Kael grabs the door handle and twists, but it doesn’t move. “It’s locked,” he grumbles a moment later, after rattling it a few times, followed swiftly by a heavy sigh.
Thorne clears his throat. “Rion, take the left end of the hall. Ocean, back track. Let's cover all the bases,” he commands, and they both move without question as I rub my lips together nervously.
Retracting my hand from Kael’s bicep, I fold my arms over my chest. “Could we not just ask him for it?” It feels silly putting it out there, especially when Thorne cocks a brow at me. “What?” I blurt, refusing to sway under his stare, and he rolls his eyes.
“He won't give it to us, that's what,” he grumbles, matching my level of sass, and it’s too startling for me to complain back. Instead, I watch as he scrubs a hand down his face, clearly dealingwith his own emotions that he's not willing to enlighten us all with quite yet.
I place my hand on his arm and our gazes collide, worry simmering beneath the surface. Not for what we’re doing right now, I know it. He’s bothered just like I am. For Kael. And Jude.
“Besides, we don't have time to convince him or the trust to explain,” Kael states, breaking through my stare-off with the stormy shadow fae.
I want to insist that it might be an easier option. The thought of refusal from Professor Grimm is even more alluring if it means he can’t go. But it seems no one else has the same mindset, so instead, I reluctantly agree.
Silence thickens in the air as Thorne connects with his magic, and black smoke unravels from his hands, curling around the lock before the sweet, pinching click of the latch opening echoes around us.
All too quickly, Kael tries the handle again, and it opens with ease this time.
No one makes a move.
All I can hear are our breaths, each one shallower than the last, until Thorne speaks.
“Do you want me to get it?” he offers, and Kaelsnickers, glancing back at him with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“And let you have all of the fun? No way. You can watch the door,” he orders, reaching for my hand and tugging me along with him. I go willingly, happy to be ushered inside, but I quickly frown when I glance around at the familiar rows of seats.
I'm not sure why we're in his actual classroom until Kael leads me to the back, where I spy another door with the word ‘office’ engraved in the glass.
I never even realized it was here. I definitely need to start paying more attention to my surroundings.
Coming to a stop, I frown again, only this time, it’s at the keyhole sitting just below the handle of the office door.
“Won't this be locked too?” I murmur, and Kael scoffs.
“No, not if the main door was locked,” he mutters, but as he grabs the handle and twists, he meets resistance.
I give him a pointed look that definitely pisses him off even more as he sighs.
“Thor—”
Kael doesn't get to complete his name beforedark tendrils swirl toward us, coiling around our limbs and ghosting across my cheek before circling the handle. I shudder from the touch as it steals my breath. My gaze is drawn toward the main door, spying Thorne’s deep gaze from here, and it only seems to ramp up my heart rate, but the moment is shattered by the sound of the lock clicking, granting us access to step inside the office.
Spinning my attention back to Kael, I place my palm against his as he draws us over the next threshold to reveal a simple room. Professor Grimm’s desk sits off toward the left wall, offering a perfect view of the door and the tall, stained windows across from us. Behind the desk, the wall is framed by shelves, stuffed with rows and rows of books, while another door sits on the right wall, which is where Kael’s attention is focused.
I'm already over these damn things. Maybe Thorne should have come instead. To my surprise, when Kael grabs the handle, it opens effortlessly, cutting off my train of thought as organized shelves of artifacts come into view, although muted without the light.
The pleased vampire beside me manages to find the light switch, illuminating the room in a soft glow, and I take a second to absorb it all.
Artifacts hang from every surface. Every inch of the wall is lined with shelves, apart from the far left corner, where a huge cabinet with glass doors stands. I don't know where to look first. There's so much to take in, and each object gets weirder than the last.
“Where do we begin?” I ask, and Kael shrugs, releasing my hand as he nods.
“Opposite ends,” he offers, and I nod, turning to the left as he goes to the right.
Wading through the trinkets, I come up empty-handed, but spend far longer than necessary looking through the random items below me. There’s a golden sphere, a rusty old box, and a set of chains that look bigger than my head. I gape with every step until I reach the display room. Ghosting my finger over the glass, I peer inside, startled by how deep it actually is. When the intricately framed doors block the rest of my view, I tug at the small handle, and it opens with ease.
Stepping inside, my gaze immediately latches onto the top shelf to see the artifact in question, the Veilstone.
I falter, considering whether or not I should claim it or hide it.
