God Bones

Chapter 19: Blue Lingerie and Wine

Luce

I took my dinner in the room. Arion had still not made an appearance so I tried to plan my next steps as I opened the layout plan. The wall I'd seen was indeed new, because the map showed me that the garden was supposed to be right next to the library, which I'm sure it wasn't. The wall actually seemed like it belonged to the cold storage where Gabriel kept his collection.

I munched on a walnut brownie and zoomed into the place where the wall was supposed to be.

But how would one even enter this room? Of course you should be able to enter it through the west gardens or the gardens would have been unguarded. And how much had Rhys seen? Did he see me press my hand against the wall?

No, if he had, I'd probably be dead.

And I'm sure Arion is guarding the gardens. He wasn't there at dinner and I saw Maria and Peter around. Though I didn't know where exactly he was guarding it from. I'm sure he didn't actually need to stand on the ground and guard. He's a sorcerer.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the pillow. How do I get in? There were two ways, either find the keys to the storage from Rhys or sneak out again.

Was it worth the risk of being caught? What are my alternatives? Stalk Rhys? That doesn't seem like a pleasant way to die, tempting as it was.

No, what I needed was a distraction. Sneaking past a highly trained sorcerer was no child's play. I needed to divert attention from the gardens somehow and give myself enough time to snoop.

How on earth do I do that?!

I pinched my nose and squeezed my eyes shut. If I had magic this would be so much easier. Anything too bold will raise suspicion. It has to be discreet.

Or . . . Or maybe I can get Arion to drop his guard.

That's the best course of action. He already likes me, I'll be easy. But I really don't want to have to do this. I like him. He's so damn kind to me.

Sera. Think about Sera. My sister. That's what is important and my time is running out. Was Sera still alive? It had been over a day since I saw her. And nobody could contact me here.

No, I have to do this. It's either Arion, a sorcerer I've only just met, or my baby sister.

I went to the kitchen and asked the maid for a bottle of wine and two glasses. She handed me two Baccarat crystal goblets and a bottle of some really expensive wine with a surreptitious wink. I thanked her and went to my room.

A few minutes later, I was ready. My lingerie was a deep blue and didn't really leave much to imagination. My silk robe was tied at my waist with a knot.

I took a sip from my glass, leaving a pink stain on the rim from my lipglpss. I knocked on Maria's room, fortunately it was Peter who opened the door.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey." His eyes traveled down the slit of the robe. "You're looking for Arion?"

"Yeah."

"He's two rooms away from the left side of the library," Peter told me. The sound of a flush came from inside the room.

"You should go," He told me. "Maria might see you."

I thanked him and left to find Ari.

The room wasn't too far from my library, so I was a bit relieved he was so close until I remembered that Maria and probably Rhys had guard duty as well. I knocked on the door and crossed my fingers that Peter hadn't sent me dressed like this to someone else's -or even worse- Rhys's room. The door opened to reveal my fiancé. He looked bored out of his mind, but his eyes widened when he saw me.