“It looks like someone left moments ago,” Mayhem points out, his gaze on the kettle on the stove, steam streaming from its spout.
He’s not wrong. The fire is still lit, giving off a gentle heat and warm glow. Sconces that should have gone out thousands of years ago are still lit, plants are still alive, and most noticeably, the roof is still on, and the windows are still glazed.
But from the outside, it looks like a long-abandoned, derelict building that could collapse at any moment.
It’s an incredible use of magic, and a lot of it. I can’t believe that it’s still working after all this time and hasn’t dissipated. Even if it is just a case of it being triggered by us entering and not that it has been in this state for that long, it is still really impressive that it’s lain dormant for as long as it has.
I also can’t believe that no one has found and taken advantage of this place. It’s not exactly difficult to get into.
“We need to check the place out and make sure that there’s no one else here,” Killian says, clearly coming to the same conclusion that I have.
Thankfully, it doesn’t take us very long at all to do a quick sweep of the property. There are a lot of us, and the house isn’t that big.
“Anything?” Storm asks as we all meet back up in the main area of the house.
“Nope, we’re alone,” Zev confirms first, prompting the rest of us to do the same.
“This is incredible. Do you think it has been in this stasis since it was first abandoned, or that we triggered something? Why do you think that no one else has come in and used it over the years? I can’t sense anyone else's magical signature, so it’s not like someone just stepped out and we’re about to have a fight on our hands,” Rival rambles before he forces himself to stop.
I smile. I see the litany of questions still spinning through his mind as his eyes dart around the room.
Something that he’s said has intrigued me though, he said that he couldn’t sense another magical signature.
He’s Fae.
According to my records, which I checked as soon as I suspected that they might be the team that I was looking for, he is not the kind of Fae that can sense magical signatures.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that this group is far more powerful than I even suspected after they let their magic flow at the academy.
It should worry me, but it doesn’t.
What worries me is how comfortable I am with them. That doesn’t happen to me, and it doesn’t feel safe.
Chapter Six
Aldrastos
Idon’t like it, and I have no idea what I’m going to do about it, especially since it looks like we’re going to be spending a considerable amount of time together.
It’s not a short journey to the castle. I know thatIgnatius told Farren and Zev that his home was on the edge of the castle grounds, and technically, it is. It’s just that the castle grounds cover thousands of acres.
My gaze drifts to where Farren is wrapped in Khaos’ arms and talking to Hades, and my stomach twists with an emotion that I’m not familiar with. I’m going to be watching them closely. They could very easily be a threat to me, even if they don’t feel like it.
In fact, that could all be a part of it. They could somehow be lulling me into a false sense of security.
I frown. That thought twists something in my gut, and I don’t like the feeling. For now, I’m going to settle on being cautious and stop my mind from going around in circles.
More than anything, we don’t have time for it.
“So, we need to find a book, right?” Loki asks, as he looks around.
“Yeah, he just called it his grimoire. He didn’t describe it or anything because then he started talking about the Fal-thingy that I apparently need to get,” Farren explains, her eyebrows dipping down into a frown. She mutters, “Not that he explained why it was so important.”
As soon as the words leave her mouth, a book dislodges itself from one of the many bookshelves that line the room and floats its way over to Farren. She holds her hands out for it as the heavy tome drops into them.
“Well, that was a hell of a lot easier than I thought that it was going to be,” Reaper mutters. “I’m assuming that’s the grimoire that we needed to find?”
I don’t know if it’s just a him thing, but Reaper always seems suspicious, like he doesn’t quite trust what’s going on around him.
