Victor shook his head and inhaled a breath. He steepled his fingers and pressed them against his lips. “You must be careful, Mara.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, playing dumb.
“I know that Theodore—” he pointed to the door “—doesn’t trust me. But I’m not the one you should be worried about.”
“I’m confused,” I mumbled, and I truly was.
“You’re a Chosen One. That’s rare. The Iniquitous have successfully eliminated almost all the Chosen Ones. Including you, there are only five left. There used to be so many more. But The Iniquitous aren’t your only problem. There are others who would give you over to them for money and power. You must be careful with who you trust. And stay by your protector. He’ll keep you safe. I’ve never seen a protector quite like Theodore Meyers.” A small smile quirked his lips, lifting his mustache. “I’ve always been at odds with that boy, still am most of the time, and I’d never tell him this but I sort of admire him. He has a headstrong tenacity to him that while irritating is commendable in many ways.”
“Why aren’t you telling him this? It seems to me that he needs to hear this.”
“Theodore doesn’t trust me. He would not believe me,” said Victor, resting his hands on the desk. With his plumpness and mustache, he really reminded me of a walrus.
“So, why should I believe you?”
He spread his arms wide. “You must make your own choice, Mara, as to whether or not you should trust me. Take care.” With those words, I knew I was dismissed. Before I left, out of curiosity, I looked up at the ceiling. It reflected an overcast day with mist.
I heard a click and I knew the door was unlocked. A moment later, Theo’s fussing could be heard. I reached for the doorknob.
“Your mother would be proud of you,” whispered Victor.
I turned around. “You knew my mother,” I gasped.
It was still weird to realize my mother was one of these people. I’d thought of her as a normal human for so long that imagining her as anything else didn’t make sense to my brain—let alone the fact she might, well definitely did, know some of these people.
“I did.” He nodded, a sad look in his eyes.
“How do you know she’d be proud of me? I haven’t done anything.”
“But you will,” he stated.
Feeling very confused, I opened the door. Theo crashed to the floor since he had been leaning against it.
He jumped right up and grabbed me into his arms. “Are you okay? I’ve nearly had a heart attack. And then I couldn’t hear anything. Please say something.” He scanned me from head to toe as if he suspected to see me covered in scrapes and bruises.
“How can I say something when you keep rambling?”
“Glad to see that your sarcastic remarks are still working.” His lips tilted up into a smirk.
“I’m a person. Not a toy. I don’t operate on batteries,” I muttered, fighting a massive eye roll.
Theo clearly brought out the best in me.
“Yep, you’re fine,” he deduced. He pulled me away from the door and dragged me along and up the steps, and more steps, and even more to the very top level. Then he guided me down a side hallway. Theo stopped in front of a narrow black spiral staircase. “Up you go.” He motioned for me to go up first.
“You want to look at my butt, don’t you?” I muttered under my breath as I began to climb the steep steps.
I could see Theo shake his head out of my peripheral vision. “Don’t flatter yourself, doll face.” He chuckled lightly under his breath.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll see.” He motioned with his hand for me to continue going up.
I couldn’t see exactly where the staircase led yet, but I had to admit my curiosity was definitely piqued.
I continued up the seemingly endless staircase, Theo’s heavy boots thudding on the stairs behind me. Finally, I came to the end and stood in a library.
The room was round and had two levels with books lining every surface of the walls. There were heavy wood tables and chairs scattered about and the occasional big comfy leather chair. I looked up and found a domed ceiling much like the one above the grand staircase. It had thick iron filigree around it and I could see the sky through it. Rain splattered the window with a hint of the sun shining through. But what amazed me the most was how the trees cast a green hue through the window, which then reflected into the library.
Theo and I were the only ones in there, which sort of surprised me. The room was so beautiful I’d think most would find it to be an escape.
I turned to Theo. “It’s beautiful.” My voice was soft with awe. “I can’t believe we’re the only ones up here.”
“No one comes up here.”
“Why?” I asked, confused. “I could live in here.”
He shrugged. “It’s restricted.” He grinned. Theo always seemed to get a kick out of breaking the rules. “I don’t know exactly why but no one’s supposed to come in here. They put in a new library on the first level and everyone’s supposed to use that. But we need privacy, so … here we are. Sit.” He pointed to a table. “I want to know what Victor wanted.”
I sat, and he pulled out the chair across from me, flipping it backward before sitting.
“Go on.” He waved his hand impatiently. “I’m waiting.”
I shrugged. “Nothing much.”
Theo sighed like my answer did nothing to satisfy him. “No, he wanted to talk to you about something and he didn’t want me to know. What was it? He didn’t tell you, did he?”
“Tell me what?” I asked narrowing my eyes.
Theo swallowed. “Nothing.” He looked away for a moment and, when his eyes returned to me, he pleaded, “What did he say?”
“He told me I shouldn’t be worried about him, but there are others who would hand me over to The Iniquitous for money and power.”
Theo rolled his eyes. “He’s just trying to throw me off of his trail,” he hissed.
“Or maybe he’s just trying to help,” I said softly. I didn’t like Victor, there was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way, but I wasn’t as convinced as Theo was that he was bad news. I knew Theo knew him better, but I also got the impression they’d always been at odds so of course he didn’t like the man.
“No,” growled Theo. “I don’t think so. But he is right about one thing. People will turn you over to The Iniquitous in a heartbeat. They won’t care about your life, only themselves, and if they think handing you over will get them somewhere they won’t hesitate. I promise you that.”
“Great. Something else to worry about,” I mumbled. “He mentioned something about other Chosen Ones. He said there are five including me.”
“Really? That’s news to me, but the older enchanters don’t really tell us much. They don’t like word to get around. I do know of one other. He lives here but he doesn’t have a protector. Lucky you.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Will I get to meet him? Does his family live here? And what does all this being a Chosen One entail?”
“Sure, you’ll get to meet him. He’s in London right now visiting his family. They send him to live here most of the year because it’s supposed to be safer.”