Page 47 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

My mind is thrown back in time to when I first began studying the healing arts. How Juniper would grin and nod encouragingly as I brewed medicines from her recipes—how her eyes would sparkle when my blossoming magic trickled out when she brought me along to visit her patients.

The woman who raised me didn’t fear magic like others in Verdanthia. She encouraged me and Ferria to practice our powers. She called us miracles.

When I think about it, she’s right; I shouldn’t be surprised she has secrets. Gods know she’s an expert at keeping them.

Juniper removes a dingy brown sack the size of my palm from the hole in the floor and sets it down with care. Then she reaches back in and pulls out a thick, dusty tome. She wipes the surface with her apron.

Her arms tremble as she holds out the book. “I believe this may help you.”

My skin prickles as I take the book, holding Juniper’s gaze. Her expression is relaxed, but her eyes… There’s something she’s not saying. Some expectation she carries.

I look at the cover. Gold filigree adorns the leather, reminiscent of the fairy tales Lev smuggled out of his family’s private library for me and Ferria to read as kids. I trace the lovely scrawl, then run my fingers over the text embossed in the center.

The words are in a language I’ve never seen, and I immediately know why.

I whip my head up and find Juniper standing, watching me with a sly grin.

I gasp. “How?”

“Your parents.”

My chest tightens.

Juniper rarely talks about my parents. The man and woman who gave Ferria and me life left us in Juniper’s care just after our fourth birthday. They were on the run from humans who had discovered their magic, and they feared for our safety.

How they managed to avoid leading them to their friend in Verdanthia, I’ll never know. I don’t even know how they and Juniper knew each other.

But I do know that less than a moon cycle later, word reached town that soldiers had caught and executed two known magic users hiding in the Forbidden Forest. Ferria and I have lived with Juniper ever since.

But now Juniper has handed me a forbidden Fae text and mentioned my dead parents in the same breath. And the reality I’ve come to know shifts beneath me.

My heart thrums. “What is this?”

“That, I do not know.” She glances at the tome, lips pursed. “I cannot read it.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and balance the book in one hand. Holding my breath, I lift the front cover. The pages are thick, made of quality parchment. The unknown number of years under the floorboard has not marred the pristine, vivid ink spread across each page.

I scan the unfamiliar words, take in the vibrant images of sprawling homes, stunning crests, until, finally, I reach a page that renews my fading hope.

A golden, leafy plant. One leaf in a mortar and pestle. A flask over an open flame. It’s a recipe of some kind.

For what? I don’t know. I don’t even recognize the plant. But whatever I need to help the cursed Fae wouldn’t be something I recognize.

A smile crawls across my face.

Juniper hums.

I look up and see her smiling at me. “There’s my resilient girl.”

I close the book and hold it against my chest. “Why would my parents leave this book with you?”

“They didn’t. They left it with you and your sister.”

I grip the book tighter. “And you have no idea why?”

She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

I shove the disappointment down before it can take root. “That’s okay. I’ll figure it out.”