Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 56

Everything about our plan was stupid, which was why I had hopes that it would work. The three of us agreed that we couldn't wait until Woodville was asleep to do it, as well that we couldn't bet on him still being asleep. Luckily we had Dehaven on our team.

Dehaven was going to go to Woodville with a story about me. We figured that out of the three of us I was the best bet. If Eldon got more strikes he might get transferred or expelled even, Alaric still had a decently clean slate and Woodville surely didn't like me. I would be the best distraction.

All Dehaven needed to do, was keep Woodville busy. We even had the added luck of Woodville's assistant being away on vacation. It seemed like it was meant to be.  

I watched from around the corner as Dehaven approached Woodville. I couldn't hear what they were saying, more people in the castle had finally woken up, but I did see Woodville trying to lead Dehaven to his office. My heartbeat was through the roof, I could feel Alaric's breath in my neck as we watched it played out.

They stopped walking and Dehaven instead signed towards his own office. Woodville thought about it for a few moments and nodded. I let out a big breath and the three of us immediately sprinted towards Woodville's office. We only had the limited time that Dehaven could get us, and we certainly couldn't risk Woodville finding us. 

Alaric stood guard outside of the large purple door while Eldon and I burst in. It was vital that we got out before Woodville came back, because there was no way we could search and keep everything tidy. Eldon started by opening a bunch of filing cabinets and spilling out its contents onto the floor.

I ran my fingers along the lines of his desk, hoping to find the sheath duct-taped underneath it or something. I also looked through his drawers, underneath his velvet chair and also underneath every closet and filing cabinet in the room. Two knocks landed on the door, Eldon and I shared a worried glance.

Two knocks, ten minutes had passed. Alaric was the only one with a watch. It had been a goodbye present from Darius, Alaric had a tendency to be late. We only wanted to be here for fifteen minutes tops. Eldon immediately started digging around frantically, pulling out books from the two bookshelves in the corner of the room. 

I took a step back from it all. Kamau came here to hide something. Let's say he did manage to get in here without Woodville noticing, he also needed to find a way to get it back without Woodville asking questions in the case of an emergency. I walked over to the purple door and looked into the room.

The chair. The same chair I had sat on when he first talked to me, the same one I had been on after I had died. It was a simple wooden chair, one that was made to be uncomfortable so that visitors wouldn't linger too long. I sat down on it and traced my fingers underneath the bottom. If this was any other highschool or university it would probably be covered in gum, but this was a Vallen school. Instead, I found the sheath to a dagger. 

"I have it." I held it up for Eldon to see. We barely looked at it, just long enough to know we actually got the right one. Eldon slid it into the inside pocket of his blazer and we opened the door. 

Alaric got spooked by us, but smiled once he saw our happy faces. Woodville's office was absolutely wrecked, there were papers all over the floor alongside several paintings. Nearly every single piece of furniture was upside down and stripped of what was either inside or on top of them. 

I was a little worried about fingerprints, but realised that the Vallen weren't overly concerned by science. I should be more worried about someone like Kael seeing what we did, or if someone had the gift of reading minds. Still, even if they could read my mind they didn't know whose mind they were reading. It was one of the limits of that gift that made it slightly less intimidating. They hear my mind, but in their own voice so they won't know who is thinking it. 

We slowly walked back to my room. I think all three of us really wanted to run, but now that the entire castle was awake we couldn't risk looking suspicious. It was best if we looked like we just woke up, even though we hadn't slept at all.

My room was still very much a mess. We stood in a small circle, even though there was no one to listen in on us. Eldon took the sheath out of his pocket and immediately handed it to me. It was rather heavy, even though the dagger wasn't inside of it. There were several scratches on it, which was only logical seeing as it was older than everyone in the castle combined. 

The sheath was black, with silver decorations on the top and blackened metal on the bottom. The decorations weren't the prettiest, but rather clumsily carved into it. There were nordic runes on top, which I couldn't read and didn't dare let anyone translate. The bottom looked like it was once shiny like the top, but it had been dipped into fire. It reminded me of chemistry class, when I had grabbed the wrong bowl and made it black by placing it on top of the burner. When I rubbed my finger over it, it didn't come off. 

We compared it to one of the copies I had made. Everything down to the runes was correct. The room had absolutely exploded around us, but we were the quiet centre of the storm. We finally had it, I felt like I could breathe again. 

"What do we do now?" Alaric asked me. Both Eldon and Alaric looked at me. Not at Alaric who got top grades and who would lead their family, not at Eldon who was older and knew more about the Vallens. They looked at me. 

"We have one piece, they have the other." I finally just said. "Let them come here."