Page 17 of Dragon's Golden Mate
His primary concern right now, though, was the cathedral. “I need to get inside and see if there’s any damage.” Kendrick made his way to the front.
The double doors were behemoths, the kind made of actual planks of wood and fastened to the building with massive iron hinges. They rose to a pointed arch in the middle that resembled many ofthe windows and made Maeve think of a medieval castle. “Isn’t it locked?” she asked.
“Sure, but I don’t have time to be bothered with that. Do you have a hairpin?”
Maeve crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave him a look. “If you don’t want me to poke fun at your age, then you really can’t ask me questions like that.”
“So, you don’t?” he asked.
“No.”
“All right.” He abandoned the front door and moved around the side. “We might have better luck back here.”
Maeve followed him around the rear of the building. There, they found a single door, one that was much more modern. It certainly wasn’t new, however. Years of weather had eaten away at the engineered wood, making it chip and curl at the bottom.
Kendrick grabbed the handle and yanked, but it didn’t budge.
“Are you going to have to throw me in through a window or something?” Maeve took a step back and looked around for any other possible entrance.
“No.” He readjusted his grip on the handle and pressed his other hand against the door frame.Kendrick jiggled the door slightly. He was concentrating hard enough on it that Maeve wasn’t even sure what he was doing. Then, with one hard yank, he popped the door open.
“How did you do that?” she marveled.
“It’s not hard when you get a feel for the materials.” Kendrick pointed to the inside of the door frame, where wood had crumbled into sawdust. “This is all just fiberboard. It’s strong enough when it’s dry, but give it a bit of water and it’s useless. I yanked the strike plate right out of the wood.”
Maeve looked where he pointed, seeing the little metal rectangle that used to be on the door frame now hanging from the latch. “Remind me to call you if I ever lock myself out of the house.”
He peered into the darkness inside and then looked back at her. “You should stay here. It might not be structurally sound after that quake, so it could be dangerous.”
Just standing near the open door, Maeve could sense the energy inside the church. It flowed up through her legs and into her stomach. If there was anything that might inspire her own magic to start working again, she wanted to find it. “I’m not worried about it.”
“I am.” Kendrick paused in the doorway andturned around. “You’ve already been hurt once today.”
“Then I’ve met my quota,” she retorted, closing the door behind her so no one would notice it hanging open.
In the dim light from a nearby window, she could see him smiling. “You’re very stubborn, Maeve Wright.”
“Are you complaining about that?” she challenged.
He put his hands in the air, palms out. “Not me! If you’re going to come along, you’re getting the official tour. The company isn’t liable for any accidents or incidents, and you must enter at your own risk.”
“Consider it legally binding.”
Kendrick moved forward through the short hallway they stood in. “This is the newer part of the church, one that was probably remodeled in the seventies. You can tell by the shag carpeting and the quality veneer paneling. Here in this classroom, it’s obvious that no expense was spared on this accordion room divider.”
Maeve couldn’t help but laugh. Kendrick had that effect on her. He was funny, yet incredibly sincere. “Don’t forget these fluorescent tube lights. They speak of simpler times.”
Kendrick laughed, too. “I promise, the rest of it is much more interesting.” He led the way through a door, and then they entered the main sanctuary of the church.
“Oh, my.” Maeve tipped her head back to take in the sheer volume of the place. She knew the churches and cathedrals in Europe had to be far bigger and grander, but the scale was staggering. She could feel that energy moving through her more strongly now, thrumming up around her stomach and into her chest. Or was that just the way Kendrick made her feel? It was hard to tell.
“More plaster has come down,” Kendrick noted as they moved between the wall and some pews. He touched the wall next to him, and more plaster came crumbling down, revealing the lathe behind it. “That’s not unexpected.”
“These windows,” Maeve breathed as they moved up onto the altar. She took in the soaring stained glass.
“All carefully designed to make the priest look as ethereal as possible,” Kendrick told her. “From here, you almost feel like you’re in a different building than the rest of the sanctuary. It would feel like an honor to be called out of your pew and come to the front.”
“Do you think these are the original pews?” Maeve stepped down off the altar and into the aisle, running her fingers over the smooth edge of a nearby wooden bench.
