We crossed the marble foyer, keeping our footsteps silent. We hesitated at the double doors. I propped my mallet against the wall and drew my knives. As much as I loved the mallet, my knives were better against the thief. If he was on the other side of this door, I wanted to be ready.
We nodded at each other, then slipped through the doors. The room on the other side was empty. An enormous dining room stretched out before us. My light glinted off the suits of armor lining the long room. Normally, I’d expect them to come to life.
Here, I wasn’t worried. Animated armor was almost sweet compared to the feeling that pervaded this house. If despair had a smell or a taste, it would be what I was currently sensing.
I jerked my head toward the door on the other side of the room, and my comrades nodded. We skirted around the long table, which was still set with an elaborate meal. Though it looked fresh, I’d guess it’d been there for centuries.
We hesitated at this door as well. At Aidan’s signal, we pushed it open and went through.
Nothing.
Just an empty sunroom dotted with chaise lounges and settees. The large glass windows looked out on a partially destroyed cathedral. My dragon sense tugged hard.
“In there.” I pointed at the cathedral.
“Why the hell is he in there? That’s almost spookier than this house,” Nix whispered.
She was right. The cathedral was built entirely of stone. It was far too big for an island this size. The walls soared high, crumbling here and there. The roof was long gone and so was the glass, leaving empty spaces in the ornate stone walls.
“He’s definitely in there,” I said. My dragon sense was pulling harder than ever, which often happened when I neared my prey.
“This place is freaking weird, and this thief is freaking weird,” Del said.
“We’ll split up,” Aidan said. “Enter from different sides.”
“Good idea,” I said.
He looked at me. “You and I will go from the left, Del and Nix from the right. The way those walls are crumbling, it won’t be hard to find an entrance. We’ll go quickly across the grass and enter the cathedral sixty seconds from when we leave this room.”
I nodded. My deirfiúr both said, “Agreed.”
Del and I both looked at our watches, then nodded at our partners. We all slipped out the door and raced across the grass, veering off to head for our assigned sides of the cathedral. Aidan loped ahead of me, his long legs carrying him farther faster.
The moon shined brightly, illuminating our path. I prayed to magic that the thief wasn’t looking out a window. And that he didn’t have guards on the lookout.
Aidan and I leapt over a fallen column and sidled up to the cathedral wall. We edged over to a gap in the stone. I glanced at my watch, then up at Aidan and mouthed, “Five seconds.”
I peeked around the edge of the wall and into the space. The cathedral was empty, the floor grown over with grass. Movement caught my eye from the front. A dark-haired man stalked back and forth, a black bag at his feet. The thief. He looked like he was waiting for something.
He whirled toward us, as if he sensed something. Our sixty seconds were up and I had a clear line of sight, so I flung a dagger at him.
Quick as a flash, he threw up his hand, and a bolt of lightning knocked the dagger away. Thunder boomed, vibrating my chest, and the scent of ozone rent the air.
I lunged backward. Holy magic, I’d never seen anyone throw lightning before.
Aidan surged into the room. He used his magic to lift a fallen column off the ground. It hurtled through the air at the thief. Again, the Lightning Mage threw a sparking white bolt. Aidan lunged behind the wall.
The column exploded, the sound vibrating my eardrums. The smell of singed stone burned my nostrils.
How the hell were we supposed to fight this guy? He had lightning.
“Use your powers,” Aidan demanded. “You’re a damned Mirror Mage. Blast him back.”
“I could kill us all!” I looked back into the room in time to see Del and Nix enter from behind the thief.
Nix had conjured lightning rods and placed them a dozen feet in front of them, like a shield. As they advanced, she conjured more lightning rods, an ever-extending field of protection.
Until the Lightning Mage whirled around and saw what faced him. He laughed, a dark sound, then flicked his hand. Another fallen column rose into the air and battered down the lightning rods. The thief threw an enormous bolt of lightning at them that cracked through the air.
It parted and arced up, forming a domed cage of lightning over my deirfiúr. Trapped.
“No!” Enraged and terrified, I raced into the cathedral. I had to stop him before he killed them. I raised my knife to hurl it as the thief spun around. He raised a hand and launched an enormous bolt of lightning at me.
One crystal thought flashed in my mind. I’m dead because I didn’t use my magic.
Something enormous crashed into my back, throwing me to the ground behind a column, blocking me from the lightning. Pain blossomed in my injured shoulder as I rolled to see the lightning strike Aidan, who’d become a griffon. He lit up like a lightbulb, shaking, then collapsed, his huge form limp.