“You reported something was taken.” He cuts straight to the point, his eyes on Jayce.
Jayce gives a curt nod. “Yeah, an old tome that Alpha Matherson had given me to read. It contained something I was interested in.”
Wow, he and Tatum didn’t waste time reporting what happened.
“I think you should tell the King what that was,” Alpha Matherson urges him.
“A symbol,” Jayce says curtly, clearly not wanting to tell everyone.
Leo cocks a brow. “Those in this room are trustworthy. What was the symbol?”
I glance up at Jayce. Seeing the way his jaw is clenched before he speaks tells me he isn’t happy to share. “Something I’ve been drawing out of nowhere, and I wanted to know what it meant.”
All eyes now turn to Jayce until Alpha Matherson speaks. “And when he asked me, I had not seen it before, but when I waslooking through some of the tomes passed on to us by one of the covens in the east, well, I thought it might interest Jayce. But I’m afraid it’s in a language that is lost to us all. I checked.”
“The tome you showed me?” Professor Syldora asks sharply. Alpha Matherson nods.
“Yes.”
Professor Syldora nods. “It’s one of the languages we have not been able to translate, and it’s why that book was even given here. Books we’ll never understand, but need to be preserved.”
“But clearly it contained something they needed, and that symbol stands for something as well. It’s not a coincidence,” Uncle Leo states, King-mode-activated as his air of dominance fills the room.
“Agreed. What was the symbol?” Aunty Ri asks.
Will Jayce mention the pictures he said he had taken of the pages? I remain silent, not wanting to butt into his business. He reaches into his pocket, his arm brushing mine, and my heart skips a beat. Everyone in this room can hear my heartbeat. I need to be careful.
Our eyes meet as he slides his phone from his pocket, unlocks it and goes to his gallery. I try not to peek at his pictures as he slides through his photos and places the phone on the table in front of Uncle Leo.
“This one, and this was what was in the book.” He shows the two images side by side. Uncle Leo takes the phone and sits back, staring at the two images. He doesn’t say anything before pushing the phone past me to Ahren and Aunty Ri. Both take a look before glancing at Jayce, who sits emotionlessly, arms now crossed, his face wearing the same impassive mask I always see. But I’ve now seen something beyond that…
“Sienna.”
Uncle Leo’s cold voice makes me blink, and my attention snaps to him. “Yes?”
“What happened with your encounter?”
Taking a deep breath, I sneak a quick glance at Jayce before I begin. “Jayce was helping a few people to safety when she came, and I created a barrier, blocking Jayce out as I faced her. She said her name was Velasara.” I glance at Aunty, wondering if she has heard of her, but from the look on her face, I don’t think she has. I continue with what happened, minus the butterflies, as I don’t want Heaven to get into trouble, mentioning how she drained my powers extremely fast. I then take a deep breath. “She said it was thanks to me damaging the protection spells that they got in,” I whisper, ashamed.
“How can that be possible? We had the barrier up within minutes. There was no gap nor any foreign aura detected,” Professor Syldora says sharply.
“It is possible,” Ahren says, sighing. “They just needed a small hold within the area, so even if the barrier went up around it, they would have had that connection inside already.”
I look at him, and he places his arm around me and kisses the top of my head.
“I’m sorry,” I say quietly. “It was my fault.”
Jayce looks at me, almost as if he’s about to say something, but he simply looks away, ignoring me.
“Training is what you’re here for; there’s nothing to apologise for,” Uncle Leo says curtly.
Sure, but if someone died, that would have been on me…
“And that is why I’m here now,” Ahren adds, giving me asqueeze.
“Oh?” Alpha Aaron asks, concern and worry etched across his face.
“An extra layer beyond the protection wards of the witches,” Aunty Ri says. The professors go quiet before nodding in understanding.
