I licked my lips and took a deep breath. “A quest of old must be taken, to seek the page now forsaken. If these words don’t find thee well, take the tunnel where Seelie dwell. By his hand time can be taken, her journey back must now awaken. But for this quest she walks alone, the Tower seeks the frozen throne. To play with rules that can’t be broken, for only one can claim the spoken. Cross the dark between the lines, roll the dice to read the signs. Seek the one who paid the price, change the name, she won’t play nice. But first a soul to seek in dire need, relieve the hole then take his lead. The road you walk is bleak and grim, when in doubt head back to him. But before thee go a ruse to make, by heir and Aether a perfect fake. Will of magic, strength in deed, to replace in kind for which you need. Once thee find the page in question, the Tower makes the last impression. So take her bag that holds it all, trust thy heart for what to haul. Upon thy arm my word shall come, to find the page crumb by crumb.”

“Fuck me,” Tenn whispered.

The flames burned brighter and hotter in the hearth. When Emersyn shuddered, so did the fire. Tegan jumped up and started pacing the living room while tugging on her bottom lip.

“There’s a lot to unpack there,” Savannah drawled.

Mei-Ling leaned over my shoulder. “Where do we start?”

“Guys . . .” my stomach tightened and fluttered. “Guys . . . please tell me I’m reading this wrong.”

Tegan didn’t stop pacing. “You are not, I fear.”

Tenn groaned and buried his head in his hands.

“What? What are you seeing?” Mei-Ling snatched the scroll from me. “What?”

“The missing page of the tome was hidden in the secret compartment of Sweyn’s ice throne in Avolire. But we went. It’s not there. It’s gone.” I nodded to the paper. “Goddess, I think this quest means I’m going back in time to when the page was still there. That’s what these first few lines are about.”

“Time travel?” Mei-Ling shrieked. “That’s possible? Have any of you done that before?”

Emersyn exhaled roughly and grabbed fistfuls of fire. “Yes.”

Tenn nodded. “A few of us traveled back to Salem 1692. We almost didn’t make it back.”

I gagged.

“But that was then. This is different. I’m not worried about you getting back to our time⁠—”

“How can you be so sure?” My skin felt hot and itchy, too tight for my body. “Tegan⁠—”