I read further into the statement. I’d assumed it was Abraxas not wanting to speak — he was the quiet one of the bunch. Hearing him say it again made me certain it was the other way around. Based on his views of non-mages, I could see Felix shunning any attempt Abby made at conversation. “Good to know. Thank you.”
He shrugged. I looked back down at the note and impulsively tried a revealing spell on it, similar to the one I’d used on the childhood fable. Nothing new appeared. The note’s magical signature was weak, only strong enough to hint at the spell he’d used to mix up the letters into differing languages. I hadn’t been expecting the spell to work, but it was possible. Magical signatures didn’t cling to everything, especially if the object had been bespelled for a while.
“Did Felix leave that for you?”
“Yes. He seems fond of cryptic messages, and this one is no different.”
“Can I read it?” He held out his hand.
I hesitated, but gave it to him along with the translation. He had to be aware of Felix’s views. He seemed to know Felix held some disdain for him. However, as he read through the note, his eyebrows grew closer and closer together, his eyes going black. A long hiss came up from the depths of his body, and his nails extended to poke the paper. I didn’t push the chair back to distance myself, though I was tempted. When he reached the end of the note, he looked at me. “This was from him?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Who else would have left it? I doubt any of you would say those things. Would you call yourself a beast?”
I still held guilt about calling them beasts and creatures in my head when I’d first arrived. They were no such thing. They were emotional and rational like humans and mages, despite their different bodies. Felix didn’t believe that, if his secret lab and shelves of books by Dex Moran were to be taken into consideration.
“Felix would not either. He said we were important to society.”
“He believed that, but he believed you were important to society as slaves or workers. Doing things mages can’t do, or things mage society believes are below them.”
His eyes flashed between red and black, settling on the angry black. “He didn’t mean that.”
I shrugged. “Whether or not I convince you doesn’t matter. With the things I’ve seen in this house, I’m confident that’s exactly what he meant.”
I’d be dying shortly, and he’d forget the entire conversation. We were coming into the evening, sunlight no longer filtering through the gaps in the blinds. For a second he was confused, before something akin to understanding dawned in his eyes. Did he know what was happening? The more time I spent in the house, the more I’d decided they all did. “No. You need to tell me everything you know about Felix. You’ll have plenty of time.”
Fighting the urge to snort or roll my eyes, I leaned back in the chair. “Will I?”
Despite knowing my death was coming, the spear through my chest at that exact moment came as a surprise. Fiery pain ripped through me, and Abraxas flew into action, coming toward me to try to stem the bleeding. There was no point. The spear had hit home as usual. Before I fell into the quiet darkness of death, the last thing I heard was Abby’s voice. “What the fuck, Kirin?”
Chapter 24
Atonepoint,I’dthought there would be something comforting about knowing for certain that the men were killing me. Unfortunately, I felt no comfort. All I felt was sad. I hadn’t realized how much I was grasping onto the tiny hope that some other entity was the cause for my frequent deaths, and now my hope was quashed.
Kirin had been the one to throw the spear.
Waylon used his spiders.
Abraxas probably had a venom he used, something he injected by piercing my skin with his nails.
I had no confirmation of Bennett or Zan killing me, but the chances were high. The men of this house stuck together.
Depression sank into my bones over the next few cycles. Based on his reaction to the letter, I inferred Abraxas had no idea of Felix’s true motives, but what did it matter? I doubted it would be a shock to the rest of them. The basilisk had little understanding of social cues, and even he had realized Felix didn’t talk to him much. The man was dead, anyway.
Should I continue on with the spell, telling the men and enlisting them to help? Should I try to find an alternative? All the alternatives I’d found thus far took longer than twenty-four hours to set up. With my day starting approximately twenty hours before two in the morning on the full moon, I wouldn’t have time to prep them. Timing the spell properly was paramount when my magical strength would barely be enough to break the seal, despite the enhancing artifact.
Instead of worrying or working, I spent time with the men. They helped my depression while simultaneously making it worse. Curling up in a pile of warm blankets with Abby soothed my soul but made me long for more. Watching Waylon sew reminded me of the dress he’d started making for me, but also the spiders he’d sent to kill me. I’d determined he was the most frequent culprit, because a simple spider bite was easy to hide and took me down fast.
I spent time in Kirin’s little library, reading his erotic romance novels as he blushed and hovered nervously. He acted like I was going to judge him. I absolutely wouldn’t, and if he remembered any of our time spent together, he would know that. Depressing. My nerves around Bennett had dissipated, so long as I didn’t go near his room in the evenings. We still spent little time together, and I hadn’t figured him out yet.
Zan avoided me as usual, no matter how I tried to get him to spend time with me. He always hovered at least two metres away. Sometimes we talked, though, and he told me stories about how the guys had reacted to him when they first moved in. Apparently, Kirin had been freaked out by the prospect of a ghost, and been jumpy whenever Zan opted to move through walls instead of bothering to open the doors.
“Oh no, I wonder if she’s alright…”
My familiar leg cramps were a comfort, but a reminder that I couldn’t keep being idle here, wasting the days away without making a decision. Blinking open my eyes, Zan was hovering over me as usual, worried about me, and I offered him a smile. Then, I squinted.
