9. Lea
9
LEA
“ M iss Mirth. Mr. Ransom has requested you to go see him in his office.” One of Jax's receptionists came and got me from the lab room where I was working with Kiyan.
Damn. I had let myself get distracted by teaching Kiyan. He’d been picking up everything so quickly that I couldn’t help but be mesmerized simply watching him learn something and apply it perfectly almost immediately after.
“Alright, keep going with what we practiced. I expect proficiency when I return,” I said in a warning tone, but secretly, I was worried that he’d be teaching me this stuff by the time I came back.
He saluted me as if I was the captain of a ship. “Yes, ma’am!”
I rolled my eyes at him and laughed, following the receptionist to Jax’s office.
She let me in, and the smile fell from my face.
“Mr. Ransom is still in a meeting, but he'll be with you shortly.” She nodded her head, excusing herself before closing me in his office…alone.
My inner voice all but squealed, This is too perfect!
I waited to hear her footsteps walking away from the door before I began snooping around his office. My attention immediately shot to the cabinet in the far corner.
I knew that was where he kept his records.
My fingers rubbed against each other greedily, preparing to unmask anything unsavory he was hiding. They curved around the metal handle and yanked, but the cabinet didn't budge an inch.
Damn, it’s locked.
I glanced around the room, but knew there was no way the key would be anywhere accessible. “I guess it can’t be helped then.”
I pulled out my potion ingredients satchel and laid it out on the floor in front of me. It had been a very long time since I had to make a potion on the fly. I almost forgot how exhilarating it could be.
I need something to unlock—something that reacts with metal.
“Hmmm.” The rusted gears in my head began to turn.
A cold, anxious feeling dribbled down my neck knowing that Jax would be back at any moment.
Thistle, Lotus Powder, and acid from a poison frog’s tongue.
This felt right.
The power of the ingredients mixed together was practically vibrating in my hands before I had even given any essence to it.
I lifted the grainy salve to my mouth and breathed on it. The substance lit up with a blue fire before turning as black as coal.
Hah! I’m a natural.
I turned my palm outward, rubbing it on the lock.
There was a soft sizzle before a metallic click sounded, the lock popping open effortlessly. I made quick work of pulling the handle and moving my fingers through the written scrolls.
What was I looking for? The evidence I needed could have been right in my face and I wouldn't even really be sure of what I needed to be focusing on.
An unmarked scroll at the back of the pile, however, caught my attention. I unraveled the beginning, my eyes searching it with unbridled hunger.
A smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth as soon as I saw the name Diesel Ransom.
What are you two up to?
“Thank you. I'll give you a call if I need anything else.” Jax's voice echoed down the hall, and an icy jolt crackled up my spine.
I quickly collected my pouch of ingredients, closed it up, and tied it to my waist. Then quickly, but silently, I closed the cabinet door and scurried over to his desk.
I was in the clear, though the issue was that my heart was pounding like a racehorse’s, and beads of sweat were dripping from my forehead. I was very obviously in a panic. How was I supposed to cover that up?
The office door opened up, leaving me no time to think of a plan.
I turned around, and his eyes met mine. I was done for if I couldn’t come up with something quickly.
“What's with that face? You look almost…guilty,” he joked, but his eyes shifted around the room as if checking to see if something was out of place.
Shit!
“I am guilty of something.” There was no going back after those words. I took a deep breath as I dragged my fingers along the hem of my robe, pulling it aside to grant him an eyeful of my cleavage beneath. “I want you. I know it's terrible of me, you’re a married man, but I don't care. I’m not about to let my conscience stop me from getting what I want…”
He stood there simply watching me for a moment, speechless.
That's it, I'm done. He suspects me…
Until he smiled. “You're one intriguing woman, Emma.” Relief flooded my nerves. “I knew you were something extraordinary from the moment I first met you.”
He moved closer to me, and my skin crawled at the thought of him touching me. Then he dragged his knuckles against my cheek, and my body had a very different reaction.
