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Nothing. Not a buzz or hum of magic at all. That was the red flag. Everything in the library had a magical signature. The books, the objects, the carpets, the shelves. Everything. The absence of that meant there had to be something blocking my gaze. A cloaking spell.
Taking a step back, I flexed my fingers and willed a tendril of energy out into the room. It speared through a veil, and six books disappeared leaving behind a small golden gong.
“Was that an illusion spell?” Shado asked, coming up behind me. Her color had returned now that the veil was gone.
“Yeah, specially tailored to keep me out,” I said, frowning.
“Well, it’s a gong. I guess we just—” She reached past me and flicked the center of the golden disc. The metal let out a loud ring, and magic reverberated from it, disappearing into the wall. A line of golden light shot through the wood of the bookshelves and the door to Viktor’s office flashed bright white in the corner of my eye. I flinched and the shimmer dimmed into a soft golden glow.
“What is that?” Shado whispered.
“I think it’s…” I reached for the handle and opened the door. “Viktor’s annex.”
24
Boxed In
The room smelled like wet dirt and charred herbs. Its walls were rounded, and the false windows opposite the door glittered with faint green light. I crossed the threshold and they warmed, illuminating a large, white chalk circle still drawn across the floor.
“Uhhh, wouldn’t Viktor’s annex have vanished when he died?” Shado asked, poking her head through the door behind me.
I nodded, crouching down to examine the floor. Viktor’s circle had faded, but I recognized the symbols from my training: it was a Viking summoning spell he’d created, and judging by the red stain dividing the line, he’d also used it.
I stood up and scanned the room. “Uncle, what the hell were you up to?”
“Is that blood?” Shado gasped.
“It would seem so,” I said. “Don’t touch it.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” She skirted the circle and approached a table along the wall. She carefully lifted a few books and started sifting through the papers. “This looks like it was a work room. These are spell diagrams. It looks like he was trying to develop something.”
“I’m not surprised. Viktor was always messing with magic. He wanted more of it, he wanted to control it, control me. God only knows what he did in here. I didn’t even know this place existed. Every time he talked about the annex spell, he said it was more trouble than it was worth.”
“Why wouldn’t he tell you he had one?” She frowned.
“I don’t know. The more this case plays out, the more I feel like I didn’t know him at all. The man was paranoid, and secretive on his best day. But I thought…”
“Well, he’s dead so it doesn’t matter.”
But it did. My gut told me Viktor was at the center of all our problems.Why had I gone to the cabin that day? What had he done to make me so mad? Was it really the shapeshifter that killed him? If they did, then why?Why was the shapeshifter doing any of this? There were so many pieces missing it felt like my head was about to explode.
I dropped my head and a spark of light caught my eye. Sitting on the far side of the room, evenly spaced atop a white table, were three polished black boxes.
“What are those?” I frowned.
Shado turned from the shelf she was picking through and squinted at the table. “Not a clue, but I think there’s something else on the other side.”
I hummed in thought and circled around the table. Sure enough, there were three pristine white envelopes leaning on the boxes. Their soft surfaces each bore a single letter written in Viktor’s swirling script. A, R, and P.
“R’s gotta be for Rebekah, right?” Shado wondered out loud.
“It’s calling for my attention, but—" My eyes tingled. I could feel foreign energy urging me to take the R, but I reached for the P instead. My fingers touched the paper and a bolt of electricity shot up my arm. I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t pull away. Every muscle in my body seized and dropped to the ground like a lead balloon. My body shook in fits and starts. It hurt to breathe.
“Oh my God! Rebekah! Are you okay?” Shado dropped to her knees at my side.
“Grrrgh. Always with the shock traps,” I snarled as the pain faded. “If he wasn’t dead already, I’d kill him.”
“Maybe you should try opening the R this time.”
