this. She always pretended to be so nice to you."
"I guess we were both deceived, Mar." Cole shook his head sadly.
“I didn't mean you, Cole. We are friends.” Jessica grabbed his hand.
Cole pulled away from her and jerked me up into his arms. “You should go
now, Jessica. You are right. We are not friends.”
Anger flooded her face. Without a reply, she turned and stomped off.
“You are so bad.” I laughed.
“Me?” He leaned in close and whispered in my ear, “You, my dear, were
jealous.”
“Jealous of her?” I replied, “Never.”
Cole raised his eyebrows at me and then kissed me on the cheek. He picked
up the book I had been showing Jessica and said, “Before we get back to work,
let's see our fabulous wedding fashion.” His face grew dark. “Did you look at this?"
"No, it was the first book I grabbed." I leaned in to examine it.
The text under the photo read : Genevieve Silver, Lucy Andrews, Michelle
Elliott, and Camille Black. New Moon Celebration.
“Wow, it's them." Quickly, I flipped through the remaining pages, looking for
anything that might be beneficial. “This is interesting, but there’s nothing to help
us with Meg. We should check this out to look through, later. Maybe I missed something with the Drygens’ name?”
Continuing our mission, we searched the shelves without finding anything
useful.
“We’re going to be here all night.” Resting my head against my arms, I
fought back the urge to cry and stared at the books in frustration. “Please, help
me,” I said, barely above a whisper.
As if in response to my plea, a small, blue light appeared before me.
Your eyes are playing tricks on you, Mara, I thought, blinking several times
in hopes of clearing my vision.
When I returned my gaze towards the light, I noticed it by the bookcase. I went closer to investigate, and it flashed close to a brown book with the title, Animals of the Forest.
Original title, I thought as I picked it up.
It was an encyclopedia of the different types of creatures that lived in Starten
Forest. Disappointed, I shoved the book back into its spot. However, it wouldn't
budge. A thin, black book with a silver serpent on the spine was blocking its return.
I handed the title-less journal to Cole. "I may have found something."
The book turned out to be the history of the Drygens. At the end of it, there
was even a chapter detailing the construction of their Estate. Thankfully, it included plans and diagrams.
Cole slipped the journal into the waist of his pants. “We don't need to draw
attention to me checking this out."
On our walk home, I informed Cole about the light, and he told me about a book
