Accepting Fate - (Slums to Riches, Book one)

Chapter 28

Following Cook up the stairs, Logan complained about the little time he spent in Angelique's company since she arrived. When they reached the third floor landing, he was sent back down with a stern warning to control his desires.

Of course, he protested and said his desires had been in control since the day he held her for the first time, but stomped back down the steps all the same.

Cook led Angelique to the furthest wall to the left of the stairs and pressed her hand over Angelique's against the wall.

"Aditus translatio."

When Angelique created the portal in the cave, the physical structure changed, but visually it remained two straight lines, joined by a third arched line, drawn in the dust. When Cook spoke those words, an actual door appeared, complete with a handle and knocker.

"Now you have full access to the attic. Please do not allow anyone else inside. The space is altered by magic, so only one of our kind, witches, can go in safely without consequences. I don't know what they are. Your mother... Well, if ever you needed a secret kept, she would be the one to tell."

Angelique rolled her eyes and opened the door. "What you're actually saying is she was a selfish old woman who didn't like to share her secrets. I love that woman more and more as I get to learn more about her."

"Sarcasm is not becoming, Angelique," Cook scolded.

She sighed but could not apologize as she walked into a small dusty room with cobwebs in every corner and up a wooden staircase, dimly lit by a single window too small for anyone to crawl through. "Is that why you never allowed Logan to come up here? Because it is altered by magic."

"Yes and no. I didn't want anything bad to happen to him, but this is the only place we can keep anything magical, without them being corrupted by evil. It was the mothers who told us to create this place."

Angelique's OCD screamed at her to start cleaning as a spider scampered up a cobweb disturbed by the draft. She shivered, tucking her hands close to her body as she followed Cook up the creaking wooden stairs to another door. "I'm going to guess you don't come up here that often."

Cook turned on the landing and waved a hand at the window. It opened and sent a gust of wind funneling through the small space. With her other hand, she made small circles in the air, creating little tornados. They carried the dust and cobwebs, along with their occupants, out the window before it slammed shut.

"That window is far too easy to access. I don't trust the wolves to not attempt the climb. As for your question, I do come up when I need something from my trunk, but I think you have noticed I do not use doors all that often. Hmm. I'll need to clean the dust in the attic as well." She added the last as though speaking to herself and then turned to open the door.

They stepped into a room the size of the entire left side of the third floor. From the outside, Angelique noticed only two of the four windows facing the firepits. Boxes and old furniture covered with dust-cloths stood all over the place, but a seating area remained open. Cook probably created it so she could relax while digging through her memorabilia.

"Would you remove the sheets from the windows and open them, while I collect all this dust?"

Angelique left footprints as she made her way to the windows, and then held her breath as she pulled the sheets away, one by one. Cook had created her little tornados and even cleared the dust of the cloths by the time she had all four windows open and breathing in the fresh air. Whichever spell Cook used, would have helped Angelique at the Harlows all those days she dusted, swept and moped.