“All right,” I agreed. “Teams of two?”
We split off into teams, and I got Toby. Mainly because I called it first. I knew that Odin and Re would understand why; that I wanted to use this as an opportunity to find out what was going on with my boyfriend.
Toby and I held hands as we went toward the back of the mansion. Once there, we would head to the second floor of the main building and search the rear portion. Yes; there was more than one building; two large houses dominated the hill. When Toby and I made it around the side of the main villa—which took awhile, let me tell you—we found a patio (there's probably a fancy word for that too, but I don't know it) that had more arched columns outlining it. These columns were rectangular instead of the traditional round, and the sides facing the villa were painted with stunning Renaissance scenes.
“This is beautiful,” Toby said as he stopped in the middle of the red brick patio. “Maybe I'll make my house a villa.”
Toby lived with his twin brother, Naye. They had a territory in the God Realm that was very beautiful, but they lived in a cave. It was a homey cave, with all the creature comforts, but still a cave. Toby had a private place to retreat to when needed, but it was also a cave. I don't know what was up with the brothers and caves, but Toby had finally gotten tired of it. He wanted a home that he could bring visitors to without being disturbed by his brother or a cold draft. So, he decided to build a real house in the forest below their cave. I was all for it; it would make my visits less awkward if nothing else.
“A Tuscan villa in the middle of a forest,” I said. “It sounds lovely.”
Toby gave my hand a squeeze, and we headed into the house through a pair of French doors. Several modern improvements had been made to Machiavelli's home; the French doors were just the start. But despite the modern lights and some modern building materials, the inside of the villa felt as historically accurate as the outside. The furniture was all heavily carved wood pieces with flourishes aplenty, gilded frames held massive paintings on the plaster walls, and every doorway had an arch in it. Italians love curves; on women, cars, and houses.
We wandered past room after lavish room, all in immaculate order, and then found a sweeping, polished wood staircase that led to the second floor. We climbed the stairs without worrying about bothering to soften our footsteps since there wasn't another soul in sight. I couldn't even hear Horus and Morpheus. Wherever they were in the mansion, it was far away from us.
I trailed my hand over the marble bust of a beautiful girl that was set within a wall nook. “Bust” as in a type of statue; I'm not saying that I felt up some stone cleavage. The marble was cool but that wasn't surprising. Even though it was warm outside, the interior of the villa was air-conditioned. That seemed like a ridiculous waste to me; cooling rooms that no one was using. We found several bedrooms at the back of the house. Although, “bedrooms” may not have been the best word for them. These were suites; palatial spaces built for princes. Or, in our case, a princess.
“This must be her bedroom,” Toby whispered.
“I think you're right,” I agreed.
It wasn't the fact that the room was the largest we'd come across as yet, or that it had a magnificent view from its private balcony. It wasn't the four-poster bed, gilded vanity, or even the evidence of an elegant female in residence; high-end makeup, perfume, and clothing. No; it was the mess. The utter destruction, in fact.
All those luxury items I'd mentioned? They were strewn around the room as if a tornado had touched down right there, inside the bedroom. Mirrors were smashed, windows were broken, and paintings were rent with what looked to be claw marks. Even the carpets were torn, and the chandelier hung drunkenly from its ceiling medallion. And then there was the vomit.
As soon as we entered the room, the acrid stench of stomach acid and decaying food hit me, and I started breathing shallowly. There were stains across the walls, on the torn bed linens, and in blotches on the rugs. The plaster would have to be chiseled away and redone; the filth had soaked into it. No one had made any attempt to clean the mess. Felisa must have abandoned her bedroom as soon as she was freed and then stayed the hell away from it.
I didn't blame her.
“You start on the left, and I'll head to the right,” Toby said. “We'll meet at the bed.”
“Okay,” I murmured as I picked my way over the detritus and peered through it for anything that could give us a clue.
I wasn't interested in Felisa so much as who may have helped her. Because whoever had exorcised Alan was probably our killer. But I didn't see anything that looked as if it had been left behind by an exorcist, and my dragon wasn't familiar with Felisa's scent so we couldn't rule out what was hers and what wasn't. Still, I forced myself to inhale deeply and push past the odor of vomit so I could breathe in the scent of people. There were a few different scent signatures in the room, but I was confident that if I were to encounter any of them again, I'd recognize them.
“So, what was up with you and your parents?” I asked Toby casually as I searched.”
I could hear Toby's sigh from across the room.
“Toby?”
“I don't think I should tell you,” he said softly.
“Well, it's too late now,” I said. “You
