Richard thought about it, still looking suspicious that I had an ulterior motive, but he finally nodded, turning around to resume a normal walk, answering me over his shoulder.
“Vlad Dracul…” he began, collecting his thoughts in a lecturing tone, “made a deal with a devil for power—and was cursed with vampirism for his meddling. Other than the obvious, he was also a collector. Built a secluded castle where he could hide his treasures from prying eyes. Not a lot of neighbors,” he added dryly. “They just kept disappearing.”
I smiled faintly. Right. “So…much like Solomon, then,” I said casually.
Richard’s shoulders stiffened, but he didn’t look back at me as he took a deep, calming breath. “I hadn’t thought of it in quite that way before, but yes,” he admitted. “They’re practically identical. Except for the devil bit, of course.” I ignored his deadpan tone.
“What might Dracula have collected over the years that could interest someone today?”
He slowed, turning to look at me again. “I’m not sure what’s really going on here, but if you have a specific question, or care to fill me in on the details, I can probably be a lot more helpful.”
“You probably could,” I agreed, gazing past him, “If I was asking a specific question or cared to fill you in on the details.”
He stopped abruptly, his lips curling upwards in a snarl.
I paused, arching an eyebrow at him. “Did you have…a question?” I asked, emphasizing the last word to remind him what he had agreed to a few minutes ago on the balcony.
He gritted his teeth, face growing darker, but he shook his head stiffly and turned on his heel, resuming his walk. It was a full minute, and a few turns from the main hallway before he answered my question. “Everything in his collection would be desirable. It’s why he collected it in the first place. It depends on what you are interested in,” he said, voice tight with anger. “But it doesn’t really matter what anyone wants. His castle is a puzzle. Those who enter die or are never seen from again. I’m not sure I’ve ever actually met anyone who survived it. Some have entered the guest areas by invitation, but Dracula’s Castle dwarfs even this place. It’s like saying you survived Solomon’s Temple when you really just sipped tea on the balcony,” he said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder back the way we had come.
I pursed my lips thoughtfully. Interesting. What was Roland up to?
“We’re here,” he said, halting before a tall oaken door covered in a woodland motif of trees, wild beasts, fairies, a cave standing atop a hill, and a calm, secluded pond.
“You better pick me up something cool,” Claire muttered.
Chapter 39
I frowned at the door, wondering if the carving itself held any special significance or if it was just an elaborate piece of art. It had taken a long time to create, down to the finest details on the fairies’ wings and their twinkling eyes. I sensed no specific magic, though, so turned to Richard, patiently waiting for him to open it.
“I remember the way back,” Claire said helpfully into the thick silence.
I held up a hand. “This is an invasion, according to the lease agreement, right? We need permission to enter their space. Don’t we?”
Richard nodded stiffly. “Like I said. Dangerous.”
I turned to Claire. “Mind sticking around here for a while? We shouldn’t be long, but you can keep the door open for us. In the off chance any of Nate’s friends are in the Armory and see me as a demon, I’d rather make a run for it than fight them.”
She nodded slowly, not having considered that, even though I’d shared my plan with her on the balcony. To be honest, the thought had only hit me as we walked through the Temple, as I had been testing Richard’s patience.
“It’s still part of Solomon’s Temple, though,” Claire said. “Maybe you won’t look like a demon over there.” None of us knew why my disguise wasn’t apparent here. Richard hadn’t seen it at all, of course, and he had other reasons to be concerned. Like my frosty attitude towards him and my mysterious guy friend from the alley.
I shrugged. “Maybe isn’t going to keep a werewolf from ripping my face off.”
Claire’s fists balled up at her sides, her anger and protectiveness jumping to life at the casual mention of very likely danger just three feet away. She slowly turned her threatening glare to Richard. “You better keep her safe, pussycat. Or we’re going to have a problem.”
He rolled his eyes. “What is up with you two?” he finally asked. “Have you both forgotten that I pledged my life to her?” he demanded, pointing at me.
