AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Julita sounds a little relieved herself.Well, if you put it that way... I would like to see this through, as much as I can.
“Then it’s settled.”
I peel myself off the chair and touch the books in the right pattern to re-open the secret passage. In the stillness of the night, I pad quietly through the darkened halls.
Staying far beyond the reach of the lanterns around the outside of the Domi and out of sight of the workers in the distant corner, I cross the inner courtyard swiftly and slink into the Quadring.
The square ring of a building that surrounds the Domi feels even more vacant. No one’s likely to venture over here until classes start up again in the morning.
No one other than, I can hope, at least a couple of disgruntled scourge sorcerers.
Holding the image of the blueprint in my mind, I dart up the stairs to the third floor and ease down the hallway to the right spot. Only the faintest moonlight seeps through a broad window at the far end of the hall.
I stop by the door I’m sure is the right one. Leaning my head close to the tiny gap between the door and the frame, I strain my ears.
No sound reaches me. But a quiver of magical energy wriggles through my nerves.
I pull back with a shudder.
What’s the matter?Julita asks.
I answer in a murmur. “There’s some kind of spell cast on the doorway.”
Here in the teaching building, where hundreds of students might be coming and going from any given room during the course of a day, the college administration hasn’t bothered with the fancy magical locks that guard the dorms and the staff quarters. This one merely has a regular keyhole below the knob. But someone’s added an extra layer of protection.
Julita gives an ominous hum.Ster. Torstem must have wanted to keep the club’s space especially secure.
“I guess that makes sense.” No one who isn’t riven would even notice the magical precaution if they weren’t specifically looking for it. My broken soul automatically resonates with supernatural energy.
My power twitches in my chest. It could dissolve this spell in the blink of an eye. It could open the door as smooth as butter.
I did manage to take down Wendos without causing any unwanted destruction…
The second the thoughts pass through my head, I could slap myself. For fuck’s sake, I told the men that I had my magic under control just minutes ago.
I deserve the noose if I’d make that promise a lie the first time I face a tiny bit of trouble.
I only made it through the confrontation in the tower because Kosmel answered my desperate call. My current problem hardly qualifies as desperate.
The moment I let down my guard with my magic, it’ll screw me over. I cannevertrust its nagging call.
With guilt pooling in my stomach, I step back. I can’t get access to the room by picking the lock without setting off some kind of alarm.
But the doorway won’t be the only access point.
I pad down the hall to the neighboring room. That door gives off no impression of magic.
With a faint smile, I retrieve my one remaining knife from the sheath at my thigh.
The blade is thin enough that I can fit it into most keyholes, including this one. I wiggle it until I feel the right point of tension, and then I twist—and the lock clicks over.
I don’t know what the room on the other side is used for, but whatever that is, it involves a lot of clothes. Racks of gowns, tunics, and jackets line the walls amid full-length mirrors. The odor of heavy perfume hangs in the air.
I hustle over to the window and ease open the hinged lower pane. The cool night air brings a welcome clarity.
The bug club’s window awaits farther down the wall. A narrow ridge, about as wide as one of my feet, runs along the stone wall just below the window ledge.
That’s all I need.
