The penthouse also had a small rooftop garden that could come in handy.
The apartment had seven bedrooms—which meant enough space for the snake who slithered by my side to roam around. The largest, I could turn into a sparring area.
“It’s perfect.”
“It has lavender wallpaper.” Gideon pointed to the wall. “Moldylavender wallpaper.”
I hadn’t even noticed.
In truth, while often surrounded by riches, I didn’t technically need much. My formative years had not prepared me for opulence or style. A roof and enough space were all I needed. Not to mention, I rather liked the neighborhood.
“I’m sure I can get someone to redecorate. It’s available now, and the owner’s happy to fast-track the sale.” Elona Travis’s children were more than eager to sell the house in order to pay for her expenses in southern Italy.
“Are you sure you need to buy at all?” Gideon asked. “I mean, you just arrived in town. Do you plan to stay long enough to bother investing in an apartment?”
I tried not to smile at his obvious probing. He thought himself subtle, but his interest in my affairs was just as obvious as Silver’s, if a little more polite.
Not that I could blame either of them.
“I’m not a renter.”
“You really could stay at my place,” he insisted.
Where I’d be watched closely day and night.
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“But—”
“I’m buying this place,” I stated. “I have a good feeling about it.”
I took the next day off in order to arrange everything.
The paperwork was wrapped up halfway through the next morning, the right amount of gold transferred to Elona Travis’s account, and I moved in that evening.
In actual fact the whole thing took maybe an hour, as I let the magical law expert handle it, offering enough gold to speed up and streamline the process.
The rest of the day, I used to explore.
I had memories of Highvale, all of them ancient, from a time when only the underground used to exist. My instinctsdemanded I familiarize myself with the rest, but I refrained. The underground was my primary interest here.
I checked every door, rode the tram the full circle, took in the layout, the buildings, the layers of magic protecting institutions.
I sighed as I spotted the runners observing me from afar, so bloody obvious I was half tempted to wave.
I was rather surprised Silver hadn’t come herself.
I ate in the town circle, stopped to buy myself clothes in Spider Avenue, bought wine in Life Avenue, and made my way back up to the vale at nightfall.
Rather than heading home to the empty penthouse with lavender wallpaper, I rang the 27-1B again.
Eris Delcour smiled, unsurprised to see me again so soon.
“Hello, neighbor.” I lifted the bottle of wine up. “I bought the penthouse.”
Eris grinned. “Good, good! Come in. I’m making fish pie if you’d like some.”
I followed her into the tidy room, humming in appreciation at the smell that wafted from the kitchen.
