Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty Seven

A flock of frightened pigeons flies down from the eaves of the stained-glass windows.Startled by the sudden flapping of wings and the passing shadows across the stained glass, I jumped to my feet and knocked my chair down. Shay yawned and stretched. "Calle, don't make a fuss every time there is a movement." "I just want to be cautious." I lifted my chair and waited for my heartbeat to calm down. "We're safe here." He turned a page. "If we do find some useful information, I'd say my advice turned out to be very insightful." I browsed through the index of the book Signs and Symbols in Human Culture. "I'm a bit discouraged. Your tattoo doesn't resemble any of the crosses I've read about."

We both looked at the stacks of books scattered here and there under the table.nothing.We've gotten nothing so far.In vain.Frustrated and exhausted, I folded my arms and rested my forehead on them. "I think we're back to square one now." Shay snapped a heavy art history book shut. "What is the starting point?" I turned and looked at him. "Translate this book." He pushed away the art book in front of him, and put "The War of All Against All" in front of him again. "You're probably right about this book." I turned my head back and forth, moving the meridians in my neck, "However, you should probably skip some content."

"Huh?" He was already turning the pages of the book. "Look not from the front, but from the back," I said. "You said that the woman sang to you the last few lines of the book, and then sang, 'Here rests Haydes. '. So maybe we should be reading the last part of the book, not the beginning. Anyway, you said that part is the shortest, so at least it doesn't take you too long to get through it. " "That's a good idea." He said, opening the back cover of the book. I continued to stare at the page of woodcuts of medieval crosses that lay open before me.Shay cleared his throat.I looked up and saw his eyes were still fixed on the supervisor's book.

"There's something I want to ask you." His relaxed voice made me frown. "What's the matter?" "I recently overheard a lot of people in school discussing something called a blood moon." He picked up the Latin dictionary and flipped through the pages, half-reading, "I guess it's only a few days later gone." "Hmm." Don't bring that up, Shay.please.please. "What kind of event is this?" He leaned back in his chair. "Oh," I breathed a sigh of relief, "well, let's put it this way. It's called the Blood Moon Ball, but everyone shortens it to the Blood Moon. It's kind of a weird event, kind of like a cross between a Halloween party and a Salon Ball. Parents of human boarders show up and then take their kids home for fall break. Every year there's always a chamber band at the event, and there's a lot of drinking and no one needs to show ID. The dance is funny, but still Quite interesting. Anyone with anything to do with the school, students or parents are invited guests. Parents tend to drink, talk about their stock portfolios, write checks for the school. So do the students Drink and dance in the clothes you wear once in a lifetime."

"Then why is it called a blood moon?" he asked. I twiddle my fingers like claws. "Because the dance is held on the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. This full moon is called a Blood Moon." He stood up and walked to the window, looking at the fallen leaves falling like rain outside the window. "But why is it called a blood moon?" "Because this full moon provides the most brilliant light for hunting at this time of year." My limbs twitch a little at the thought of hunting." This time of year is called the Great Hunt. Blood Moon is therefore also known as the Hunter's Moon .This year it happens to be on October 31st. It's a bit late this year for a blood moon, but that's the day."

He turned and looked at me. "Wouldn't it be simpler to call this a Halloween party? Or do your hosts have a problem with playing hide and seek?" A scene of Logan trick-or-treating comes to mind for a moment; I wonder how he'll be dressed. "No. It's called Samhain, remember? Halloween isn't really a holiday. The executives have a fondness for old customs, that's their tradition. So, the ball is called the Blood Moon Ball; it always has been." Just talking about tradition makes my stomach cramp. "Will everyone go to the ball? Not just humans?" His voice was now more tense.

I nodded, watching him warily, suspicious of his changing tone. "It's a lively party. Everyone will be there. Only the Blood Moon Ball and the Graduation Ball are social events for all students. Personally, I think the purpose of these two dances is only to make those humans think that our school It's not that different from other schools." He tapped his fingers on the table quickly, and then the words came out of his mouth. "Well, I know this request is really hasty, but being a man, I don't think about this kind of thing in advance, so I hope you will forgive me. Will you go to the dance with me?"

My heart suddenly fell to the bottom.The thing that frightened me finally happened. "Calle?" I didn't want to look him in the eye, "Are you going to give me an answer?" "I can't." I said softly, glancing at him. He leaned against the table, twitched the corner of his mouth, and smiled coldly. "Why not?" "I'll be with Ryan. I'll be with him at the Blood Moon Ball, just for an hour or two. Our marriage ceremony will also take place that same night." I looked intently at the pages in front of me, " Don't mention it again."

