Page 77 of Magic Betrayed

Not hard enough. The tie cut deep, almost drawing a gasp of pain, but I bit my lip and tried again. This time, it popped, leaving my hands blessedly free.

The tie on my ankles, thankfully, involved a much less painful process. All I needed to shim the mechanism was one of the lock picks hidden behind my belt, and the tail pulled loose without effort.

Still trying to make as little noise as possible, I sat back and began to swing my arms and rotate my ankles, hoping to restore blood flow to my hands and feet. Once I was confident my legs would hold me, I rose to my feet, listened for footsteps, and then moved towards the side of the room opposite the door.

I could just barely make out the outline of where a window would be, but as I felt around the sides, it became clear that it was not dark due to nighttime or blackout curtains, but boards. There would be no escaping this way—at least not quietly.

How much time did I have? It depended on how long it had taken my team to realize I was missing. And once they did, how much time they spent looking for me, versus making a move to rescue Kes and Logan.

I couldn’t count on them figuring out that I’d been taken by the same people. Nor could I count on them continuing the operation without me. But if they did, they might well end up dividing their forces, which would mean even more danger for whoever ended up here—facing Ethan, with no concept of what his magic was capable of.

Not to mention whatever he might do to the two innocent and unsuspecting human ghost hunters.

I was going to have to take some crazy chances and try to find my way out of this ramshackle Victorian fun-house without being caught.

First, the door. One ear to the cold floor confirmed no movement in my immediate vicinity. It was possible the door was guarded, which would mean my escape attempt could get quite a bit more exciting very quickly. But there was no way forward that didn’t involve risk, so I set my fingers to the doorknob and twisted.

It opened.

No point locking the door on a prisoner who’s both unconscious and tied up, I suppose.

When no one responded to the light creak of the opening door, I edged closer, set my back against the wall, and peered out.

The hallway was narrow and low-ceilinged, brightened only by some sort of lantern hanging from an antique brass fixture. The walls were covered in peeling, dark paper in a floral design that was probably popular seventy or eighty years ago. I could see two other doors, both closed, and what looked like an elaborately carved newel post at the top of a set of stairs leading to a dimly lit first floor.

And honestly, even though I’d never believed in ghosts, for a moment I almost would have believed it if someone had told me this place was haunted. It wore its age with a sort of dingy, fragile dignity, and I could smell the musty odor of decay from its long years of emptiness.

But I really needed to leave that kind of reflection to Seamus. Hopefully, he would get a chance to geek out about the house after we were all safe.

For now, I needed to decide whether to go up or down. The top floor of the Haversmith House was supposedly an actual ballroom, which would make it an unlikely place to keep prisoners. But it might offer excellent roof access, if by chance they’d forgotten to board up a window or two. From there, I was confident I could find a way to climb down, unless they’d posted a guard outside. But if that were the case, all of my attempts at secrecy were doomed to fail anyway.

There was only one way to find out.

Well, actually, there were several. I could run down the stairs—counting on the element of surprise to give me an advantage—and attempt to run straight out the front door. Assuming I didn’t manage to get lost while looking for it.

I could also start hunting the occupants of the house one by one, neutralizing my enemies and looking for Kes along the way. Hoping I could find her and Logan before I got caught. Praying Logan would be awake and could get out on his own feet, after which we would escape together.

Or, I could escape on my own first. Hope to meet up with Callum, Shane, and Rath, and enact our original plan.

If it had only been Kes and me, I probably would have tried plan two. But there was no way we could take Logan with us if he was still sedated, and I refused to leave him behind.

As much as I hated it, plan three was our best chance.

I would have to start by going up, but first, I needed to give myself as many advantages as possible. Which meant… recalling every one of the unwanted skills my time among the fae had taught me.

I hadn’t had a reason to practice in a long time, but those skills had saved my life in the tunnels of my subterranean prison, and I didn’t think I would ever forget how to use them.

How to dampen sound and smother light. How to pass unseen and unheard, because if I failed, my enemies would catch me and hurt me.

There were drawbacks, of course. If I tried using these magics anywhere well lit, it would be immediately obvious. But if I clung to the darkest parts of the house, my magic should easily pass unnoticed.

It was surprisingly difficult to step into that hallway. To recognize that this was so much like the tunnels, but with more than my own life at stake. I felt the familiar, sick ache of fear, and the rush of adrenaline that made my pulse loud in my own ears—so loud I was sure that anyone sharing the house with me could sense it. But somehow, I pushed myself through that first step, anchored myself in darkness, and then I was on my way. Down the hall, one cautious step at a time, searching for the stairs leading upward.

There was still no sound from the first floor, and it worried me a little. There should be at least five Idrians in the house somewhere, plus Ethan, Kes, and Logan. And they’d just kidnapped someone. Surely they hadn’t just gone straight to bed and decided to deal with me in the morning.

It was rather like when Ari was suddenly far too quiet, and I knew she’d either gotten up to something nefarious or teleported somewhere outside the house.

Wait… Could the house actually be empty? Could they have left me here and taken Kes and Logan elsewhere?

---