Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“You can let me go,” she teased.
He dropped his head down and captured her lips. “Never.”
She leaned into that kiss for the span of a second before stepping back. She located the rooftop door and lifted it open. She stared down at the set of stairs, saw they were empty, and then nodded down.
Fordham went first, holding his shadows tight around him as he surveyed the area. When he called clear, she traipsed down after him. This was not particularly her skill set. She was more reckless abandon, dragon riding, and close fighting. Stealth and spying and breaking into a magical vault were far from what she was good at. But she had snuck around enough, growing up in the mountain, to understand the mechanics, and this was too important to leave for another time.
The roof led to attic space above the third floor. Fordham opened the door on the other side of the room, which led to another set of stairs and their destination. Valia had been uncertain where exactly the vault was kept. There was a library, a study, and several bedrooms on the top floor.
“All right. You go for the library,” Kerrigan said. “I’ll head to the study.”
Fordham shot her an alarmed look. “We do better together.”
“We are together.”
“You want us to split up.”
“We are on limited time,” she argued. “If we split up, then we cover the ground twice as fast.”
“I can’t protect you if we’re not together.”
Kerrigan patted his cheek affectionately. “Poor princeling.” He growled at the condescension that she couldn’t hold back. “I’ve been on my own for months, Ford. I can take care of myself. Find the damn Collector, so we can get out of here.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I don’t care,” she told him. She put a hand to his chest. “You can feel me, right? If you need me, pull like you’re pulling for Netta. Okay?”
Relief slowly returned to his features. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Nope. We broke that curse.”
His laugh was music to her ears. She slipped past him and down to the third-floor landing. Music and voices drifted up the grand stairs, but the upstairs seemed silent. She turned left toward the study and glanced back only once to see Fordham moving toward the library.
Good.
Kerrigan found the study in the third door and quickly closed it behind her. The desk was clear of any papers. The chairs were covered by sheets. The curtains were pulled closed. For all intents and purposes, the room appeared unused. But she knew appearances could be deceiving.
Kerrigan reached inside her bodice and slid the Ring of Endings onto her finger. She couldn’t use it with Fordham if she wanted to jump, but she felt safer, wearing it inside this room. She didn’t know what else the owner had that could hurt her. If they had the Collector, then anything was possible.
She did a quick sweep of the room—dug through the drawers, opened the desk, and checked behind the curtains. But there didn’t appear to be anything in here. She knocked at the bottom of the desk drawers to check for false compartments.
One of their tutors in the House of Dragons had kept liquor in a hidden drawer in his desk. She and Lyam filched it once and got rip-roaring drunk. The teacher had found another place for his libations.
But there was nothing like that.
Kerrigan checked behind the few paintings and inside a chest by the window. Nothing seemed out of place.
She sighed heavily. Well, no vault in here. It must be in the library.
She stood, prepared to follow Fordham, when the door clicked.
Kerrigan froze in place. Someone was coming into the room. It wasn’t Fordham. She would have been able to tell if it was him. No, this was someone else. And there was no escape. She couldn’t reach the curtains to hide behind them in time. She definitely couldn’t get out the window. There was nothing else big enough for her to hide behind or in.
Fordham was on the other side of the house. It would take him too long to jump to her and away without being seen. The last thing she wanted was to raise an alarm. The Collector would be lost for good.
Kerrigan was going to be caught. The person on the other side of the door would see her. She’d have to kill them to keep their silence. There was no other option.
Unless …
The door swung inward.
Kerrigan didn’t think; she just acted. She threw her spirit magic out, wielding an illusion that settled upon her skin like a sticky film. She almost gasped and gave away the entire thing as she disappeared in the room.
She had never successfully created an illusion. She had spent the time since Cleora’s training trying to force one into existence. Any kind of illusion, even the tiniest spider. But it had been beyond her. She hadn’t been successful. In fact, she had been certain it was beyond her. That her spirit magic just didn’t work in this way.