"I can't take your marriage ceremony seriously, Ka," he snapped. "You and your wolf prince will be married for life at the command of others. This is complete nonsense, and you Clearly. Ryan doesn't even realize how lucky he is to have you; he's too busy flirting with the other girls at school." "You bullshit! Can't you just leave Ryan alone for once?" I sat up and glared at him, "You hang out with us almost every day, even though you had a scene at the Embers and Always look at me with your watery eyes, but he still treats you with courtesy."

"Watery eyes?" Shay blurted out, standing up abruptly.He pushed back his chair and stuffed a few books into his backpack. "Shay." I put my arms around my waist, feeling physically uncomfortable again. "At least I finally know how you feel about me." His voice trembled, and he yanked the zipper of his backpack shut. I stood up and took his hand. "Come on, please. It's not me—" My voice cracked; I knew I couldn't get the words out. "It's not you what?" He grabbed my hand tightly and pulled me closer to him.He cupped my face with his other hand, stroking my cheek with his thumb, and my skin began to heat up.I pulled back and fled back to my chair, shaking my head.

"Please don't. I can't." I wiped the hot tears from my cheeks and cursed.I don't know what's wrong with me; I've never shed tears before, but now I often have to hold back my tears. "Calle." When I looked up at him, he looked horrified, obviously frightened by my crying, "God, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. " We both continued to study the material in awkward silence.Shay put on earplugs and turned up the music so loud that I could hear the screeching guitar from where I was sitting. By the time Shay snapped off his earplugs, the sky outside the stained-glass window was pitch black.I looked up at him in surprise. "Was the marriage ceremony held on the night of Samhain?" he asked, "on the same night as the dance?" "Please, Shay." I rubbed my temples. "I can't talk about this anymore." "No, my question isn't about you." He pointed to the supervisor's books, "It's about dates." "Yes, the marriage ceremony will be held on the night of Samhain." I replied with a frown. "October 31st." His brow furrowed even tighter. "Why did you choose that time?" "This day is one of the eight Sabbats—the day on which the executives gather their strength," I said. "Sahain is one of the most powerful Sabbats." He tapped his fingers on the page. "The veil separating the two worlds is thinning at this time. I remember you saying something like that." I nodded and he buried himself in his notes again; his expression became worried. "What's the matter?" "This information is somewhat mocking. On the night of Samhain, there will be a ceremony related to Thion. I don't know exactly what kind of ceremony this is, but it seems that the complete part of the record is all about the ceremony Content. There's a word I'm having trouble understanding; it probably means 'gift' or something. The context around that word is really weird." "Gift?" I repeated the word. "Something like that," he said, continuing to flip through the dictionary, "whatever it means, Thain is related to your festival." "It's not my holiday, Shay, it's just the day the executives picked for the marriage ceremony," I said. "You mean, according to their book, you'll be there too?" "Well, that's the problem. What I read in the book doesn't look like it's describing a marriage ceremony. I can't say what kind of ceremony it is," he said. To the two worlds and the dark stuff. There are several places where Sion is written. It mentions some sort of party associated with this 'offering,' but I'm having trouble understanding what that part means." "So how do we figure out what it means?" I asked. "Perhaps you need to stop searching for my tattoo and read up on the Samhain literature to see if there are other ceremonies other than your much-anticipated marriage ceremony taking place at the same time." "Ryan said an interesting bit about Samhain last week," I said. He glanced at me. "Are we going to share information with Ryan now?" "Our...research projects cannot be shared; I want to find out more about the Sabbat on my own," I replied.I feel like I'm falling blindly into a ritual, and I hate it." Anyway, he said it was a dangerous night. The world of elves is tricky because elves have great power when the veil thins. " "How did Ryan know these things?" he muttered. "Stop it, Shay," I snapped. "His mother was killed by the searchers on Samhain. So he knows all about it." "Oh. I'm sorry." He tapped his pen on the table. "Did the searchers kill Ryan's mother?" "yes." "How old was he then?" "It happened to be his first birthday," I said. "My God, that's miserable," he said, "but it's no wonder he's the way he is." "What do you mean by that?" "Nothing," he replied hastily, stood up from the table, and walked towards the pile of books, "We must continue to collect information."