Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

I glanced around the pantry, taking in the grim faces of my friends. The scent of flour and spices filled the air, a stark contrast to the tension that hung between us. Eve's hand rested on one of the shelves, steadying herself as she took a deep breath. Her power flared out, electrifying the air, and for a moment, I felt a flicker of hope.

But then her power fizzled, dissipating like smoke in the wind. Eve was gasping, her face pale and drawn. The effort had taken its toll, and the disappointment in her eyes mirrored the sinking feeling in my own chest. We were running out of options and time, and the weight of our failure was like a vise on my chest.

Faith looked at me, her eyes filled with concern and determination. Nishi studied the room with a furrowed brow, her phone clutched in her hand. We were all searching for answers, for some clue that would break this deadlock, but the pantry remained stubbornly ordinary.

"We'll find it," Faith said, her voice steady despite the situation. "We just have to keep looking. It is in this basement somewhere."

Eve touched my arm. "I can't reinstate the glamor. That means Faith's Jeep is sitting out front instead of the Westhaven Securities van. As soon as someone sees it, Asham will be on us, and I have no magic left to defend us."

"Text Salima and tell her to keep everyone busy upstairs. She can create enough distractions, so they won't go outside."

Eve sighed. "I should have thought of that. It's nice having backup."

"Text Hunter as well as Greyson. I know Alex is in the fae realm right now, so he won't get here in time. Have them on alert if we need help to get out."

Faith pulled out her phone. "Greyson can portal to the council chambers and meet Hunter, but he is in the pocket realm at Scorchwood. He won't see this message until he is free."

Eve was texting on her phone, then looked up. "Hunter is at the council chambers. He said to send word, and he will be here with the pack."

Faith winked. "Now that we have our furry extraction plan in place, we need to find that room."

I glanced at the pantry. "Let's retrace Salima's steps with the soulglass. I never saw a pantry. Does anyone remember what images showed as soon as she backed out of the room?"

Faith shook her head. "All I remember is a wall."

Nishi nodded. "Me too." She glanced around. "Though now that you mention it. The wall was barren. All the rooms we have been in are packed with stuff."

"Let's quickly check the rooms we haven't inspected. See if there are any with an empty wall," I said.

We exited the pantry, the lingering smell of flour and spices fading as we moved back into the hallway. The tension was palpable, each of us silently hoping the next door would be the one. I approached the nearest door and turned the handle, feeling the weight of our collective desperation.

Inside was a storage room filled with cleaning supplies. Buckets with mops leaned against one wall, and the other walls were lined with shelves stocked with various products. The mundane nature of it all felt like a slap in the face. I swore under my breath, closing the door with a sense of frustration.

Faith moved to the next door, her expression hardening with determination. Nishi and Eve waited, their eyes flicking between us and the hallway. The air was thick with anticipation and a growing sense of urgency.

As I turned back to the hallway, I couldn't help but feel the weight of our task pressing down on me. Each unopened door represented dwindling hope, and with every dead end, our time was running out.

I glanced at the barren walls of the hallway as Nishi and Faith confirmed the last few doors were a dead end. "Wait. The hallway."

Faith glanced at the walls. "Do you think it's here? That the rooms are a distraction?"

I went to one end of the hallway. "It wouldn't be hard to put a small room between the others. There has to be a lever or latch. We assumed it was magically hidden, but what if he suspected a supernatural would look for it? Eve's magic didn't work when she looked for the wards, because there aren't any."

Faith's head lolled back on her shoulders for a moment. "I hate this guy already, but that is awfully smart. He would assume an empowered person would look for his stash."

I pointed to the hallway walls. "Start touching the walls, doorknobs. Anything you can think of that may be a release for the secret room."

We tapped on the walls, our knuckles rapping against the wood in search of a hollow echo or a secret release. When that didn't yield anything, we tried turning the knobs of the doors both ways, hoping for some hidden mechanism to reveal itself. Eve's sharp eyes caught the wall sconces on either side of the hallway, and she twisted them with determination, but they refused to budge.

With the walls yielding no secrets, my gaze fell to the floor. The stairway had been wooden, but this hallway was tiled. I walked over the tiles, my eyes scanning for any discrepancies. After a moment, I noticed several scuff marks leading to an empty wall.