I studied him thoughtfully, keeping my face blank. “You can do illusions, Richard. And not considering your version of events for a moment, I thought someone cast an illusion on me to make me look like a demon. Then you return, and suddenly that illusion is gone. And you have a wildly different story that no one else can corroborate.” I shrugged, having spoken in a tone that didn’t accuse him of being a liar, but simply stated contradicting facts.
Regardless of my caution, Richard looked as if I’d just punched him in the jaw for saying good morning to me. Then, understanding and concern dawned as he realized I was right. Or at least that I wasn’t wrong. I’d checked him earlier for a bond to me—upon seeing him return from tending to Solomon—but it had been a flimsy line of power compared to what I shared with Claire. And I didn’t want a bond born from prior obligation, carried over to me out of an antiquated sense of duty. I wanted his bond for myself. So, taking a page from Qinglong, I wanted to extend our lease, so to speak. To know—not assume—that we were on the same page.
Too much was at risk.
“If you doubt me,” Richard rasped in a barely restrained growl, “tell me to my face, but you better also be ready to tell me what you need me to do to rectify that doubt.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, locking eyes with him. “You want to have my trust?”
He nodded resolutely. “Yes, Callie. I. Do,” he growled defiantly.
“Then suck my blood,” I told him without hesitation, cutting the pad of my finger on the dagger Claire had given to me on the balcony. Silver-ish red blood beaded up on the small wound. I was startled to see that the silver color was visible. It wasn’t always the case, and I hadn’t discovered what made it come into play or not.
Richard stood there with his mouth hanging open, momentarily thrown for a loop.
Without missing a beat, Claire suddenly grabbed my wrist, stuck my finger in her mouth, and lapped up the blood. Her eyes instantly sprang wide and she jumped backwards, her shoulders momentarily rigid. She flexed her fingers absently and managed to relax her shoulders before meeting my eyes with a stunned look. I watched her, just as surprised. What the hell had that been all about?
Her voice shook slightly. “I…think the silver struck me on a genetic level,” she breathed. “It hurt for a second, but it’s gone now, thank god. I didn’t even consider that aspect.”
I shivered. She was right. Shifters weren’t fans of silver, which meant my blood was actually silver, rather than just looking like silver. I’d already told her about the bond of light between us, so she hadn’t needed to do this. Then again, she knew how badly I wanted to trust Richard—especially after what he’d told me in private—so she had volunteered herself without hesitation. Also, it offered the alpha-male a challenge he could recognize after having to suffer through our female mental gymnastics for the past few hours.
Or, in man-speak…a gauntlet thrown. Time to man up. Do you even lift, bro?
I closed my eyes for a moment, focusing on the cord of light I had seen on the balcony with Claire. And I almost gasped with joy to see it was now crackling with silver sparks like a sparkler! Apparently, my blood was a little bit more potent these days compared to when we had been in our wonder years.
Another thought hit me as I opened my eyes, slightly dampening my momentary joy. That the cord of power between us looked awfully similar to what I had seen extending to Roland’s
vampires and wolves. I suppressed that thought with a shudder, turning to Richard.
Claire was staring at him with a smug look. “Too pussy to try it?” she teased.
He narrowed his eyes at her, drawing up his resolve until it felt like a physical presence wrapped around his shoulders. He didn’t break eye contact with me as he approached, gently lifted my finger to his lips, and licked up a drop of my silver blood. He grimaced distastefully, swallowing several times. “Not as good as the red kind, but it will do in a pinch.”
It was interesting to see that silver didn’t have an effect on him like it had with Claire—like it would with any shifter.
“Was something significant supposed to happen?” he asked coldly.
I closed my eyes, checking the bond between us…
And a warm smile split my cheeks. A thick, pulsing, white and blue cord of light connected us—much stronger than earlier. I opened my eyes and let out a breath.
