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“Don’t get too close, Nava. We don’t know what spells are circling the perimeter of the property.”
“So what, then? We wait here to be captured?”
“No one is taking you from me again.” The things he would do if that happened, and so soon after the debacle with his father… It didn’t bear thinking about.
Nava glared at Devon. “Look at the mess you got us into! Why didn’t you come and talk to us before?—”
“I know!” Devon’s voice trembled. He was hunched over with the cough still shaking him at intervals, and his eyes shone with remorse.
The need to leave grew more urgent with each passing second. The sound of the bells culminated in an ear-piercing crack of shattering glass.
“Ark?” Her voice boomed past the fierce thunder of his migraine.
“We can’t be here when the Corvus arrives. We have to go through the cellar.”
“The room downstairs?”
Devon magically seemed to regain some energy as he straightened to his full height, his eyes sharpening with worry. “You can’t be serious.”
“There are only two ways left out of this place. Now that the fountain is gone, that’s not an option. The second is through the hills, and since we don’t know where this house is located, we can’t commit to traveling for weeks—months, even—back to the Copper City. Not with the emissary letting the Zorren in.”
“You know we can’t open the cellar. It’s flooded and cursed,” Devon said.
Nava’s lips parted, but no sound emerged, although her growing anxiety pushed through their bond. She leaned against the wall, her gaze shuttered. “Why would the Society curse their only exit out of this place if a problem were to arise?”
Her eyes jumped from Devon to Orion. It had been difficult for him to wrap his head around the truths of the curse that lay underneath all the safe houses when he was young. He half hoped Devon might offer the information, but his brother remained quiet.
“So?”
“The Society did not curse the cellar, but what they did to its previous owners meant the spirits stayed.” Orion got the impression she already knew what sort of spirits he was referring to. Neems were always the haunted, angry souls of those murdered on magical grounds.
“And it’s flooded?” she asked.
Orion placed his hands on her hips, guiding her toward the house. “There is a spell on the cellar that allows for safe passage by loyal members of the Society.”
Devon watched them approach, his face pleading. “Which we’re not. They will kill us before we can get out of here. I can’t be much help with the way I feel now. We should head the other way.”
Taking the steps two at a time, Orion barely spared his brother a side glance as he crossed the front porch. “You know they’ll discover it was you who held the Vulcan, which means they’ll expect us to go through the hills. The Corvus will travel in that direction, hoping to catch us along the way. You know that.”
Nava followed closely after him, the soles of her boots squeaking against the polished marble tiles. “How many spirits are we talking about? Two? Four?”
“The records don’t specify the number, but the rumor is ten.”
She lost her step, barely catching her balance as she stumbled into the circular entrance hall. Somehow, the house felt icy cold, as if the ground itself could read their intent.
Devon grasped Orion’s arm, hard enough to send a ripple of pain through him. “You two should go without me, Arkimedes. Nava can transfer out of here, and you can fly. This is my fault. You don’t have to go through the spirits to leave.”
Orion’s jaw ached from clenching it so hard. He shrugged off Devon’s hand. “I don’t have time to discuss this ridiculous notion that I don’t care about what happens to you. I won’t abandon you here, even if you’ve made some questionable choices. If you want to help, then find some more of those potions because you’re going to need them.”
Devon’s lips thinned, and he nodded before shuffling down the hall.
“What if Devon opens a portal?” Nava’s voice broke the momentary silence. “We don’t have to go through the cellar.”
Time froze as the image of her burnt skin and all she had confessed to him rose in his mind’s eye. “No. Not after last time. The Neems are dangerous but mindless.”
“I know what to expect now, Ark. And I’ll be fine.”
“You know what to expect, and so does the emissary. We aren’t taking any chances, Bee. If he’s working with the Zorren, he wants you dead. We can’t risk it.”
