Chapter 5
ELODIE
“This is insane,” I whisper, adrenaline pounding through my veins as we hurry through the Academy building’s halls. I can barely see where we're going; only the moon casting through the windows lights our way.
It somehow adds to the excitement that I can’t seem to shutter.
No one else is here, that we know of at least, and I feel like myself again; a survivor, toeing the laws of the world, bending them to my will to make it out alive.
I once hated it.
Now, I think I might love it.
“Please, you love the thrill of it,” Kael retorts, and although I pout at him, I can't deny the truth.
This entire thing is wild. I’m enthralled, obsessed, and living for the way my heart thumps erratically in my chest.
I don't know what to think about why I'm not more adamant about stopping him. But deep down, I'm pretty sure it's because if this were the other way around, if our roles were reversed, I would be doing the exact same thing.
That doesn't stop the worry from burning through me, tangling with the adrenaline, but I try to tamp it down. It’s futile, but I focus on putting a mental pin in it, with the promise of returning to it soon enough.
My world will eventually come crumbling down; there’s no reason why I can’t prop it up with a little false hope for a while longer.
Drenched in blissful ignorance, my fingers curl around his biceps as I pin myself to his side, slithering through the academy like we’re on a top-secret stealth mission.
Surrounded by the others, I feel even more alive.
Thorne leads the way, while Rion and Ocean remain a step behind, each of us moving in sync until we turn the final corner, spying Professor Grimm's lecture hall on the left.
Coming to a halt, the five of us take a moment to glance at each other.
Everything changes from this moment forward. We either find the artifact and set Kael’s plan into motion, or we wind up getting caught, shattering any chance of progress along with it.
My ability to just let my emotions run numb is faltering, and all I can do is absorb them.
I hate it.
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 dealing with 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 Kael snickers, 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 before dark 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.
We’re on a fun hunt for an artifact. That sounds like a quirky enough adventure for the day, but the reality is, there’s more to this than simply finding the artifact. What comes next, I don’t think I’m ready for.
My throat dries as I take a tentative step toward it, and my eyes widen when I notice the Emberlock sitting beside it.
They are the only two artifacts I'm familiar with, both of which I've had the opportunity to use under Professor Grimm's supervision. Now, they both sit perched on the top shelf, as if they don’t have the capacity to cause harm.
My gut churns as I consider the rest of the items in here and what they have the potential to achieve.
With trembling fingers and a racing heart, I reach for the Veilstone, but before I have it in my grasp, the lights switch off, drenching the room in darkness. A gasp lodges in my throat as I feel the familiar brush of Kael’s body against mine.
His hands are on my waist, spinning me on the spot. We turn just as the display room door shuts, closing us in. My chest heaves, but I feel safe in his embrace, with my back pressed against his chest.
“What's going on?” I breathe, my gaze latched onto the slightly obscured view of Professor Grimm's office.
Kael clamps a hand over my mouth. “Someone's coming,” he whispers against the shell of my ear, and I shiver.
Footsteps vibrate in the distance, and a moment later, Professor Grimm himself stands in his office. My eyes widen in shock as panic threatens to consume me.
I don’t like tight spaces, and I’m not the biggest fan of the dark, but adding the fact that we might get caught on top of it leaves me ready to puke.
Instead of falling into a fit of sobs like my body wants me to, I focus on Grimm.
He looks stressed, raking a hand through his hair as he plasters a cell phone to his ear.
His eyebrows are furrowed, desperation rattling him, but I can't make out anything as his lips move and he gestures with his free hand.
“What's he saying?” I whisper against the palm of his hand, and Kael shakes his head.
“I can't hear,” he murmurs in response, and I tilt my face to cock a brow at him.
“I thought you had some stealthy vampire hearing?” I retort. His hand drops from my mouth, only to pinch my side with a snicker.
“I do. He must have a silencer cast over his office,” he explains. All I can give him is a blank stare. When his eyes drop to mine, he must sense the confusion. “It's a spell,” he adds, and I nod.
“Right,” I whisper, like it all makes sense.
It doesn’t.
I wonder if it ever will?