All those dragons were creepy enough, but it seemed like every single one of the monsters turned its head, narrowed its eyes, and glared at Devon, Felix, and me as we crept past. I shivered. Sometimes, I would have been happy not to see so well with my sight magic.
We quickly made our way up several sets of stairs to the Draconi greenlab. Once again, the glass doors were unlocked, and the three of us slipped inside and moved through the area, which was part chemistry lab, part greenhouse, where a variety of magical and other plants were grown and harvested. The long, sharp needles on the stitch-sting bushes quivered as we hurried past them, but we didn't get close enough for the plants to lash out and try to scratch us for disturbing them.
We made it to the far side of the greenlab, and I sidled up to the glass doors there and peered out into the hallway beyond. The lights were turned down low in this part of the mansion, creating more shadows than not. Just the way I liked it.
Since the coast was clear, I stepped out of the glass doors and into the hallwayâ
A sword zipped out of the shadows, stopping an inch from my throat. I froze, my body tense, my hand curling around the hilt of my own sword, ready to draw the weapon and defend myself with it.
“You're late,” a familiar voice growled.
Deah Draconi stepped out of the shadows, her sword still at my throat. I looked down at the weapon and the stars carved into the dull, ash-colored metal. A similar pattern adorned my own sword. Both of our weapons had been given to us by our respective mothers, and both were black blades.
Deah was quite beautiful with her golden hair and dark blue eyes, which were the same color as my ownâanother sign of our Sterling Family blood, along with our black blades. She was wearing white shorts and sandals with a red T-shirt, but my gaze dropped to the gold cuff stamped with the Draconi dragon crest that gleamed on her right wrist. Deah might be helping us now, but part of me still wondered whose side she would choose in the end, when Victor finally made his move to destroy all the other Families, starting with the Sinclairs.
“Hello, cousin,” I drawled. “I didn't see you there. You're getting better at sneaking around. I approve. We might make a thief out of you yet.”
Deah rolled her eyes at my calling her
cousin
, but she dropped her sword from my throat. Neither one of us had known about our connection until a couple of weeks ago, when it had come out during the Tournament of Blades, and we were both still getting used to the idea that we were family and trying to figure out what kind of relationship we wanted to have.
“How's Seleste?” I asked in a kinder voice, referring to her mother and my aunt.
“She went to bed early tonight.” Deah hesitated a moment. “She's actually been doing a lot better these past two weeks. It's as if seeing you at the tournament and then us working together has quieted her mind and made her sharper, clearer, more focused.”
I nodded. Seleste had sight magic too, but her Talent let her see the future, which led to her doing and saying all sorts of strange things. Most people thought Seleste was crazy or made fun of her, but I'd grown to like her odd ways. Besides, Seleste and Deah were the only blood family I had left now, and I was going to look out for them. That's what my mom would have wanted.
“Um, I hate to be whiny, but can we get on with things?” Felix asked, shifting on his feet. “These bags are heavy.”
Deah looked at Felix, her eyes softening. “You know, I really like seeing you every nightâeven if it is because of my dad and what he's planning to do.”
Felix's face lit up. “I like seeing you too.”
Then he grinned, stepped forward, and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonightâ”
He started whispering to her as they walked down the hallway in front of us. Devon grinned and nudged me with his elbow. I rolled my eyes, but I was grinning too. I was glad that Felix and Deah had found happiness, despite how dangerous it was for them to be together.
The four of us made it to Victor's office, and Deah gestured at the double doors, which had two snarling gold dragons for knobs. The creatures looked like they might come to life and bite off the fingers of anyone who tried to open them.
“Locked,” she said. “Sorry, but I haven't been able to get a key yet. I tried to open it earlier with those lock picks you gave me, but I'm still not as good with them as you are.”
“No worries,” I said, smiling. “Finally, something fun for me to do.”
Deah shook her head. “You are seriously strange, Merriweather.”
My smile widened. “You have no idea, Draconi.”
While the others kept watch, I reached up and removed two thin chopsticks that were stuck through my ponytail. The sticks were the same black as my hair, but a twist of the wood revealed the lock picks hidden inside. The tools felt as familiar to me as my own fingers, and I started humming a soft, happy tune as I bent over the lock and inserted the picks.
Over the past two weeks, I'd had a lot of practice on this particular lock, and it
snicked
open less than thirty seconds later. Still, we all tensed, knowing that we were stepping into the dragon's denâand that he could come and catch us at any moment.
I stuck the chopstick lock picks back into my ponytail, then took hold of the knobs. “Here we go,” I whispered and opened the doors.
