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“I am of noble blood. My father was a duke.”
“A duke. Wow. In the mortal realm?”
“No. The Infernal Lands.”
“Oh. That makes sense.” I couldn’t quite wrap my head around what Hell must’ve been like, but Vaszhago almost made it sound disturbingly romantic. Like castles made of human skulls, but elegant at the same time.
As the scenery changed to the familiar buildings and shops of the downtown area, Vaszhago turned the carriage alongside a cobblestone curb, where he hopped off and tied the horses to a post there. While he rounded the horses, presumably to help me down, I jumped off the carriage myself, boots landing against the cobblestone with a thud. Vespyr followed suit, exiting the back of the carriage, and strode up alongside me.
“I’ll wait here for you,” Vaszhago said, hiking his boot onto the carriage step. From his pocket, he pulled a shiny silver case and opened it to show what looked like cigarettes, except they were black with intricate gold metallic designs on them. He pulled one out and ran his tongue over one end of it, which lit with a bright orange glow.
I should’ve already headed in, but the shiny golden ribbons that rose into the air like smoke when he exhaled had me mesmerized.
Vaszhago took another long drag of the weird cigarette, and blew it off, his eyes on mine. “Are you going to stand there, or go inside?”
Blinking away my fascination, I shook my head, cheeks burning with embarrassment. “Yeah. Right. Be right back.”
Vespyr trailed after me, as we made our way into the book store. Although the lady I recognized from my last visit waved from behind the counter, I didn’t bother to ask her about Catriona. She’d told me therewasno Catriona, and I suspected things hadn’t changed much in that regard since then.
Instead, I followed the same path up the stairwell. When we arrived at the wall that had moved on its own, I scanned over its surface for a button, or means of opening it.
Running my hands over it, I glanced to the side to find Vespyr mimicking my movements.
“What are we doing?” she asked, and the question made me want to laugh, given how intently searched the wall, apparently having no idea what she searchedfor.
“Trying to find a way to open it.”
“A wall?”
“It’s not just a wall. It’s a secret passage.” Sweep after sweep produced nothing, though. And, in fact, the wall really didn’t look like it had the ability to move, at all. No cracks, or such, to suggest it sat on any sort of track.
“I don’t think this wall opens.”
“I know it does, though. I was here last time, and it did.” I rose up on my tiptoes, palpating a faint black line that proved to be nothing more than a tiny gap in the wallpaper.
“Okay, well, while you’re looking for it, do you mind if I check out the romance section?”
“Sure.”
“Cool.” The sound of her footsteps faded around the corner, and I groaned, still not finding a way to open the damn wall.
“Are you looking for something?”
The familiar voice brought a smile to my face, and abandoning my search, I turned to find Catriona standing behind me. With long, fiery locks of red hair and a youthful glow to her face, she reminded me of a princess out of a Disney flick.
“You, actually.”
“How are you, Miss Ravenshaw?”
“That’s actually why I’ve come to speak with you. I don’t know, exactly.”
“Come. Let us find a quiet place to talk.” She rested her palm against the wall, and lo and behold, the damn thing moved on its own. Just like I said.
I glanced off toward the direction where Vespyr had gone, and on not seeing her anywhere, I followed Catriona up into the dark stairwell. The door slid shut behind me, and even though I’d taken the same path before, it still felt unnerving being closed off from Vespyr and Vaszhago. Flickering lanterns marked the path, and Catriona nabbed one from its bracket as she passed.
“You read the book I gave you?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Yes. The story was beautiful.”
