Knowing no sane person would agree to auction valuable jewelry without a major promotion, James asked an obvious question. “How’d you manage to get enough commissions in less than forty-eight hours?”
“We didn’t. Everything going up for sale tonight is owned by us. There are no commissioned lots, but no one else knows that. As far as the public is concerned, it’s just another auction.” After satisfying my cousin’s curiosity, I got on with the plan. “We need to get in and out as fast as possible, just like the last time.” I turned to Hawk. “Keep the spirits under control tonight. I don’t need Mary trying to slit my throat again.”
“I’ll do what I can,” he said with a grim face.
James groaned, but Olivia got a devilish look in her eyes. “Should be an interesting night.”
“I think a bunch of ghosts are the least of our concerns,” Jakob said. “Before we set foot on that island, we need to know that Vikktor and Ryker aren’t on it.”
I smiled slyly. “You’re right. I’ve asked Fetch to keep an eye on the island.”
“Fetch?” The name didn’t seem to register with James.
Olivia nudged him with her foot. “Her familiar. The crow.”
“Ah!”
“He’ll return to the penthouse tonight before we leave and let us know if they’ve left the island, but I’m confident they’ll be at that auction.”
“If they’re hidden in the king’s realm, how is a bird going to know if they’re there or not?” James asked.
It was a valid question, but I think Hawk took a little offense to James’s condescending tone. “Because birds are smart,” he said. “And Fetch is a familiar. They can see things we can’t. Sense things.”
I grinned at James. “You remember my first familiar, don’t you?”
The twins had suffered a run-in with Monoclaude when we were kids. Being a decade older than me, they were in their formative magic-building years and thought it might be interesting to test their will against a frog’s. They found out the hard way that a familiar is nothing to fuck with and spent the next week recovering from debilitating migraines. Monoclaude had taught them both a valuable lesson about never underestimating their opponent.
Neither of my cousins replied.
Samuel, who had been sitting back and letting me take the reins, spoke up. “What makes you so confident he’ll show up at the auction?”
“Because I spoke to Wilson. Someone preregistered online for the auction late last night. A bidder named Vikktor King.”
He laughed. “Well, isn’t that clever.”
“I thought so too. Although I’m a little worried about people recognizing him. Benjamin Fuller I mean. The disgraced senatorial candidate who likes young girls.”
Edward chimed in. “No one will see Benjamin Fuller tonight. They’ll see the real king like I did the night of the fundraiser. Or some other facade. It’s all smoke and mirrors. The real Vikktor is something much darker. Less electable.”
“You mean he’s been using glamour to fool everyone?” I asked.
“Something like that. But he won’t be able to hide from me.”
I just prayed Vikktor would bring his brother along for the fun—and his chief assassin. Our prisoner had said he never went anywhere without Ryker, which eased my mind a bit. Not that I didn’t want to confront my father now that we were on a more level playing field, but tonight wasn’t the time for vengeance. I’d have that soon enough if we found that last box. We’d all get our revenge, including my sister if she wanted it.
“Then we have a plan. As soon as Fetch returns with word that they’ve left the island, we’ll go in.” My confidence started to wane a little when I thought about that invisible realm. I knew exactly where it was, but if I couldn’t breach it, it wouldn’t matter how long Vikktor and the others stayed away. The realm beyond the conservatory was easy to visualize and step into because I knew it intimately, but I knew nothing about Vikktor’s invisible hiding place.
Hawk was watching me drift off in the unnerving thought. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just a little apprehensive about finding my way inside that realm.”
Edward was staring at me when I looked over at him, like he was reading my mind.
“Have you ever actually seen the king’s realm?” I asked him.
He slowly nodded and squinted as if seeing it in his mind. “Like it was yesterday. That place is a palace, which explains why he’s so comfortable on that island.”
A smile began to spread across my face as my confidence returned. “Our chances of finding a way inside will increase significantly if I can see that palace in my mind, and I think I know how.”
The twins left for the auction house to keep an eye on the rubies while the rest of us went back to the penthouse to wait for Fetch. His instructions were to watch until Vikktor and the others were off the island and then return to let us know. I came up with the idea of using Fetch as a conduit. His talent for communicating directly with my mind was about to come in handy again. Through Edward’s memories, Fetch would transfer his images of the king’s realm into my head, giving me the visualizations I needed to enter the dimension.
“There will be guards inside the realm,” Samuel said. “So be prepared to attack the moment you enter. But be very careful, Morgan. That realm is nothing but a thought. A series of vibrations in itself.” He glanced down at my power hand. “If you hit the wrong spot with one of those Molotov cocktails in your palm, you could destroy it. It’ll take that box with it, not to mention you.”
“Well then, my aim better be pretty damn perfect. I’ll make sure the guards get it and not the walls.”
Samuel grinned at me. “You’ve turned into a beast.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The clock was ticking, and I started to get a little nervous about where Fetch was. I wouldn’t have much time to explain the plan to him and figure out how it would all work, let alone determine if it actually would work. I just assumed it would because of Fetch’s uncanny ability to communicate with me telepathically. But it wasn’t just my head he needed to get into. He had to get inside Edward’s first.
