“It was not a decision for me to make, but after Orion found his way into the grove, your aunts decided that it was time.”
“Your sisters?” Orion asked. “Why them?”
His father chuckled again. “It is the Drakos women who make the important decisions regarding Nightshade Manor, the sacred grove, the secrets we are allowed to know. And you would do well to remember that.” He turned to Orion. “You may be custodian, but they decide the fates of all who live within.”
“How am I to take care of an estate. Is there an income to see to the care?”
“Nightshade Manor is well provided for. Before your mother and I leave, we will review the accounting, income, and anything else that is necessary.” His father smiled. “I am glad that it is no longer necessary to have it closed off from the rest of the world. This makes it possible for your male cousins to visit without needing a witch to part the bramble, and the house will be in repair for when the females arrive for their stay when gaining powers.” He reached inside his suitcoat and withdrew a key. “This also comes to you.”
“What is it?” Orion asked as he took the key from his father and almost dropped it when it burned his palm, but then quickly cooled.
“It will open every door within Nightshade Manor as it has been enchanted to do.”
The weight was heavy.
“Including the vault in the basement.”
His heart stilled for a moment. He would finally learn what it contained.
“It is important that you keep the key in a safe place so that it is never lost. The magic that went into creating it took a good deal of time and no doubt your female relatives would be quite cross if they needed to create another one.”
Orion closed his fist around the key. He would keep it safe. A vow he took most seriously. However, at the first opportunity, he was going to see what the vault held.
“Is only Orion allowed in the vault?” Pierce asked with curiosity.
His father laughed. “You boys have wanted to know what has been hidden in there since you were children, and when you do see, I am quite certain that you will be disappointed. However, which male has access and who does not is a decision only Orion can make. He is the only one who can open the door as the key now only works for him.”
“You said men. Does that mean the women can open the door?”
“Only Drakos witches by marriage or blood. Only once has another entered, and that was decades ago when a witch who was visiting was allowed entry. Nobody could understand how that occurred until she married a Drakos. Magic had recognized her as a future wife.”
Orion wondered if the husband had already known before the vault. Maybe the two were already betrothed.
Not that it mattered.
“That means Petra can go in,” Pierce said.
“Yes, though she was unaware that she could. The privilege came to her, as it does all Drakos witches on their twentieth birthday, but as we were not here, it slipped your mother’s mind until recently. I suppose that Petra will shortly learn, after she’s been instructed to never open it for anyone else.”
This meant that Pierce couldn’t force her to open it, but how would the door even know?
Orion frowned. “How can a key know who is holding it?”
“It is enchanted,” his father reminded him. “When I gave it over to you, the magic was transferred. Did you not feel the exchange?”
“My hand burned.”
“And now, it will only unlock doors for you.”
“What if Orion hands it to me?” Pierce asked with curiosity.
“The magic will not transfer as it knows who should have it.”
Neither Orion nor Pierce asked anything further. They learned long ago simply to accept even it if was impossible to understand.
Nina woke to a beautiful day. She prepared breakfast, then saw to cleaning the dishes and the kitchen before leaving the cottage and making her way to the temple. Her only concern was the same dream that had occurred every night since she had met Orion. Her, on the shore by the cove and he on the other side, unable to reach her.
It was a disturbing dream, but now that she had suffered from it more than once, she wished to analyze it. Except, she had no talent for interpreting dreams, and it could simply mean that she wished to be with him but never could. However, she was happy to have met Orion and been kissed by him. It was a memory that would keep her company in the years to come and if her tree lived as long as the others, she would have many, many years to hold the memory, long after Orion was gone.
