Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter fifty-four. house of brick

"Yeah, this is it," Fabian states, calling us over to a furnace made of brick. "All right. The secret room should be on the other side," he hits the wall, "of this wall."

"Great," Patricia remarks sarcastically. "So instead of solid concrete, we only have to get through solid brick."

"Anyone got a chisel?" I say under my breath, reluctantly stepping into the furnace to look for anything that could get us into it. "Okay, uh, look for anything out of the usual—any drafts, weaknesses in the wall, just... anything."

It isn't long before Fabian gets out of the furnace, shaking his head. "No, there's no way in."

I bite the inside of my cheek, looking above me as Eddie says, "What is this, some kind of joke?"

"We're going to have to do this the long way, one brick at a time."

Patricia groans. "Oh, I hate the long way."

—

When we get back to the school, break's nearly over and most of the rest of the house is in the lounge, which is where we go. I sit on the arm of Jerome's chair, messing with his hopefully itching-powderless hair as he puts his arm around me. Strange thing is, there's a horrible smell penetrating the room.

"What is that?" Eddie questions as small heels click outside in the hallway. "Smells like feet."

The answer? Mara's got a dog with her. "Oh, what is that?" I ask, throwing my head back as everyone gets up to hug and kiss the dog. "And why is that?"

"It's a dog," Mara states plainly.

"Well, yeah, I see that, but what's it doing here and where did you get it from?"

Mara just sighs in response. Joy goes over to her and asks, "So, what did you get, grounds? You know, that's what lords call gardens."

"Forget the grounds," Eddie says. "What about the money?" See, Patricia should be more concerned that Eddie's gonna spend her life-savings on meaningless things instead of worrying that he wants to see other girls.

"There isn't any money," Mara responds regretfully.

"Land?" Patricia inquires. "A house?"

"Or house. Or land."

"So..." I pause, raising my eyebrow at her. "What'd you get, then?"

Mara reluctantly motions toward the dog Willow and KT are infatuated with. Oh. Wow, okay.

"You inherited a dog," Jerome states. Mara's eyes narrow but she nods.

"Well," KT speaks up, "I think he's cute."

"Yeah?" Mara asks, perking up. "You want him?"

KT's about to answer when she takes a whiff of her hand, which has been in the dog's fur. "Not that cute."

"That dog is not sleeping in our room tonight," I tell Mara, pointing between her and it. "Not until it gets a bath and doesn't smell like a dead body. His... former owner's dead body."

Mara looks at us, since everyone's (except for Willow) obsession with the dog has gone and passed. "I'm still a lady!"

"That's great, Mara," Fabian says, but he gets up and moves away from the dog.