Just when I was about to start panicking, I caught a glimpse of Fetch’s shiny black wings fluttering outside the terrace door. We all went outside to greet him.
They’ve left the island. Three of them.
That was one less thing we had to worry about. “Three just left the island,” I told the others. “Let’s hope it’s the right three.”
I quickly explained the plan to Fetch and asked him if it could be done. Without answering, he looked at Edward, and the two of them had a silent conversation for a few minutes.
“Your familiar has just entered my head,” Edward said, still staring at Fetch. “I’m not sure I like the way it feels, but it’s working.”
I’m not thrilled about it myself. Your mind is very dark.
“I heard that,” I told them.
Good. The three of us are in sync. He broke eye contact with Edward and turned to me. I’ll be near tonight. When the time is right, call for me. I’ll alert Edward and bridge the memories between the two of you.
A wave of relief washed over me. If Fetch had said it couldn’t be done, we would have had a fifty-fifty chance at best of getting inside that realm.
“You better get going,” I said to Edward. “The auction starts in half an hour.”
He headed for the elevator. “I’ll text you as soon as they show up at the auction house.”
Before telling Jules it was time, I pulled Hawk aside. “If I don’t make it back tonight—”
“Don’t even say that!” His eyes were cold, but I knew it was fear. He knew the risk as well as I did.
“Let me finish. If I don’t come out of there, you need to promise me you won’t go back to Selene. She’s using you for something.”
His laugh was bitter. “You think I’d return to the woman who killed my sister? The only way she’ll
ever see me again is if I decide to kill her.”
I looked in his eyes but decided not to try to dissuade him from doing something I would have done myself if I were in his shoes. “And promise me you’ll keep an eye on Jules. If we fail tonight, she’ll be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.”
“We need to get on with it,” Samuel said.
Jules was standing next to him, gripping her wrist and nervously rubbing it with her thumb. I wanted to tell her she didn’t have to do this, but that wasn’t true. I needed her blood to ensure that my senses and powers were at their peak tonight. And though I might have been able to get in there and defeat the guards without it, too much was riding on our success, including her own life.
“Ready?” I asked with a forced chipper tone.
A nervous laugh burst from her mouth. “As I’ll ever be.” She held out her arm and looked away, kind of like you do before getting stuck with a needle.
I took her wrist and looked at the others. “If this goes the way it did the last time, you might have to meet me there. At the dock.”
Samuel started to say something, but I ignored his objection and gently pierced her skin with my descending fangs. Like before, Hawk had to catch her as the sensation made her legs go weak. My mind exploded in that familiar array of colors, followed by an intense rush that blocked out everything around me, causing me to lose all sense of space and time.
Suddenly the world grew brighter, and I found myself going over the side of the wall, the night sky disappearing as I stepped from here to there. When the world returned, I was standing on the island, staring at a group of angry faces.
Chapter 29
“Where the hell have you been?” Samuel hissed under his breath.
I stared at him, bewildered, as he pointed at his watch to show me how much time we’d lost. It was almost nine o’clock, and I had no idea where I’d been for over an hour. Without waiting for me to reply, he headed for the trampled path we’d taken the last time we were here.
Following him, I reached into my pocket and saw Edward’s text confirming that Vikktor, Malachai, and Ryker had shown up at the auction a few minutes after it started. Now we just had to make up for lost time and hope we found that box before they realized those jewels were never going to be sold. There was no backup plan.
I headed for Hawk, who was leading us through the thicket of overgrown brush, noting how disorienting it was just days after we’d walked this same path. He looked at me, his brows tightly pulled together, but I ignored his unspoken question because I didn’t have an answer for where I’d been.
On our way past the house with the dead vines cascading down the facade, the one where the woman in green dwelled, I spotted two apparitions walking past a broken window on the second floor. But these figures were taller and stockier than Mary. These were men, and they were carrying something in their hands I couldn’t make out.
Hawk spotted them too. “The butchers,” he whispered.
I didn’t want to know what he meant by that, so I looked away from the house and focused on the dark shrubs and trees that seemed to go on forever. We came to a wall of bushes a few minutes later and pushed our way through the tangled limbs, spotting the hospital a dozen yards away.
Samuel pointed to the entrance on the left side of the building and whispered, “We’ll circle around to make sure there are no guards in the north wing. You and Hawk take the other side. We’ll meet up in the main hall.”
He left with Jakob, and Hawk and I made our way around the building toward the remains of the crematory. The round metal hatches of the oven chambers had been opened, revealing black holes where bodies riddled with disease had been burned for decades. They looked eerily like giant eyes on the wall.
“Who opened them?” I whispered.
“The butchers are out. The ones who used to collect the dead.”
He kept walking, and I pulled my eyes away from the dark holes lining what remained of the crematory wall. We stepped into the large room adjacent to the theater. It seemed darker than I remembered, but the wall the guard had walked straight through was brightly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the broken windows.
A few minutes later, Samuel and Jakob came down the main hallway and indicated that the north wing was clear.
