Page 25 of Pierce

What had just been open space had become a wall. A stone wall. A tall, stone-and-mortar wall.

I shook my head to clear it a little, just in case I was imagining things.

I wasn’t.

I turned to find Smoke running up to me.

“Holy shit!” he breathed. “It appeared out of nowhere, as soon as I saw you hit it!”

“Glad I wasn’t walking any faster than I was.”

We crouched down and made our way to the back of the building to get a better idea of what we were dealing with.

The size of the place was staggering. It was easily the length of two football fields and six stories high. There was a tower at each of the four corners, just as Jasmine had said.

I wondered how old the place was—time had worn the stones smooth long before tonight.

Only a few of the windows were lit, and we crawled beneath them.

I didn’t hear any voices coming from in there and couldn’t help but imagine them lying in wait for us. Was that it? Were they waiting to attack? Like spiders in a web.

“Which tower was it supposed to be,” Smoke whispered.

“The west wing, facing the lake.” I looked to my right. “The lake’s that way, and west is…”

“This way.” Smoke led the way to the tower in question.

The roof was easily a hundred feet off the ground and maybe even two hundred.

My depth perception was all out of whack, and I would’ve bet it had something to do with the numerous charms cast on the mansion.

I touched one of the large, smooth stones to solidify it for myself.

A light glowed in the top of the tower.

“That must be her,” I whispered. “You ready?”

I looked over to find him already climbing, using the stones as handholds. I scrambled to catch up. Soon, we were each at a separate window without so much as breaking a sweat.

She was in there.

A beautiful girl who looked a lot like her sister, except for the hair. While Jasmine’s was a flaming red, hers was wheat-blonde. She tossed it over one shoulder before bending over a table, hands working at something I couldn’t make out. She was barefoot, wearing a simple, linen dress. A creature of nature, fae, as her title implied.

I leaned back to look at my brother, who stared in the window like a Peeping Tom. He practically drooled.

I blew a short, sharp whistle through my teeth to get his attention, and he nearly fell from the wall, but it got him looking at me.

I jerked my head in her direction, eyebrows raised, and he nodded.

The windows were both hinged on either side, two panes meeting in the middle.

I swung the glass open and hauled myself inside the round, stone-floored room.

She whirled around with a gasp, eyes round with terror.

The girl must have been deeply involved in her work to escape noticing two grown men hanging outside her window.

“Who are you?” she breathed, looking back and forth, back and forth. Every inch of her body was coiled like a spring, tense with fear.

---