Page 85 of Midnight Legacy

The familiar winding drive removed the tension from my body. The outline of the building created a sense of calm in me. Every step I took toward the front door centred me. This was my home, Xavier my anchor, no one would force me from it.

Evil still lurked outside our walls, but Xavier had created an army to protect us.

Sasha was in the kitchen with Megan and Lucrezia. Catarina was missing, but she tended to keep herself isolated from everyone around her and live in her own world. The scent of baking permeated the kitchen with a hint of spice.

“Everyone okay?” Megan asked.

“Everyone who matters,” I replied, squeezing Xavier’s fingers. Armed with new information to discuss, the men disappeared into the study to add it to what was already there.

Lucrezia watched Ash, her expression wistful as she chewed the side of her mouth. She caught me watching her. “He’s changed from the boy I first met. I’ve never seen him so filled with hatred and anger.”

“We all have our own demons that we fight every day,” I said. “Ash blames himself for Michael’s death. I spent half my life wishing I could have saved my sister. He needs to work it out in his own head.”

“Sometimes those demons take over and there’s no way to rescue that person,” Megan added in a low voice. “It consumes them until you no longer recognise them.”

The timer sounded in the background and Sasha lifted a tray of her famous muffins out, breaking the sudden tension in the air. She already had a tray of cookies cooling on the counter.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I took a plate of them into the war room as it had been unofficially named. The floppy disc sat in the middle of the table while printouts of the pages of the books surrounded it. Megan silently followed me into the room.

I set the plate down on the table and all eyes moved in my direction. “How’s it going?”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Ash replied, pushing his hand through his already untidy hair.

“In what way?” I should feel bad that their confusion amused me so much, especially since they were so good at everything.

He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to me. “This passage that was indented in the book is about a dragon in a garden.”

Lucrezia peered over my shoulder in curiosity. She must have come in after Megan. “That’s Greek mythology. Ladon guarded the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides.”

Ash stared at her for several seconds. “That doesn’t help.”

Lucrezia arched an eyebrow and Ash glanced away.

“Stop being a dick,” I admonished him. “Legend says that Ladon was tossed into the sky by Minerva where he froze in the cold north and became the constellation Draco.”

I lifted the orb of the night sky constellations from where they’d set them on the floor and pointed to the stars. Carefully, I twisted the top mount that held the orb in place on the stand. The centre of the orb held a hidden chamber that I pulled out and placed on the table.

“Motherfucker,” Jordan said with a dark grin.

Xavier lifted another page. “This one is talking about a Danish astronomer called Tycho Brahe.”

I pointed to the sphere of the moon. Lucas bent and handed it to me.

“This is the lunar impact crater Tycho,” I informed them, pointing to the starburst at the bottom of the moon. My fingers traced down the wooden stand until I found the notch Dad had shown me years ago. A secret compartment popped out when I flicked it open.

“Are you seriously telling me your family home is filled with ornaments with secret compartments?” Xavier asked.

My lips tipped up in a sad smile. “Just a few that Dad showed me over the years. We used to leave each other secret messages in them. Now, I realise he was showing me how to access them.”

The globe of the earth contained another hidden chamber, and some of the photograph albums had letters tucked behind the images in them.

Xavier examined the black metal box from the safe, but the guys were worried it could have a destruction facility built in, as it looked like one of the security boxes from Dragon’s Hoard. A key that fit the first lock had been left in one of the safety deposit boxes by Uncle Dan.

“What about the old Bible?” Lucas asked, his sharp gaze moving to it.

“The Bible has an old family tree at the back of it.” My fingertips sought out Xavier’s hand. “I want to have our child included in it.”

His hand grasped mine in a silent acknowledgement.

---