Page 72 of Forging Bonds: Part One

“An hour?” Doc replies with a frown. “That’s quite a while.”

I shrug, “I don’t know how far away the room is, and since the castle is so massive, I don’t want to risk it taking longer and you guys panicking for no reason. Plus, I don’t trust myself not to get distracted by something, so I thought an hour was safe.”

Doc’s eyes sparkle with amusement at my explanation, and he nods, “Fair enough, that makes sense.”

“An hour then,” River says, his expression serious for a change as he waits for me to nod in confirmation.

“Yep,” I reply.

We all head up the stairs and then split up, the guys going one way as Mabel leads me up another set of stairs. My gaze moves around me as we walk, and I vow to come back to study some of the huge paintings on the walls. As we get to a hallway that has fewer tapestries and artwork on the walls, I can’t help but reach out and run my hand along the stone, and I’m surprised when the stones buzz with a soft and ancient kind of magic.

It feels almost comforting, and I realize that it’s because it feels similar to the way that House does. My eyebrows rise slightly. Well, that thought certainly needs exploring, but perhaps it would be best to do that when I’m alone so that no one thinks that I’m crazy when I talk to the castle walls like it can reply to me.

I pull my hand away from the wall as we get to a painting, then carry on following Mabel. I catch her looking at me out of the corner of her eye, and I wonder if she caught my expression when I touched the wall or if she thinks that I’m absolutely crazy for touching the wall in the first place.

It’s probably the second thing.

“Here we are,” she says with a smile as she opens the double doors.

My mouth drops open. The walls are all exposed stonework like the rest of the castle, but the floor is covered with thick rugs that add a sense of coziness to the huge room. It really is big. Directly opposite the door that we have just walked through is a set of glass doors that seem to lead out to a balcony, and I can’t wait to get out there and get a good look at the realm that we’re in.

It was something that I had planned to look into over the two weeks that I thought we had to prepare for the Choosing. I wanted to find out as much as I could about the realm itself and the people that come from here. It is hardly ever mentioned, and yet I do know that there are supernaturals that originate from here. I want to know if it was always the place where they held the Choosing or if it was somehow chosen for it.

I suppose I can look into it when we get back if I get the chance.

The rest of the room is made to feel cozy and the giant fireplace is helping to keep the place warm. There’s a soft and squishy-looking couch placed in front of the fire with a large coffee table that has some interesting-looking books placed on it. Honestly, I can’t wait to look them over. There’s a big space between the couch and the ginormous four-poster bed. The space is perfect to clean my weapons and do some yoga, which I will need to do at the end of each day if I’m hoping to avoid epically sore muscles the next day. I can’t really risk that when all of my days are set to be physically tiring.

The bedroom area has thicker rugs on either side of the bed, which will be nice and soft when I first get up, and all of the usual bedroom furniture. Opposite the bedroom is a door that I’m hoping is going to lead into a bathroom and a small but beautiful kitchen. I have to admit that I kind of fall in love with it. The countertops are made of a wood that looks similar to oak, but rather than the edges being straight they’re curved and natural like the tree, and weaving through the bark is threads of emerald green and gold. It looks like it’s such a part of the piece of wood that it makes me wonder if it naturally grows that way.

It’s beautiful.

“As soon as I’m gone, no one else will be able to get into this room apart from you,” Mabel explains. “It will adjust to you specifically. The magic is built into the room. So, unless you invite them in, no one else will be able to enter.”

I nod, a somewhat relieved smile on my face, “That’s more reassuring than I thought it would be.”

Mabel’s expression is serious as she replies, “There are rules that are designed to keep all the contestants safe. If at any point you feel threatened or like you’re in danger, then you tell one of us. We are more than capable of taking care of any issues that may arise.”

I grin, “Oh, I have no doubt about that.”

Surprise flits across her expression before she returns my smile, “Thank you. I will leave you to unpack. Although your phone won’t make calls as this realm is far outside of your operation zone, it will still work for other things.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

She heads back toward the door and as she opens it, turns back to face me, “I think you will probably find some of the paintings on the third floor, the level above this one, quite interesting.”

“Oh?” I ask, hoping that she will explain a bit more.

She nods and smiles, secrets in her eyes as she leaves the room without explaining anymore. Well, now I have to check out the next floor before I go and find the guys. Who knows when I might get the chance to do it again? It didn’t take as long as I thought it was going to take to get to my room, so I’ve got plenty of time to check out the paintings on the third floor and see what she is talking about.

I dump my bags on the floor by the couch and then head back toward the doors that I’ve just come through. When I step through them, I pause before I head down the hallway to find the staircase to the next floor. Mabel said that the doors to my room were locked and that only I could get in, and although she gave me no reason to not believe her, I’m still not comfortable just leaving the door without knowing for sure that no one can get in there and mess with my stuff or the room itself.

With this in mind, and because I am too paranoid to just risk it, I open the door again and then head back inside, finding Asael. I walk over to where I put him and Betty down with my bags.

“Okay, I know this is slightly different than how we usually approach things, but I’m not entirely sure that this door actually locks. If anyone tries to get in here, can you make sure that they don’t touch anything,” I say. “By any means necessary unless they are one of ours.”

Asael’s magic buzzes in the air, and I smile. That was definitely a confirmation that he understood what I was saying and was going to do what I asked.

I hope my extra caution is unnecessary.

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