Now that Seth had described it, it was easy to see the odd panel out, only half as wide as the others. I crouched down and pushed it the way he’d said. The panel popped open easily, revealing the notebook and the other books he’dmentioned.
A couple of glyphs marked the inside of the door—connection and power. If they’d been meant to keep it locked, the magic on them must have faded. I checked the other books Master Cortland had stashed with thenotebook.
Was he using these for his research for my stepmother or some other project? I wavered and then scooped them all up. He’d notice someone had broken in from the missing notebook, so why not takeeverything?
“All right,” I said to Damon, kicking the panel shut. “No point in hanging around. Let’s get out ofhere.”
We strode back toward the door. I’d just reached the threshold when the notebook on the top of the stack burst intoflames.
A yelp broke from my mouth. My hands jerked, tossing the books onto the kitchen floor. They fell with a thump. The notebook hissed, its cover already disintegrating, the pages crumbling into ash. The other books had flared up too. A sharp smoky smell filled the room. Damon’s jaw haddropped.
“No!” I dropped down, swatting at the flames, but they were already flickering out of their own accord. Leaving nothing but the burnt husk of the notebook. My proof, seared away. A choked sound escaped mythroat.
“What the hell?” Damonsaid.
I drew in a shaky breath. “He had a protection on them.” Master Cortland must have had a spell laid to prevent any witching items from leaving the house. A wise move, actually, when he couldn’t work magic himself. A general catch-all could be laid down to last a long time—and it would prevent even him from bringing anything that would reveal us beyond that boundary, even if he were coerced somehow. Destroying the evidenceimmediately.
But the glyphs on the cupboard… I spun and checked the doorway. There they were, the same ones, faint but visible if you knew what to look for under the layers of paint. Shit. My heart stuttered. “There might be an alarm connected to those protections. Come on. We’ve got to get out ofhere.”
Damon grabbed my arm. We bolted across the yardtogether.
“He’s on vacation, right?” Damon said between sharp breaths. “That’s what Mr. Braniac said. Even if he comes racing back, he can’t get here rightaway.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But Mr. Cortland might have someone local on call just in case.” He had plenty at stake too. If the Assembly found out he was helping someone pervert a consort ceremony… There’d be hell topay.
We scrambled over the fence and dashed down the road toward town. We’d just reached the first proper street when laughter echoed from upahead.
Damon reacted with instincts that must have been honed from the Spark only knew how many petty criminal dealings. He snatched my elbow and jerked me into the shelter of a narrow walkway between one of the houses and its garage. We pressed against the rough shingles, watching the couple goby.
They looked like totally normal people. Meandering along hand-in-hand. Definitely not in a hurry to investigate a magical break-in. The panic gripping me eased off just a little. I glanced atDamon.
“I’m pretty sure we didn’t need to hide from thosetwo.”
He let out a huff of breath. “You never know. Better to get out of the way than end uphandcuffed.”
The space was so narrow that his chest brushed mine with that breath. His fingers were still curled around my arm, firm but not rough. The heat of his body radiated over me. I swallowed hard, and his gaze slid from the street to meet myeyes.
I wasn’t the only one affected by our closeness. For a moment we just stared at each other, Damon’s pupils dilating into the deep blue of his eyes. My breath was still a bit ragged from the run, and I was finding it awfully hard to catch it. We could have walked right back out there, but that would have meant pulling my gaze away from him. Which felt somehowimpossible.
“Thank you,” I said quietly. “For helping me tonight, even if it didn’t work out. You didn’t have to do that. You never had to do anything for me, but you did, alot.”
Damon shifted, his hand trailing down my arm to my wrist. His touch sent a pleasant shiver through my nerves in its wake. “Don’t think I’m going to roll over and play nice just because you butter me up,angel.”
I grimaced at him. “I’m not trying to butter you up. I’m just saying what I’m honestly thinking. Isn’t that what you want—honesty?”
A soft, strangled noise worked its way out of his throat. He tipped his head forward, his forehead almost grazing mine. His mouth just inches from mylips.
“There’s so much I fucking want, Rose,” he murmured with a rasp. A full-out shudder of longing shot through me. But he didn’t bridge that last short distance. “More than you couldhandle.”
“I always kept up with you before,” I said. “All ofyou.”
A hint of a smile touched his lips. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll give you that.” He inhaled deeply. “I missed youtoo.”
He pushed away from me the second the words had left his mouth, so abruptly I almost thought I’d imagined them. But I definitely wasn’t imagining the flush that had colored the back of his neck above his jacket collar. He motioned for me to follow him with a jerk of his hand, not bothering to look back. I shook off the chill he’d left behind with me and hurried afterhim.
The farther we went into town, the more my immediate fears faded. I didn’t think anyone would be able to tellwhohad been in the house. Maybe Master Cortland would be able to make a guess if he determined why we’d been after his notebook, but that would only lead him to me, not the guys. I’d just have to deal with him when it happened. It’d be difficult for him to prove anything without revealing what I’d been trying to steal and getting himself into a heap moretrouble.
The other guys were waiting down the alley by the back of the Lennox Hardware store. The café’s patio was closed, but we weren’t here for an extended chat anyway. The others had just wanted to be ready to act in case I needed anythingelse.