoire's eyes shine with an otherworldly light. "The Goddess crafted three pieces of jewelry for a young Luna, thousands of years past. A necklace, a ring, and a bracelet."
"A bracelet?" My heart skips. "I never had a bracelet."
"The Luna was much like you—a witch who mated with an alpha." Grimoire's voice takes on a rhythmic quality, as if reciting from mory. "Her children were strong shifters, all except one. A daughter, blessed with magic but unable to shift or control her power."
That sounds familiar. Selene's ntal voice carries a note of unease as she looks right at .
"The Goddess heard the Luna's prayers," Grimoire continues. "She crafted these artifacts to help the young witch channel her magic safely."
"And you're saying the necklace and ring I wore were two of those pieces?"
"Without question. Divine magic leaves traces even ti cannot erase."
I turn to Selene. "Where exactly did you get them?"
I didn't get them from anywhere. Her hackles rise. I found them.
But she'd already known about them when we t. The one was in my apartnt, and the other—I still rember that horrible run. And how she made dig for the box because she didn't want to get her paws dirty. "You had to have known about it from sowhere, though."
Selene's ears flatten. I... I don't rember.
"Then how did you know what they were for? How did you know they'd help suppress my magic?"
She paces, agitated. I just... knew. But now that I think about it, I can't recall how I knew.
Grimoire leans forward with a frown. "That's impossible. Knowledge like that doesn't simply appear. Soone must have told you."
Well, they didn't. Selene's ntal voice snaps with irritation. Or if they did, it's lost with the rest of my mories.
"The rest?" he asks, pouncing on that information. Have they not talked about this before? Sotis it's hard to rember that Grimoire hasn't been with us forever. It feels like forever sotis.
You know many of my mories have faded. Her tail droops. Perhaps the knowledge of the artifacts ca from... before.
"These aren't just any magical items," Grimoire says. "They're divine artifacts, created by the Goddess herself. They were lost to ti long, long ago."
Then how do you know about them? Selene challenges.
"I've lived through such history," he says pompously.
For soone who's lived so long, you know precious little.
Grimoire deflates a little. "I have witnessed things," he mutters. And he has. He's been around for so much. But we've long ago established that much of Grimoire's knowledge is theoretical, from what the witches have recorded in his pages.
After all, he doesn't really exist outside of the book. If he isn't brought out, he can't see.
His knowledge is great and vast, but also limited in many frustrating ways.
"Don't make him feel bad, Selene."
He started it.
Grimoire sounds thoughtful. Perhaps I can delve into your mind, wolf. See why there are so many blocks in your mory. You recall your past life, so there should be no holes in what you rember.
Selene sneezes. It's a sign of discomfort, not an itchy nose.
Perhaps, she agrees reluctantly, torn between finding out more about her lost mories and having to accept her nesis rummaging through her mind.
I can feel the struggle in our bond.
"Co on, Selene. Isn't it worth trying?"
Didn't you have sothing important to do?
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