A Gift of Three(31)

“Look up,” he whispered, coming to a standstill a few feet from the banister. I did as he asked, and quickly wished I hadn’t. The ceiling was covered with murals: oil-painted depictions of black-eyed demons locked in battle with serpents and humans. Winged creatures, scaled and furious, lashed at one another, while glad-masked figures stood by and watched, as if they were at a play. It was creepy.

“Come on,” I said, tugging at his shirt sleeve. I wanted to get out of here—back into the light, at least. The gloom and the watching eyes of the stuffed creatures were making me edgy.

The staircase was wide, thickly carpeted like the hallway was. Some of the steps were broken in, the polished wood of the banisters also destroyed in some places, the railings draped in thick and musty cobwebs.

“Mind your step,” Jovi muttered as we slowly descended, anxious that every creak might give us away to whoever or whatever owned this place. The staircase led down to what I assumed was the main entrance. It was a vast and empty hall, whose floor was made of cracked, polished marble slates. Large paintings hung from the walls, covered in a thick layer of dust and depicting pastoral scenes—a nice change from what we’d seen on the ceiling upstairs.

Jovi hurried to the front door. It was huge, with two marble columns on either side, and rusted brass knobs on both doors. Jovi wiggled the handles, and I joined him, looking closely at the locks.

“Locked shut,” I asserted, rattling the frame. In our desire to get out, I’d stopped worrying about the noise we were making. “We should just break the glass of one of the windows, it will be easier.”

“Agreed,” Jovi replied. “Let’s see if we can find any sign of the others first. Which way should we go?”

I turned and faced the interior of the house. The layout was vast. There were so many rooms, most cast in darkness where the curtains were pulled tightly shut. I could see one fire blazing in one of the rooms in the west ‘wing’ of the home, but it looked as empty as the rest. I could also see a glass greenhouse that backed onto the lawn—full of tropical hot plants, and as overgrown as the rest of the land.

I told Jovi what I saw, both of us worried that the rest of our friends and family were nowhere to be found.

“Let’s make our way to the room with the fire,” he suggested. “If we can’t see anyone, we can get out through the greenhouse.”

I led the way, glancing into the different rooms that we passed—some vast, with the furniture covered in more mildewed sheets, and some smaller, containing nothing more than chests of more junk, books and unfamiliar objects that looked like they belonged at an antique fair.

“Do you think this is some sort of trick? Maybe one of the fae playing with us or something?” I asked hesitantly.

“It’d be a pretty cruel trick,” Jovi replied. “And I don’t know…it would take a lot of power—a jinni would have to be involved… and all this for amusement? It doesn’t sound likely.”

I had to agree. And there was nothing about this that felt remotely amusing. The more we explored of the isolated home, the more disheartened I felt—and frightened. With all the panic of seeing my friends in that state, and the dancing and fun beforehand, and now the use of True Sight to keep watch on the house as we walked through it, my energy was fast depleting. If I didn’t find energy to eat soon—and I didn’t believe that there would be anything in this place—I would have to ask Jovi if I could syphon off him. Something I absolutely didn’t want to do in this situation.

As we approached our destination, I could hear the faint sounds of a fire crackling in the hearth. I was already perspiring heavily—the house, even when cast in gloom, was humid and dank. Why anyone would want to light a fire in this heat was beyond me.

The door to the room was shut. I glanced over at Jovi, and he motioned for me to stand back. With my energy draining and the room in darkness, I couldn’t see that well, but I could make out a high-backed chair, placed in front of the fire.

“Jovi,” I whispered quietly before he opened the door, “there might be someone in there. I think I can see—”

Jovi didn’t wait for me to finish. On hearing that there might be a sign of life, Jovi pushed the door open with a bang. He marched into the room, and I followed him—my gait was much less confident, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t ready for battle.

Jovi came to a halt halfway between the door and the chair. There was definitely someone sitting in it, but they made no motion to rise at our approach. The only light came from the fire, and as a log fell on the hearth, I could make out a human hand on the armrest, unmoving.