*Updated* Super Secret package #2 has arrived…

I received a surprise package in the mail on Monday.  There was no name on the return address and I had no clue who it was from or even what is was.  It was sort of rectangular in shape, so I figured it had to be a book.   

After opening the outer packaging, and tearing through a padded inner wrapping, I pulled out a very old, battered leather book.  The leather was cracked and curling at the edges, and the sender had used a rubber band to keep the cover from falling off.  In faded gold letters, the spine identified it as Shakespear’s Comedies.

Um…What?

Then I looked back in the package and found a folded note:

Hi Abigail,

Thank you for helping me with this, I think if we all post pics on Facebook of the clues we find, then together we can solve this mystery.

Shay
Facebook.com/ShadowShay

My brain finally started working again and I remembered the super cool publicity campaign that Campfire was doing for the even cooler book NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer.  They said they were sending something else, I guess I shouldn’t have expected more flowers and flash drives :) Back to the book.  Inside the front cover was the following message handwritten in flourishing script:

He who I refuse
to name makes a mockery of our invitation
His chosen answer is to cast
us as unnamed extras in one
of his libelous texts. He serves as a
warning to any of us that would
reach a hand out for those
lesser than our own.  Make no
peace with these lesser men.
Offer not a hand or choice
word. He is the mark of our failure.

 

Two places were marked in the book with torn page bookmarks.  On each of the pages, a swirling, tribal like pattern encircled specific words and letters:

The first bookmark was on page 293 Act 4, Scene 3 of The Comedy of Errors:

R
must
thee
promis
a drop of blood
covetous
the chain
witch
N
E
of
H
T
E

My best guess:  Covetous thee must promis a drop of blood the chain of witch (Raehten?)

The second one was on page 582 Act 1, Scene 2 of As You Like It

  

to
Ne ther
The
the
keep er
bond
of
desire
bounden

My best guess: The keeper bounden to nether the bond of desire.

On Shay’s Facebook page other people are posting their book pictures and clues, you should definitely go check it out.  You can also watch all of Shay’s Shadow Days episodes (like the one below) which explain where these books came from and offer more clues as to their meaning.  I’m not sure I’ve got these right.  What do you guys think?

NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer will be published on October 19th

Description:

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?