Chapter 16
After stuffing myself to near bursting, under Lucas’ watchful gaze, in the Bauers’ luxurious dining room, I return to my bedroom for a quick wash to clean off the unease of what I’ve done.
Permitting Valen to play with my body was a delight that I don’t regret.
I desperately needed that release, but Lucas…
we’ve never done anything like that before.
I towel myself roughly to try to shake off this tricky uncertainty.
I’ll put a pin in this line of thought for later.
For now, I am grateful that he is giving me space to process. Or perhaps he is as confused as I am.
Bottom line is that I can’t lose Lucas. In four years, he’s become as dear to me as Jinx. What we have is working. Confusing and blurry at times, but working. We work well together and I need his partnership in my business.
And his friendship. That comradery is irreplaceable.
Perhaps we can both file away the library experience as a fun, tension-easing activity. Then we never need to speak of it again.
I step out of the bathroom to spot a rectangular box waiting for me at the foot of my bed. I rub my wet hair with the enchanted towel that drinks up the liquid from the strands in greedy gulps and pad over to investigate.
A note is affixed to it. I set down the towel and unfold it.
In case the dresses are no longer to your liking.
–V
A deep emerald green vest greets me. The hue will bring out the green of my eyes and the copper of my hair perfectly.
Slacks and button-up shirt rest below it, new and crisp, like he had them specially made.
The image blurs and I suck in a breath before wiping the tears that slip from my eyes quickly.
An array of hair supplies to tie back my long hair is beside the clothes and I shake off the wave of emotion. My heart aches as I pull on the clothes that fit me like a glove and waste no time in securing my long hair back.
My skin tingles as a weight lifts from me and I smile, smoothing my hands over the clothes that suit me so well.
I exit the bedroom to come face-to-face with Valen. We stare at each other silently as a thousand unspoken words pass between us. My lips tremble and I swallow thickly. He runs his thumb over my cheekbone, his expression soft and open. His lips form two soundless words, “You’re welcome.”
I kiss him, slow and tenderly, before stepping away to retrieve Lucas from his room.
In all the time I spent with the Bauers, I only visited the museum twice. Both times were with Vincentius, and the sphinx never appeared. Despite the impending danger, the thrill of finally seeing a creature I’ve only read about in bestiaries has my face flushing and eyes sparkling.
Lucas and I follow Valen closely as he takes us deep down into the bowels of the estate, past where the stone stops being pristine and molding dampness takes control.
The mustiness weighs thick and the stone walls sweat.
Embedded crystals twinkle faintly, casting ominous shadows like crouching monsters in my peripheral vision.
I wet my lips, my fists curling. My shoulders are too light without the comforting weight of Jinx.
Valen stops before a dark wall that is so uninteresting that I would’ve breezed past it if my fingers weren’t dragging along the fuzzy stones. A whisper of magic tugs at my trailing fingernails, snagging me and whispering to my blood.
The crystals flicker manically when Valen raises his hand.
He swipes it back and forth, like he’s erasing chalk.
The stone dusts away to reveal golden glowing lines.
Whispered words hiss in Valen’s deep voice and awareness shivers up my spine.
The illusion blows away and a door of pure magic is left behind.
Lucas is practically vibrating next to me, distracting me from Valen placing his palm flat on the center line. Valen’s drawl echoes. “If you’d like your ‘genius’ plan to work, then I suggest you get ready. She’ll stir when the doors open.”
I expect a teeth-rattling creak when the doors part, but instead, it’s a soft whisper of magic, the kind that flutters within my veins and parts my lips.
A bright light floods into the dark hall, bathing the cold stone in a shimmering warm glow.
I squint my burning eyes against it, but nothing is visible beyond the brightness.
Without hesitation, Valen steps forward and is engulfed by the wall of light.
I’ve no choice but to follow, my fingers brushing against Lucas’ as I pass. The pressure pops my ears and the doors close behind.
The vast atrium is unchanged. The open circular room reaches up to a false glass dome that glows with illusionary sunlight. Flowering vines twist up the marble columns and birds twitter their sweet songs.
I stop just in time to avoid colliding into Valen’s back. I peer around him. On a bed of lush flowers next to a winding stream is the sphinx.
A beautiful woman’s face surveys us with hawk eyes, the yellow irises flashing in the light.
Jeweled piercings stud her high, dark cheekbones and a ring is around one nostril.
She’s bathed in all sorts of precious jewels.
