Chapter 22 #2
Calder hadn’t wanted to use the ward breaker for the door.
He’d wanted to use it for the artifact, which was undoubtedly warded as well.
But after a bit of arguing back and forth, he’d agreed that we had no other option.
If we couldn’t get inside, how would we steal the artifact?
Of course, he’d argued that we wouldn’t be able to steal the artifact if we used the ward-breaker on the door.
It was a bit of a chicken or the egg argument.
Ultimately, we’d decided to break the door and deal with whatever came afterward.
I produced the ward-breaker, which looked a bit like a palm-sized chunk of glittery black hematite etched with intricate runes. Ones that made my eyes swim if I looked at them for too long.
“Scoot,” I whispered to Calder.
He scooted, giving me clear access to the brass knob.
I held the ward-breaker in hand, then whispered the incantation given to us by the person who’d sold it.
For a second, nothing happened. Then, the runes on the stone flared blinding white, sucking the magical current straight out of the handle until both the knob and the stone went completely dark.
I pulled my hand back and slid the now dormant tool into my pocket.
“Did you fry yourselves?” Felix asked.
Calder and I shared an exasperated look before I grabbed my lock pick set and got to work once more. This time it only took a minute for me to work the tumblers and pop open the door.
We eased inside, then gently closed the door behind us.
“We’re in,” Calder breathed, his chest brushing my shoulder as he leaned close. “Stairs.”
“Right. Step Five.”
According to Wren’s intel, the Star of Avelon sat at the very bottom of the estate, locked inside the family’s basement vault. I took the lead this time, guiding us down the flight of wooden steps. Calder followed, moving with that unnatural, terrifying grace he possessed.
Cold, stale air drifted up from the depths, carrying the faint, metallic tang of ancient magic. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand at absolute attention.
Halfway down the stairs, Calder tapped my shoulder and gestured for me to stop. He squeezed past me on the narrow wooden steps, taking the lead. I let him. Wren had described the exact layout of the basement and vault to him, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was flying blind down here.
We hit the landing. The main basement wasn’t some dusty, cobweb-covered root cellar. It looked more like a high-end museum archive. Smooth stone floors stretched out beneath rows of glass display cases, heavy wooden crates, and shelves stacked with ancient-looking grimoires.
Calder didn’t spare the room a single glance. He moved with absolute, silent purpose, weaving through the aisles until we reached the far wall.
He stopped dead.
I bumped into his solid back, then peeked around his shoulder.
Built into the foundation of the estate was a massive, circular steel vault door.
It looked like it belonged in a federal reserve bank, not in a witch’s basement.
Magic made the impossible quite possible, including building a heavily reinforced steel vault in a basement.
A heavy combination wheel sat dead center.
But the steel itself was the real problem.
Glowing veins of violet magic crawled across the metal, pulsing with a rhythmic, hostile hum that made my teeth ache just standing near it.
“Well,” I whispered, staring at the purple light. “That’s definitely warded.”
Calder dragged a hand down his face. “This is why I wanted to save the ward breaker for the vault.”
“And I told you we wouldn’t even be standing here to look at this pretty purple door if we hadn’t used the stone to get inside the house,” I shot back in a hushed tone. “What were we supposed to do, Calder? Knock on the kitchen window and ask Selene to let us in?”
“Well, why not?” a calm, melodic voice rose behind us.
My heart hit a brick wall in my chest and simply stopped beating.
Calder moved so fast he was nothing but a blur of muscle and violent instinct. He spun on his heel and shoved me hard behind his back, his arm out to protect me. I gripped the back of his jacket and leaned over to peek out.
Selene Ravenspell stood at the end of the aisle of glass cases.
Whether she’d followed us down or just appeared out of thin air, I had no idea. But considering I could hear little field mice scratching away inside the walls, I had a feeling it was the latter.
Selene cocked her head to look past Calder and met my gaze with a smile.
She wasn’t wielding a weapon, nor was she radiating any hostility or anger.
She just stood there in a long, emerald-green silk robe, her silver hair spilling over her shoulders.
She looked completely unfazed at the sight of us.
“Guys?” Cassian murmured.
“We have company,” was all I said.
“I’ll say,” Selene murmured. “I suppose I should commend you. Slipping past Miss Hannigan’s new hydrangeas is no small feat. If you hadn’t tripped the micro-ward I embedded within the porch step, you might have actually made it to the vault without waking me.”
Calder didn’t relax his stance. If anything, he shifted his weight, his muscles bunching as he prepared to spring. “Stay behind me,” he ordered in a low, rough whisper.
Selene sighed, lifting a single, perfectly arched eyebrow. “Oh, please. Put your fangs away, Calder. If I wanted to turn you both to ash, I would have done it while you were standing on my porch.”
Her dark eyes drifted past Calder’s shoulder and locked onto mine.
“Thorne,” Selene said, her voice softening just a fraction, though the edge of betrayal still cut through the air. “I must admit, when the silent alarms woke me, you were not on my list of suspects.”
She raised her hand and wiggled her fingers.
A deep rumble shook the floorboards. The wooden staircase we’d just walked down seamlessly melted away, replaced by a solid wall of stone. She’d just sealed us inside the basement. With her.
Behind me, the purple magic on the vault door flared, bathing the basement in a sickly, violent light.
And Selene?
She waved her hand again, and a chair materialized out of thin air. She took a seat, fluffed out her robe, then folded her hands in her lap. “Now,” she said. “Time for us to have a little chat.”