I stepped on the tile with both feet, and suddenly, the wall began to slide in front of me. My heart leaped as the hidden passage revealed itself, a gust of stale air brushing past us.

"Guys, over here," I called, my voice tinged with a mix of excitement and relief.

Faith, Eve, and Nishi hurried over, their eyes widening as they saw the room open before us. The tiles had given way to something we'd almost missed, but now the path was clear.

"Well done," Faith said, a rare smile breaking through her serious demeanor.

We stepped into the small room, and the air immediately felt different, thicker with history and power. The space was crammed with artifacts and contraband, each item more intriguing and ominous than the last. Shelves lined the walls, filled with objects that seemed to hum with energy.

A dusty crystal ball sat on a pedestal, its surface swirling with faint, shifting images. Beside it, an ancient sword glinted in the dim light; its blade etched with runes that seemed to pulse faintly. A collection of grimoires, their spines cracked and worn, stood in a row, each one brimming with dark secrets and forgotten spells.

As I moved deeper into the room, I saw a silver chalice adorned with strange symbols, its surface tarnished with age. A delicate, golden amulet lay next to it, the gem at its center glowing softly with an inner light. There was an eerie beauty to everything here, a silent testament to the power and danger these items held.

My eyes scanned the shelves, searching for the Temporal Echo. It had to be here. I pushed aside a small, ornate box, revealing a pair of old, rusted manacles that gave off a malevolent aura. Next to them was a wooden mask with hollow eyes, its expression frozen in a look of perpetual terror.

Faith moved beside me, her gaze sweeping over the artifacts with the same mixture of awe and caution. Eve and Nishi were at the other end of the room, their fingers trailing over the items as they searched.

Finally, my eyes landed on a small, unassuming object tucked away in the corner. It was a simple hourglass, but there was something about it that drew me in. I reached out, my fingers brushing against its cool surface, before I noticed the small dial attached to it. The Temporal Echo.

"I think I've found it," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

The others gathered around, their eyes fixed on the hourglass in my hand. It looked ordinary, but we all knew better. In this room, nothing was as it seemed, and the power that radiated from the artifact was unmistakable. We had what we came for, but the weight of our task had only just begun to settle on my shoulders. We still had to escape.

Faith motioned to the items in the room. "What about the rest of this stuff?"

My gaze moved around the room, before I noticed a small golden elephant that once resided in my vault. "We will inform Carnell and the council. Nishi, take some pics to prove what is here. That's the best we can do for now. The council and SNPD will have to deal with the rest of these."

My fingers closed around the Temporal Echo, its surface cool and smooth against my skin. As soon as I lifted it from its position, an alarm blared around us, shrill and deafening.

"Shit! It has a displacement trigger," Faith yelled as the door to the artifact-laden room began to slide shut with an ominous grind.

Panic surged through me. Shouts echoed from above as Faith and Nishi braced themselves against the door, trying to hinder its progress. My heart pounded in my chest as I snatched the golden elephant from its resting place, its weight solid and comforting in my hand.

"Run!" Eve's voice cut through the chaos, her eyes wide with urgency as she lunged toward the hallway.

I bolted for the closing door, my feet pounding against the floor as I pushed past shelves and artifacts. The space seemed to shrink around me, the door narrowing with every second. Faith and Nishi grunted with effort, their muscles straining as they fought to keep the door open.

"Come on, hurry!" Eve shouted, her voice almost lost in the blaring alarm.

I threw myself forward, sliding through the narrowing gap just as the door slammed shut behind me with a resounding thud. The alarm was still blaring, but we were on the other side, free from the trap.

Breathless and adrenaline-fueled, I looked at the Temporal Echo in my hand, its dark surface now warm from my grip. Faith, Nishi, and Eve surrounded me, their faces a mix of relief and determination.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Faith said, her voice steady despite the tension in the air.

We bolted up the stairs, our footsteps echoing off the narrow walls. As we reached the top, we skidded to a halt, confronted by a heavy door. The chaos above suggested that nobody knew what had triggered the alarm; employees were scrambling, their voices and footsteps echoing through the mansion as they searched the second floor.

It didn't surprise me that they were clueless about the secret room, but Asham wasn't. His voice cut through the noise, sharp and authoritative. "Check the basement!" he shouted from another room in the house.

