Tangled Minds (Society of Exalted Minds Book 1)
Page 23
Turning in the direction of the staircase, we followed Travis up the stairs. Standing at the top, Travis gestured to his right and we turned into the upstairs hallway. The paint color from downstairs continued up here, along with the hardwood floors. They were scuffed and scarred—charming evidence of a well-loved home.
I sucked a breath in when I looked into the first small bedroom that we came to. It was painted a soft pink and a canopy bed sat in the middle of the room surrounded by white furniture. Stuffed animals, books, and toys were in bins lining the walls. There looked to be an attached bathroom and single closet. The windows were draped in white lace curtains and looked out over the front lawn.
It had been my room, and it looked to be preserved just as it was the day I’d left it.
“I’ll take this room,” Willow said, then quickly looked at me. “That is, um, if you don’t mind. I’ll probably paint it.”
Did I mind? It wasn’t very big, and I felt no connection to the space.
“I just thought since it had its own bathroom ...” Willow was still speaking, and I realized my silence made her afraid that her request somehow hurt my feelings.
“No, of course,” I waved off. “It’s fine. Maybe we can box this stuff up and store it with the rest of the stuff or up in the attic, um, assuming there’s an attic.”
“There is,” Travis confirmed. “I would have done that ahead of your arrival, Olivia, but I thought maybe seeing it as you left it might help you with some memories. You were so young when you lived here.”
“Thank you,” I said to my uncle. “That was very considerate.” I really had no opinion about it one way or the other, but it seemed the thing to say.
Across from my old room was a full bathroom, and at the end of the hall, there was another bedroom and a room that had been converted into an office space. Miles claimed the other bedroom. The office would be handy when we wanted to resume school. Willow, Jagger, and I all had to finish high school still, but we’d get to that in due time once we were settled in.
We followed my uncle to the other end of the hall to find the master bedroom. Stepping inside, this room felt like home. It was a large space with a queen-sized sleigh bed in the center of one wall. The dressers and end tables were all mismatched. Some were wood stained, and some were painted green or blue. The room had a feel to it of being furnished at a garage sale, but that was oddly charming. There was a small bathroom attached with a shower and a nice-sized walk-in closet for all the clothes we didn’t have.
When I walked to a third door and tried to open it, I found it to be locked. With a raised brow, I turned to look at my uncle. “That room will open when you’re ready to see what’s inside,” he said. Frowning I looked over to Jagger, who shrugged in return. “It’s magically sealed.”
“I’m ready to see what’s in there now,” I replied.
“If you were, it would have opened.”
“I don’t understand. Do you know what’s in it?”
“I have a general idea,” he said. “Your father was a witch, Olivia. When they left with you, he knew there was a possibility that he wouldn’t be coming back, so he sealed it with a spell that can only be broken when you’re ready. I can’t get in there. No one can, only you.”
“Are you saying the house decides when I can get into a locked room?” Why I continued to be surprised by anything that happened was beyond me. This man had just told me my father was a witch and had magically sealed a room. How exactly did one wrap their mind around that?
“No, Eric decided,” Travis explained. “He wanted you to have certain knowledge before you went into that room. I don’t know what it is or what he was thinking when he cast the spell. Maybe the answers lay beyond that door, but until his appointed time, it stays locked.”
“That has to be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Miles said. “And we’ve heard a lot of whacked stuff in the last week.”
Jagger tipped his head to the side and addressed my uncle. “Have you tried to get in it?”
“Of course, I have.” I appreciated my uncle’s candor in his answer. “As have other members of the family. We thought maybe there would be clues in there about their murders. But it is only for Olivia to open.”
I looked over to Jagger. I wonder how long it will take until I’m no longer freaked out about sleeping next to a mysterious room we can’t get into.
“Right? Maybe when you’re not freaked out anymore that’s when it’ll open.”
“If you don’t need anything else, I’m going to go now and let you get settled. I don’t want to be too smothering or anything. I’ll be back in the morning, probably with your aunt.”
I had an aunt? That was a ridiculous thought. Obviously, I had more family here than just him. Did I really think it was just my uncle and I in the world? No. It made sense that there were probably other aunts, uncles, and even cousins here.
“That sounds good.” My voice came across to me that it was anything but good, but I didn’t think we’d just be allowed to settle in and live here without some discussions. Besides, we all had questions for each other. It sounded like we probably had a few days before we had to meet with the whole council, but my family wasn’t going to wait that long.
Nodding to me, my uncle left the room. It was just the four of us in our new home and we all looked at each other apprehensively with the same sort of ‘What now?’ expression.
“I’ll start moving the food in from the RV,” Willow drawled out slowly, poking a thumb over her shoulder.
“Yeah, I think I’ll start getting my stuff out of my car and check on the cat.” Miles added.
They both cleared the room, leaving me and Jagger standing there in our new bedroom—the one that had belonged to my parents. I was probably conceived in that very bed.
That was a gross thought.
Jagger looked around the room then stepped toward me. “As houses go, it’s not too shabby.”
“Bigger than the cabin I shared with my grand—with Jeremiah.”
Drawing me loosely into his arms, he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I think it’s okay to still think of him as your grandfather. He loved you, and maybe he wasn’t forthcoming with everything you ... we needed to know, but he got you where you needed to be.”
I leaned in close to Jagger and pressed my cheek to his chest, inhaling deeply of his scent. These last months were the craziest of my life and he never faltered, not even once. I could never have made it through any of this without him.
Content, I listened to the healthy beat of his heart. I stayed there, closing my eyes and matching my breathing to his before I felt his lips next to my ear. He pressed his lips right below it before he whispered, “Welcome home, Supergirl.”
THE END
ALSO WRITTEN BY A.M. MAHLER
Grayson Falls Series
The Good Race
The Slow Lane
The Perfect Game
Breaking Free
Second Chances
Revved
Guardian of Eternal Life Series
The Guardian
The Scholar
Society of Exalted Minds Series
Tangled Minds
Coming 2021:
Last One Standing
The Healer
A.M. MAHLER
Anne Marie Mahler is a contemporary, fantasy, and YA fantasy romance author. She writes with quick-wit, laughs, sigh-worthy moments, and all the rest of feels. When she’s not creating your next favorite book she enjoys reading, quilting, annoying her teenage son and husband and generally being a slug with her two dogs and one cat.
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