46
Kaitlyn
I thought of my friend and her kind words to me as I made my way to the Drake’s Den before dinner. Megan and Avery and Emma and Griffin were the best Coven-mates anyone could ever hope for. I was so blessed to have them and…
My thoughts trailed off as I realized I didn’t know where I was going. Where was the Drake’s Den located again? I had been so out of it that morning when Ari brought me there, I had barely noticed where he was taking me, let alone how to get there.
Well, maybe if I went back to the History of Magic classroom and then retraced my steps from there I could find the secret room.
As I went, I looked up and down the long stone corridor where students were bustling by, putting up books and getting ready to go to the Dining Hall. Several times I saw little groups of girls, huddled in knots, talking together and looking at me speculatively.
I could just imagine what they were thinking—what they were saying.
What is Ari Reyes doing with that nasty, scarred little thing? What in the world does he see in her?
Suddenly I realized I was doing it again—putting myself down, just like I always did.
Stop it, I told myself firmly. I made myself lift my chin as I strode down the stone corridor. “I’m a sweet, kind, wonderful person and I have people who love me,” I murmured under my breath, pointedly ignoring all the curious glances thrown my way. “I’m a sweet, kind, wonderful person and I have people who love me.”
“I would certainly agree with that,” a deep voice said in my ear. “And I am glad to hear you speaking more kindly of yourself.”
I whirled around and saw Ari standing there, a slight smile playing around the corner of his lush mouth.
“Oh, you…you heard that?” I blurted.
He nodded and his smile widened.
“I did and as I said, I agree with it one hundred percent.”
I felt like my whole face was on fire with shame—how horribly embarrassing that he had heard the little mantra Megan had given me to say!
“I don’t really think—” I began but Ari cut me off by taking my hand and lacing our fingers together. Then he pulled me down the stone corridor as casually as though we were a couple and always held hands in the hallway. People stared as we went by but Ari didn’t seem to care. He kept his head high and his gaze open as he led me along.
At last, not far from the West Tower, he turned a corner that shouldn’t have been there and we found ourselves alone in a short stone hallway.
“Where are we? I mean—I know where we are but how did we get here?” I asked, looking around. “I was looking for the, uh, Drake Den when you found me but I didn’t see it anywhere.”
“That is because the doorway needs to be called,” he explained, as though it was an everyday thing to call a door into existence out of nowhere. “Watch—I know you weren’t up to absorbing this the last time we were here.”
Staring at the blank stone wall, he spoke that same guttural word I’d heard him utter that morning.
“Verrotix-offen.”
And as before, the solid wooden door magically appeared in the wall.
“Wow…” I murmured. I had been too out of it that morning to appreciate this display of power but it certainly impressed me now. I looked up at Ari. “I thought only the Sisters had magic powers—I didn’t know Drakes could do magic too.”
He smiled.
“We can’t. It’s not my magic that calls the door—it’s the magic of this castle—of Nocturne Academy itself. Here—you try it.”
He waved a hand over the wooden door and said, “Disparran.”
As he spoke, the door faded away, disappearing as quietly and suddenly as it had appeared.
“Now it’s your turn,” Ari told me. “Call the door. Do you remember the words?”
Actually, I did. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the blank stone wall and said, “Verrotix-offen.”
The strange language rolled off my tongue as though I had been born speaking it and the door appeared for me as quickly as it had for Ari.
“Oh, it worked!” I looked up at him to see him staring down at me thoughtfully.
“Indeed, it did. You pronounced the Drake mother-tongue surprisingly well.”
“Um…thank you.” I looked away from him, embarrassed by his intense scrutiny.
After a moment, Ari looked away as well.
“Anytime you come here, you only need to find the West Tower, go a few steps past it, and this corridor will appear,” he told me. “Face the wall and speak the words and the door will be yours to open.”
As he spoke, he opened the door and held it for me to enter the Drake’s Den once more.
I stepped inside and noticed that it had somehow rearranged itself. The huge brown leather chair was still in the middle of the room but now there was a fireplace in front of it with a cheery little fire glowing in the hearth. It reminded me a little of the Norm Dorm down in the dungeon and the association made me feel more comfortable than I had been earlier.