Aurora Soleil's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

The cottage kept Aurora safe, but her hands still burned past its walls. She needed to fix her skin for good. Someone in town said the library held old cures. So she walked there under the noon sun. The building leaned dark against the sky, its windows dim, smoke curling from the roof. She pushed the heavy door and stepped inside. Dust hung in the still air. Tall shelves rose on every side, crammed with cracked old books. A young man stood among them, dressed in black, one gloved hand resting on a spine. He did not look up. "You carry something warm," he said. "Not the kind of warm that burns. The kind that mends." Aurora stopped. "You can feel that?" "I read what things remember." He turned. His eyes were sharp and tired. "Arthur Dust. You have the charm. Show me." She lifted the disc from her collar. The jewel inside shifted pink and green. Arthur studied it, then crossed the floor. He pulled a book, then another, and the shelf swung inward. Behind it lay a narrow room, lined with more shelves. "Here," he said. He lit a small lamp. "The charm mends what breaks. Skin. Even yours. It can fix you so your touch stops burning." Aurora's breath caught. "Permanently?" "Permanently." He set the charm on an open page. Faint marks glowed around it, then faded. "But it is not whole. One piece is missing. Without it, the charm only tames light inside walls. It cannot mend flesh." Her hope dropped. "What piece?" Arthur traced a line in the book. "A stone. Named in these pages. It completes the spell. Set it in the charm, speak the words, and your skin heals for good." He looked at her. "Then you can touch her." Aurora knew he meant Vivienne. She thought of the vampire waiting in the dark, always past her reach. "Where is the stone?" "The book does not say where. Only what." He closed it. "That part is yours to find." She took the charm back and held it tight. For a week she had only known she was trapped. Now she knew the door and the key. The cure was real. It had a shape. "You're certain this works?" "I do not guess." Arthur handed her a torn page with the stone's name copied out. "The charm is already yours. Find the last piece. Return. I will read the rest of the spell for you." Aurora folded the page and pressed it to her chest. Her hands still burned. The cottage still held her in at dusk. But the forbidden thing had a cure now, and the cure had a name. She stepped back into the sun. One stone stood between her and Vivienne's touch. She did not know where it lay. But for the first time, she knew exactly what to look for.