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the nun. She'd looked at it when we first arrived but didn't pepper us with questions about it. She had patience that I lacked, because curiosity would have prompted me to ask what it was as soon as I saw it.

Al's withered old hands reached out for the old book. She turned it towards her and ran her fingers over the worn leather cover. When she opened it, it made the sound that old books with thick pages make - where it almost sounds as if the spine were cracking. Gently, she opened to a yellowed page and examined the contents.

In that moment, it felt like I stopped breathing. This was it. This is what would allow me to find out about the Satan Stone, so I could heal the sapphire serum in my chest. Collin's fingers gently intertwined with mine and he squeezed my hand under the table. He looked over at me, smiling softly. I returned the squeeze and smiled back before leaning forward. Collin was emitting a sense of foreboding, as if he knew what would happen long before I did. The old woman leaned over the book for what seemed like a lifetime, and then turned an ancient page, saying nothing.

Impatience got the better of me, "Well, what does it say?" Al knew everything. She was older than Eric, hell, she was there when Eric found out he was a Martis. She knew him nearly his entire life. She had to recognize his handwriting. He was her favorite. I remembered her smiling up at him with overwhelming pride. She trained him. She taught him everything he knew - how to be a Martis, how to fight, how to track, hunt, and win. If anyone could read Eric's scrawling handwriting, it would be her. I was so hopeful that she would know and be able to tell us what it said right then. I lowered my head to catch her gaze.

She saw me and looked up from the book and shook her head. "No idea. I can't read this at all. It's like it's Koine Greek," she looked up at me, "Greek spoken around the time Eric was born. Greek spoken by common folk back then. It's kinda like street talk in that it has no formality to it. But," she shook her head, "that's not what this is." She sounded surprised that she couldn't read it, but Collin wasn't.

He nodded, "I thought it was Greek as well, an earlier version, but still Greek. But it's not. The characters may be of Greek origin, or maybe they just look the same..." he reached over and slid the book towards him, turning to the page with the drawing of my necklace. "This is Ivy's pendant - the one hanging on her necklace. Eric mentioned that he knew the pendant had brimstone on it and that it was the Kreturic Pendant. We think these are his notes on the subject, but there is no commonality with either word. There were no matches for Kreturus or brimstone. He would have made a notation like that on the page, but there's nothing here." He pushed the book back to Al so she could see.

Her gnarled fingers trailed over the page as she nodded. "You're right," Al replied, shaking her head. "We could have used that as a benchmark to translate this thing, but there isn't anything that even resembles those words. Half the characters in here seem to be made up. They aren't Greek at all...and it's not an issue of bad penmanship." She bit her lips as she thought, staring at the paper.

My heart went from elation to plummeting into my toes. Things were about to get bad. I needed that translation. I needed to know about Satan's Stone and how to find it. Stealing a glance at Collin, I felt a lump grow in my throat. It can't come to a demon kiss. I won't let it. Desperation filled me. "We have to figure out what this says." My voice was faint, and low. Irritation shot through me. If Eric were here, if he were himself, this wouldn't be an issue. But, he wasn't. He was a lusty Valefar now. I pressed my eyes closed and shook my head. Collin put his hand on my shoulder to calm me. I smiled at him, but didn't want him experiencing my emotional hurricane with me, so I backed away from him and paced across the room. After a few walks around