Faith turned to us, her eyes sharp and determined. "We have to make a run for it. They will be here any second."

The urgency in her voice was undeniable. I clutched the Temporal Echo tighter, the weight of our mission pressing heavily on my shoulders. We couldn't afford to be caught now.

I nodded, swallowing hard. "Let's go."

We pushed the door open just enough to slip through one by one. The hallway beyond was eerily empty, the polished floors and ornate decor giving no hint of the pandemonium brewing elsewhere in the mansion. We moved quickly but cautiously, our breaths shallow and hearts pounding.

Every sound seemed amplified—the creak of the floorboards, the distant murmur of voices, the rhythmic thud of our footsteps. We had to get out before Asham pieced everything together.

"Keep moving," Faith urged, her voice a low hiss.

We reached the foyer, its opulent design a stark contrast to our frantic escape. The grand chandelier above cast shimmering patterns on the marble floor, and the large windows let in streams of daylight that felt almost mocking. We didn't belong here, not among this wealth and splendor.

Faith led the way, her pace relentless. "Almost there," she muttered, more to herself than to us.

Just as she was about to reach for the door, a familiar voice echoed through the massive space. "Stop right there. You will return my property or die," Asham hollered from the adjacent room.

Time seemed to stop at that fateful moment. The unscrupulous warlock, Asham, raised his hand, with power crackling at his fingertips. Eve's magic was spent, her usual protective barriers nothing but a memory. I was ready to drop the artifacts and defend myself, but Nishi was quicker.

Two throwing stars flashed through the air, embedding themselves with a sickening thud into Asham's shoulder. He staggered back, eyes wide with pain and surprise. Faith didn't give him a chance to recover. She lunged at him, fists flying. The first punch landed with a satisfying crack, followed by another and another. Asham collapsed to the ground in a heap and screamed his hatred. All he could do was raise his arms in a feeble attempt to defend himself.

Shouts echoed above us, the sound of footsteps growing louder, closer. We were running out of time.

"Leave him! We have to go!" Nishi screamed at Faith, her voice cutting through the chaos.

Faith delivered one last punch before scrambling to her feet. "Let's move!"

We bolted for the door, my heart pounding in my chest like a war drum. Asham lay on the floor, groaning and clutching his shoulder, a look of pure rage in his eyes. He wasn't finished with us yet, but we couldn't afford to stay and find out what he'd do next.

"Keep moving!" Nishi urged, her voice tense.

We burst through the front door, the fresh air hitting us like a wave of freedom. We didn't stop, didn't look back. Faith's Jeep was waiting, a beacon of safety in the chaos. We piled in, Faith revving the engine and tearing down the driveway in seconds.

As we sped away, I glanced back at the mansion, its grandeur now overshadowed by the terror within. Asham wouldn't let this go. We had crossed a line, and there would be consequences. Those other artifacts would be moved long before a council representative got there.

But for now, we were free, and we had the Temporal Echo. It was a small victory, a brief respite in the storm. And we would need every bit of it for the battles ahead.

"We made it," I said, the relief in my voice palpable.

"For now," Faith replied, her grip on the steering wheel tightening. "But this isn't over yet. Not by a long shot."

I knew she was right. Asham would come after us, and we had to be ready. But for the moment, we were free, and we had the Temporal Echo. "It won't take him long to figure out who we are."

Nishi grunted. "Let him come. He won't cop to having the Temporal Echo, and he won't admit he was robbed. The pictures show a room and what's in it, but it doesn't prove the room is in his house."

Eve slumped in her seat. "I feel so useless. I haven't felt this drained since I was with Caton and Mina was a newborn."

Faith grunted. "I won't comment on how big of a bastard you have to be to siphon the mother of your child while she is breastfeeding."

Eve shook her head. "I just thought Mina was eating too much. Can you imagine? What a prick."

Faith sped down the street. "Eve, what kind of artifact can create that kind of drain on a human?"

Eve shook her head. "Mina broke some kind of bowl, but I never thought anything of it at the time. Caton was furious, and I assumed it had some significance, but I never found out what it was or how he did it."

Faith nodded, but I could see the wheels in her head turning. She suspected something, and it wasn't good.