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  Nothing.

  “Come on, don’t be a wimp,” Rowan teased. “Give it your all.”

  Bree’s face turned red as she pulled, and sweat popped out on her brow. She was more than strong enough to lift a car, so this should be possible.

  Unless…

  “It’s got to be magic,” I said.

  Bree dropped the chain. “I can’t break through that.”

  “Dang.” I rubbed my chin, then looked at Florian. “You’ve checked the library for any clues?”

  “I have. Nothing.”

  Rowan bent over the door, inspecting. “And there’s no keyhole.”

  I frowned. We had to figure out the spell that kept it locked.

  “Try your new magic,” Bree said. “See if it will tell you anything.”

  “I can try, but no promises.” It’d been wonky as hell, lately. The new power had appeared about a week ago, and I still wasn’t sure what it was. Normally, magical powers were obvious. Fire Mages threw fireballs, Telekinetics moved stuff with their mind, Seers could see the future when they tried.

  But me?

  Sometimes my new magic would answer questions I asked it. Sometimes it wouldn’t. Since I was a Dragon God like my sister, the magic had to come from one of the mythical pantheons. But I had no idea which one.

  I closed my eyes and focused on my magic. It was hard to find, almost like it lay dormant inside me.

  Since it had worked when I’d asked it questions before, I tried that this time as well.

  How do we open this door?

  Crickets.

  I squeezed my eyes shut tighter and tried to focus on my magic, but it was hard.

  How do we open this door?

  Nothing.

  “Any luck?” Bree asked.

  I opened my eyes. “Not now. I think I need to practice more.”

  But how? Lachlan, the irresistible shifter mage who haunted my dreams, had promised to help me, but I hadn’t seen him in two days, since he’d asked for my help finding the cloaked figure who’d tried to steal a dangerous spell from him. We may have saved the spell from the thief, but we still wanted to catch him.

  A loud, deep meow caught my attention, and I turned.

  As if he’d heard me thinking about him, Lachlan had appeared, led here by Muffin, who sat in front of him.

  I swallowed hard, trying to keep my cheeks from heating.

  But of course all I could think about was our one kiss, and then the fact that Lachlan had said it couldn’t happen again because we were now working together.

  That kind of awkwardness was totally my style, but it didn’t mean I’d gotten used to the sheer torture of it.

  Lachlan’s gaze lingered on me a moment longer than everyone else, then he tore his gaze away.

  Honest to fates, it looked like he tore it away.

  It could be my wishful thinking, but… Maybe not.

  His gaze dropped to the trapdoor. “That looks interesting.” Lachlan’s Scottish accent was thick.

  “It is.” My voice came out totally not squeaky or awkward at all, and I counted it a major victory. “What are you doing here?”

  “I had news, and Muffin was kind enough to lead me here.”

  “The library admitted you.” Florian’s brows rose, clearly impressed.

  “Aye, if you mean that a staircase appeared.”

  “Hmmm.” Florian nodded. “Interesting.”

  Muffin walked to the trapdoor and started scratching at it.

  “Did you have any luck tracking the scrap of fabric from the thief’s cloak?” I asked.

  Last week, Lachlan had fought the thief while in his lion form. A scrap of fabric from the cloak had been torn off and stuck in his paw. It was our only clue.

  Lachlan nodded. “I’ve found a tracking spell that will help us find him. It will take a couple days to start working—this potion takes time to brew—but then, we should know more.”

  Satisfaction filled me. Good.

  The thief had stolen an ancientus spell, designed to bring back magic from the past. Usually, that meant dangerous magic. He might not have gotten away with the ancientus spell, but that didn’t mean he was going to quit his evil plan. Whatever it was, we wanted to stop him.

  Lachlan pointed to the door. “Do you need help?”

  “Strength won’t do it,” I said.

  “I’m more than just brute strength,” he said.

  Boy, did I know it.

