ghost [k. parker]

• CHAPTER 12 •

CHAPTER 12: secrets

IT WAS EASY ENOUGH to get Kai to agree to staying in the penthouse; it was the penthouse after all. They both agreed that they would attend to their luggage later and seen as they were at the doorstep of Paris' greatest fashion houses, they wouldn't be worrying about a shortage of clothes. Roma had settled herself on the balcony, drinking in the sight of dusk.

"What are we having tonight?" Kai called to her while he flicked through the albums that Sebastian had owned.

"We'll manage something from whatever S- this person had in their cupboards."

There was a moment of silence, before Kai popped his round the sliding glass door, looking aghast.

"I'm sorry, we're in the classiest district of Paris, and you want somebody else's leftovers?" He said, flabbergasted.

"Well, they're not leftovers exactly-"

"I won't stand for this. Absolutely not."

Roma rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour but didn't look his way; she needed to remind herself that Kai wasn't her friend and that she had ulterior motives that didn't concern him. She had no qualms about the murderous Malachai Parker being out and about in the real world but she wouldn't trust him with the secret that she had magic. If he ever found out what the Devorantis blade could do, she would never get it back. Roma couldn't let him know what she was doing and that meant he would get left behind. Again.

"Then don't stand for it. Go get us something. I'm sure there'll be some fancy dish waiting to get served at a restaurant somewhere."

"Not a half bad plan. You coming with?"

"No," Roma said, "I'm going to take a shower. I'm tired, I can't be bothered walking anywhere else tonight."

Kai accepted this answer with an eyebrow raised. He had learnt to be observant in his many years of solitude: Roma hadn't done much of anything today and she was normally enthusiastic about exploring anywhere new. Granted, he reasoned with himself, they had climbed the Eiffel tower. The only other reason he could think was that she didn't want to spend time with him- and that wasn't the thought he wanted to go with. Of course, he wouldn't be hurt if this was her reasoning (he was a sociopath)- but he wouldn't be content with it. Whatever that meant, or said about him.

After she was sure he'd left (she'd watched as he exited the building and in turn looked for her on the balcony) she made a beeline to Sebastian's bedroom. There she was sure to find something, anything that would help her. Maybe she could find a way to activate a connection between her and the blade so she could locate it? Or possibly she could find a spell that would allow her to leave the prison world once she found the blade and got some magic? The possibilities were endless and were hopefully lying around in the secret spaces of Sebastian's penthouse.

She looked under his pillows, in his desk drawers, searched every inch of his wardrobes. She even searched all the compartments in his en-suite bathroom, thinking Sebastian may have hidden something in the oddest places possible. Her time was running out, she had maximum twenty minutes left before Kai would come back and she didn't know where else she could look. Roma decided that whatever she was looking for wasn't in his bedroom and headed out to search the rest of the rooms- when she swiftly walked right back into the bedroom. Something had caught her eye. Something odd.

When she had known Sebastian, he'd told her about his habits with books. He'd said that he usually stuck to libraries as he moved around every so often and so it was impractical to have so many books on him. So, he only ever bought books when he truly loved them and when he did buy them, he bought two copies. One that he could love and wear down, and one clean copy that he could give to others. Roma had noticed that there was only one book on his bookshelf that didn't have a second copy. Granted, it could've been out on loan but when she'd gone to take a second look, she also noticed that there was no title anywhere on the cover. It was a deep red cloth cover, with delicate constellations embossed in gold. There was no doubt that she had found what she was looking for.