Dark red lines slowly lit up along the symbols on the plaque.
They ran from the edge of the circle to the vertical line at its centre, then stopped at the small diamond near the top.
Standing beside the car, Thalia watched the faint glow and felt a chill.
Since they had taken the plaque from Eremon Manor, it had stayed with the old letters and the basement plan.
They had brought it back to the museum and even left it on the table while they studied it for hours.
If Acheron was right, someone had known where the plaque was from the moment they opened the box behind the wall.
“So that man found the museum tonight because of this, not the ring?” Ivan asked.
“At least, not because of the ring alone.” Acheron looked down at the plaque.
The red light brightened and dimmed.
Thalia frowned.
“But it didn’t glow at the museum.”
“The power was hidden inside it.
You couldn’t see it.” Acheron pressed his thumb against the centre.
“I’ve forced it to the surface.”
The dark red lines grew brighter.
The ring on Thalia’s hand warmed in response, leaving her in little doubt that the two objects were connected.
“Can you destroy it?” Ivan asked.
“Yes.”
“Then do it.”
Acheron made no move to break it.
Instead, he looked towards the trees where the mist had disappeared.
“They used it to find you.
We can use it to find them.”
Thalia understood at once.
“You’re going to trace it back?”
“Yes.”
Acheron ran his fingers around the edge of the plaque and stopped at a tiny notch in the lower right corner.
Black light seeped into it from his fingertip.
The plaque began to vibrate, and the red lines across its surface flashed rapidly.
“It’s resisting,” Acheron said.
“A piece of metal can resist?”
“Someone left their power inside it.”
A thin beam of red light emerged from the top of the plaque.
It passed over the roadside and pointed deep into the woods.
Acheron turned his wrist, but the beam adjusted with him, always indicating the same direction.
“Are the Gravekeepers over there?” Thalia asked.
“There’s a point connected to the plaque in that direction.
I can’t tell how far away it is yet.”
Thalia looked towards the trees.
The figure in the mist had fled that way.
“Should we go and look?”
“No,” Acheron said at once.
“That person escaped, and the others know this connection has been exposed.
If we follow it now, we’ll probably find an empty site.”
“Then remember the direction for later,” Ivan said.
“I will.”
Thalia glanced at her brother.
“You two actually agree on something?”
“I only agree that you shouldn’t follow him into the woods in the middle of the night.”
“I didn’t say I was going.
I only asked.”
“And I answered before you could decide.”
Acheron gave a quiet laugh.
Ivan immediately looked at him.
“Is something funny?”
“A little.”
Thalia was getting a headache.
She took the bag containing the letters from Ivan and headed towards the car.
“You two can carry on.
I’ll wait inside.”
Her right foot had not fully recovered.
She had taken only a couple of steps when Acheron called after her.
“Slow down.”
“I can walk now.”
“I can see that.”
Thalia turned.
His gaze was on her right leg.
It was an ordinary glance, but it brought back the treatment at the manor—and the kisses that had had nothing to do with treating her.
Ivan was still standing beside him.
She quickly looked away.
“I’m going to the car.”
This time, she walked even faster.
Ivan watched his sister get in before turning to Acheron.
“You should keep your distance from her.”
Acheron was still working on the plaque.
He looked up.
“She’s an adult.”
“I know.
I won’t decide who she likes.” Ivan met his eyes.
“But you know things she doesn’t.
The ring, Eremon Manor, the Obsidian Throne, even that word bride crossed out in the letter.
You know what it all means, while she only hears the parts you choose to tell her.”
Acheron let him continue.
“She doesn’t even know what she’s caught up in yet,” Ivan said.
“If you’re trying to protect her, I can believe that for now.
But if you’re getting close to her because of the ring—”
“I’m not.”
Acheron cut him off.
He looked past Ivan towards the car.
Thalia was checking her phone, unaware of their conversation.
“I’m not close to her because of the ring.”
Ivan’s expression did not soften.