  He knelt by the trapdoor and touched the metal ring that was connected to the locking mechanism within the door. Soon, the ring glowed red hot, then it began to melt away, dripping through the hole in the trapdoor. Once it was all gone, leaving nothing but a hole in the wood, Lachlan stepped back.

  “Hopefully that will break the spell,” he said. “If the lock is gone, there can’t be a spell on it, right?”

  “Let’s find out.” I figured it had cooled enough, so I reached into the little hole where the iron ring had been anchored and pulled.

  The trapdoor burst open. Stale air wafted out, and I stumbled back, covering my mouth to keep from breathing in the dust.

  When it settled, we all stepped forward, peering in.

  A pale blue light gleamed from within. Ancient stairs led deep into the castle. The air smelled of water and dust, a strange combo.

  “Whoa,” Rowan murmured.

  “No kidding.” Bree stepped onto the first stair, avoiding the cooling puddle of metal. “Let’s check it out.”

  “Shouldn’t we tell someone where we’re going?” I said. “In case it’s dangerous.”

  “Plan B?” Bree asked.

  “I couldn’t possibly wait.” Florian drifted through Bree, who shuddered, and started down the stairs.

  I shrugged, then followed. Between us, we had some mega power. And nothing could hurt Florian. If we got in a pickle, he could always go for help.

  We hurried down the stairs, our footsteps silent on the stone. The blue light that glowed grew brighter as we went. It felt like forever that we descended, going deep below the castle.

  The Protectorate was built on a massive cliff overlooking the North Sea, so there was plenty of space below ground.

  “When was this built, do you think?” I asked.

  “Never heard of it in my day,” Florian said. “It’s centuries old, at least.”

  Finally, we reached the bottom. The staircase opened up into a massive cavern. Blue luminescence glittered in the ceiling, dripping down to light the entire space with a ghostly glow. A lake sat in the middle, sparkling from the blue light above.

  “Wow.” The word rushed out of me on a breath. I’d never seen anything like this.

  It was as if magic had come alive.

  Except… “Do you guys feel any magic?”

  “None,” Lachlan said.

  “Nothing.” Bree frowned.

  “That’s weird, right?” Rowan asked. “You’d expect it, in a place like this.”

  “Yeah.” I went left, exploring the walls of the cavern, looking for any clues about what this place was used for. My friends joined the search, pacing around the large space. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the glowing blue lights that glittered in the ceiling, but eventually, I was drawn toward the lake in the middle.

  The water looked black as tar where the blue lights didn’t glitter on it. In the middle was a small island, upon which sat a pedestal.

  “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Bree said.

  “Agreed.” I paced around the lake, eyeing the empty pedestal in the middle. I pointed to it. “That’s weird, right?”

  “There should be something on it,” Lachlan said. “This place was built for it.”

  On the other side of the small lake, I found a strip of ground that led to the pedestal.

  I raised my hand, igniting the lightstone ring on my finger, then hovered it over the skinny land bridge.

  “What are you looking for?” Lachlan asked.

  “I don’t know. Footp
rints, maybe. I might be jumping to conclusions, but if something is supposed to be on that pedestal and it’s not, then that means it’s been stolen. And I don’t want my footprints erasing whatever is here.”

  “Good thinking.”

  I glanced up and caught a smile on his face. It flattened out, as if he didn’t want me to catch him smiling. Strange. I turned back to the ground to study it.

  “There are no footprints,” I said. “Almost like…brush strokes?”

  “A broom, maybe?” Bree asked.

  “Could be. Something to clear the path.”

  A deep meow sounded from the other side of the cavern. I straightened immediately, recognizing it as Muffin’s You gotta check this out meow.

  He meowed again, and I hurried toward him, finding him in a darkened nook in the cavern. He stood at a hollowed out tunnel, staring into the darkness.

  “Holy fates.” I stepped closer to the tunnel and studied the carved out sides of it. The stone was a lighter gray. Fresher.

  “That looks newly made,” Lachlan said.

  “Oh boy.” I turned to face the others. “I think someone has broken into the Protectorate.”