“Thank you,” I told him. “I learned some frightening things in my mother’s laboratory…and I needed to be sure of your loyalty. I’m sure now,” I said, smiling.
Richard nodded, some of his temper cooling at mention of my mother. “Oh. I didn’t realize…” he trailed off, frowning at a new thought. “Did she say I was untrustworthy” he asked, sounding wounded.
I held up my hands in a calming gesture as I shook my head adamantly. “No. The opposite, in fact,” I reassured him. “It’s just…there are some bad things coming our way soon, and I was informed that I really needed to verify where everyone stands before the bullets start flying. That simple promises and words wouldn’t be enough. That they could be easily broken.” I was silent for a few seconds, letting him digest that.
He finally nodded. “That makes sense. And you thought blood was some kind of lie detector?” he asked, not in a mocking tone but a thoughtful one.
I nodded. “My blood apparently is.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, you were right to check,” he finally said. Then he grinned. “Does this mean you can now tell me about the…flesh-stached man you met?”
Despite his humor, I gave it serious thought. “You have to promise not to be upset…” He nodded eagerly. “My mom brought a dragon home. He lives in her lab. But he’s nice, and he knows how to help Solomon.”
Richard’s face paled with concern and…well a whole slew of emotions, flickering from one to another like he was having a seizure.
I held up a hand. “He won’t talk to anyone but me, and no one can enter without me. But what he did to Solomon was under my mother’s orders. Anyone trying to enter her lab without me gets hit with the thorns,” I said, fudging the truth a little bit.
He sputtered wordlessly, struggling to verbalize a coherent string of letters or sounds.
“I think he’s about to cough up a hairball,” Claire said, taking a step back.
“The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can look into healing Solomon,” I reminded Richard, eyeing the door.
He finally took a deep breath, shaking his head. “You are just as infuriating as your mother was.”
I curtsied politely.
He glanced up at the door as if gathering his courage. “Why are we really going in there? Because I don’t believe it’s about shopping. Why do you need to see Nate Temple?”
I took a measured breath. “I need to murder Hope…”
Claire made an unpleasant sound behind me, but I paid her no attention, my mind already made up. I had given this a lot of thought—not even counting the cryptic advice and hints I had been given, like murdering hope to gain an army of ninjas.
Another perk of having an Armory next door might be that I actually could rent some of those items. Powerful, dangerous items. Artifacts and weapons deemed too powerful to leave out in circulation. They shouldn’t be left on shelves to collect dust. Maybe there was something in the Armory that was strong enough to break down Roland’s barrier—or at least the front door of his church.
“Okay. You sure about this?” Richard asked after a few moments. “If you trust me, of course.” He flashed me a teasing smirk, taking the sting out of the question.
I nodded, squaring my shoulders. “Let’s do it. Claire, keep this door open in case we need to run back through.”
Claire nodded, and Richard opened the door. Dust fell as it opened, and the loud creaking sound seemed to echo for miles—both inside Solomon’s Temple and the Armory. Soft, ambient light shone from the hallway ahead of us, the walls more of a sandstone than the white marble on this side of the door. Then again, my mother’s lab had different stone as well. I’d briefly visited the Armory before, but I hadn’t known I was the landlord back then.
No monsters or friends of Nate jumped out at us, and I let out a breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. I stepped through the door at the same time as Richard, keeping my eyes alert. I opened my mouth to tell Richard where we needed to start our search…
And Pandora rounded the corner, coming to an abrupt halt to blink at us a few times.
“Oh, dear. Look at what the cat dragged in,” she said, eyeing the two of us.
She lifted a hand and the door slammed shut behind us.
“Shit,” I muttered, ignoring the sounds of Claire pounding her fists on the other side of the door. I stared at Pandora—one of the most dangerous people I had ever heard about.
Her box was famous for all the wrong reasons…
Her eyes twinkled in anticipation, practically glittering with malevolence.
