Page 68 of Autumn Secrets

Mrs Peters offered me a cookie. “Aurora, do you have any questions for us? I feel like we have given you so much information lately.”

I cleared my throat. This was my chance to see if the odd things that had happened to me when I first arrived were truly random or not. “Well, I do have a question for you, actually. Do you know anything about a book calledFallen Angels and Demons?”

“We certainly do, love,” Mr Peters said surprised. “How do you know about the book? Did Helena give it to you?”

I shook my head. “No, no one gave it to me. More like the book kept showing itself to me.”

Mrs Peters put her teacup down and looked at me. “What do you mean?”

I told them how I first came across the book in the town library and then again in my grandmother’s library.”

“And where is it now?” Mr Peters asked.

“I put it in my drawer, but it’s missing. I didn’t even have a chance to properly look through it. It just disappeared.”

I saw Mr and Mrs Peters exchange looks with each other, which led me to my next question. “What kind of book is it? It looked really old.”

“Well, you’re right. The book isveryold, indeed. It’s from the very beginning of the battle between light and dark. It’s been in the hands of a guardian of light since the first one was ever selected. Your grandmother was the last owner of it.”

“But if there’s only one and it belongs to a guardian of light, how did it end up at the public library?”

“Good question, Aurora. But it was clearly your grandmother who wanted you to have it.”

“What are you saying? That she came back from the dead to give me the book?”

“No, she hasn’t come back. She just wants you to have this book, and she made sure it appeared in front of you.”

“But, how?”

“Who knows? But I’m very interested in what powers may lie under that protection spell. I have a feeling that those powers are connected to why you can receive messages from the other side.” Mrs Peters smiled. “Anyway, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“No, please. I need to focus on one thing at a time. Tell me more about the book.”

“I’ve actually never read it myself. Only a guardian of light can open the book and read it. They can tell others about it, but no one can actually read the book for themselves.”

“How come?”

“The book is warded by a magical spell that only allows a guardian of light to open the book.”

“Oh.” I didn’t bother to hide my disappointment. I wanted to know more about this book.

“ButI know a lot about its contents, even if I haven’t read it for myself. Not word for word obviously.” She winked.

“Really? Tell me what you know.” I was losing patience here. I had finally found another piece of this puzzle that had been trying to put together since I arrived here.

“Well, the book introduces you to the world of light bearers, spells and magic, and all different kinds of supernatural beings, even the dark bearers. It shows you what powers they have, what to look for and so on.”

“Well, I guess that would be handy to have,” I said.

“But the main part of the book is the prophecy,” she continued.

“A prophecy? What kind of prophecy are we talking about?”

“Well, from my understanding, there will come a time when a guardian of light will fall for a very powerful dark bearer. You know how I told you about your grandmother falling in love with your grandfather, despite being destined for another light bearer?”

I nodded.

“Because of this prophecy, your grandfather was heavily scrutinised by all the light bearers when they announced their relationship. No one would accept him or trust him. They all thought he was from the dark side and he was tested in awful ways to prove his love and loyalty to your grandmother. Everyone believed that they were the couple from the prophecy. They obviously weren’t.”