Page 35 of Disabling Relics for Dummies
It was generally other rich people dressed in costume pretending to be gods and goddesses. Naturally, they tended to favor the Greek gods, even though not a damned one of them created any of us.
We had to find other ways of entertaining ourselves. Women got to do all kinds of fun things like painting and singing. That wasn’t really considered appropriate for men, even though I would have loved to learn. I loved puzzle boxes back then, though they weren’t quite as intricate as this one and weren’t found in the ruins of the boogeyman cult.
Still, I was good at riddles, and so was Ravyn. There didn’t seem to be anything Key didn’t know, so if there wasevera dream team that could figure out this box without dying, it was going to be us.
The first riddle on the box was in Old Nordic runes, but Ravyn and I had seen them enough not to need to reference anything or have Key translate.
“Earth, wind, air, fire?” Ravyn said. “That seems a little easy considering the mass of magic at the center. Any witch can conjure all four elements.”
“The Cult of the Aether Sisters weren’t witches, though,” Key pointed out.
If the cult couldn’t summon the elements, then opening this box with the resources available back then would have been next to impossible. They only would have been able to with four witches. Someone might be dumb enough to help them now, but I was pretty sure during their reign of terror, any witch would have fought to the death before helping them.
The entire supernatural community beat them back into their house, and then the witches called fire to set it alight. It burned so hot, the cult didn’t have time to flee or fight back, but they had killed plenty of people before they were cornered.
Was this box a weapon against the cult, but they managed to get their hands on it before it could be used? That was the only thing that made sense if the cult couldn’t call the elements.
“We need another witch,” I said. “I’ve seen this before on puzzle boxes. It needs to be hit with all four elements at once.”
Ravyn set her phone down.
“Already handled. Gabriel is walking over now.”
“I heard about that one in the news,” Key said. “I hope those judgey assholes the dragon was trying to put in their place have done some ass kissing.”
That just endeared Key to me. My contemporaries the last time I was alive were famous for that. No one really cared if you were a terrible person as long as you weren’t poor and didn’t lose your lands and title. If you lost your head too, they would shun your ancestors for generations.
I didn’t know his first name, nor did I know any famous Keys throughout history, but something told me he came from a powerful family. He had the education, dressed like he had money, and I’d never been around someone whose magic was quite that strong before.
I was glad I kissed him. I’d hate to rip off the bisexual Band-aid with someone and find out they were a bigot.
There was a knock on the door, and Gabriel rushed in with his umbrella. It was storming pretty badly outside.
“Did you know there’s a werewolf with a big lump on his head passed the fuck out on the grass?”
Ravyn just shrugged.
“He cheated on me and then had the nerve to get mad Killian and Key are staying with me. He had it coming.”
“What did you hit him with, a two by four? He’s totally soaked but still out.”
“With my fist,” Key grunted. “You’d do the same if someone was treating your librarian the way Valentine has been treating Ravyn.”
“Oh, that’s Valentine? Ripley hates him and told us what he did. Good job, my man,” Gabriel said, holding up his fist.
I’d go check on him, even after what he did to Ravyn if he weren’t intent on using my girlfriend to raise a deranged cult. I could even overlook being dumb enough to think he hadn’t done anything wrong if he were hurt. But, putting my witch in danger like that?
Fuck him.
I didn’t know Gabriel as well as I knew Felix, but he was family now. And he wasn’t family you tried to avoid at functions either. Gabriel was cool. I didn’t know why his familiar was still a snake, but that was between the two of them.
“So, we need to call the four elements to open the puzzle box found at the ruins where the cult died,” Ravyn said.
“Need? Do we reallyneedto open a box from the Cult of the Aether Sisters?” Gabriel said.
“Does my sisterneedferal books that bite? You have that look in your eyes of a man that’s been assaulted by one of her books before.”
“One of them ruined my favorite shirt.”
