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It was interesting that the Grand Dukes were so sure that there was a vicious guardian keeping intruders from accessing the Arcane Vaults. Mainly because she could find no mention of how to evade such a beast and yet she had found an array of documentation for objects held within the Vaults themselves. It seemed then, to her estimation, to be incredibly unlikely that anything besides well-spread rumours stood between oneself and the Vaults.

And anyway, it was the only idea her panicked brain could muster. It was also their closest option.

They just had to get there. She’d figure out the rest later.

With each step, Peri pulled him deeper into the library through forgotten, lesser-used passageways. When they reached the entrance, her breath came in short, frantic gasps. She was terrified. She knew so little about the Arcane Vaults. Was this a terrible idea?

The massive crimson door loomed ahead of them, its only marking the anticipated Leviathan. The creature’s jaws gaped wide, sharp teeth bared, ready to tear through any threat. It was the symbol of the Acquirement Circle, used to mark significant places, but still… Peri shivered at the sight of it.

This is just to scare others off. Which…well done. This picture is absolutely terrifying. She pried his fingers open, wrenching the key from them.

It had to work.

She slid the key into the lock and turned but the door remained firmly closed. Then she pressed her forehead to the door, whispering, “Please.”

Still nothing happened until, like a match being struck, Slang’s Bite on her wrists burnt—bright, painful—just as they had during the Ascension ceremony.

The door creaked open.

With a shaky breath, Peri dragged Oleander into the pitch-black void that awaited them.

Immediately they fell into a sort of weightlessness, floating in darkness, as though the shadows themselves were holding them in a dream. Tiny, crimson mushrooms glowed faintly around them as they landed softly on moss-covered ground.

Ahead of them was a door, barely noticeable, carved into the grey stone. Peri’s wrists burnt again as she stumbled towards it. She gritted her teeth and heaved the stone door open, then turned pulling Oleander’s limp and increasingly heavy body through it.

The floor beneath them vanished.

Chapter

Twenty-Six

OLEANDER BRIGHTMORE

Abrief moment of consciousness let Oleander know that he was falling. It was the fall itself that reminded him of Hemlock—and the last time he’d truly felt safe.

Laurel had grown more erratic soon after Oleander was born, and from a young age, he’d been left to his own devices. Hemlock was always busy with some sort of bargaining for their father, leaving to Oleander play with Wisteria. But as they got older, she became more introverted, preferring to be left to her own devices over doing something together with him. So, Oleander resorted to climbing the branches around their home, trying to stave off boredom.

He’d climbed to the top branches near the sunroom where Wisteria would sit reading books in comfortable silence. His plan had been to climb up and tap on the window to scare her. But then, a branch he’d been standing on snapped, and he began to fall through the air, sure he was going to die.

Except.

Except Hemlock had seen him climbing. Had waited in case something went wrong. Unbeknownst to Oleander his brother had always kept a careful eye on him, preparing for the inevitable disaster.

Oleander had been sure he was about to meet a violent end, but instead, soft, warm arms caught him. He lay in those strong arms for what felt like an eternity, confused, before Hemlock tightened his embrace. When the shock wore off, Oleander had cried, terrified and grateful, tears soaking Hemlock’s shoulder.

Never had he felt so deeply safe, so cared for.

He shaped that memory into an intention, building his mental wall painstakingly, brick by brick. He thought about that hug until he could almost feel Hemlock’s arms around him. The whispering smoke receded, and for the first time in what felt like ages, Oleander took a calm breath. The panic from the shadow’s control over his mind was muted, but now he realised that maybe he should be panicking about the fact that he’d been falling for what seemed like a solid eternity.

Definitely not good.

Eerie red lights whipped past him, offering just enough illumination to make out Perine across from him, floating through what looked like a stone tunnel.

“Where are we?” he shouted to her.

Perine’s gaze snapped to him, her amber sorceress eyes flashing brightly in the dim red light. “I don’t know!” she yelled back. “Somewhere in the Arcane Vaults!”

“Very helpful!”