“Then why?”
Acheron watched Thalia for a moment before answering.
“Because of her.”
The answer was so direct that Ivan had nothing ready to say.
Acheron offered no further explanation.
He turned his attention back to the plaque.
Black light spread from his fingertips and covered the dark red lines.
The beam pointing into the woods trembled.
As Acheron closed his hand around the plaque, the light went out completely.
The metal returned to its dull appearance.
“And now?” Ivan asked.
“It can no longer send out your location, but I kept the connection that lets us trace it back.”
Acheron handed him the plaque.
“Keep it away from the ring.
If they’re too close, they’ll resonate again.”
Ivan wrapped the plaque in the faded dark red cloth it had been found in and put it separately inside his coat.
“Could anything else in the bag be a problem?”
“We should check when we get back.
Especially the things from the box behind the wall.”
Ivan glanced at the bag.
The four letters were not in Adrian’s handwriting.
They didn’t know where the plaque had come from, or even who had drawn the basement plan.
Until now, they had assumed that because Adrian had left the key, everything in the box must belong to him.
They might have made that assumption too soon.
“We’ll check at the museum tomorrow,” he said.
“Tonight.” Acheron looked at him.
“The Gravekeepers have already made their move.
Don’t wait.”
Ivan checked the time, then nodded.
They returned to the car.
When Thalia saw them approaching, she lowered the window.
“Finished talking?
Are we going home?”
“We’re going to the museum first,” Ivan said.
“We need to check the other things we brought back.”
Thalia understood his concern and didn’t object.
They had been attacked twice tonight.
It made sense to be careful.
Ivan got into the driver’s seat.
Acheron was still standing outside, and Thalia found herself asking, “Aren’t you getting in?”
For a moment, the car was quiet.
Ivan turned to look at her.
Only then did Thalia realize how naturally she had assumed Acheron would come with them.
“He’s going to the museum too, isn’t he?” she added quickly.
Ivan gave her a look she couldn’t quite read.
Several document boxes were piled across the back seat, leaving hardly any room for a passenger.
Thalia was about to ask Ivan to move them when Acheron disappeared from beside the car.
A moment later, the boxes were in the boot, and he was sitting in the space they had occupied.
Ivan looked back at him.
“Could you ask first next time?”
“No.”
Thalia lowered her head and laughed softly.
“Is something funny?” Ivan asked.
“No.”
“You’re smiling.”
She decided not to answer.
Ivan started the engine, and they drove on into the night.
The grey mist did not return.
Thalia’s ring stayed quiet too.
Once she was sure they were safe for the moment, exhaustion caught up with her.
Between the attack outside the museum, the treatment at the manor and what had happened on the woodland road, she had barely had a chance to rest.
She only meant to close her eyes for a little while.
She didn’t know when she fell asleep.
After driving for some time, Ivan noticed how quiet the passenger seat had become and glanced over.
Thalia was asleep, her head tilting slowly towards the window as the car turned.
He was considering pulling over when a hand reached forward from the back seat.
A gentle force supported Thalia’s head and guided her back against the seat.
Acheron then laid his coat over her.
“It isn’t cold in here,” Ivan said.
“Her body temperature is low.”
“How do you know?”
“I noticed while I was treating the mark.”
The mention of that treatment brought Ivan back to the “second method” Thalia had never managed to explain.
“What exactly did you do to treat her?”
Acheron leaned back in his seat.
“She’s asleep.”
“I can see that.”
“Then don’t wake her.”
Ivan was about to reply, but Thalia caught the front of Acheron’s coat in her sleep and pulled it closer around herself.
As though she recognized it, she relaxed, the slight crease between her brows disappearing.
Ivan glanced at her.
After a moment, he said quietly, “My sister never used to be this easy to win over.”
“I haven’t lied to her.”
“You’d better not.”
The car fell quiet at last, apart from the steady sound of the engine.
Ivan kept his eyes on the road and said nothing more.