Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [114]
Keep hidden, and make your way to the lower Prieta portal. Get back to Temple Los Loma and let An’ Lawrence know what’s going on. We might have a war on our hands before sunrise.
Yes, Mistress. And you?
I’m going on to Dumarka. Time to visit the High Priestess there.
What about Makee?
Nell’s going to have to stay on that.
But she’s on her way to Los Loma, to Rosette.
She won’t be gone long.
The library lights were on but no one else was about. Rosette closed the door and turned on the computer and a small table lamp. The vastness of the room shrank, the warm glow of the lamp making Drayco’s eyes shine. She used the computer program to create the horary chart, marvelling how the click of a few buttons calculated the position of the planets in seconds, a process that used to take her up to an hour using longhand maths and logarithms.
Is it readable, Maudi?
‘Checking.’ She tapped her lips. ‘There are enough degrees on the ascendant, the moon is not void of course, and yes, Saturn’s clear of the seventh and first houses. We’re good.’
And the location?
She studied the chart, a smile crossing her face. ‘The moon rules the second house of possessions and it’s angular in the tenth.’
Interpret?
‘That means Kreshkali’s grimoire is where it belongs or where she worked with it last.’
Here in the library?
‘Exactly.’
Or by her bed.
‘I hope not.’
What else does it say?
‘The moon is intercepted, in a sign with no house cusps, no doors. That means the grimoire has either fallen behind something or she’s put a glamour on it. Concealed it. We need more light.’
I’m guessing Kreshkali wouldn’t be so careless as to let it fall anywhere.
‘It’s a glamour, of course, and it has to be here. She wouldn’t have had time to take it to her rooms. She came straight to us after translating the notes.’ Rosette flipped open the compass.
Do we have a direction?
‘We do. The tenth house means the south room, confirming the library. The moon in Pisces indicates the north-by-west wall and water signs denote lower levels.’ She looked up at the two-storey shelves. ‘I’m very glad of that. Help me, Drayco. Look for a shimmer when I brush past.’
The northwest wall of the library held thousands of books but Drayco spotted the ripple in the glamour as she swept her hand over the lowest shelf. Rosette chuckled.
Something humorous?
‘It’s ironic, Dray. It would have taken us a lot longer to find if there’d been no glamour at all.’ She hesitated, her fingertips tingling.
Second thoughts.
‘Not any more.’ She plucked the book from the shelf, not expecting it to sting her, and it didn’t. Sitting on the floor, her legs stretched out, Rosette held Kreshkali’s grimoire in her lap. ‘Watch the door for me, Dray. I’m going to have a look.’ She took a deep breath and opened the book.
Nellion smiled as the melodies drifted towards her. She rode the thermals downward, swooping in low to catch a glimpse of the musicians between the treetops. Shane stood near the temple ruins, tapping his foot and playing the flute. The sweet sound, like a bird song, filled the woods. Sitting on a stump nearby was Clay. He played guitar in a driving rhythm, his red hair jouncing as his head rocked in time to the beat. That was an enigma—finding the lad in Corsanon. And not their Corsanon by the look of it, yet still in their time. The paradoxes were bumping into each other so fast she knew it was more than random.
Makee had to be playing at this, a step ahead, and Nell wanted to enlist these young men to keep an eye on her, at least here in this Gaela. She landed on the bough of a tall redwood, flapping and hopping her way down the branches until she was nearly on the ground. She took a final jump, shifting back into human form as her bare feet touched the ground. Adjusting the glamour of her cloak, she headed towards the music.
Shane took a breath, about to play another refrain, when he lowered his flute. He gave Clay a tap, his eyes glued to Nell.
‘That’s delightful,’ she