My breath hitched as sparks of excitement exploded through my veins.
Even my core churned with heat, and I had to press my thighs together to stifle the unbearable feeling.
What the hell?
His striking green eyes, dark with longing, looked deeply into mine as he shook his head slowly. “Now is not a good time, but soon we will be together. You can count on that.”
His eyes cascaded down to the swells on the top of my breasts, and I could tell he’d almost lost control of himself.
“You should go. Now,” he ground out, his voice low and threatening.
“But I thought you had something to tell me.” What was I doing?
I should be running out of here, not make things worse!
“It's not important right now. If you stay a minute longer… Emma, I need you to go.”
I swallowed hard and gave him a nervous nod before leaving his office. It wasn't until I closed the door behind me that I realized my heart was pounding out of my chest.
Oh, Lunaira, what's come over me? I buried my face in my hands, digging my nails into my skin. Get a grip, Lea!
The marking on my shoulder began to burn again as I was once again filled with rage, directed more at myself this time.
I looked up from my hands, my eyes going to the janitorial closet as if by themselves.
I looked over my shoulder to find that the hallway was empty. I made quick work of locking myself in the janitorial closet and turning on the light before plunging my hand into my robe and pulling out the unnamed scroll. I felt so close to the truth I could almost taste it.
My body was so overcome with nervous excitement that I could barely control my shaking hands as I peeled open the scroll.
The parchment was covered in writing—most of which I couldn't understand. There were also symbols on there I'd never seen before.
The most poignant one was of a dagger and thorns.
I bet Akil knows what this is. I'll have to make sure to take this to him tonight.
My eyes found where Diesel Ransom's name appeared on the scroll, and I continued trying to decipher the writing from there, hoping to find a clue of what he was involved in.
Actually, I already knew what he was involved in, we just needed the evidence of it. After all, it was the same thing that had gotten me thrown into prison seventeen years ago.
According to this scroll, Jax’s company was supposed to have net profits closer to millions, but I knew that wasn't the case. So, where was all this money going?
Then my eyes fell to a section that seemed to list different potions. “As per profits derived from facility B (Tenebris locus)...” I read aloud to myself before trailing off. “What in Lunaira’s name is Tenebris locus ?”
I paused to read it over again.
Facility B?
There wasn’t any place like that marked on the blueprint… Unless I’d been right in my suspicion I’d voiced to Rowan a few days ago: Diesel's entire illegal potion-making operation was going on right under our noses, but in a hidden section of this building!
I rolled the scroll back up and tucked it into my robes again.
Let's make it two for two, shall we? I'm willing to bet the entrance to facility B is right here in this closet.
I began looking around.
The closet was rather small and insignificant.
The walls appeared to be made of solid concrete, and there were no physical doors that might lead somewhere else.
Well, maybe not a physical one…
My hand flattened against the left wall, pressing against the cold concrete.
A magical door, however, shouldn’t be overlooked just because it’s complicated to create.
I shut my eyes, and forced my mind to go silent.
I needed all the concentration I could muster.
If there was one thing I remembered from school, it was that magic reacted to magic. If I used my essence, maybe I could sense the invisible door.
My hand glided down the concrete, taking me deeper into the small room.
I continued over the corner and onto the back wall. It was more than a hunch. It was like my hand was being guided.
A crackling sensation began tingling against my fingertips. It encouraged me to keep moving until it felt like I was touching an open flame with my hand—the telltale sign of powerful magic clashing with my essence.
“Found you.” My eyes flew open as I retracted my hand. “Now, how do I pass through?”
Wait, I remember learning about magic doors when Akil was teaching me. Think, Lea! What did he say?
My mind faded to black as I tried to recall the memory.
His voice sounded muffled in my head, but I tried to focus on it. “ A magic door operates the same as a regular one. That is you need a key. It could be something as complex as a spell or as simple as a word. ”
A spell or a word… How am I supposed to figure that out?
I looked around the empty closet as if it was going to give me a hint. Then I placed my hand over my robe, where the scroll resided.