  2

  For a few seconds, there was dead silence.

  “Shouldn’t that be impossible?” Rowan asked.

  “They strengthened the defenses on the castle walls a couple months ago,” Bree said.

  It had been as a result of the bastards who had been hunting me and my sisters, but it had made the castle that much stronger.

  “How long would it take to tunnel into here?” Florian said. “We’re hundreds of feet deep. And this is solid stone.”

  “Depends on what kind of magic you have,” Lachlan said.

  I leaned against the wall, my mind racing. Someone had actually broken into the Protectorate. Recently.

  I hurried toward the land bridge again, wanting to see if I could find anything at all.

  My friends followed, stopping along with me at the bridge that led to the pedestal in the middle. It was glaringly empty.

  I turned to Bree. “Can you fly over the land bridge, see if you notice anything?”

  I knew we needed to alert Arach and Jude—the rest of the Protectorate—but this would only take a moment. And I didn’t dare walk on the bridge.

  Bree nodded. Her magic filled the air, bringing with it the scent of cedar and the sound of a whistling wind, and her wings flared from her back, silver and bright.

  A moment later, she was airborne, hovering over the land bridge, her face pressed nearly to it. She wore her own lightstone ring, which shed a golden glow on the dirt.

  A few moments later, she returned, landing next to me. “Nothing. They brushed away all footprints.”

  I frowned. “There might be more clues, but we need to tell the others.”

  “Immediately!” Florian was extra pale, even for a ghost.

  Lachlan was pacing around the chamber, Muffin at his side. They were clearly looking for clues.

  “Come on!” I shouted to him. “We’ve got let the others know.”

  We all departed the chamber, racing toward the top. Muffin led the way, sprinting up the stairs on his skinny legs. My lungs were about to burst by the time we made it back into the library. Muffin darted off, and we followed.

  Bojangles and Princess Snowflake III were still on the table in the main library. Princess had managed to pry the red jewel off and was now staring at it in delight. I ignored her, hurrying through the library and into the hall.

  “I’m headed to Arach’s room first.” I turned right. The dragon spirit who’d given her magic to create this place didn’t actually live at the castle, and she couldn’t be called on command. But if she were going to arrive, it would be there, in her office on the main floor.

  The halls were quiet as we ran. It was after eight at night, and anyone who’d finished working had probably gone to the Whisky and Warlock, our favorite pub in Edinburgh. I just prayed that Jude was still here.

  When I reached Arach’s room, I didn’t bother knocking. The door wasn’t locked, but when I entered, it was totally empty and cold. Dead, almost. Normally, the room had life to it. There were dozens of colorful paintings on the tall walls, and the warm wooden furniture gleamed under the lamps.

  But at that moment, it felt like it’d been empty for decades.

  I turned to face my friends, dread opening a hole in my chest. “This seems wrong.”

  Bree’s face was pale as she inspected the room. Rowan looked worried, and Lachlan was unreadable.

  I turned back to the room. “Arach. We need you.” I turned to look at Bree. “You said she came when you called once.”

  “I think she did. Or it was a coincidence.” Bree’s brow wrinkled. “Arach? We’re desperate here.”

  We waited a few moments more, every minute lasting a lifetime.

  “I don’t think this is working,” Lachlan said.

  “We need to find Jude,” Bree said.

  “Agreed.” I started toward the door, but it swung open.

  In the hall, Muffin turned a corner toward us, followed by Jude and Hedy. The head of the Paranormal Investigative Team—the PITs, for short, which was truly a terrible acronym—walked in front of Hedy, the head of Research and Development. The lavender-haired witch looked concerned. Jude looked determined.

  “Your cat brought us here,” Hedy said.

  “Any ideas why?” Jude stopped dead at the entry, her eyes widening as she studied Arach’s office. “What has happened here?”

  So she agreed. Something was off in Arach’s office. “I don’t know.” Worry tugged at me. “But it might have something to do with a theft beneath the castle.”

