The Red Door
The Eternal Artifacts book two
Heather Kindt
Copyright © 2020 by Heather Kindt
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* This book contains adult content that might to be suitable for children under 16.
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1
“Carter Delgado Reyes.”
My boyfriend ran up the stairs, graduation gown opened to a t-shirt and Nike shorts. The number six attached to his cap in shiny duct tape.
The entire football team gave him a standing ovation as he grabbed his diploma and then proceeded to lift his gown and pull down his shorts to moon the crowd. I slouched lower in my chair, covering my eyes. His reckless behavior had increased tenfold since we’d returned home.
Blocking the sun with my hand, I scanned the graduates behind me. About five rows back, Brek held up his diploma and gave me a thumbs-up. By some miraculous power, I’d been able to catch up on the work I’d missed over the two weeks we’d been gone—with his help, of course.
After the ceremony, two girls I occasionally talked to through my four years of high school came over to give me a hug. I searched again for Brek in the sea of green and white. He wasn’t too hard to find because of his sticky-note-laden graduation cap. To celebrate our special day, we’d decorated each other’s caps. On each note, I had written a memory of something we did or a stupid thing he had said during high school.
Because he had the creative skills of a gnat, Brek had attached an album from Spinners, the record shop where I worked, to the top of mine. To his credit, it was the Ramones, which my boss, Ricky, had been begging me to listen to for over a year.
“This is it, Covington.” Brek wrapped me in his arms and lifted me off the ground and spun me around.
I whacked him on the arm. “Put me down, Matthews.”
After setting me down, he drew a set of keys out of his pocket. “I’ve got your graduation gift.”
“You got me the Jeep of my dreams?” I snatched the key ring out of his hand. “Aww… you didn’t have to.”
“We’re paid up for a year. I’m moving in this afternoon.”
In the crowd by the bleachers, Carter was surrounded by his Worthington Heights friends—the ones from the rich side of town who still had no idea we were dating. The head cheerleader hung all over his arm; her fingers dug into his bicep. I cringed, flexing my own three-headed monster jealousy muscle.
Brek followed my line of vision. “Why’s he been such an asshole lately?”
“He’s going through some stuff at home.” A month ago, I’d never defend someone from the wealthy side of Worthington, but Carter wasn’t like the other guys I knew. Sure, he was the quarterback on Worthington’s football team, drove a BMW, and had perfected the girlfriend-of-the-week club, but over the past five weeks, I’d come to know a different Carter. It sounds cliché, but he went in one door and came out another.
I wouldn’t have believed it myself five weeks ago, when I had thought my best friend, Brekken Matthews, was headed off to college, leaving me behind to work for minimum wage at a dying record store. It had all started with a flyer and a game—a game with high stakes and killer prize money.
And here we were, ten thousand dollars richer, ready to move out of our parents’ homes and into a place of our own. Because we couldn’t tell our parents the truth about the game we were playing. The truth that every time we entered a door in the white hallway beneath the Rosenbaum mansion, our lives were at risk.
“Congratulations, honey.” My dad walked up with his arms spread wide. Brek’s mom, Tracy, was beside him with a huge smile on her face.
As I hugged my dad, Brek lifted his mom off the ground and spun her like he’d done with me. She’d really been a good sport about the two of us running away three weeks before graduation and then getting an apartment together. My dad was furious and threatened to disown me when I brought up the whole apartment thing. Of our two parents, Tracy definitely understood teenagers better. If my mom had been here, she’d probably encourage us to elope to an exotic place. My mom, the free spirit, was no longer a part of my life. I think my dad saw too much of her in me.
I stared across the sea of graduates again. Carter horsed around for a few more seconds before he caught me looking. He nodded in my direction and disappeared behind the bleachers.
“I’ll be by later to help you move.” I wrapped my arms around Brek and squeezed. “Congratulations, roomie.”
“Congratulations, Megan.” Tracy gave me a tight hug. “Your dad and I would like to take the two of you out to celebrate tonight, if you’re free.”
“If we get Brek’s stuff moved in, then that sounds great.”
“I’ll see you later.” Brek removed his cap and held it in his hands.
I couldn’t deal with the fact that he appeared sad as I disappeared into the crowd of graduates. I walked in a different direction at first, in case he was watching, and then circled back around to the other end of the bleachers and ducked beneath them. Carter sat against one of the supports, a beer can in his hand. God, he was good-looking.
When I sat down next to him, he passed me the can and I took a sip.
He scooted closer, taking the beer and setting it on a concrete support. Without a word, he ran his fingers through the blue streak weaving through my blonde strands. His brown eyes were on mine as he pushed my hair behind me, his fingers lingering on my shoulder.
Not wanting to wait another second, I clenched the material of his gown in my fists and pulled him to me. Our lips locked in another fit of passion. He hiked up my gown, his hand running up and down my thigh. I slapped it away, never straying from our kiss.