Maybe I already know it.
I locked my eyes on the wall, summoning all the power in my body to commune with the magic before me. Then I cleared my throat and spoke the words that followed with certainty and determination. “ Tenebris locus .”
There was a spark of glowing light at my feet.
My eyes followed that spark as it formed a thin blue line, starting from the floor and moving in an arch over the wall, outlining a doorway.
No way that worked!
As I walked through, I was met by a dark hallway. Luckily, there seemed to be no one around, but there was no guarantee I wouldn't be caught if I continued either.
I was elated. After months of endless searching, I finally found it! I was so excited that I didn't give entering a second thought. It wasn't until the door closed behind me that I began to rethink that decision.
If I got caught here, then the mission would be over. Failing Rowan, my family, and everyone at Ryklira was something I simply couldn’t live with.
I better come back with reinforcements.
I turned around only to find a solid concrete wall where the door had been just a second ago.
“ Tenebris locus ,” I uttered the words again, but nothing happened. I let out a nervous laugh before repeating the words.
Still nothing.
I pressed my hands into the wall as if I expected to pass straight through it at any moment.
Why isn’t it working?!
I tried not to panic, even though the only thing I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. I smacked my hands against the wall before frustration overtook me and I made my forehead collide with it as well.
Dammit, I have no choice now. I need to find another way out.
I turned around and made peace with my fate.
“Here goes nothing,” I murmured to myself, and started making my way down the dark corridor, following only the light at the end of it.
After tiptoeing for a while, I could make out a door ahead of me. A physical one this time.
Once I reached it, I extended my hand out but hesitated after hearing someone speak just on the other end of the door. Thankfully, it sounded like they were moving away.
I waited until I couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore before I pushed open the door, and stepped into the huge potion-making lab.
The room went on so far that I couldn't even see to the end of it.
The walls were made of dark cave rock, not concrete, which likely meant that this facility hadn’t been built as a basement to the building above it. It had probably been here for a while even before that…
Perhaps the company building was built over it?
I moved quietly down the stairs, not seeing anyone in sight until I reached the final step at the bottom. That was when I noticed it…the cage. It was filled with people who wore rags and looked malnourished.
Their skin was dirty, and they looked disheveled. With a jagged boulder stuck in my throat, I walked up to the cage to get a better look at them.
My eyes fixed on a man I recognized.
He’d been in the cell next to me at Ryklira.
Don’t tell me…
The boulder fell to my stomach. It was the only explanation for it—these people had been brought here to be used as test subjects. Rats , the vile investor had put so bluntly at the meeting. Lab rats…
I clutched at my heavily knotted stomach, trying not to throw up.
Did Jax know about this? Why had he defended the prisoners of Ryklira’s so fervently then?
But I did see General Achlys pass a note from her hand to his when they greeted each other the other day. There’s no way he isn’t aware of what's going on.
This only fanned the flames of my volatile hatred for him.
My marking burned like hell.
Fire bellowed up into my chest, and it took everything within me not to shift and go on a rampage. I wanted to not only rip out the throats of the two Ransoms alone anymore. Any person working down here had just earned themselves a spot on my kill list as well. Whether it was directly or not, they were a part of this barbarism.
“Emma? What are you doing down here?”
I knew that voice… I turned to see Kiyan standing behind me with a frown on his face.
“What is this place?” He looked at me, disgusted, as if I was the one responsible for what he saw.
“You’re telling me you know nothing about this? How did you find a way in?” I eyed him suspiciously, finding it hard to believe that he knew absolutely nothing of his father’s disgusting games.
He opened his mouth to respond, but then his eyes went wide at something behind me. “Emma, look out!”
Before I could turn, I felt something stab into the side of my neck. “You’re not supposed to be in here. Now you’re not getting out.”
My body became heavy all of a sudden, and my knees began to wobble.
I stumbled forward, trying to get away, but I ended up heading toward the ground face first. I felt a stinging pain from hitting the floor, but it quickly numbed into nothing at all.