wooden legs that match the rest of the furniture. Iâm willing to bet itâs covered with some sort of velvet, probably red.â
âOpen your eyes.â
I did with a roll. âI donât know what this is supposed to prove,â I said as he pulled the sheet from the couch revealing a blood red velvet couch with heavy-looking yet graceful legs. âI was right.â
He nodded. âThis house was hers. She may be dead, but she still resides in these walls and you are connected with her whether you like it or not. If you want answers you have to look beyond what you see. Look with her eyes.â
Everything went still and numb inside of me. What in the hell was I supposed to do with that? âWell, this was a waste of my time. Iâll find what I came here for on my own. Thanks for nothing.â
I stormed off toward the narrow staircase so I could put as much distance between me and them as was possible in this house.
There were three doors upstairs, two of them were open and one was closed. The open one on the right was every bit as ornate and over the top as the rest of the house. The huge bed was draped in thick, dusty red velvet and almost took up the entire room. The closet door hit the foot of the bed so it would only open about halfway. It was filled with boxes and a few dresses were shoved to the corner. The clothes were what I expected: long black dresses with draping sleeves and old fashioned lace. Everything looked like a set designerâs vision of a dark witch instead of a real person. But then again, maybe this stuff really was who she was. Things become clichés for a reason.
I made a mental note to come back here and look through the boxes if I couldnât find her altar or Book of Shadows in another room. The next door led to a black and white tiled bathroom. The last room on the left was the only closed door. My insides fluttered at the sight of it. I could sense something about that room, but pinpointing the sensation was impossible. Was it a magical aura, an undead one, or something else entirely? Part of me was tempted not to open it. There was plenty of house left to look through. The door vibrated slightly, rattling on its hinges.
This is it. Youâre going to find the spell. I tugged on my gloves making sure my fingers went to the very ends. Once I saw whatever was behind that door I could never go back. My stomach twisted at the thought. I wanted to break the curse. It was all I had ever wanted, but if I had to give myself to dark magic or make a human sacrifice, would I do it? Did I even want to know that about myself?
I stared at the door. I started to back away from it. Iâd look through the boxes first. They were safer somehow.
âDid you see your room?â Orion asked, startling me.
I turned toward his voice, but he wasnât there. When I looked back at the closed door, he was standing in front of it, his arms crossed. âNo room here is my room. I didnât even know this place existed before last week.â
He pushed the door open in a silent challenge. I stared into the black hole, unable to make anything out inside. âShall we?â
I drew in a slow breath, squared my shoulders, and entered the room. Orion flipped a switch and light sizzled to life. I flattened my hands against my legs as I tried to reconcile what I was seeing with what Iâd expected. Two walls were a pretty pale pink and the other two were a soft gray. A silhouette of a tree was painted from the floor to the ceiling with branches hanging over the crib and white and pink blooms covering the branches then scattering over to the next wall. Someone put a lot of time into a room that would never be used.
âYou havenât seen the best part.â Orion flipped off the lights, then turned a different switch. The ceiling came to life with stars and constellations that rotated in gentle soothing patterns.
My fingertips tingled with the urge to touch