Dark Heart of Magic
Page 29
The front doors of the mansion swung open, and Victor Draconi stepped outside, with Blake right beside him, just like always. I looked for Deah, but she didn’t appear.
“Nikolai, Katia, Carl,” Victor called out. “Thank you for coming.”
The Volkovs murmured their greetings, and Victor held out his hand, gesturing for them to follow him inside. “This way. My chef has prepared a fine meal for us tonight . . .”
They all disappeared inside the mansion, along with Blake. The Volkov driver stayed with his SUV, eyeing the Draconi guards as though he was worried that they might attack him, now that their respective bosses were gone. The Draconis returned his hostile glares, their hands on their swords, but they went back to their rotations, and no one spotted me lurking on the patio.
I waited five minutes, hoping that was enough time for Victor and the others to reach whatever dining room they would be eating in, then reached up and tried the patio door.
Locked.
But I could fix that.
I plucked the chopsticks out of my hair and twisted the black lacquered wood, revealing the picks inside, then went to work on the lock. Several seconds later, the tumblers click-click-clicked into place, and the door snicked open. I stuck the chopsticks back into my ponytail, slipped inside, and shut and locked the door behind me.
I’d told Mo that I was planning to break into the Draconi compound at some point during the summer. He hadn’t liked the idea any more than Claudia had, but he’d realized that he couldn’t talk me out of it, and he’d come through for me the way he always did. Thanks to his shady connections, Mo had gotten his hands on the castle’s blueprints, so I knew which hallway to head down and which stairs to climb to get to where I wanted—Victor’s office.
According to the gossip I’d heard, only a few folks had access to Victor’s office, and it was the most logical place for him to keep any incriminating files on whatever he was plotting against the other Families. Maybe I’d find out something about the rope ladder too, if Blake or one of the other Draconis had sabotaged it, although my money was still on Vance for that crime.
The Sinclair mansion was richly furnished, but it looked as rundown and rickety as Oscar’s pixie trailer compared to the sheer, overwhelming opulence of the Draconi compound. Everything inside the castle gleamed with some sort of gold, whether it was the threads in the couch cushions, the gilt-edged mirrors on the walls, or even the solid gold chandeliers dangling from the ceilings.
I’ll admit it. I stopped and stared at one of the chandeliers, greedily dreaming about how I could put that in my pocket and sneak away with it. But that would be impossible, even for me, at least without a ladder, a cart, and some power tools, so I hurried on.
Besides the gold, the other most notable ornament was the snarling dragon crest. It was embroidered, carved, and chiseled into practically everything, from the scarlet curtains to the dark mahogany furniture to the white flagstones embedded in the floors. Victor had his symbol displayed on everything inside his castle, and I had no doubt that he wanted to stamp it on the rest of Cloudburst Falls too.
Only the Draconis themselves—Victor, Blake, and Deah—actually lived in the castle, with the rest of the Family housed in various outbuildings. So the guards only patrolled the perimeter of the structure, and I didn’t see anyone, not even pixie housekeepers, as I slipped from one hallway to the next. The inside of the castle was as eerily too-quiet as the woods had been, and unease curled up in my stomach. Something was wrong here. Other than, you know, me breaking into a place where I would be tortured and killed if I were caught sneaking around.
I’d just started down another hallway that would get me closer to Victor’s office when the murmur of voices sounded, along with the clink-clank of silverware. So I followed the noise until I spotted a set of closed double doors at the end. From the blueprints Mo had given me, I knew that the doors led into one of the mansion’s dining rooms, but of course I couldn’t go in there.
That didn’t mean that I couldn’t spy on what was going on inside, though.
I climbed a set of stairs to the second floor and another door directly above the ones on the ground level. It wasn’t locked, so I turned the knob and cracked it open. Since no lights blazed on this level, I felt safe enough to ease the door open and tiptoe through to the other side.
The door led out onto a balcony that overlooked the first-floor dining room. The area was deserted, so I dropped down onto my stomach, pulled up my spidersilk coat until it covered most of my head, and slithered up to the edge of the balcony, staring down through the slats in the white marble railing.
In the dining room below, Victor sat at the head of a rectangular table, with Blake to his right and Deah to his left. Katia was next to Blake, with Carl across from her. Nikolai Volkov sat at the other end of the table. The pixies had already served the food, and everyone was digging into cheesy lasagna, buttery garlic bread, and a green salad full of colorful veggies.
“So, Katia,” Victor said, picking up his glass and swirling around the red wine inside. “Congratulations. Your performance in the obstacle course today was quite impressive. Your speed Talent served you well. I’ve never seen anyone move quite so fast before.”
His words were innocent enough, but he stared at her, his golden gaze sly, as if he knew some secret about her victory. But there was nothing to know. Katia had used her speed magic to win fair and square . . . right? That’s how it had looked to me. Then again, I hadn’t been up front with her and Deah.
For a moment, Katia chewed on her lower lip, worry filling her face, but then she smiled and nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
“Never thank someone for something you’ve earned by being smarter than everyone else,” Victor corrected.
Smarter than everyone else? What did that mean? The way Victor talked, it was almost as if he knew that Katia had somehow cheated. Even more puzzling, it seemed to make him happy, as if she’d done something that he heartily approved of, although I had no idea what it could be. Maybe she’d pulled the same sort of dirty tricks on Deah that Vance had on me. If so, you would think that Victor would be upset about that, instead of pleased.
“Your victory is one of the reasons I asked you and Nikolai here tonight,” Victor continued. “I always enjoy dining with winners.”
