A Savior's Worth (Book #3)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Elouise walked further inside, stepping over the piles of shards and taking in the sights of shelves stacked against the gray brick walls of the narrow corridor. She found it strange how there were so many yet only a few of them were actually filled with books and other unidentifiable items. She heard everyone else shuffle in, accompanied by their wondrous gasps.

"Wow," Noemi blurted. "This is beautiful!"

"Beautiful?" Kinsey scoffed. "What's beautiful about a building falling apart?" She pointed to the curved staircase on their left. The top of the wooden railing was gone and most of the steps were caved in.

Elouise looked at Eldon. He was still transfixed on something up ahead. She followed his gaze until she spotted the source of his astonishment—a wide painting above the door at the end. It was difficult to make out what was being depicted in this faint lighting, but as she drew even closer, she saw it; a humanly figure with feathery glowing wings spread across the canvas.

Is that supposed to be-

"So, are we completely sure this is the big secret we were looking for?" asked Iris, interrupting Elouise's thoughts. No one answered. "I'm just asking, because if it is, this makes what I just found even more disturbing." Everyone turned their attentions to her now.

Iris stepped back from one of the shelves and held up the black cloth-covered ball; the very same Inferum cantivat had used on them earlier.

Elouise widened her eyes, dread settling into the pit of her abdomen.

"That can't be the same thing," Cora said, as if reading Elouise's mind. She walked over and retrieved the ball from Iris. "Maybe... maybe it only looks the same. Maybe it does something else or it's harmless."

"There's one way to find out," said Kinsey, taking the ball and heading outside. Everyone followed and watched as she tossed it toward the stairs. It landed with a small thud and did nothing.

"See?" Cora smiled. "Harmless." Elouise started to sigh when the ball suddenly exploded and emitted smoke. Although it wasn't purple; it was simply a dark gray.

Kinsey nodded. "Harmless, eh?"

"I, I cannot believe this," Elouise muttered.

"Me neither. We should've kept it and examined it."

"Well, you're the one who wanted to test it out," Iris scolded Kinsey.

Elouise hurried to the shelf Iris had taken the smoke bomb from. Iris went with her.

"It's not exactly magic," Iris assured. "It's a weapon anyone could make with the right ingredients. So, if you're thinking Queen Beatrice used dark magic, you can ease your worries about that." She made a fair point.

Even so, Elouise reached for the book on the shelf underneath and flipped through it, recognizing the language it was written in. She still hadn't learned enough of Magic Speak to understand what she was reading, but she didn't miss the spots of blood on some of the pages.

"I, I think this is... a spell book," she whispered to Iris, feeling worse than she had seconds ago. Had it truly gotten so horrible that Beatrice had to turn to dark magic along with her own?

"Oh," Iris breathed, her brows rising.

"Look over here," Cora spoke up. Everyone turned. She kneeled in front of an iron crate at the end of the rows. Elouise inched closer, noticing the rusted padlock. Cora attempted to use one of her knives to pick it open, but it was to no avail.

"Perhaps I could do this," Elouise told her, raising her light. Cora stood and moved aside. Elouise shot the lock, breaking it apart. Noemi gasped and clapped excitedly.