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“Company? Is that why you initiated the curfew? Are the lords here?”
It’s not my place to pry. I’ve learned that much by now. Am I going to do it anyway? You bet your ass I am.
“Um no. It’s with the village masters,” he answers.
“Oh, for what? Didn’t you just meet with them two days ago?”
Something catches his attention behind me, and I dare a glance over my shoulder, curious to see what could make the Devil’s eyes go that wide. What I find is nothing. Absolutelynothing. Turning my attention back to Lucifer, I find an empty void where he once stood.
“Where did he go?” My head whips from side to side.Did he just fucking ditch me mid-question?I scoff, letting my upper lip curl up. “How rude.”
My chest concaves as I exhale, letting my eyelids flutter shut. In through the nose, out through the mouth.Hmmm. Finn was right. Meditation does help.
About facing, I stroll past the gargoyle statues that jut out from the obsidian stone walls. The columns of candles that rise from them flicker alive, illuminating the long stretch of hallway. If there’s one place that can calm my soul, it’s the library. And I’m not talking about the study near our room. Thereallibrary.
Pushing open the large double doors at the end of the hall, the space opens up. A grand staircase curves down to the landing where one could roam through dozens of shelves as far as the eye can see. A curved balcony slopes up, spiraling around the entire room, ending in a domed observatory at the top. The glass windows on the ceiling let the light stream inside and greenery winds around the space.
I head to the shelves in the back, knowing what I’m looking for will be there. Even a prisoner can keep secrets, especially with a world’s worth of magic burning a hole in my back pocket. Running my fingers over the spines, I find the red leather-bound journal. Not a single word is written on these pages, but within it is enough information to make Sherlock Holmes drool.
Flipping open the cover, I mutter the incantation and pages spin out of control until the book slams shut. The sound of wood groaning filters into my ears and I reach a hand toward the shelf of romance books, testing to see if the spell worked. Instead of touching the spins, I sink through them and from there, into my hidden room.
Give a girl a lesson in magic, and she’ll know how to cast. Give a girl a library full of how-to manuals and grimoires, she’ll fuck some shit up. And that is exactly what I, Alice Whittaker, did.
It’s hard to believe that when I attended the Belphegor academy, I was a disgrace to witches, yet here I am, making hidden portals and casting spells my classmates could only dream of. What can I say? I didn’t peak in high school. No… It was just the beginning. I’m still waiting on my villain era to start.
Inside the portal room, there are clues mapped out and strung together with red string. It’s every detail I’ve managed to dig up on my parents, both earthly and hellish. There are stored herbs, anointed crystals, and dark talismans. That’s not even the best part. There’s a massive bloodstone on the ledge that I recovered from the cavern beneath the tree of life.
Easily the size of a small dog, that marbled, blue rock has been my savior most days. I haven’t had the heart to tell Finn that the conclaves stopped being enough. I needed a backup, and this bad boy has been it. I’ve used my magic to make a sharp point protrude from the top of the rock and with it, I’ve been able to dispel energy. This way, it doesn’t go to waste and if I ever need to siphon it, I can. Or if I ever need a bomb… It’s multipurpose.
Stepping up to the stone, I place my palm at the top of the shard jutting out of the stone. I push down, feeling the ripple of pain radiate up my arm. With a yelp, I let it split my skin and blood flows down the groves until it disappears, channeling my magic inside of it. Once I feel the itch of power ebb and the pressure my magic places on me recede, I stop.
Jerking my hand off the spike, I rub at the wound and watch my flesh knit back together like it never happened. Only a small mark remains.
“Alice!” Kai’s voice echoes through the library, and my heart thumps rapidly.
Fuck! He never comes in here. Snatching the red-spined book, I mumble the incantation, watch the pages swirl, and push against the edge of the bookcase, barely making it through as Kai walks around the corner. I plaster a smile on my face and clutch the book to my chest.
“Oh um…” His hand grips the back of his neck as he darts his eyes around, looking anywhere but at me. “Find a book?”
I clear my throat. “Yup.”
“Which one?” He steps closer, reaching to take it from me. “Let me see.”
“Oh, it’s nothing really. I–” Before I can stop him, he’s already taken it and started flipping through the blank pages.
Scrunching his face, his eyes find mine. “It’s empty.”
“That’s what I was going to say. I was about to put it back, so. I’ll just take that.” I reach and pluck it from his grasp, then slip it back into its spot on the shelf.
“Hmmmm,” he mumbles and I pretend to be interested in one of the other books, snagging one at random.
“Op, here it is,” I say, gripping the worn leather spine. Apparently, the librarians in Hell don’t recognize the difference between fiction and nonfiction… My eyes widen at the title. It’s just my luck… the book I offhandedly snatched is far worse than Kai finding out about my room. Now he’s going to get ideas.
‘Whips and Chains for Basic Bitches.’
Ofcourse…
I glance at Kai, whose eyebrows have nearly disappeared into his hairline. “I didn’t realize you were into—”