He arched his eyebrow and gave his daughter a pointed look, telling everyone that he didn’t consider her to be a winner tonight.
“Nikolai, Katia, Carl,” Victor called out. “Thank you for coming.”
The Volkovs murmured their greetings, and Victor held out his hand, gesturing for them to follow him inside. “This way. My chef has prepared a fine meal for us tonight . . .”
They all disappeared inside the mansion, along with Blake. The Volkov driver stayed with his SUV, eyeing the Draconi guards as though he was worried that they might attack him, now that their respective bosses were gone. The Draconis returned his hostile glares, their hands on their swords, but they went back to their rotations, and no one spotted me lurking on the patio.
I waited five minutes, hoping that was enough time for Victor and the others to reach whatever dining room they would be eating in, then reached up and tried the patio door.
Locked.
But I could fix that.
I plucked the chopsticks out of my hair and twisted the black lacquered wood, revealing the picks inside, then went to work on the lock. Several seconds later, the tumblers click-click-clicked into place, and the door snicked open. I stuck the chopsticks back into my ponytail, slipped inside, and shut and locked the door behind me.
I’d told Mo that I was planning to break into the Draconi compound at some point during the summer. He hadn’t liked the idea any more than Claudia had, but he’d realized that he couldn’t talk me out of it, and he’d come through for me the way he always did. Thanks to his shady connections, Mo had gotten his hands on the castle’s blueprints, so I knew which hallway to head down and which stairs to climb to get to where I wanted—Victor’s office.
According to the gossip I’d heard, only a few folks had access to Victor’s office, and it was the most logical place for him to keep any incriminating files on whatever he was plotting against the other Families. Maybe I’d find out something about the rope ladder too, if Blake or one of the other Draconis had sabotaged it, although my money was still on Vance for that crime.
The Sinclair mansion was richly furnished, but it looked as rundown and rickety as Oscar’s pixie trailer compared to the sheer, overwhelming opulence of the Draconi compound. Everything inside the castle gleamed with some sort of gold, whether it was the threads in the couch cushions, the gilt-edged mirrors on the walls, or even the solid gold chandeliers dangling from the ceilings.
I’ll admit it. I stopped and stared at one of the chandeliers, greedily dreaming about how I could put that in my pocket and sneak away with it. But that would be impossible, even for me, at least without a ladder, a cart, and some power tools, so I hurried on.
Besides the gold, the other most notable ornament was the snarling dragon crest. It was embroidered, carved, and chiseled into practically everything, from the scarlet curtains to the dark mahogany furniture to the white flagstones embedded in the floors. Victor had his symbol displayed on everything inside his castle, and I had no doubt that he wanted to stamp it on the rest of Cloudburst Falls too.
Only the Draconis themselves—Victor, Blake, and Deah—actually lived in the castle, with the rest of the Family housed in various outbuildings. So the guards only patrolled the perimeter of the structure, and I didn’t see anyone, not even pixie housekeepers, as I slipped from one hallway to the next. The inside of the castle was as eerily too-quiet as the woods had been, and unease curled up in my stomach. Something was wrong here. Other than, you know, me breaking into a place where I would be tortured and killed if I were caught sneaking around.
I’d just started down another hallway that would get me closer to Victor’s office when the murmur of voices sounded, along with the clink-clank of silverware. So I followed the noise until I spotted a set of closed double doors at the end. From the blueprints Mo had given me, I knew that the doors led into one of the mansion’s dining rooms, but of course I couldn’t go in there.
That didn’t mean that I couldn’t spy on what was going on inside, though.
I climbed a set of stairs to the second floor and another door directly above the ones on the ground level. It wasn’t locked, so I turned the knob and cracked it open. Since no lights blazed on this level, I felt safe enough to ease the door open and tiptoe through to the other side.
The door led out onto a balcony that overlooked the first-floor dining room. The area was deserted, so I dropped down onto my stomach, pulled up my spidersilk coat until it covered most of my head, and slithered up to the edge of the balcony, staring down through the slats in the white marble railing.
In the dining room below, Victor sat at the head of a rectangular table, with Blake to his right and Deah to his left. Katia was next to Blake, with Carl across from her. Nikolai Volkov sat at the other end of the table. The pixies had already served the food, and everyone was digging into cheesy lasagna, buttery garlic bread, and a green salad full of colorful veggies.
“So, Katia,” Victor said, picking up his glass and swirling around the red wine inside. “Congratulations. Your performance in the obstacle course today was quite impressive. Your speed Talent served you well. I’ve never seen anyone move quite so fast before.”
His words were innocent enough, but he stared at her, his golden gaze sly, as if he knew some secret about her victory. But there was nothing to know. Katia had used her speed magic to win fair and square . . . right? That’s how it had looked to me. Then again, I hadn’t been up front with her and Deah.
For a moment, Katia chewed on her lower lip, worry filling her face, but then she smiled and nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
“Never thank someone for something you’ve earned by being smarter than everyone else,” Victor corrected.
Smarter than everyone else? What did that mean? The way Victor talked, it was almost as if he knew that Katia had somehow cheated. Even more puzzling, it seemed to make him happy, as if she’d done something that he heartily approved of, although I had no idea what it could be. Maybe she’d pulled the same sort of dirty tricks on Deah that Vance had on me. If so, you would think that Victor would be upset about that, instead of pleased.
“Your victory is one of the reasons I asked you and Nikolai here tonight,” Victor continued. “I always enjoy dining with winners.”
He arched his eyebrow and gave his daughter a pointed look, telling everyone that he didn’t consider her to be a winner tonight.
