I'm pacing the length of the study room floor, running my hands through my curls and pulling them at the roots.

"What are the odds, Julian? What if she's screwing with us?"

Julian cocks his head to the side and stands in my path, gripping my shoulders. "Why would she screw with us? What purpose would that serve? She doesn't even know us."

"Don't you see the improbability here? We came here to translate this book that's written in a language that only few people know anything about, hoping to just find a reliable dictionary or online resource. Instead, we find a librarian who already knows the legend of the sun and moon magic AND the language? It seems a little too good to be true to me," I say, desperate for a little good luck, but not wanting to cling too tightly to false hope.

Julian nods and leads me to sit in one of the wooden chairs. He squats in front of me and puts his hands on my knees, squeezing gently. "I see what you're saying, Cam. I do. It seems impossible and ridiculously convenient, but consider this: if we believe that there is a dark magic surrounding you, doesn't it stand to reason that there would be some good magic too? Maybe that's what this is."

"Good magic." I repeat with a slow nod. "All right. We'll go with that. Because I have to hope for something here, or we leave empty-handed and..."

"We don't want to know what happens then."

I swallow and open my mouth to speak, but before I can get a word out, the librarian sweeps into the room, slinging her dreadlocks over her shoulder as she shuts the door with a soft click.

"I only have an hour, and we have a lot to get through in that brief span of time." She sits across the table as Julian rises and takes the chair beside me. "I'm Jerri," she adds, pulling a laptop out of her bag.

"I'm Camryn, and this is Julian," I say. "Thank you so much for helping us. It's not just important that we figure this out; it's imperative."

Jerri's demeanor is serious, and I can tell she understands that the stakes are high, but I can't decide if I should tell her any actual details about me, Luna, and Aurora.

"What can you tell me about what's going on? What is it we're looking for here?"

Julian and I exchange a glance, and he nods once. "I need to know how to defeat the moon goddess," I blurt, and I almost roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of it.

Jerri's face doesn't betray a bit of shock or doubt; she merely cocks her head to the side and holds her hand out. "All right then, let's get started."

I hand her the book and say, "Wait, you believe me? Just like that?"

"I do. I didn't study all this for six plus years without becoming convinced of its existence. And Camryn, you're terrified. I can see that all over your pretty face. Now, tell me everything."

I take a deep breath. "Before I start, you need to see this." I reach into my backpack and lift the photo of Aurora and Luna to the tabletop. Pushing it over to Jerri, I silently wait for her reaction.

She looks at the photo and then at me, her deep brown eyes finally showing the shock I'd been waiting for. "I—Jesus Christ, that's—" Her eloquent language is falling flat in her dismay.

"It's my great-great-grandmother and great-great-great-aunt."

"My God, you could be their triplet." She glances up at me again and shakes her head. "It's uncanny." Without looking up from the photo she asks, "And you've seen her?"

"Well..." And I tell her everything, every detail I can think of, Julian filling in the blanks here and there.

When we're done, Jerri sits quietly, processing the story we've just told her. I am certain she is going to change her mind and tell me I need professional help, but she opens the book and reads the margin notes. "I'm assuming your great-great-grandmother wrote these notes, yes?"

"Yes, I matched it up with another sample of writing that I know was hers."

Jerri nods and types something into her laptop, flipping almost frantically through the pages.

"What are you doing now?" Julian asks.

"I'm just translating the bits around the notes Aurora wrote. That should give us something to go on."

Jerri flips pages and types for what feels like hours, when finally she stops and looks up at me, concern lining her smooth skin. "Camryn. You must stop her, and you have to do it as soon as possible."

Julian's hand finds mine under the table and squeezes. "Why?" I ask, my voice quivering.

"Luna is more dangerous than you might have realized...because you can't just stop her from taking the power from you."

"What do you mean?"

"Both of you cannot exist in the same span of time. Not for long, anyway."

My head spins, and I feel like the earth is shifting beneath my feet. "So, you're saying one of us..." I gulp before continuing, "One of us has to die?"

Jerri's face turns sympathetic, and she reaches across the table to grasp my free hand. "I'm sorry, Camryn. No one should have to go through this, but it's worse for you; you're so young. You've barely lived."

"Please tell us what to do. How do we beat her?" Julian says in a strangled whisper. "I can't let anything happen to Camryn." He looks at me and there are unshed tears in his dual-toned gaze. "I promised."

My heart is breaking and being stitched back together simultaneously and it's both the best and worst feeling I could ever imagine.

Jerri turns the laptop to face us and shows us the translation she's pieced together. "This is what the book says. I truly believe it is the only way."