Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

T here is something to be said for the four giant buildings and how imposing they look in the dark of night, the moon as their only illumination. “The picture is inside, in the Hall of Greats.”

On the way over, we’d talked about the picture of the families. It was his parents and the parents of the rest of his group. “Did you write down all the facets and which families they belong to?”

I nod and pull out the piece of paper I wrote them on, even though he isn’t looking at me. He’s still looking out the windshield as he pulls into a spot—his usual spot—and we sit for a second.

“Do you remember where the dedication is?”

He nods. “Middle building on the left side in the foundation.”

Still, we don’t move. We continue to sit in his Jeep. I sigh. I’m not usually a woman who’s plagued by fear. I get nervous about things, but true fear is odd for me. Right now, though, I’m shaking. I don’t want my magic syphoned and being here at night when the place is deserted is eerie .

But he doesn’t seem to be in a big hurry either. “Weird day, huh?”

“Kind of.” Not that I’m complaining. “I kind of like some of the turns it’s taken.” I smile and gaze at him. He’s the turn I like. The one I’m glad this day took.

He leans his head back against the seat and looks at me. “Me, too.” And then he twists his body so he’s facing me. “I like you, RJ.”

I want to close my eyes and savor the words. I want him to say them again. “I like you, too, Zane.” And I like saying his name, especially when it comes out soft and kind of breathy, emotional, even.

His smile is slow as it spreads across his face. “I’m going to go inside and get the picture. Then we can find the stone.”

My stomach swirls. “I think we should go together.” I don’t want to be alone in the car, and I don’t want him to be alone in the Institute. More, I don’t want him rethinking this thing between us when I’m away.

“I might have to break a window.”

“Well, I might have to help you.” It’s all I can think of to say.

It is a second more of gazing at one another before he nods. “Two witches are better than one, right?”

I nod, and he winks, and my heart starts a heavier, faster beat. Zane is the kind of guy that takes a woman’s breath away, makes her body react.

We walk across the lawn like we belong there, hand-in-hand as a bonus, and head to the building that houses the Hall of Greats. It isn’t the one with the dedication stone, but we’re working on one thing at a time. We’ll get to it.

When we get to the building we need, we both stop and look up at it. There are windows, but no way can either of us can reach them, even if I stand on his shoulders, so we walk around the building, checking for a way in.

The grass crunches under my feet and the wind is almost warm blowing against my skin. And he’s still holding my hand. This is definitely climbing the charts of one of the best nights of my life. But I keep it to myself as we round the backside of the building. It’s a place I’ve never been because I’ve never had a reason to so of course, the railing that is halfway around an opening in the ground instills me with hope.

“Is that a basement?” I run toward it, and he takes me by the arm and pulls me back.

“RJ, we don’t know what’s down there.”

“Well, we should definitely find out.” I use the arm he’s still holding onto to tug him down the stairs behind me.

“What if there’s no way to get upstairs from here?”

I shrug as we get to the bottom of the stairs and the heavy metal door with a shiny silver knob. “I don’t know yet. I’m sure we’ll think of something.” And then, while I’m smiling at him, gazing into his eyes, I give it a twist and pull the door open.

The inside is dark and the musty smell of a basement is strong and stark. But I walk inside because my sister needs her magic back, and I have questions I need answered.

Plus, I want this whole mess to be over so if Zane wants to date me, there’s nothing holding us back.

He pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight then swings it around until we’ve both seen all the areas and every wall. “It’s a boiler room.” I am a master at stating the obvious.

“Yeah.” He laughs. “But there are some stairs over there.” And this time he moves to walk in front of me. I don’t mind that he’s doing the leading. It’s actually fine with me because this place is creepy as fuck.

We get to the top of the stairs and there’s a door there and he pushes it open so we’re in the hallway directly across from the Hall of Greats.

“How’s that for convenient?” he asks in a whisper, like someone might hear us if we use our regular voices.

“Well, if we can get the picture and get back out of here without getting caught, it will be most convenient.” I use my regular voice and flash him a smile.

He leads me into the room and as we pass by the statues, the light shining from the base of each one comes on. I look around. “What if someone sees us?”

He shrugs. “We might have some explaining to do.”

I giggle. I’ve never giggled so much in my life as I have since I met him. Part of me is giddy, and the other part of me hates that.

But he’s still holding my hand, keeps it clasped in his until we get to the far wall of the room. In the center between two windows is a picture in a frame. It isn’t the biggest picture or the best quality, but it’s what we need to look at. It’s the first families for this version of the Institute.

We both look for a minute before he reaches to take it off the wall. As he moves it, an alarm sounds and a light starts flashing in each corner of the room in time with the blare of the siren.

“Oh shit.” I cover my ears and he throws a spell to make it all stop. It does, and he’s still holding the picture. He takes it out of the frame and rehangs the frame on the wall then takes my hand. We head back to the basement and out. We don’t know if he threw the spell in time but we got what we came for. There isn’t a reason to stick around.

