Come Hell or High Water - Striker x Reader (18+)

4. The Summer Home

The summer home was actually only a few miles away from the inn, so I decided to go ahead and retrieve the items that Stolas had asked for. The house was surprisingly smaller and more modest looking than I had thought, with plain white walls and light blue shutters and roofing. It was probably 1,500 square feet, max. One would never think it belonged to royalty.

"Just don't take too long," Striker said from the front door, keeping watch. "I'm gettin' hungry."

Coincidentally, my stomach growled in agreement. "Yeah, I am, too. I'll try to hurry."

The fortunate thing about the size of the home was that there was less area I had to cover. I quickly found his office: a quaint little room at the far corner of the house. There was a beautifully carved cherry desk in the center with a tall matching bookshelf standing behind it. I reached into my pocket for the keys Stolas had given me as I walked behind the desk. On the keyring was a small silver key, just big enough for maybe a padlock, and I slipped it into the keyhole on the bottom drawer of the desk. The key went in with ease, and I unlocked and opened the drawer.

Inside was just a small ornate box with red and gold trimming. Carefully, I picked up the box and lifted the lid. In the box were four beautiful, faceted gemstones — what I could only assume were Asmodean crystals — each set in their own unique pendant or brooch.

I stared at them a bit too long before closing the box and placing it into the bottom of my backpack. I then stepped over to the bookshelf and scanned its contents. There were a few baubles here and there, but mostly books, and I dreaded how difficult it was going to be to find this particular book of his.

Fortunately, I spotted the spine of a navy blue book, and I removed it from the shelf. It was exactly as Stolas had described it: dark blue, gold embossed, and a golden crescent moon adorning the front cover. Curiosity got the better of me, and I opened the book to a random page.

It was all words I couldn't understand, just gibberish to me. There were illustrations and sigils on almost every page, ones I recognized, such as the sigil for Lucifer. But unable to interpret anything more, I slipped the book into my backpack beside the box. I locked the desk drawer back up and made my way outside.

"That was quick," Striker remarked as I walked out the front door and locked it behind me.

"He only wanted me to get a couple things," I said, "and they were fairly easy to find." I turned to him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, let's go get something to eat."