Page 26 of Queen of Wrath

“But I thought you had something to tell me.” What was I doing?

I should be running out of here, not make things worse!

“It's not important right now. If you stay a minute longer… Emma, I need you to go.”

I swallowed hard and gave him a nervous nod before leaving his office. It wasn't until I closed the door behind me that I realized my heart was pounding out of my chest.

Oh, Lunaira, what's come over me? I buried my face in my hands, digging my nails into my skin. Get a grip, Lea!

The marking on my shoulder began to burn again as I was once again filled with rage, directed more at myself this time.

I looked up from my hands, my eyes going to the janitorial closet as if by themselves.

I looked over my shoulder to find that the hallway was empty. I made quick work of locking myself in the janitorial closet and turning on the light before plunging my hand into my robe and pulling out the unnamed scroll. I felt so close to the truth I could almost taste it.

My body was so overcome with nervous excitement that I could barely control my shaking hands as I peeled open the scroll.

The parchment was covered in writing—most of which I couldn't understand. There were also symbols on there I'd never seen before.

The most poignant one was of a dagger and thorns.

I bet Akil knows what this is. I'll have to make sure to take this to him tonight.

My eyes found where Diesel Ransom's name appeared on the scroll, and I continued trying to decipher the writing from there, hoping to find a clue of what he was involved in.

Actually, I already knew what he was involved in, we just needed the evidence of it. After all, it was the same thing that had gotten me thrown into prison seventeen years ago.

According to this scroll, Jax’s company was supposed to have net profits closer to millions, but I knew that wasn't the case. So, where was all this money going?

Then my eyes fell to a section that seemed to list different potions. “As per profits derived from facility B (Tenebris locus)...” I read aloud to myself before trailing off. “What in Lunaira’s name is Tenebris locus?”

I paused to read it over again.

Facility B?

There wasn’t any place like that marked on the blueprint… Unless I’d been right in my suspicion I’d voiced to Rowan a few days ago: Diesel's entire illegal potion-making operation was going on right under our noses, but in a hidden section of this building!

I rolled the scroll back up and tucked it into my robes again.

Let's make it two for two, shall we? I'm willing to bet the entrance to facility B is right here in this closet.

I began looking around.

The closet was rather small and insignificant.

The walls appeared to be made of solid concrete, and there were no physical doors that might lead somewhere else.

Well, maybe not a physical one…

My hand flattened against the left wall, pressing against the cold concrete.

A magical door, however, shouldn’t be overlooked just because it’s complicated to create.

I shut my eyes, and forced my mind to go silent.

I needed all the concentration I could muster.

If there was one thing I remembered from school, it was that magic reacted to magic. If I used my essence, maybe I could sense the invisible door.

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