“What’s behind this door?”
“Storage. Abrams puts all the orders and shipments that haven’t been processed there until Layla can go through them and add them to the store.”
Finn turned the knob. “Is it usually locked?”
Violet shrugged. “We were forbidden to go inside unless Layla accompanied us. The few times I’ve been inside, it was filled with piles of boxes, dust, and cages.”
“Cages?”
Violet smiled. “Magical creatures are transported in special cages.”
The way Finn scrunched his face made her smile. “So, there’s a menagerie in there?”
“There was once. I remember an odd bird with fangs… can’t recall the name, but it had escaped and tried to mate with a gnome Layla had. It was quite a sight. To be honest, I don’t know what’s in there now. Why do you want to know?”
“It’s not exactly a shifter, but I can sense someone. A mix of smell and energy. I can feel Abrams had been there often, more than any other place inside this house.”
“Okay, let me get the key, it should be here somewhere, maybe at the front counter.”
A loud crack made her spin from where she was heading. Finn had forced the door causing the wood to splinter.
“Oops.”
She should’ve been pissed at him for damaging Layla’s property, but instead, she stifled a laugh. “Did you have to do that?”
He only winked at her and opened the door, gesturing to her to enter first.
The room was vast and appeared as she remembered, like a storm has gone through it. Everything was in a state of disarray and disorder as if there was no logic at all. However, Abrams always followed Layla’s system, whatever that was.
Violet switched on the lights in the windowless room. There weren’t as many boxes as she remembered, only one broken cage at the far end corner, and no magical creatures in sight.
The air was musty, and dust flew as they passed. Finn looked around, frowning. He moved around, sidestepping the boxes, obviously still following his nose.
His fingers glided over the wall before he froze. “The tracks stop here.”
The wall looked seamless—no sign of an entrance or a door, no interruption in the faded floral wallpaper. Finn knocked on the wall in several places, but nothing sounded remotely hollow.
Placing both palms on the wall, Violet closed her eyes and tried to connect to her powers once more.
Something trembled inside her, but it was so faint, so distant, she couldn’t grasp it.
Fear blossomed and she couldn’t stand it. Why couldn’t she reach her powers? Would she ever get them back? Anger pushed the fear aside. How could they rob her of the most significant and intimate part of herself? In a rage, her hands fisted, and she punched the wall with a scream.
Finn spoke her name, but she didn’t listen. Overwhelmed, eyes still closed, Violet started battering the wall with increased violence. In her inner storm, a sense of liberation came over her, supported by the increasing ache in her knuckles against the hard surface.
She wanted to tear the wall down with her bare hands, empty herself of all the emotions and apprehension of what the future held that clouded her mind. In the end, what would become of her?
Shackles of flesh circled her wrists in an unbreakable hold.
“Vi, sweetheart, calm down. Easy.”
It took some time to realize where she was, and that Finn was hugging her hard from behind, his arms around her like a cocoon, his large hands circling her forearms. His voice was low and gentle, but she could feel the hint of persuasion laced through it. Muscle by muscle, she relaxed and leaned against him.
“Take it easy, wicked witch.” His amused tone made her half-heartedly elbow him. “What came over you? Your hands are bleeding.”
His words made her open her eyes and lower them to her hands. Her knuckles were red and split, oozing blood. “Sorry, I should’ve known better than to spill blood in the presence of a vampire.”
“Don’t say that on my account. I don’t crave blood, for now at least. I just mentioned it because you’re ruining Layla’s awful wallpaper.”
He was right. There were reddish stains where she’d hit. Something else caught her eyes. The blood she had shed shivered over the paper until it started to move.
“Look, Finn.”
The gasp that came from him confirmed he saw the same phenomenon. The blood followed a line, like a drawing until the outline of a door appeared.
Finn steadied her when she straightened and moved toward that bit of magic. “Did you do that?”
The only thing she could do was shake her head. No surge of power, no tingling of a spell came from her.
Her hands touched the lines, and they shivered, materialized even more. When her fingers slid toward the knob, the drawing solidified until it became real.
Swallowing hard, she looked at Finn, who waited in anticipation.
“Only one way to find out.”
And she opened the door.
Chapter 14
Finn had never seen that kind of magic. He’d believed Violet when she said she hadn’t conjured what appeared on the wall. But if not her, where did it come from?
His questions dissolved when he stopped at the open door. Senses on alert, the first draft of air that came from behind the wall felt damp and old.
Before Violet could take a step, he pushed in front of her. He knew she wouldn’t be pleased, but he also knew how vulnerable she was at the moment. Until she accepted her current situation, he wasn’t allowing her to put herself in the line of fire.
They’d entered a cave or some sort of underground area. His eyes immediately adjusted to the darkness, and he heard the witch fumble behind him. She put a hand on his back, and he guessed it was to steady herself until she could see more clearly.
As always, her touch warmed him through to his soul, something he’d yearned for and a reminder of what he could have but
