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She stared at him for a second longer before understanding illuminated her eyes and her lips lifted in a grin. “Hopefully you won’t have to.”
He inclined his head and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Hopefully.” It had been a lifetime since he’d counted on hope. Instead of expressing that, he eased back, allowing them both room to breathe. “Now let’s see about activating this portal.”
Her gaze flicked toward the unassuming firepit. “What about Darnel?”
Aric adjusted to face the small stone ring. “I’d rather not take the time to go and get him if I don’t have to.” He worried he’d already lost too much, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret the events that had caused his delay, either. So if things went a little sideways, he’d just have to put in more effort.
Chapter Fourteen
It occurred to Rochelle to consider there might be some complicated trick to activating whatever spell was tied to the veritable firepit in front of them. Surely there was more to it than fueling the lingering substance with a sorcerer’s magical energy. She had about ten seconds to reflect on that as she watched Aric extend his arm over the flameless pit and felt his magic rise and expand. Then he narrowed the invisible swath of his power into a single stream focused into the stone circle. Rochelle could only sense the flow of Aric’s mana, but the moment it made contact with the strange liquid encompassed within the stones, a familiar turquoise flame burst to life.
Aric reached out with his other hand and recaptured hers as the magical fire lit, almost as if he felt a sense of urgency. Then the haunting blaze flared, rushing outward and engulfing them both. It swallowed them without mercy or warning.
Rochelle’s breath caught in her throat as once-beautiful turquoise overwhelmed her vision, disoriented her senses, and tingled across her skin in a wave like sudden, intense chills. Her body shuddered, forcing the breath from her chest. She clung tighter to the hand still holding hers, grateful that he at least hadn’t left her side.
The restabilizing of her senses was jarring enough that it took her several seconds to realize what she should have assumed from the beginning. It was clear that the magical fire had transported them somewhere—somewhere she did not know.
Their new location was dark, darker than the partially exposed cave had been once the surging flame receded. But it only took a moment for Rochelle’s eyes to adjust, and she was able to identify glowing outlines, like covered windows, and bits of reflection off polished wooden tones that seemed to rise up at least one wall. She was fairly certain she caught a glimpse of something gold, too. The ground beneath her boots had a little give, as if she stood on a rug.
Aric hummed low in his throat and the next thing she knew sparks of flame flickered to life in wall sconces positioned around the room. An inset fireplace ignited next, filling the room with better light. The flickering flames were sufficient for seeing their way around, at least.
Rochelle moved her gaze from the calmly crackling orange flame and took in their new surroundings. The things she’d thought were covered windows were, in fact, windows obscured by low-hanging drapery. There were a pair of them on the wall directly opposite her as well as another on the wall her back had been mostly facing.
The wall with the wood tones proved to be a floor-to-ceiling bookcase that spanned the entire width of the wall. It was crammed full of tomes of all sizes. More books were stacked on one side of the mantle over the fireplace and yet more rested on a respectable side table positioned by an ornate, tall-backed chair. The chair was angled to partially face the fireplace but kept the circular ring of stones from which the turquoise flame had poured also in its line of sight. And though the chair, table, and mantle around the fireplace all looked incredibly ornate, there was no other furniture in the room.
The room was deliberately sparse, in a secluded corner kind of way. Itfeltlike they had invaded a private space.
Aric stepped from her side and moved to peruse the collection of books, as if skimming the spines for something specific.
Rochelle pulled her lip between her teeth for a moment, and her gaze finally snagged on the open doorway. It was the only way in or out of the room without magic. Positioned in the wall beside the fireplace, it was more archway than doorway as she saw no sign of an actual door. From the angle where she stood, she could see only darkness past the archway and nothing of the hall or whatever else lay beyond. Everything felt so quiet, like something was on the verge of exploding. It was that sense that compelled her to keep her voice hushed when she asked, “Where do you think we are?”
Aric turned his back to the books and swept his gaze around the room. “The mountain ridge just north of Awora.”
Rochelle stared at him for a moment, her mouth hanging open. Logically, the turquoise fire could have taken them anywhere. Was that why the backwards circle of their path felt so unexpected? “Awora?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Whatever else Denham is aiming for,” Aric said, “he must have chosen to send me on a path to Awora specifically to give himself an opportunity.”
She heard the reasoning in his words, but something still seemed off about his conclusion. She hoped it wasn’t just her own personal desire to not have been the target of the evil prince from the beginning. “How would he have known you were taking me with you? It’s not possible he can spy on what we say in the mansion, right?”
Aric met her already widening gaze. “It’s not. Meaning he either took a risk that left him with the option of following us to Awora, or he had another means of gaining the information he needed.”
She broke from his stare to look around the firelit room again. “It all happened so fast, though…” It wasn’t as if she’d even talked to anyone, other than Tinsley, between the time of Denham’s surprise visit and her and Aric’s departure.There’s no way it was Tinsley.Another unpleasant thought popped into her head, and she sought out Aric’s scowling face again. “You don’t think Tora would have sold you out, do you?” The keeper of that cute little B&B had seemed so personable, so matronly, that Rochelle had a hard time picturing such a scenario. But then, she had also had a hard time imagining that Yafae’s Elder Prince had a sinister side, so what did she really know?
Aric’s scowl deepened. “If she did, she didn’t do so voluntarily.”
Rochelle immediately saw the problem with that theory, then. Denham no longer seemed to be the type who was above a little blackmail, but for him to have blackmailed Tora for that sort of information would still have required him to have had insight into their movements. Into Aric’s intentions, specifically. If Aric had been the target, she could still have accepted such a theory.
Aric cupped her cheek with his palm, drawing her attention up to him. “Standing here and trying to parse it out won’t get us anywhere,” he said. “Let’s take a look around this place while we have the opportunity. We may yet find something incriminating.”
She drew a deep, settling breath. “And if we don’t?”
Aric turned, again facing the circle of stones that had gone dormant after their arrival. His eyes glowed, the flickering ambiance of orange-red from the fireplace and angled shadows from the flames only emphasizing the unnatural light shining from his brilliant green orbs. For the second time that day, just for a moment, his unique magical circle expanded into view beneath his feet. The appearance of the circle indicated he was doing something atypical, one way or another. She felt an accompanying rush of energy brush past her, like a breeze, and then it all died down.
He flashed her a grin. “If nothing else, we’ll have that as evidence. Denham can destroy this home, but he can no longer touch that portal.” Instead of waiting for her to unstick her tongue enough to ask another question, he settled a hand over the small of her back and guided her toward the room’s solitary exit. “Let’s see what we can find.”
The doorway led to a windowless hallway and Aric took the lead without question. It wasn’t until they rounded a corner that the hall expanded and bright sunshine flooded them. It washed through the open space beyond the hall, and an uncomfortable feeling gnawed at Rochelle’s stomach. She knew they weren’t in the castle—she could see the ocean through the uncovered windows—but they were for all intents and purposes trespassing in a royal’s territory. Would any of her accusations even be heard if she was caught in this situation?
She sighed under her breath and looked away from the ocean-facing windows in time to see Aric swinging his own gaze around the room. “I don’t think I’m cut out for spying,” she said.