  Jude’s starry blue eyes met mine, and her brow wrinkled. “A theft under the castle?”

  “We have to show you.”

  She nodded quickly. Jude was the head of the PITs for a reason. Cool under fire and one of the smartest strategists I’d ever met, she didn’t dawdle in an emergency, that was for sure.

  My heart raced as I led them all back down to the cavern beneath the castle.

  “I had no idea this existed.” Jude stepped onto the stairs leading from the trapdoor.

  I showed her everything—the cavern, the pedestal, and the newly dug tunnel—and she didn’t say a word. Hedy was silent, too, but her eyes darted everywhere, taking in every detail as concern and wonder flitted across her face.

  Lachlan was silent throughout the whole process, quietly observing. He was an outsider here, not a member of the Protectorate or even a temporary staff member.

  “We need to call all the department heads together,” Hedy said. “We’ll meet in the round room.”

  I wasn’t surprised that we were meeting in the Undercover Protectorate’s version of the war room. It was reserved for Big Deals. This was definitely a big deal.

  Ten minutes later, I followed everyone into the round room. A huge circular table sat in the middle, though it was removed for big meetings when the whole Protectorate had to squeeze in. But for now, it was just the department heads, the investigators on the PITS, and those of us who’d originally found the cavern.

  We were the first to arrive, but Caro, Ali, and Haris stepped into the room just a few minutes later. Besides Bree, they were the three other members of Jude’s division. The one that I wanted to join.

  Ali and Haris kicked a hacky sack between them, their dark hair glinting in the light of the wall sconces. The room was done in a medieval style, with stone walls, tapestries, and old-looking lights. I had a feeling that it hadn’t changed since it was first built.

  Caro flipped her platinum hair over her shoulder as she sat next to me. “You know what this is about?”

  “Yeah,” I whispered. “But better wait for Jude to explain.”

  The other department heads filtered in after the PITs. Letitia Hedwing came in first. I’d never spoken to her personally, but knew that she was in charge of the Interspecies Mediation department. There coul
d be a lot of fighting amongst the supernatural species, and her calming presence probably did wonders for that.

  Potts came in second, and the crotchety old day librarian shot me a look that could freeze iron.

  Bree leaned close and whispered, “Whoops, I think someone figured out we broke into the library.”

  “Technically, we broke through the library,” I whispered back, as I looked away from his angry gaze. “And we were in Florian’s domain anyway.”

  “They fight over it.”

  “Men.” I turned my gaze back to the door as Jesse Ammons entered. The leader of the Demon Trackers Unit was built like a football player, and no doubt he used that strength to take out plenty of demons who shouldn’t be wandering the earth.

  Technically, this was all way above my pay grade. As a student—and not an ace one at that—I shouldn’t have been there. Nor should Rowan, who was even farther down the totem pole than I was. Lachlan might be a magical powerhouse, but he wasn’t a member.

  Except we were the ones who’d found the cavern, so there we were. And they couldn’t pry me from my seat if they tried. I wanted to know what the heck was up. I felt like the castle had asked me to find that trapdoor when I’d had the vision of it.

  “Why are we here?” Jesse asked.

  Jude spoke first, explaining what we’d found under the castle. My gaze darted from face to face. Had any of them known it existed? From the looks of confusion and wonder, I’d give that a big fat nope.

  “You’re telling me that there’s a massive cavern under my library?” Potts demanded.

  “It’s been there for many centuries,” Florian said. “I don’t know much, but I recall vague rumors from my day.”

  Considering that his day had been nearly three hundred years ago, this was old info. But with ancient supernatural caves, sometimes old info was the best info.

  “What kind of rumors?” Jude asked.

  “That Arach’s magic was beneath the castle,” Florian said. “Most of us knew that it was, and one scholar surmised that there must be a cavern there. To be honest, I forgot about it a long time ago.”

  Potts huffed. “Of course you did.”

  Florian’s gaze shot to the old librarian. “Why you saddle-goose, what did you just say?”