“And bar,” Kara added. She shrugged as they both looked at her. “Hey, it’s not my fault I notice things.”
She reached for the heavy, leather-bound tome and slid it in front of her. A silk bookmark was clasped between two of its yellowed pages, somewhere in the middle. She opened the book to that point.
“Careful,” said Jeremy.
“Why?”
“Because that’s the page that was marked when I found it.”
Logan blinked. “So?”
“So maybe that’s the last page that was read, possibly even by Rudolph Northrop. The one used for the ritual, or whatever it is he was doing.”
“You don’t know that,” Logan said, and not for the first time today.
“We don’t know lots of things,” said Kara. “But Jeremy’s right. It’s good to know where the book was last marked.”
She flipped through the pages without moving the bookmark. Everything was gibberish. It wasn’t even in a different language, it was more like different characters. Logan leaned over her shoulder the whole time. She resisted the urge to push him away.
“If this guy Northrop traveled around performing these rituals, why would his book still here?” asked Logan.
“That’s the good part,” said Jeremy. “Because after he came to the Averoigne? There’s no record of him anymore. Ever. Anywhere.”
Kara ignored the ominous tone in his voice. She flipped a few more pages. She was still baffled.
“Do you know what this is?” she asked. “What any of it means?”
Jeremy shook his head. “No. Your guess is as good as mine.”
She came across some diagrams, but couldn’t make sense of them. A few sketches of unknown objects. A page here and there, painted with shapes and colors. Everything was absurdly weird. It was unlike anything Kara had ever seen.
“We need to get this to Xiomara,” she said.
“Already done,” said Jeremy. “The connectivity is shit in here, and half the time my phone won’t work at all. But I was able to get out of the Averoigne before the storm hit, and I sent full scans a few days ago.”
Logan shuffled closer. “And?”
“And nothing yet. The Order is working on it. They’ve got Bennett dissecting the lettering, says it might be some kind of runic code. Hayes is working on the artwork and diagrams.”
Kara let out a low whistle. “Hayes is good.”
“Damned straight.”
Logan started tapping his foot. He was getting restless. Kara was too. It was hard to sit in one place when there was so much to be done. Especially after downing so much coffee.
“The two of us need to meet with the owner,” Kara said, “get a few things settled. We’ll also want to take a look around ourselves.”
“Sounds good,” said Jeremy. He began piling everything neatly back into his briefcase. It amused Kara to see him still doing everything by the book. “I’ve got more detailed files back at my room,” he added. “Number 222. Come see me whenever you’re ready.”
“I will.”
“We will,” Logan corrected her, just a little too quickly. Enough so that Jeremy actually smirked at him.
This is all we need, thought Kara. A dick-measuring contest between my two exes.
She got up to leave, stopped, and sat back down again. Then she turned to face Jeremy.
“One more thing before we go,” added Kara.