Chapter 1
Damon
"Where the hell are we?" Freya shouted as we stood in the foyer of what I can only describe was a medieval castle. Every piece of furniture, decoration and fixtures screamed antiquated.
I snapped my fingers and lit every candle in our space. "It's not like we can take on the forces of darkness in our evening wear."
I had a nagging feeling in the back of my brain. I was only going along with this because I didn't completely trust Cosimo with Freya. And I could already see she was becoming attached to him, well, his ideas. I didn't want another person to take advantage of her.
So here we were.
"Where did you send Cecilia?" I asked coming up behind Freya and taking her hand. She smiled at me with a warmth I had never seen before.
"Back to her Beloved", Cosimo answered, "This is only a pit stop, we'll change and go. I know I have extra clothes for you but... Freya, you may have to do a little more digging."
"I'm good with boy clothes. Whatever gets us to Keno quicker," she stated.
"Come on then."
The cold damp air wrapped around me like a heavy coat of chain mail as we followed Cosimo up the tight spiral staircase. "Where are we?"
"A domain made specifically for demigods in the early part of the medieval period. Without an invitation no one without Divine blood can even get into this place, let alone find it. I've been calling it home for the better part of a century," Cosimo explained.
"Fancy," Freya grinned.
"Very. My mother would tell me stories of places like these. You had demigods from all walks of life with different types of interests working together to make a better world, in secret of course," Cosimo said as if he was reading a story to us.
Freya hung on every word, "Secret from humans?"
"Everyone; humans, Gifted, even the gods sometimes. The demigods that walked these halls cured diseases, made art that even the Gods had to appreciate, freed oppressed people, went on some of the most harrowing journeys ever put to paper. It all started in places like these. In their heyday I could only imagine their grandeur. I'll have to show you around when we get time."
I had never heard of such places from The Brotherhood.
"And now you're squatting in it," Freya said abruptly. I both loved and hated that Freya had no filter.
"I like to think restoring."
When we reached the fourth level we made our way down a gray stone hallway, plush with expensive carpeting and paintings that had to be originals from a time forgotten. We stopped in front of a wooden arched door, "There should be some clothes in there that'll fit..." Freya threw back the doors and paused, "You'll have to forgive the mess. I never thought I'd have guests."
The suite was a generously sized room situated in the oldest and most historic areas of the castle with a king-size, four-post canopy bed. The room had a private bath with a free-standing shower. The suite offered a large desk with a telephone and data processing line and a working wood fireplace. The sheer amount of cluttered boxes, trunks and moth-eaten clothes turned this stately room into a hoarder's paradise.
"It's perfect!"
Carefully, Freya tried to move through the room without tripping on any of Cosimo's memorabilia. "I'll be back with weapons and healing runes."
