Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
She jerked her head in a nod and found the easiest way up to the second floor.
Nessa
The windows on the second story were unlocked and unguarded. The mage hadn’t bothered with the simplest of protections. They easily made their way inside. He wasn’t worried about flyers. Shortsighted, and because of what she and Sabby were about to do, the Mages’ Guild and Momar would soon realize it. The test was if they would announce it to the world of mages. She had her doubts, but they were only just testing the waters of the organizations still. They had a lot of work left to do before they had a handle on the changed landscape of the world of mages.
“Don’t close that window,” Sebastian said in a hush.
She froze with her hand on the top of it.
“Remember?” he whispered. “Open a few others. Punch out the screens.”
She pulled her hand away slowly as the gentle breeze ruffled her hair. She swallowed and then nodded.
“I’m going to hit the records room.” He moved toward the door. “You rig up your trap and I’ll meet you down there. Watch the time.”
He was in his Elliot Graves headspace, where only logic and plans existed. He felt very few emotions, and in these situations, those usually only revolved around Nessa’s wellbeing. Everything else was magic and math and a means to an end. It was how he could get through this next phase of their plan.
She was not lucky enough to have an Elliot Graves headspace. Killing to survive was one thing, but it made her uneasy to sacrifice others for an end goal that was so far in the distance she couldn’t yet see it.
If there were literally any other choice…
She stilled for a moment and collected herself. Time to get to work.
With quick economy, she stepped down the way to another large window and popped it open. She punched out the screen like a gargoyle might and watched it tumble onto the roof. That done, she shoved furniture out of the way and pushed a few items on tables to the floor, liking the violence of glass shattering against the ground. She needed to let out some aggression.
She tipped a globe over and then randomly pulled some books off the shelves. Gargoyles were vicious, messy beings, or so the mages would think. They were violent, uncouth, not house trained. They destroyed every home they entered.
That done, she flitted out of the room and down the hall, catching Sebastian in the records room, carefully using his magic to reveal any little traps or secret vaults. Once he’d found them all, since there were bound to be some, he’d go through the files, also with a careful hand. Only when he’d gotten all he needed would he then ransack the place, tossing papers everywhere, ripping out drawers.
“Pull some books off the shelves for funsies,” she called, hitting the stairs. Might as well keep things consistent.
On the ground level, she made herself familiar with the layout. Viewing a map of the interior was not the same as being in the space. Here there were currents of energy and intent, of motivation. It revealed a hint of the owner’s personality. She took all this in, understanding far more about what she’d always done intuitively because of a few books she’d gotten anonymously, delivered to a hideout no one should’ve known about.
Tristan was forever dogging her heels.
In this, though…she had to admit that she was glad for it. Excited, even. He’d seen something in her that no one else had bothered to, a sort of energy magic that she wasn’t even aware existed. She still wasn’t quite sure what she could do, or how to control it. All she knew was that he thought she had an incredible amount of strength and potential. He believed in her…and she’d end up having to betray him.
What a shitty fucking life.
She walked around the island in the kitchen, paused by the fridge, and then walked out again. When he came home, he would order something for dinner. He always did on Wednesdays after his Guild meeting. He wouldn’t stay in the kitchen long.
At his wet bar, she looked things over and then headed out again. He’d make himself a drink to relax after his meeting. Normal people would hit the couch or head to the library to watch TV or read. Not this mage. No, first he’d go to his office. Every day, right after getting home, he went to that office.
She headed that way now, feeling the need to pick up her pace. It wasn’t because of the time, but because the energy that seemed to pull at her, urging her faster.
Complying, never realizing this was actual magic and not just intuition, she passed the library and stopped at the door of the home office. The black-and-white checkered floor disappeared under sea-foam-colored cabinets that spanned one whole side of the large room. A white counter had been arranged on top of a break in the cabinets, creating a desk. Two large computer monitors sat atop it, along with a desk lamp and a frame showcasing two knotted ropes. They were probably sentimental, the mage having escaped out of them or trapped a victim with them or something. Sebastian would know.