Glittering gem flowers glint in her long, black braids and her lion paws have golden cuffs.
Her tail flicks lazily and her hawk wings shift.
I’ve seen many beautiful things in my life, but nothing is quite like the sphinx. The urge to fall in supplication buckles my knees and the sphinx blinks slowly.
Lucas steps forward. I go to snatch him, but Valen stops me.
The hawk eyes slide lazily to the magician and Lucas smiles. The birds’ song grows louder and I blink, shocked that the noise is coming from Lucas and not the birds. The sphinx’s head tilts, her braids shifting with a light clinking of metal.
Lucas’ fingers fan. Golden threads slither out in a dance. Birds flutter down and join, diving and soaring with each thin thread. The music is hypnotic, the magic breathtaking. It’s more art than craft and I’m humbled by it.
The sphinx’s hawk eyes flare slightly, pupils dilating.
She smiles, lion’s teeth glinting bright within her dark face.
She doesn’t notice the first thread slither behind her ear.
Two birds spinning together catch her attention.
Then another thread winds its way behind the other.
And then another. Over and over, slowly, the dance never faltering, Lucas’ song never cracking.
The sphinx’s eyelids droop and her human head rests on her mighty lion paws. They slide close and the last thread slips into place. A light, rumbling snore rises above the birds’ song.
The breath I was holding rushes past my lips, a smile stretching them.
“Hm. You succeeded.” Valen’s tongue clicks. “How disappointing.”
My shoulders tense, my gaze snapping to my ex. “Disappointing?”
“Yes. I was hoping she would eat him.”
My fingers flex. “Is this the part where you betray us?” Scenarios, plans, all rapidly spin in my mind like a vengeful tornado.
Valen’s scowl turns scathingly on me.
I hold up my hands. “Just checking.” Turning my back on Valen, I step up to Lucas. I falter, my gaze raking him over. His forehead is glistening, his breathing ragged. Alarm constricts my chest and my fingers hover above his arm. “Lucas?”
He gasps, eyes closing briefly. His voice strains. “She’s strong.”
My gaze snaps to the slumbering beast. “Can you hold her?”
He hesitates. “Yeah.” His gaze hardens. “Don’t waste time. Get in, get out.”
But I can’t move. My fingers twitch, but I don’t dare touch him, not when it’s taking him this much effort to hold the sphinx. “Are you sure?” But the words catch in my throat. We need the amulet.
“Perhaps I’ll get lucky after all.” Valen’s purr in my ear sends my hackles rising. I whip around, but he’s already stepped around me to saunter towards the museum’s ornate gates. “Come along, Tori. Leave the magician to his task.”
I give Lucas one last searching look. He doesn’t meet my gaze. He’s solely focused on holding the sphinx under his enchantment. A bead of sweat trickles down his temple. My voice drops to a whisper. “I’ll be fast.”
Turning on my heel, I dart through the atrium after Valen.
He pushes open the gilded bars of the door and leaves them that way.
I step up to his side, my head on a constant swivel.
So many ancient and powerful artifacts, all ripe for the picking.
My mind is calculating costs, my fingers twitching with the urge to reach out.
But I mustn’t. The sphinx’s riddle is unsolved and each step deeper into the museum will attempt to alert her to our presence. If Lucas is struggling now, then he’s going to have a hell of a time when my magic starts drilling into the Amulet of Acerabus’ wards.
With a harsh exhale, I distract myself by quipping with Valen. “What was your plan, if you were so sure Lucas was going to fail?”
Valen’s blue eyes dart to me. “The sphinx won’t kill me. She knows who I am. If she caught me, she would’ve held me while she called to my father to come claim me.”
“So, you would’ve sat tight while the beast picked her teeth clean of my flesh?” My eyes flare when a long golden rod radiating elemental magic glints at me from down the hall. Is that the Staff of Mortumi? I shake my head harshly. Focus.
“Of course not.” Valen turns left and I have to trot to catch up. “I would’ve swept you out of the room and then comforted you during your time of grief.”
“Oh?” An ominous miasma nearly steals my breath, my head turning to look back at a human-skin-bound grimoire wrapped in iron chains.
A shiver of pure desire shakes me and I wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth.
Lucas wouldn’t be able to hold the sphinx if I tried those wards.
I’ll have to come back for it. It’s rare for me to find something that I don’t recognize.
Valen’s knowing smirk has me clearing my throat and saying, “And what kind of ‘comfort’ were you envisioning?”