Page 191 of Nightshade

He’d have called it fate. Proof of a former existence.

I, on the other hand, didn’t know what I believed. The possibility confused me.

But my father could’ve been alive. Possibly in danger.

As I stared down at the symbol, my thoughts drifted into a black void of emptiness, wherein a voice spoke to me. ‘Dominus vigilans,’ it whispered. The sound of it jolted me out of my trance, and I lurched forward, glancing around my room for any sign of its speaker.

Aside from the furniture and the fairy dress that still lay haphazardly thrown on the chaise, there was nothing in the room with me. No one.

But the words remained. Twisting and tearing at my thoughts, until a face came to mind.

Alicia. She’d said that to me at the Hallow Fest. I’d heard it before.

Where?

Eyes screwed shut, I mentally repeated the words, until another face took form in my thoughts.

Father Bane.

He’d said the same thing to me. What was the significance of it, though?

From the stack of books beside me, I lifted the Latin text. What I wouldn’t have given to Google it. Purgatory really needed to catch up to the times.

At the click of the door, I snapped my gaze to where Jericho nearly filled the frame, the sight of him distracting my ruminating.

“I heard the news about Garic.” As usual, his voice held a calm that I wished I could’ve bottled. “That must’ve been very difficult for you to stumble upon.”

My stomach gurgled when my thoughts flipped from Garic to the unwelcomed kiss that I wished I could’ve annihilated from my brain with a laser beam. I had to mentally will myself not to look repulsed by it and risk tipping Jericho off. “It was.”

The moment he stepped into the room, that pull of energy had my skin prickling, and I crossed my legs to the tickle in my thighs.

“What is this now? A new craft?” Even the sound of his voice somehow sent a flutter to my stomach.

Wearing a smile, I glanced down at the string still lying on the duvet. “I’m actually trying to decipher the meaning of a phrase.”

“What is the phrase?”

“Dominus vigilans.”

A groove in his forehead marked a tight frown. “Where did you hear this?”

“Alicia said it to me the other night. I didn’t remember it until now. I know its translation, but the significance of it eludes me.”

“It is the basis of the Pentacrux. Their calling card, if you will. They believe they are the chosen watchdogs of the heavens. The archangels sent to protect the righteous.”

“What? Why would …? Oh. God. Father Bane. He … he said that to me. Just before I arrived in Nightshade.”

Pushing up from the bed, he dragged a hand down his face. “Then, he knows who you are. They know you exist. I suppose it was only a matter of time.”

“A matter of time for what?”

“Before the Pentacrux tracked you down.” Hands behind his back, he paced slowly. Calmly, as I’d expect of the man. “According to the ancient prophecy, you bring about their destruction on the blood moon.”

“They … they think you’re going to … because I’m reincarnated … from Lustina.”

“Yes. But you have nothing to fear, so long as you remain here.”

Huffing, I turned slightly away from him so he couldn’t see my flinching.