Revealed (Unbound, Book 5)

Chapter Fourteen

"It recognizes your bloodline, Nora. There was nothing you had to do." Islene rubbed my shoulder and started to take steps towards the library. "Vavila entrusted your family heritage to Zachariah, assuming that he'd be able to mentor you like he had her. When Zach died with her, I worried how you would learn the truth without them, but last night I had a vision. This is where we start discovering who you are."

"And you can't come with me." I had regretted the decision to leave Onyx at Calin's house when we left until now, not knowing if her blood connection to me would be enough to get her past the so-called barrier.

"No." Islene shook her head but smiled. "I can't. I'm going to sit in the library for as long you need to take. I'll relax and read, which I don't do enough of anymore."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Look around. Discover. There is an entirely functional home with tons of storage in the attic, according to your mother. Here." Islene pulled a note from the front pocket of her jeans and handed it to me. "These are directions to show you where a hidden compartment is for you to open."

"How do you—right," I said, taking the note. "Vision."

Hidden compartments were likely to hold secrets. The ever-present frustration I felt turned into hope of discovering something new. Could I find something that might even be helpful? Was the book my mother had told me about hidden here? I knew it'd be disappointing to expect to learn everything in a nice, chronological order. No, there wouldn't be a journal or anything like that to help me. My mother had never made anything that easy.

"Go." Islene smiled and nodded to the wall where the door she couldn't see was. "Take your time. I like to read."

Humming under her breath, Islene turned and walked the few steps to the library.

Nerves tickled my stomach. When Zach had told me I would start here, I was excited to find answers so soon. The fact that Islene knew about it but couldn't enter tempered my hope with wariness. It would make sense that my mother would hold the secrets that she'd kept from me—from everyone—here. I believed that at most I would find a clue. Maybe two. Knowing my mother, she protected her privacy more than anything. I had a feeling this place allowed her her self-imposed solitary confinement.

Still, I was curious to learn the kind of things that held her interest outside of Briarville. There, she was a mother and High Priestess. Here... Well, when she was alone, I didn't know who she was, and I was sad I had little left to help me discover it.

I turned the knob and walked through the doorway.

It clicked shut behind me, a motion-sensor light flickering to life.

I crossed a landing in two steps and started up a narrow set of stairs. They were so steep, I felt like a misstep would make me fall backwards. I held onto the ornate, mahogany bannister railing as I ascended. I found it odd that there wasn't a hint of dust. How could an area that nobody could access be so clean? I mean, why didn't I smell must like on the first floor? It was so... fresh.

As the oddity floated through my thoughts, I reached the top landing and another door. Again, there were no locks, though that made sense if nobody could enter. Magic is the lock. It was the best kind of an alarm system—nobody knew it existed to try to breach its entrance. Pushing that out of my mind, I took a deep breath and turned the knob. I didn't hesitate and pushed the door wide as soon as it began to open. Once again, I stepped through a threshold without knowing what I would face on the other side. Brave though that was, I bowed my head and closed my eyes. I was here, but I wasn't sure I was ready to see what I'd found.

I counted to three in my head.

The door shut behind me, jarring me enough to break my trepidation. I looked up from the glossy mahogany wood floors that matched the color of the bannister exactly. A whispered gasp passed my lips, barely a breath. My eyes widened. No longer was I wary. Stepping forward, I looked around in awe.