Silently, we opened and shut all the doors until we found Levi’s old bedroom. We snuck inside, shutting the door behind us with a soft click.
There was a double bed with a blue bedspread, some sturdy wood bedroom furniture, and tons of trophies. Academic, athletic, you name it they crowded his shelves. My heart wrenched for young Levi, trying so hard to prove his worth.
“Where do we begin?” Rafael whispered. “‘Hiding spot’ is pretty vague.”
“You take the closet. I’ll check for fake drawer bottoms. Just do it quietly.” I methodically searched through Levi’s dresser. “I don’t sense anything. Maybe it’s not here.”
“Or the scroll is sealed in something which prevents its detection. The pillars aren’t anything special in terms of containing the magic. They’re virtually impossible to break into, but they aren’t warded up, either. A good waterproof container might be enough to keep you from detecting the scroll’s presence.”
“Maybe the Tupperware dream is alive and well and your day will be made.”
Rafael grinned at me.
We’d searched about half the room with no luck when I asked Rafael to help me lift the mattress. We hefted it up, but there was nothing hidden in the slats.
We dropped it back into place and I jumped.
Levi stood against the closed door, his arms crossed. “Care to explain?”
“Not really,” I said.
“That wasn’t actually a request,” he said, “though I guess I would be somewhat loath to talk about why I was lifting my boyfriend’s mattress with some other guy, visiting his parents’ house without letting him know, and, oh yeah, avoiding him.”
I planted my hands on my hips. “How did you find us? Did you have Priya track us? I don’t believe this.”
“You ghost me for two days, search my room, and then have the audacity to get indignant?”
“I’ll just…” Rafael pointed to Levi’s trophy shelves, getting very interested in one with an archery symbol on it.
“The two hundred pages of Google results on you were pretty superficial,” I said, “so I figured I’d check out your old bedroom to get a sense of the man I was dating.” I pointed at a small trophy. “Spelling bee, huh? What was the winning word?”
“Mendacious,” Levi said in a flat voice.
I swallowed. “Walk away, Levi. I’m begging you.”
He stood in front of me. “Whatever this is, we face it together. Remember?”
“I don’t want you to face it.”
He brushed his thumb under my eye, looking at the smudged tear. “Bella, please. You’re scaring me.”
I looked away and Levi made a frustrated sound.
“You told Ashira’s father about your hiding place, correct?” Rafael said.
I thunked my head against the wall.
“I did,” Levi said. “Are you looking for something in particular?”
“No,” I said, just as Rafael said, “Tell him.”
I sighed. “The missing scroll piece.”
Levi frowned. “Why would it be…” His face twisted. “No.” He stepped back, turning away from me.
I closed my eyes. Please let me be wrong. Pull me close and tell me not to worry. Tell me that we’re not our fathers.
“Levi.” I reached for him but at the last second, I dropped my hand. “Isaac is one of the Chariot Ten,” I said. “That’s who my father was working for.”
Levi blinked at me, his mouth slack. “He’s Mundane. He despises magic.”
“Despises or covets?” Rafael said.
“Not helping,” I hissed.
“He supports the Untainted Party,” Levi said. “He can’t be Chariot. They want immortality. He wouldn’t back the legislation if that were the case.”
“There’s an argument to be made that immortality is different from magic power,” Rafael said. “Actually, one of the Attendants from a hundred years ago had some fascinating—”
I glared at him. “Show us the hiding spot,” I said. “If the scroll isn’t there, then we have this all wrong.”
That was a logical argument, right? If X, then Y. If I said it enough times, it might become true.
Levi lifted up a tile in the ceiling and pulled out a large shoebox.
Rafael and I crowded around it, barely breathing as Levi flipped it open.
It was empty.
“We were wrong.” I said it, but I didn’t believe it.
“I wasn’t,” Rafael said. “It’s Isaac. The codename matches the quote on the clock.”
Levi buried his head in his hands with a low moan.
“Levi.” I placed my hand on his arm. He was so stiff.
“Misdirection.” His voice was flat, his expression bleak. I had the scariest feeling that he’d gone away and that this Levi was just an illusion. “Hidden in plain sight, right? That was Adam’s thing.”
“The box is empty.” I rubbed his arm, trying to get some look or action to prove that my wonderful boyfriend was there and not this shut-down automaton.
“It shouldn’t be,” Levi said, and walked out the door.
Rafael and I scrambled after him down the back stairs and into the kitchen.
“Mom,” Levi said.
Nicola turned, her entire face lighting up at the sight of her son. “Levi. What are you doing here?”
He took her elbow and led her outside. Rafael and I weren’t invited, but we followed and Levi didn’t protest. He didn’t register us at all.
“Remember when I was younger, I had that hiding spot?” Levi said.
She smiled. “Sì. Where you used to put your special toys and books.” She glanced at us.
“You can speak in front of them,” Levi said.
“Va bene. Anything you didn’t want your father to know you cared about.”
“Yes.” Levi pressed his lips together, looking heavenward.
I wished I could wrap my arms around him, but he had to face this on his own. Only that way would we be able to deal with it together.
“The things that were in the box, what happened to them?” he said.
“I packed them with all your other belongings. You remember.” She used her hands as she spoke, a trait that I found terribly endearing. “You came and picked them up a couple weeks ago. I told you that you had to go through it all.” She wrung her hands together now.
Levi kissed her. “It’s okay, Mom. I will.”
She grabbed his hand, a fierce expression