The four of us crept inside, and I shut and locked the doors behind us. Victor's office was as richly furnished as the rest of the mansion, but I ignored the glimmers of gold and went over to the wall behind his desk. An enormous dragon was carved into the white stone there, with flames curled all around it, as though it were setting itself on fire.
I stopped for a moment, staring at the fist-size ruby that was the dragon's evil eye. I shivered again. No matter how many times I snuck in here, I never got used to looking at this particular dragonâor having it stare right back at me. Or perhaps it was what was behind the carving that worried me so much.
But I forced my unease aside, stepped forward, and pressed on the ruby, which sank into the stone. A second later, the wall slid back, revealing a large, secret roomâone that was filled with weapons.
An overhead light clicked on in the room, revealing the black-blade swords, daggers, and more that lined the shelves covering the three walls. Each weapon was on a peg by itself and carefully labeled, with codes like
TT29
,
CC2
, and
RM55
âfor all the tree trolls, copper crushers, and rockmunks that Victor had trapped and killed.
Black blades were made out of bloodiron, a special metal that grew blacker with every drop of blood that fell on it. Bloodiron could also absorb, store, and transfer magic from one person or monster to another. Victor had used these weapons to rip the monsters' magic right out of them so he could use their Talents for his own evil plan to destroy the other Families. I could feel the creatures' power pulsing through the blades, each one proof of Victor's cruelty and his delight in senseless slaughter. The cold burn of magic made me sick to my stomach.
“Let's move,” I whispered. “I don't want to be in here one second longer than necessary.”
Devon and Felix put their duffel bags on the floor and unzipped them, revealing the swords, daggers, and other weapons inside. They grabbed the weapons and handed them to me and Deah, and the two of us switched out the real black blades with the fakes.
We'd been coming here and doing this same thing every night for the last two weeks, slowly exchanging the magic-filled weapons for ordinary ones. We'd removed most of the black blades, but not all of them. I hated leaving a single sword here for Victor to use, but he had a lot of Talents, and I was betting that he could sense magic the same way I could. So we had to leave some of the real weapons here or he would realize what we'd done. Still, I made sure that we only left the blades that pulsed weakly with magic. I wasn't leaving Victor with any more power than I had to.
It only took us five minutes to switch out the last of the weapons, although it seemed much longer than that. By the time we were done, Devon and Felix were both sweating beneath their long, black cloaks. Deah was too, despite her T-shirt and shorts. I wasn't sweating, but my stomach churned and churned at the cold chill of all the magic in the air.
Devon and Felix zipped up the duffel bags with the real black blades and slung them over their shoulders. I pressed the dragon's ruby eye again, and the wall slid back into place, hiding the secret room from sight.
“Well, I guess this is it,” I said, trying to make my voice light. “No more late-night trips to raid Victor's secret weapons stash.”
Nobody moved or spoke for a moment.
I looked at Deah. “Thank you again for helping us.”
She nodded, but she stared at the floor instead of at me. Betraying her Family and her father was no easy thing, no matter how evil Victor might be.
I glanced at Devon and Felix, who both nodded. We'd discussed this for several days now, and it was finally time to ask Deah to do one more thing.
“Come with us,” I said.
Deah's head snapped up, and she stared at me with wide eyes. “What?”
“You heard me. Come with us. Go pack a bag, get Seleste, and come with us. Right now.”
She stared at me, and my soulsight kicked in, letting me feel all of her emotions. Electric shock. Sharp worry. Stomach-churning fear. For a moment, warm happiness mixed in with the other feelings, but it was quickly smothered by cold sorrow. I knew what her answer was going to be before she even opened her mouth.
She shook her head, her golden ponytail slapping against her shoulders. “I can't do that. You know I can't.”
Felix stepped forward and grabbed her hand. “Please, Deah,” he said. “You're not like the other Draconis. You don't belong here.”
“But I
am
a Draconi.” She looked at me for a second. “At least, part of me is. But that doesn't matter. I can't go with you. My dad would flip out if he realized that Mom and I were gone. And you all know what he would do if he found that we'd defected to the Sinclair Family.”
We all grimaced. Victor would attack the Sinclairs with every guard he had in order to get back Deah and her mom. Deah's mimic magic and Seleste's visions were Talents that he didn't have and would never let slip through his fingers.
But Felix cared too much about Deah to give up so easily. “Please,” he repeated. “Just come with us. We can figure the rest out later. Let's just get you and your mom out of here while we still have a chance.”
Deah stared at him, and I saw and felt all the warm love she had for him. She bit her lip and shifted on her feet, as if she was actually considering changing her mind and coming with usâ
One of the knobs creaked, and the doors rattled in their frames.
We all froze.
Someone was trying to get into the office.