Page 5 of The Magic of Revenge
"What is this place?" Kai asked, staring up at the brick castle-like structure. Checking our surroundings, there was nothing else around. Well, nothing except for the roaring ocean that was currently beating the shit out of the rocky cliffside.
"This is Asrael's summer home. Are you alright? We talked about this. I told you we’d be coming here next. It's a great honor to be invited. Let's get inside and get cleaned up before you meet him," Laurie said before she clapped once and she and Bryce moved toward the castle. I knew I was dealing with grief, but she was starting to make me feel guilty about the holes in my memory.
"Do any of you remember this being part of the plan? Or that she told us we were coming here?" Kai asked, his dark eyes tracking the landscape.
The bruise-like circles under Sloane’s eyes made him look even more intimidating than usual as he surveyed the castle. "No. My memory feels pretty fucked up, but I have zero recollection of that," he grumbled.
"Yeah, what's up with that? My whole brain feels like it's been microwaved," Kai wondered aloud.
"What are the odds that we all are feeling this way?" Sloane's head whipped toward me and our eyes connected, his eyebrow lifting slightly.
"It may just be from the spell," Kai offered.
"Stay alert. Something doesn't feel right," I confessed, watching as Laurie and Bryce reached the massive front door.
"You know what it feels like?" Sloane looked out over the ocean, a strong gust blowing his hair out of his eyes. "It's like when Fischer"—his voice cracked over the name, but he cleared his throat and continued—"when Fischer would practice his power on us back in the day when we were training."
Kai's eyes widened.
"That's exactly what it feels like. What the fuck? You think he messed with our memory? He'd never fucking do that without our permission," he growled.
"He'd only do it if he had no other choice," I agreed, and I watched as their faces darkened.
"Come on, gentlemen! We don't have all day!" Laurie shouted back to us from the huge doorway that loomed ahead.
"Look, if he did wipe our minds, we need to be fucking careful," I cautioned, pulling my hair up in a knot just to stall for time.
"Do any of you remember Fischer actually dying?" Kai whispered.
We all looked at each other, each of us shaking our heads no. Hope surged in my chest and my heartbeat picked up for the first time since... I couldn’t even remember when. Hope was a scary thing, though. Having hope when the stakes are so high just makes the crash that much more devastating. But without it? Without it, I'd be nothing more than the husk of a man, like I'd just been for the past twelve hours.
I tried to think back, willing the black hole in my mind to clear and give me some fucking clarity but once again, a stabbing pain split through my head and I cursed.
“What’s wrong?” Sloane asked, stepping closer.
“Fucking headache…” I muttered.
“Me too, I need to locate some painkillers. Stat.” Kai rubbed his temples. “Maybe we should ask Laurie if she knows why Fischer might have done it?” he asked and I shook my head.
“No. It’s clear she and Bryce aren’t suffering from the same amnesia as we are. We need to get more information first. I don’t trust anyone right now except the two of you,” I said darkly.
"Just act natural. Time to scope this place out." Sloane started for the castle, looking back at us he added, "We'll talk tonight, in private."
I glanced to where Laurie was waiting and sure enough, she was watching us closely. Stalling any longer would be suspicious. Stalking behind Sloane, Kai kept pace beside me.
"See if Bagheera is feeling anything strange," I suggested, lowering my voice so that only his feline hearing would pick it up. I kept my pace a few steps before realizing Kai was no longer beside me. I was about to say something as I spun around, but the words died on my tongue.
Kai's face was pale and his eyes wild with panic. Retracing my path back to him, I grabbed his face between my two hands, forcing him to look at me.
"What is it, K? What's wrong?"
"Bagheera is gone," he croaked.
"What? What do you mean gone?"
"I don't know, Cam. He's not here. I thought he was just upset after... So I didn't push. But he's definitely not here," Kai said sadly, with an edge of fear.
We started toward the castle. "Where the fuck would your panther go? That doesn't make any fucking sense," I growled softly.
