Page 50 of Bonds of Magic
“We are, if you two would stop objecting. Come on, before they get too far ahead of us.”
“We’re coming, we’re coming,” Ash complained. “Cool your jets, Nancy Drew.”
But there wasn’t time to cool anything. By the time we made it out of the refectory, I could just see Sean and Tim disappearing around a corner at the end of the hall.
“Where are they going?” I muttered, heading after them. There were no freshmen rooms on this level.
“This is ridiculous,” Ash groused. “I’msupposed to be the person who drags us into poorly-thought-out schemes. You’re usurping my role.”
We made it to the end of the corridor and turned the corner—but Sean and Tim had disappeared.
The hall dead-ended in front of a dark, polished wood door that was heavily carved with vines, and repeating images of an arrow crossed by an axe. A huge copy of that symbol was set in a circle in the center of the door, its obsidian gleaming dully in the dim light at the end of the hall.
We were standing at the entrance to Hunt Haven.
I suppressed a shiver. I knew Hunt had their quarters on the lower level, but never had reason to walk down this hall before. I hadn’t realized how close their haven was to the room where I ate three meals a day. It wasn’t a comforting thought.
“Of course,” Ash said in tones of disgust. “Of course they’d go in there.” He looked at me. “Well, you got your answer, at least. You know where they are. But we can’t exactly go in after them.”
“Why not?” I asked. “Can’t you just—” I waved my hand around in front of my body “—make us look different?”
“I’m touched by your faith in me, but I can’t just make us lookdifferent. If we’re going to infiltrate Hunt Haven, we need to look like actual Hunters. But we have no idea who’s already inside, so I’d run the risk of duplicating people, which would make things worse if we were caught.”
“Besides which, we can’t even get in,” Felix said.
“Why not?”
“Because Hunt’s door can’t be opened by any paranormal students. Hunting paranormal beings is theirraison d’etre, after all. They’re not exactly going to let us waltz in and make ourselves at home.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t just carry books around for fun. I actually read them, from time to time.”
“But Tim and Sean aren’t officially Hunters yet. How come they can go in?”
Felix shrugged. “Take it up with Hunt. I don’t make the rules.”
Fair enough. But if Tim and Sean were inside Hunt Haven, there was only one thing to do. I squared my shoulders and walked forward.
The door couldn’t have been more than twenty feet away, but I still felt like I walked a mile to reach it. Invisible eyes seemed to watch me as I approached. Like animals in the woods at night, waiting to pounce.
I took a deep breath and put my hand on the doorknob. I tried to twist it, first right, then left. Nothing happened. I tried pushing and pulling. Nothing. I took my hand off the knob and pressed both palms against the door itself, then jerked them back.
The door feltwarm. Like the body of an animal. I could have sworn I’d felt it rise under my palms, like an inhalation of breath.
“Told you,” Felix said. He and Ash were still standing well back from the door. “It won’t work.”
I frowned. Sean and Tim were up to something. Something that might involve Valeria. Who was Erika’s sister. I wasn’t going to rest easy until I knew what it was.
“It feltalive,” I said. “Is that normal?”
“I don’t know if it’s normal, but it’s definitely creepy.” Ash rubbed his hands up and down his arms. “Can we get out of here? I’ll glamor you however you want if we can go somewhere else.”
But I’d intrigued Felix. “Alive how?” he asked.
“Like an animal or something. Like a dog guarding a door. Warm and breathing.”
“Huh. I’ve never heard anyone describe the spell on the door that way before, but maybe it’s... ” He trailed off as he walked down the hall to join me.