But we walk through the grass and stick to the shadows until we’re on the other end of the campus at the second building on the left side. “We should check the cornerstones. It’s where all the builders put their dedications.” He says it like he believes it, so I do too, since I don’t have any idea.

We’ve checked the two back corners and are onto our third when he shouts, “I found it.” He runs to the front on the near side of the building. “Here it is, RJ!”

I jog toward him. And there it is—the block of the foundation that holds the magic of the nine first families inside it. “Do you think the wands are inside there?”

He taps his knuckles against the front of the brick where the dedication is etched into the concrete. “Would they really put their weapon of power inside?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, we need to figure out how to look inside.” I give the block my own skeptical tap. “Might require tools.”

“Yeah.” He nods, then shakes his head. “What about a spell? If we put our magic together…” He shrugs. “It could work.”

Or it could spin horribly out of control. Especially if we’re relying on my magic. I’m not first-family magic. “Maybe we should check our places first. If we let that magic go and put it out into the universe, the school could be in danger as well as everyone we know.”

For a few seconds he doesn’t say anything, he only looks at me. I don’t mind it. It’s warm, like a caress, and heat flushes through me. I want him to lean in, to press his mouth against mine, to kiss me until I can’t breathe or think, until my knees are weak and there’s only him.

I’m not settling for anything less. I don’t want a quick kiss in the car. I want the entire experience.

He doesn’t lean in .

And that’s okay. For now.

Instead, we head back to his car, still holding hands, and he opens the door for me and waits until I’m inside before handing me the picture. When he walks around to his side and slides behind the wheel, he turns the dome light on and we stare at the picture together. The top of the Jeep is open, and the moon is shining, but even the dim light on the frame of his Jeep helps us see the picture better.

Not enough though, so he shines his flashlight onto the picture. “Do you know all these people?”

He nods. “Yeah.” He points out the individual families. “These are Finnick’s parents, and there are Isador’s, Dylan’s…” He points them all out. When he gets to my father—who doesn’t even belong in the picture—he says, “And that’s Viktor Hadley.”

“No, that’s my dad.”

“Are you sure?” He takes the picture and shines the light directly on my dad. “I thought your last name was Baum.”

“It is.”

“No. Unless your dad is Viktor Hadley, or your dad has a twin named Viktor Hadley.” He highlights the names typed in and attached to the bottom of the picture. “See? Viktor Hadley.”

“My dad’s name is Vincent Baum. Not Viktor Hadley.” I don’t know why but I’m only two shallow breaths shy of a panic attack. “My dad’s name is Vincent Baum.”

He lays his hand on my shoulder and this time the electricity between us pushes away the anxiety. I breathe slower, easier.

“Viktor Hadley was the first headmaster of this version of the Institute.” He pulls his lower lip between his teeth. “I read about it when we were at my house. He was accused of being a syphoner. ”

“My dad?” I’m still not buying this Viktor Hadley bullshit.

Zane and I both look at the photo again, and I’m leaning into him. He takes a slow, deep breath. He sniffs my hair and a little thrill runs through me. “Is your Mom not in the picture?”

I shake my head. “They must not have been together yet.” I check the writing at the bottom. This was taken about ten years before Aimee was born. “They weren’t.” Although it doesn’t explain why my father is called Viktor Hadley in the picture.

Witches have a slightly longer lifespan than normal humans, although I don’t know why or even if that matters to this part of the story, but it’s true. Maybe the guy in the picture known as Viktor Hadley is actually Vincent Baum. “Maybe he changed his name after he was accused.”

“Why would someone accuse another witch of being a syphoner?” The question I really want answered is why someone would call my dad a syphoner, but I’m sticking to the generic so Zane doesn’t latch onto how anxious I am.

He shrugs. “Maybe they saw something? Or…” He pauses and shrugs again. “I don’t know.” And then he turns to me, slides one hand under my hair, and strokes my jaw with his thumb. “Are you sure that’s your dad?”

I nod because I couldn’t form a word if my life depended on it. I’ll be lucky to ever be able to speak again. His gaze is soft, and there’s such tenderness in his touch I could melt.

“Then we have to figure out what’s going on.”

I don’t tell him that my dad left a few weeks after I was born and never came back. That I haven’t seen him and have no real memories of him, but I know what he looks like because there’s a fucking picture of him and my mom hanging in the living room over the television. So, every time I look at the TV, I see his big goofy grin, and I’ve always hated it because it reminds me of me.

“I think I need to talk to my mom.”

He nods. “Then let’s get you home because one of these days I’m not going to be able to stop myself from kissing you and I don’t want it to be while you’re freaking out about your dad and this Viktor Hadley mystery.” We even think alike.

I might be in over my head. Way over. And I don’t think I want to come out anytime soon.