It had been this way for three weeks. My father grounded me after I disappeared. I told him I ran away with Brek, when in reality, we were playing Rosenbaum’s game. Since then, Carter and I found every opportunity to steal away in janitor closets, empty bathrooms, and even in the field house shed. But he never acknowledged me in public. It would be social suicide for him. If his dad found out he was dating a girl from the Dump, the name affectionately given to the poor side of town, he’d send Carter off to his Ivy League college for summer classes.
He retreated slightly, his lips still lightly touching mine. “How are we going to live together, Covington?”
Normally, I’d punch him for calling me by my last name, a right I only reserved for Brek, but in the heat of the present moment, I gave him leeway for not calling me Meg. “I’m sure Brek would volunteer to sleep between us.”
“Funny.” He rested his forehead against mine. “Besides, the guy’s got serious attachment issues.”
“He’s looking out for me.” I never brought up my kiss with Brek when we returned home three weeks ago. For me, it was a way to get my dad to believe us, but I still worried that Brek took it as something else. I’d buried the incident under layers of regret and shame.
“I’d say he’s looking out for what he wants.” He leaned into me, his lips touching mine. “It’s too bad that it’s what I want, too.”
I pushed away from him, my hand on his chest. “And what was with the mooning, anyway? You’re going to be in so much trouble with your
parents.”
“Exerting my independence. They weren’t here, anyways.” He shrugged and picked up his beer. “You’ve got to admit, I have a nice ass.”
“Exerting your independence also includes throwing three wild pool parties when your parents are gone, covering the floor of the principal’s office with thousands of ping pong balls, and crashing your BMW?”
“You weren’t supposed to know about all that.” He tilted back his can and gulped down several mouthfuls.
“What’s going on? Because right now, you don’t seem like someone who has his head in the game.” I took the can from him before he could take another drink. “Brek and I are focused on the Red Door. We’ve had our bags packed for two weeks.”
“I don’t know.” He picked up a stick and outlined his shoe in the sand. “People died behind the Green Door. Good people. What if something happens to us? My dad will be ticked if he has to pay for my funeral.”
“This is what this is about? You’re scared?”
“No… well, yes.” He scooped a pebble and tossed it at a nearby tree in the woods on the far end of the bleachers. “I thought if I acted like a jerk, maybe you’d break up with me. You’re a low tolerance woman.”
“You want to break up with me?” Hadn’t we been making out a minute ago?
“No!” Carter hung his head. “I can’t break up with you. I care about you too much.” He glanced away. His hair held onto the indentation of the graduation cap. “What if I can’t protect you?”
“Do I look like someone who needs protecting?” He ticked me off with his rescue the fair maiden agenda. “Listen. The three of us are a team. We not only found the seed and won the prize money, but we saved a town of people. Now stop the immature attitude and start behaving like the man I know you are.”
He lowered his head and gripped his dark hair.
“The Carter Reyes I know doesn’t back down from a challenge.” I rubbed his back. “And Brek needs this. He needs to know that I’m taken care of so he can go off to school. Even if it’s just the two of us, we’re going.”
He lifted his eyes to mine. The skin around them was red and puffy, as if he were fighting back tears. “I don’t want to lose the one person I’ve ever cared about.”
After the ceremony, I stepped into our apartment for the first time. I let Brek pick it out since I’d been so busy working at Spinners. Though we’d won the prize money, I couldn’t leave my boss hanging, and it was the only place besides school that my dad let me go.
The apartment was exactly how I pictured it—white walls, beige countertops, two bedrooms, and standard carpet. Brek was such a minimalist. My style was more bohemian with flair from all over the world—the places I’d never been to but always dreamed of going. Which way would Carter bend when he moved in with us?
Brek and I removed his twin mattress from the back of the truck to carry to the second floor apartment. He wanted to absorb most of the weight, so I walked backwards. I struggled to stay upright, tripping over my own feet. When we finally got it to the top, we set it in the back bedroom that he’d share with Carter. His new Martin guitar rested in the corner.
I ran my fingers along the black case, tempted to take a break from our unpacking to hear him play. The guitar was the one thing I wanted him to buy with the money from the Green Door. “Do you notice the difference?”
“Hell, yeah.” He picked it up and unzipped the case, revealing the glossy mahogany surface of the instrument. He plucked one of the strings. “Thanks for making me get this.”
“You can thank me by playing Yesterday, or a Croce song later.”
My bedroom had a view of the highway and was a square box. Maybe it could be livened up with tapestries and music posters.
“I know it’s not your ideal.” Brek rested his head against my doorframe. “But at eight-hundred a month, it will support a whole year of the game.”
“You’re supposed to start school in August.” I opened the closet to check out the space. “Full-ride, remember?”
“To a second-rate school.” He walked to the window, staring out at the busy world below. “If all goes according to plan, we can both attend any school we want. And that means I’ll have to forfeit my scholarship.”
