He follows me without arguing, and I hope he can sense that I’m not pulling him away out of pity or because I don’t think he can handle it. It’s because I know he can, but no one should have to go through that. Fuck, he shouldn’t even be here at all, in the house where his mother was murdered. It’s not fair.
“Why the fuck did Roderick send us here?” Zeke asks with a sigh.
“You and I both know he can’t be trusted, but don’t give up hope yet. There’s still the barn to look through, and that building looks far newer than this one.”
He slams his boot into the old chair, shoving it backward and sending up a plume of dust. He tugs on his hair in frustration. “This is bullshit.”
“Zeke,” I say, shining my light toward the chair he just moved.
Raphael and Theo join us, but my focus is on the symbol stamped on the floor.
“Zeke,” I try again, my whisper turning frantic. “Didn’t I find you researching runes in the library?”
This gets his attention. “Yeah. Why do you—”
His words cut off as he finally looks toward me where I’m crouched on the floor.
“That’s a protection rune,” he says, tracing the dark lines with his finger, but as he gets to the tip, he has to push the couch out of the way to continue. “This isn’t right.”
“What do you mean?” Theo asks.
“Whoever drew this rune didn’t connect these two pieces here, so it’s nothing more than a mark on the floor.”
“What about the one near the door?”
“Show me.”
I lead everyone to the entrance and show them the faded dark spot on the wall where Zeke once again traces it with his finger. “It’s too faded.”
“I think it was supposed to be a truth rune. See this curve here.” Theo points to a faint line that curves down.
I watch on in disbelief, because damn. I’d never even heard of runes before I caught Zeke looking at them, but I shouldn’t be surprised that Theo knows. He’s like an encyclopedia of information.
“We’ll get into how you know about runes later,” Zeke tells Theo, looking both pensive and intrigued. “But for now, this building holds nothing more for us than terrible memories and more questions.”
“My dad always used to say barns were full of secrets. Maybe it’ll be the same here.”
All three of us turn to look at Raphael in confusion.
“Your dad said that?” I ask, confused.
Zeke laughs. “Aren’t you super rich? Why the hell would your father know anything about barns?”
“Yes, but he’s only rich because he married my mother. He worked on his father’s farm for years before they met.”
His words answer a question that I’ve been dying to ask but haven’t wanted to pry. This must be why his father never stands up for him. Fear of losing his wife’s money and status. Somehow, that only pisses me off more. Raphael is too good an angel to have parents who treat him how they do. How can they not realize how great their son is?
I shake away those sad thoughts and follow the guys from the house. We split up into pairs. Raphael and Theo head around one side of the barn while Zeke and I go the other way. We’re quiet as we listen for any sound coming from inside, but unless this barn is insulated as fuck, we’re alone.
The front has two large wooden doors, and I noticed another door at the back. There’s only one window above the door, but when Zeke flies up to peek inside, he can’t see past the dark tint.Looks like we’re going in blind.
There’s no lock to be found, only a sliding set of doors with latches to keep them shut when the wind blows. Curious. Why was the house locked but not the barn?
We all exchange one last look before Zeke unhooks the latch. When he pushes the door, it releases a wicked groan that has all the hairs on my neck standing up. None of us move as we waitfor some terrible disaster to occur, and when a minute passes without a sound, I almost let out a whoop of excitement.
As soon as we’re inside, Zeke closes the door and we’re thrown into darkness. If I couldn’t feel the protective ring of bodies around me, I’d probably be hyperventilating.
Inside the barn, it’s eerily quiet. Mixed with the utter darkness, it’s almost suffocating. Theo taps on his slate until the flashlight turns on and we get our first glimpse of the barn. Just like the house, this place is dirty, but where the house had furniture inside, the barn only has large, wooden crates. My pulse quickens as I look inside the closest one, positive that we’ve finally found what we’re looking for. Except there are no weapons or gear inside. It’s completely empty.
