She’d looked so scared at the thought of him learning of her failure the last time I’d spoken to her.
My teeth worried at my lower lip as I darted down the hall to Dad’s office. He’d been in such a rush when he’d left. I could hope he’d been a little bit careless, couldn’t I? By all that was lit and warm, please, let him have slipped up somewhere.
The spell Mrs. Gainsley had placed on his door was essentially the same. All it required was a slide to the right of the knob so it no longer affected the lock. I paused and cast a quick tendril of magic to search all around the doorframe.
It was a good thing I hadn’t assumed she’d taken theexactsame precautions. There was another spell embedded in the floor on the threshold. If I’d just walked in without catching it, I wasn’t sure what it’d have done. The energy in it felt prickling hot.
I wove a sort of basket of magic with my hands, encasing the second spell. Then I shifted it too, over into the wall. Letting out my breath, I hurried inside.
The growl of a car engine outside made me jump. I sprang to the window. Relief washed through me when I saw it was just an old clunker sputtering on past the estate. I still had at least a little time.
I’d already searched the shelves, the books. I pulled open the desk drawers again, just for good measure. Nothing relating to my impending consorting jumped out at me.
A tremor passed through me as I popped open the laptop, sitting down in Dad’s leather chair. The smell of those licorice candies hanging in the air no longer felt remotely comforting. What if he kept all his secrets locked inside his head where I could never prove they existed.
Shoving aside my doubts, I peered at the computer screen. If I could find something without having to take the laptop out of the house, that would be even better, even if I doubted my chances. First to deal with the password… I’d never learned any forms for interacting with computers, but it was a matter of sorting, and fitting into place, and opening. I’d learned plenty of gestures that captured the right sensations.
I focused on the password box and arched my arms in the air. My hands bent and flexed as I shaped the magic around the computer. Release. Let me in. Just one more nudge…
A cool sweat had broken out on my forehead, but the screen jittered and switched to a loading symbol. I let out my breath in a rush. It had worked.
The files readily at hand all appeared to have to do with Dad’s business. This deal and that one, various financing collaborations he set up between witching businesses across the world. His most recent opens were all from that Cairo project he’d spent so long working on.
I opened up his email and skimmed through that too. Cairo this and Cairo that. There was one of the company presidents urging him to put together some sort of celebration around the sealing of the deal, like Dad had said. Dad’s response, begging off because of my wedding—so much for that. I searched for anything to do with Celestine, or with me or my consorting, and came up empty.
Maybe there was nothing to do now except bring it to Kyler and hope he could work his own brand of magic on it.
I was just opening a few last applications at random when an alert popped up on the corner of the screen. Dad had his text messages connected to his laptop. He hadn’t thought to turn that function off—why would he, when no one should be on this computer other than him.
The message was from Mrs. Gainsley, replying to something Dad must have sent her.I can get the contract drawn up as soon as Mr. Sorensen is on board. Just say the word.
My pulse thumped. Mr. Sorensen—my supposed new consort. Of course. He would need to give his magical signature just as Derek had on his contract with Celestine.
And he’d have to give Dad the final authority over what he did with me. Celestine wasn’t here anymore to be that buffer. I just had to wait until they’d signed the contract and then steal it out from under them like I had the old one.
Once I turned that contract over to the Assembly, we’d be safe. The estate would be mine. Everything else—who lived where, how I hid my magic—I could figure out later.
But that was still counting on me being able to find that contract in time. If text messages came into the computer, maybe there was some way of seeing old ones?
The sound of another engine filtered through the window. My head jerked up. This time it was Mrs. Gainsley’s Lincoln, cruising along the road to the gate.
I scooped the computer under my arm and ran for the door. As the gate hissed open, I pulled Mrs. Gainsley’s security spells back into place. Then I ran for my room to dig out my old backpack.
I was going for a little hike this evening. But it wasn’t going to be in the woods.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kyler
Rose had only been in my apartment once before, but somehow it had never felt quite as much like a home until now, with her stepping back inside. The place in my chest where the magic of the consort ceremony had wound through me filled with a glow where it had been empty a moment ago.
What would it be like to live with her someday? Toseeher every day, morning through night?
The thought turned the glow into an ache. We still didn’t know if we could ever have that kind of closeness, even though we were already bound together more closely than most people who were married. It might even be better for her if we never did.
“Sorry about the rush,” Rose said, setting her canvas backpack down on my coffee table. “I know you might not be able to do a completely thorough search just tonight. But Dad called and confirmed he’ll be back tomorrow, so we don’t have much time.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I can do a lot with just a few hours, believe me.”