Chapter 20 #2
I know he was a bad guy, but I still feel guilty for not trying harder to save him.
I thought he was ageless, as unremovable as the mountains, as unending as the ocean tides—but he wasn’t.
I guess no one is. When it comes down to it, we don’t know how long we have, even with the title of immortal. No one is unending, not even Arlo.
I don’t know why that thought gives me a measure of peace. I guess I wouldn’t want to live forever.
I might as well start my search at the desk. I lean down and open the nearest drawer. I sag when my eyes land on a note. I drag the chair toward me and sit, heavy with shock. I lift the letter addressed to me and place it with utter care on the desk. My fingers trace his words.
Sneaky demon.
Dearest Emma,
If you are reading this, you have either entered without my permission, or I am no longer of this earth. If it is the latter, you will be in danger as the sharks will circle. My gift to you is this room and its contents, as it is a pocket dimension—
I squeak, “A what?” I jump to my feet, knocking the chair over in my haste, and it clatters to the floor behind me.
I back away from the desk. Oh my God, oh my God.
I flap my hands. A pocket dimension. With my mouth open and my eyes wide, I spin and stare at the room, taking in the vast space with fresh eyes. I rub my face.
No wonder it is so big and has zero effect on the footprint of the house.
Of course I knew it was magic, but a pocket dimension?
I presume it’s a similar magic to the gateways, strong enough to handle my weird demon magic and all the poking about I’ve done over the years.
The room is a little world. An independent bubble within space and time that can only be accessed through a specific means.
I glance at the doorway leading to the library. Wow.
That is how it fits into the space between the library wall and the rooms beyond. Wow, that is unbelievably…cool.
And it’s mine all mine. Arlo has given the pocket dimension to me. I turn and stare incredulously at the letter, still on the desk. I cautiously tiptoe back towards it. I pick up the chair with shaking hands, sit, and continue to read.
— to ensure that nobody else can access the dimension, and to guarantee that you can access the space from anywhere, follow the instructions below to the letter.
The rest of the letter has instructions, and it also has the location of a reference book.
Huh. I wasn’t expecting Arlo’s last words to me to be anything special…
hell, I wasn’t expecting any last words.
Yet he dropped that bombshell, signed his name, and that is it.
There is no mention of my demon heritage.
Not that I’m not appreciative, because I am…
I’m shocked. The demon does—did—what was best for him.
Manipulation, yes; outright kindness, never.
That’s why I’ll be finding this book, and I will make up my own mind rather than blindly following Arlo’s instructions and willy-nilly doing pocket-dimension soul-tying magic.
I don’t understand why he left me this room of absolute treasures.
Especially after I fell from his favour.
Unless he wrote this letter a long time ago and had yet to update it…
who knows? But I’m unbelievably grateful.
I hunt down the book, and when I find it, I let out a joyous laugh.
I smile so big my cheeks hurt when I see it nestled within an entire collection of how-to-demon books.
Well, they don’t actually say that on their fancy titles, but the shelves surrounding the text on pocket dimensions have every demon book imaginable. More books than I will ever need.
Sneaky demon.
How can he be so thoughtful in death? It’s nuts. I grab the book, and instead of heading back to the desk, I go to the squishy dark-red leather sofa that’s tucked into a quiet corner. I settle down, open the book, and read.
After a few hours, I know everything there is about how this room works.
The book doesn’t explain how to make a pocket dimension, as it is more like a TV set-up manual.
But it has everything else regarding keeping the pocket stable.
The book talks about connecting the pocket to a permanent fixture—like the library—or having it linked to a person.
As I don’t have my own secret doorway and I don’t want to unintentionally kill somebody by attaching it to a regular door, the best way to go is to secure the dimension to me.
The steps to do the transfer are the same ones Arlo had written in his letter.
I roll my eyes. Hours of reading and I end up doing the pocket-dimension soul-tying magic anyway.
Once I have read the steps another few times, I guess I’m ready to attempt the transfer.
I get up, roll my shoulders, and march to a shelf full of weaponry.
I grab a small, plain blade and a cleaning cloth.
I clean the knife and then carefully nick the tip of my finger.
I place the blade back on the shelf, and with the bleeding digit held aloft, I head to the doorway.
I smear my blood around the doorframe and say the words, “I bind you through time and space, I bind you to my soul, you are mine to command.” I sense a tingle down my arm and a pleasant feeling of righteousness in my chest. When I step away, the ward on the door flashes and the colour changes to a smoky black.
I cringe. Oh, crap. Okay…hopefully, black is good? I don’t know, but there is now a tug, a heaviness in my chest. I rub the spot. If it doesn’t sound too crazy, I can now feel the doorway.
The book was specific: since I’ve attached the pocket to myself, I can now open the door into any room.
I have to have seen the room with my own eyes, but from what I can gather, I can exit and enter from anywhere.
Like…like my own personal portal. Wow, how amazing is that?
I guess if I haven’t messed it up and I open the door and think of my room at John’s…
I should be able to walk straight into that room.
I shiver. That’s incredibly powerful magic.
I have absolutely no idea if it’ll work. What I don’t want to do is open the door back into the library. So being safe, I guess I should wait. Do some more reading, take some notes. If I don’t have to sneak back out of here and out of the estate, I have time.
I back away from the freaky ward. I also need to treat my bleeding finger—I can’t have my blood anywhere near those demon books.
Heck, I can only imagine what a mess an unintended blood sacrifice would cause.
I shiver. I wonder if there is a medical kit around here, with some plasters.
I glance down at my poor finger…what the heck…
I squint at it, turn it around to look at it from a different angle.
I squish it with my thumb…oh wow…yeah, the wound, it’s, urm… gone.