Chapter 40
Pandora wore a sheer, practically transparent, toga that left one shoulder bare, toed the line between covering her breasts and emphasizing her side boobs, and finally ended just above her knees like a summer dress. Her skin was the color of warm caramel, and her hair glistened as if in sunlight, despite us being in a dim hallway. Her eyes glittered with wisdom—both the kind you wanted to learn and the kind you fled screaming from.
She smiled warmly at Richard. “Landlord,” she said, curtsying deeply, barely dodging a wardrobe malfunction.
He smiled back politely, keeping his eyes averted from her body in a chivalric attempt at decency, hiding his uneasiness behind class. “My lady,” he said with a formal bow.
I suddenly realized that I was way overdressed for this pajama party compared to her Pandora’s Secret negligee and Dick Heffner’s robe.
She turned to me, eyeing me up and down appraisingly. “Landlady,” she said politely at the base of another curtsy. “Glad to finally have you back where you belong. I hate it when things just wander off. I swear, sometimes I feel like I’m herding cats.” She absently caressed a leather belt hanging over her forearm as she spoke.
I let out a breath of relief. “I thought you were going to kill us,” I admitted, having feared she would see me as a demon like everyone in Kansas City.
“On principle, it isn’t advisable to kill one’s landlady, Callie.”
I gave her a genuine smile, my gaze absently settling on the leather strap laying across her forearm. My smile slowly faltered, ultimately turning into an outright frown. I pointed at it, my hand shaking. “Where did you get that?” I whispered, suddenly recognizing it. It was the sheathe from my mother’s lab. The piece that had disappeared when I had spoken my name.
Excalibur.
She smiled. “It returned a short while ago—a safety precaution either your parents or Nate’s parents must have put in place. I’ll keep it safe until you’re ready to deliver it in person,” she said. “And you’ll need to give it to him willingly, like I did.”
I nodded woodenly, realizing I wasn’t quite sure how to take any of her three statements. “Who…do you want me to give it to?” I finally asked, picking one.
She grinned from ear-to-ear. “That’s the spirit, sister!” she cheered, licking her lips.
I replayed the words in my mind and immediately felt my cheeks heating up. “That wasn’t what I meant!” I hissed, realizing it sounded downright scand
alous in the wrong context.
“Oh. I must have missed that memo,” she said. “When it was my turn to give it to him, I gave it to him in a hot tub.” And this time, her smile was in no way innocent, cute, or playful. It was downright feral and dripping with heat.
My face blushed furiously, entirely crimson. I was sure of it.
She smiled at me. “Oh, I get it now! You think I’m talking about Nate!” she hooted. Then she held up a hand, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, I would never bang a Master,” she said, chuckling.
I shuddered at the look in her eyes, wondering how literal she was being with the last part. She wouldn’t bang Master Temple or…one of the bad Masters Qinglong warned me about?
I steadily regained control of my breathing. “Why do I need to deliver it?” I asked. “Can’t you do it for me? The sheathe obviously chose you for a reason. I’ve apparently been carrying it around for a long time, circling the block without an address.”
Pandora was already shaking her head. “You need to officially bequeath Excalibur to the King, relinquishing your claim to it.” She lifted the leather and sniffed it loudly. “It still smells like your soul,” she explained, carefully placing it back on her forearm. “And something else I can’t quite place,” she added, pensively tapping her lips. “In any case, it’s tainted with whatever lady musk you have going on. It needs to be cleansed. Freely given to the King.”
I shook my head, dismissing the lady musk comment as I stared into her eyes. “Did you help Nate’s parents do this to me?”
Pandora studied me thoughtfully. “I always do as I’m told.”
I scowled at her, tapping my foot impatiently.
Pandora dipped her chin in acknowledgment, carefully considering her words. “Know that Calvin and Makayla Temple did their best—what they thought was best. Always. No matter the cost. They always took the path less traveled, and that has made all the difference…”
Feathers and Fire Series Box Set 2 Page 77