“Where is it?” Samuel whispered.
I pointed across the room, and the four of us crept along the decaying plaster wall that leaned at a dangerous angle, ready to cave in from the slightest movement. We stopped about ten feet away from the spot where the guard had vanished.
Hawk stared at me with wary eyes. I smiled at him weakly, but it did nothing to relieve the fear on his face.
Inhaling sharply, I looked at the three of them before heading for the wall, but Hawk grabbed my arm. “I’m going with you.” The look in his eyes told me he’d made up his mind and no amount of shaking my head would deter him. I wasn’t even sure if I could bring him into the king’s realm with me, but it was just another form of traveling, and I’d brought him along for the ride before.
Jakob looked at me with a stern gaze. “Be careful, Mora.”
I smiled and squeezed his hand. Then I headed for the wall with Hawk right behind me.
My hand started to heat up as we got closer to the spot. I clenched my fist several times to stoke the energy and closed my eyes to call Fetch, but before I could say his name, a door appeared in my mind. My eyes popped open, and it was right in front of me. A door that appeared to be as tangible as the wall itself.
Hawk and I looked at each other and then back at the door. “Do you see it?” I whispered, wondering if it was all in my head. He nodded and glanced at the others, but they seemed oblivious to it.
I turned the knob and slowly opened it, wincing as it began to squeak like a tiny mouse getting its tail stepped on. Taking a deep breath, I swung it open, but all we saw on the other side where the rows of broken seats we’d seen when we were here before.
“What the hell’s going on?” Hawk muttered.
We stepped inside and looked at all the debris littering the floor and the windows framed with shards of broken glass. Despite it appearing out of nowhere, it was just a regular door that led from the main hall to the theater. There was no king’s realm on the other side.
We were about to walk back out when I spotted something across the room on the stage. It was a box, but it wasn’t the one we were looking for. This one was much larger.
After surveying the large space and seeing no signs of guards, I walked across the room and climbed up the steps to the top of the stage. The box was about three feet square and painted red. I glanced cautiously around the theater again, my heart beating wildly, and then reached for the latch on the top. Fearing something would jump out, I lifted it slowly. Nestled inside was a smaller box. This one was painted blue.
“I don’t like this?” Hawk said. “It doesn’t feel right.”
Samuel and Jakob appeared at the door and stepped inside, both sporting looks of confusion. I motioned for them to stay back when they started to walk toward us.
Hawk and I carefully lifted out the blue box, which was slightly smaller than the red one, and set it on the stage. I got down on my knees and opened it to find a third box painted gold. “Someone is playing a game with us.” My eyes shot to every corner of the room.
“What is it?” Samuel asked, taking a few steps closer despite my warning to stay back.
I reached for the gold box and opened it. Inside was another one, but this one was very old and had symbols covering the top and sides. It began to glow when I touched it, and I knew it was the third box.
But it was all too easy.
A voice filled my head. Get off the island! It’s a trap! It was Fetch’s voice, but the words were Edward’s.
I grabbed the box and jumped off the stage. Hawk was right behind me.
“Run!” I yelled to Samuel and Jakob.
The door vanished before any of us could make it out.
We headed to the left where the entire wall was collapsed, but our escape route was suddenly blocked by an elaborately painted fresco. All the dilapidated walls had transformed into works of art, and the theater lit up with bright lights as half a dozen crystal chandeliers glittered above us. Under our feet appeared a fine Turkish rug that stretched from one end of the theater to the other, not a pile of debris or a broken chair in sight. We’d found the king’s realm.
“You didn’t think we’d leave such a precious box unattended, did you?” I turned around and saw a man with black hair and matching eyes grinning at me with an amused look on his face. Ryker and Malachai were standing next to him. “Not after your visit the other night. The walls have eyes.”
“Mary,” Hawk growled under his breath.
“Yes,” Vikktor said. “Among others. The inhabitants of the island have been very cooperative. I have to give you credit, Morgan. Dangling the rubies was very clever. I’ll be collecting them from you soon. Then I’m going to find out how you stole them.”
I glanced at Ryker, tempted to tell Vikktor who the real thief was. But he’d never believe me. For now, that little secret would be stashed away in my arsenal for reckoning day.
Ryker shot me a wicked grin because he knew it too. “It’s about time you found your way back to me. I can assure you, you’ll never leave me again.”
Jakob took a step forward, his eyes filled with hate, but Samuel stopped him.
Ryker glanced at him. “You’ve done a fair job of raising my daughter, but I’ll take it from here.”
My hand burned as my anger swelled. “Like hell!” I hurled a ball of light at his throat. It spun through the air but slowed down halfway across the room, fizzling until it was reduced to a sphere of cracking light. A second later, it fell to the ground and burned a hole in the rug before extinguishing.
Vikktor rushed me so fast I didn’t have time to react. Two of his guards grabbed Hawk as he tried to stop him. Ryker gave a nod to the corner of the room, and many more guards appeared out of nowhere to hold Samuel and Jakob in place. Too many for them to fight off.
Savage Sons (House of Winterborne Book 2) Page 24