“I’m not going to let you do that. Your mom’s not going to let you do that.” I stood next to him and crossed my arms, setting them against the window frame. “I can search for the objects on my own. Tyran’s inside the Red Door. He’ll help me.”
He kept his eyes on an unknown object outside. “That’s the other thing. I can still feel it—the magic. I don’t know how to explain it, but I have this desire… this need, to learn more about my powers. I have to get back to Tyran.”
I couldn’t argue that one. It had nothing to do with me. When we were in the Green Door, Tyran gave me his amulet because he thought I was destined to be his apprentice. It must’ve been my badass vibe. But to protect Brek, I gave him the amulet and that made him the magician’s next protégé. In a battle with Princess Camelia, Brek produced a shield out of the energy in his body to protect us from her soldiers’ lethal arrows.
“I tried something last night.” He grinned. The gleam of someone who’d done something naughty, but fantastic, swam through his eyes.
“Don’t tell me you tried to use it without me.” I shoved him. We had been concerned that if he attempted bigger spells outside the Green Door, he might self-combust or turn the residents of Worthington into slugs.
“I came home from my run and packed for like three hours. I was exhausted.” He turned and slouched back against the wall. “I wanted to watch TV, but didn’t feel like getting off my bed, so I envisioned it turning itself on.”
“Did it work?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Do you doubt my magical abilities?” He crossed his arms. “Of course, it worked. I was even able to pick a show from my mind. Watched three episodes of Game of Thrones.”
He didn’t even have HBO.
It got me thinking about what other abilities he had. Could he materialize something out of nothing?
“I’m hungry,” I complained and then thought up the most absurd food I could think of for the Dump. “I want caviar.”
“Caviar? What the hell are you talking about? Do you even know what caviar is?” He walked out of my bedroom with me on his heels.
“Nope. But I want it.”
Brek sighed, “I know what you’re doing.” He used a key to rip the tape off one of his boxes labeled glasses. “I’ll try, but I’m not sure if I can.” He took out a glass and went to the kitchen to fill it with water and downed its contents. He closed his eyes, appearing peaceful, like he might be meditating. After a minute passed, his face contorted and turned beet red. He let out a stream of air from holding his breath. “It’s no use. I can’t get you the fish eggs.”
“But I thought you were all powerful, oh Mighty Brekken.” I took the glass from his hand and refilled it. I took a sip. “You must be a lesser magician.”
He hoisted the opened box to the counter and placed a glass in one of the cabinets. “If it were that easy, we wouldn’t have to play the game. I could produce the money we need out of thin air.”
“If only life were that easy.”
Carter’s life came to mind. He didn’t have to worry about money, so he could afford worrying about my safety within the doors.
I brought another box up to the counter that was labeled kitchen. “How long until we attempt the Red Door?”
“I’d say we go once we’re moved in. I don’t want to waste any time. There are other people playing this game.”
“Me either.” I removed a plate from the box. “I’ll bring some of my stuff over tomorrow. Dad’s still pissed, but I’m graduated and eighteen. He’ll get over it. And I feel better now that he’s got a job.”
Brek took my braid and twisted it in his fingers. “That makes me happy. I don’t want you worrying about him. And Mom’s got Jake.”
“He’s good fo
r her.”
“Yeah, well… it keeps her out of my business.” He broke down the box that held the glasses and stuck it behind the trashcan.
“Have you thought about Rosenbaum?” I hopped up onto the counter and watched him unload two more plates. “What’s up with all the secrecy, anyway?” I took another drink from the glass. “I was thinking we should demand to know more before we set foot in the Red Door. You know, the only other successful duo was Nikki and Mack.”
“I’ve been thinking about it, too.” He stopped unpacking and rested both of his hands against the counter. “We sign the Red Door contract in exchange for information. I mean, what if this guy’s creating a deadly virus to wipe out the world? I don’t want to be held responsible for that.” He downed the rest of the water. “There’s one thing I do know. If anyone’s going to get it out of Betty White, it’s you.”
2
“I told my dad I was moving into a fraternity at Ohio State, not Dartmouth, which he had hoped.” Carter spread his blue plaid comforter over his bed. “Mom doesn’t really care as long as I don’t interrupt her Women’s Society meetings.”
“Your parents aren’t going to make sure you’re enrolled in school?” Brek scrolled through his emails on his bed.
“Nope. Dad just asks how much and writes the check.” Carter threw his pillow on top of the blankets. “Doesn’t have time to look into minor issues.”
“Minor issues like his son.” I rolled my eyes and snuggled into the giant black beanbag Carter brought from his house. “I mean, not that I want him to really know what you’re doing with his money, but you’d think he’d care about you a little bit.”
He straightened the bottom section of his comforter and then dove onto the other side of the beanbag. He snaked his arm around me and pulled me closer. “Now that we’re doing the whole Three’s Company thing, what’s next?”
The Red Door Page 1
