Free Endless Magic (Stella Mayweather Series Book 6) by Camilla Chafer Page A

time to bring other people down. Besides, it wasn't Seren and Astra's fault they were raised by their mother. Mine wanted me, but that was something I found out much later in life, and she died protecting me. Even though I couldn't remember her, I couldn't ask for more love than that. I missed out on a childhood, but at least, I was loved. It made me glad to know that.
    "Let's work out how to find these talismans," I said, grabbing a chair and pulling it to the table. "There has to be something in here."
    "We’ll take a couple of notebooks each." Seren divided them between us, pulling extra chairs to the table and indicating Daniel should sit. "We need to reread every one. Look for notes in margins and between the spells and writings. I think Athene got careless and wrote things as she remembered them, but not necessarily on the right pages."
    I filled Daniel in on what we were searching for while we awaited Ariadne’s arrival. By the time she returned, Clare was with her, and we had already re-read half the notebooks.
    "Here's where we are," said Seren, taking control of the room. "Stella is pretty sure she can get the werewolf talisman and the horologican, so that's two of the required pieces. We can't find any mention of what the other talismans might be, except for the pendant, or who might possess them. We can't even be sure they actually exist."
    "These books are a lost cause," said Astra. "We've been over and over them and there's nothing left to find. How do we locate the other pieces?"
    I threw my hands in the air in frustration. "We can't ask around without alerting suspicion. Étoile said to keep all this quiet." Just as I finished my sentence, the sound of several heavy footsteps ran past. Frowning, I got up and moved to the door.  I opened it just in time to see another group running past with Gage at the rear. "Gage!" I called. He glanced over his shoulder, then stopped and jogged back to me. "What's going on?"
    His face was set in a determined mask. "We're moving out to search what we think is The Brotherhood's new compound."
    "You got a lead?"
    "Not a strong one, but we think we know where they moved. I can't say much right now, I have to go. I'll be back later."
    "I need to..." I started to ask, but he was already gone. I wanted to ask him where he'd hidden the talisman. Now, even more frustrated, I turned back. "I'll ask him later," I told the curious waiting faces. "They have a lead on the compound." As I spoke, my longstanding guilt coursed through me again. Shouldn't I have been the one to generate a lead? Despite my memories returning, I still wasn’t willing to delve into them. Nor did I wish to see all the things that weren’t projected from my mind. I was still stuck with second-hand knowledge lying in the deep recesses of my fragile memories. They felt so removed from my personal experiences. I knew I endured everything I saw, yet I had no concept of it happening. Those I left behind, however, still suffered whatever horrors The Brotherhood continued to inflict upon them. I virtually abandoned them and still couldn't even bring them a glimpse of salvation. I did nothing to help them. "Excuse me a moment," I gasped. I felt horrified and angry with my actions as I hurried away before hot tears rolled down my cheeks. I ran for my room, holding the electronic key card Étoile gave me pressed tightly in my hand, gulping air as my heart raced, and panic overtook me. Before I got there, however, strong arms caught me and pressed my face into a broad chest. A jersey t-shirt absorbed my tears as they coursed down my face. A hand ran over my head before calm swept through me.
    "Talk to me," said Evan.
    I sniffled into his chest, "I can't."
    "I have no idea what you said. Come inside." Without waiting for my consent, he propelled me away from the corridor. A door banged and I had to push away from him to see where I was. Somehow, I ended up on the residential floor in what looked like Evan's room. His