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“Clarence,” I reminded him. “Don’t let him have the power behind that title.”
“Yes, Clarence,” he agreed. “I think it hurt all over again knowing he was thought of as weak. That man is so fucking far from it.”
“That we agree on,” I said. Levi was caring and sweet, but he also had the fierceness of an omega. He’d fight for us and himself without hesitation. Having strong feelings wasn’t a setback or a liability; they made him human—something Clarence clearly fucking lacked.
“Nothing.” Both Niko and Kane had cleared another floor while we’d talked.
We turned back, hoping that the last floor held the answers we so badly needed.
ChapterSixteen
Farren
The third basement landing was finally the last. Instead of a staircase leading further down, it was just a stone floor stacked full of building materials. The only door in the space was closed, and, I had a feeling, locked as well.
“It might be a trap,” I warned them. Niko dropped to his knees just in front of the door, his hands hovering over it to scan it for any hidden magic. As he moved, a barrier materialized. The sickly green of it wavered and flickered in and out.
“His magic is definitely weakening,” Niko said, then he pushed his own magic into it, causing the protective spell to bend. A breath later, it snapped out of place before dissolving completely. “The last barrier spell we encountered was the day we fled, and it was strong enough to shock us back and taint us with dark magic. This was feeble. Juvenile, even.”
“Good. I hope that this weakness has gotten into his head. Reassured him that he’s nothing without the magic he’s hoarded,” Levi said darkly. That kind of statement coming from Levi had me wincing but I couldn’t cast blame. It just worried me that my sweet omega might internalize more of this battle than we’d like. But at least we’d find our healing together.
As we pressed on, the cement and cinder block faded into something older. The stone it shifted to showed a completely different level of ruin, meaning he’d tapped into something that had been here much longer than he had. The crumbling stone wasn’t smooth, but rough and jagged, scratching our skin if we brushed against it. Even the air here was stale, though it smelled like an abandoned library, the leather of tomes mixing with mildewed pages. And faded magic, of course.
For a brief moment, I wondered how he’d stumbled upon it or why this building descended so far. Apparently, Emberwood had a much more interesting history than I’d anticipated. I had figured it was a sleepy human town that was slowly claimed by supernaturals, but this painted a different story.
“This was shaped by magic,” Avi said as he pressed a hand to the wall. “The stone is far too uniform. Plus, feel it. There’s this gentle thrum of power that it leaves behind. It’s not familiar to me, though.”
“You’re right,” Niko agreed after pressing his hand to the surface of the wall. “But it’s older.”
This hall was barren of doors except for one at the end of the long hallway. Niko checked it over, dispelling yet another weak defensive spell. This time, the snapping of the ward was accompanied by a putrid stench that burned my nostrils. Avi sent a blast of wind to carry it away down the hallway as Kane pushed open the door.
My heart sank. Even with the barrier out of the way, there was no sign of Zehra. No distant feeling settling within me, no faint whispers… nothing.
“Did we just step back in time?” he mused as he stepped inside. The room was illuminated by torches placed along the wall. I’d expected the room to curve, following the empty walls of the hallway, but the rectangular room was easily the size of Mountainview’s ground floor.
A large fireplace stood at the end, tall enough that I could have stepped inside it if not for the fire roaring in its base.
The room itself was clearly made for an organization of some kind. A large coat of arms rested above the mantel, and even the outdated chairs were arranged around the table as if they’d been left there after some kind of meeting. The clunky wood and worn velvet-lined chairs matched the insanely long wooden table that could easily seat fifty. The bookshelves were the same, a dark, chunky wood, and the tomes resting on their shelves were leather-bound and faded with age.
“Does anyone recognize the crest?” Niko asked. No one answered, but I had a feeling I knew someone who would know. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and walked closer, snapping a picture. It featured a bear’s head and several symbols. It was strange, but for some reason, it felt familiar. Like a faded memory I couldn’t quite place.
“West will. But while we wait for him to answer, I’ve got a more important question. Has anyone else noticed this is a dead end?” I glanced around at the room, noting that there was only one door, the one we had come through. There was nothing else important—no dungeon, no victims. Nothing.
“Can we put out the lights again?” Avi asked. Niko attempted it, but his magic had no effect on the fire or the torches. Only the ball of light following us extinguished.
“Apparently not,” he sighed.
“Hang on,” Levi said as he held out his hands. Smoke billowed from him and wafted around the room. I wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, but he slowly turned in a circle, watching the haze around him like it’d have answers. “There!” He rushed toward a tapestry hanging on the back wall, the fabric featuring a stitched crest that matched the one above the mantel. He yanked the tapestry, and it tore from the wall, revealing a hole that had been concealed behind it.
“That smell is telling me we’re too late,” Kane said as he brought his shirt up to cover his nose. “That’s rancid.”
“That’s the smell of death and dark magic,” Avi confirmed as he moved forward. Niko sent a new light into the area after him, and I followed him into the room I'd seen in my dreams. Three decaying bodies were shackled to the wall. They appeared to have been burned from the inside out. Fractures lined their skin, with black burn marks emphasizing the broken, jagged marks. It looked as though they’d been bruins from the inside out, like some kind of heat had built up beneath their skin until their physical shell could no longer contain it. “The magic overload was too much. Do you recognize them?”
“These are different bodies than my dream,” I answered. “They’re not locals, which means he’s outsourcing to cover his tracks.”
“And yet another dead end,” Levi bit out. “Even though he’s weak, he’s still one step ahead.”
“We have the dead now—the locals upstairs and these strangers,” I countered. “That means we have solid proof he’s been here. The sheriff can check their homes and help handle their burials. Either way, we’ve narrowed things down.” Kane growled out his frustration, the sound sending a shiver down my spine. My alpha could be intense when he wanted to be, and when he was frustrated, it was palpable.
