Magic Undying (Dragon's Gift: The Seeker #1)(42)

I found a duffle bag on the bed. My duffle bag. I frowned at the familiar sight, then hurried to it and unzipped it.

Inside were my favorite T-shirts, jeans, leather jacket, pants, PJs, and even my underwear with polar bears on them. My lucky pair. There was a note on the top. I pulled it out and unfolded it.

I sent someone to pick up your stuff. Your friend Claire packed it. -Roarke

Awesome. I pulled out my favorite penguin PJs and lucky underwear, then tugged them all on. Once I was fully swaddled in Arctic-themed flannel, I felt a heck of a lot better. There was just something about wearing your own clothes after being attacked by a murderous Ubilaz demon that felt great.

A glance at the clock showed that it was now 7:00 p.m. Good. I needed another full night’s sleep.

My stomach growled.

“Shut up, you,” I muttered.

I followed the sound of music out of the room and down the hallway. The house wasn’t huge—just four bedrooms on the top floor—but everything was top-notch. Nosiness was a major failing of mine, and now that I had a chance to snoop around the house that belonged to the Warden of the Underworld, I wasn’t going to miss it.

Each bedroom was decorated beautifully, complete with its own fireplace and bathroom. A balcony overlooked the river and another interior one overlooked the living room where the ceiling soared high overhead, punctuated by skylights. The room below was one of the most beautiful I’d ever seen, a comfortable space that screamed Expensive Ski Lodge, just like my bedroom had. The fireplace was huge and the TV bigger.

The Warden might not have a huge place, but it was nice. Then again, he also owned a castle in the Underworld, so maybe he wanted to feel like a normal dude on Earth.

I made my way down the wide wooden staircase and easily found the kitchen by following the sound of the Allman Brothers. So he liked good music. I didn’t want to like that about him, but I did. Of course. Because I was an idiot easily swayed by my hormones.

The kitchen was a large space with sleek wooden cabinets, black granite, and top-of-the-line appliances. I didn’t actually know how to identify top-of-the-line appliances, but they looked big and expensive, which I figured qualified. There was a breakfast nook on the other side of the kitchen. Windows surrounded it, and I’d have bet big money that they overlooked the river.

Roarke was just pulling something out of the oven as I entered. He’d changed into a clean T-shirt, and it looked like his wounds had stopped bleeding.

“I thought you didn’t like frozen pizza,” I said.

“I was occupied.”

Occupied sitting at my bedside. Right. “Looks great.”

“I think it has potential.” He pointed to the counter. “Help yourself. There’s no boxed wine, but I do have a bottle of red.”

“Hey, no need for snark. I happen to like boxed wine. It’s both convenient and portable. No breakage. Three bottles for the price of one.”

“I noticed you liked it. You looked pretty happy about it when you had it at your place.”

“I was.” I went to the counter and found two coffee mugs sitting by the bottle of expensive wine. I held them up. “You like drinking wine out of coffee mugs too?”

“Sure.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Honestly, I don’t care how I drink it. But you like coffee mugs.”

“Maybe I don’t have any wine glasses.”

“You do.”

“Snoop!”

“Guilty.” He grinned and my heart flopped around in my chest.

I couldn’t exactly yell at him, though. He’d snooped while cooking me dinner. Probably because he needed cooking tools or whatever. As long as he stayed out of my bedroom, I didn’t care. And I had just snooped around his place, so it looked like we were both nosy.

“Well, thanks for the wine.” I poured myself a mug and made my way to the table, unable to stand for much longer.

Roarke set a plate on the table in front of me. It held half a pizza. His plate held the other half.

“That looks awesome.” I took a big bite. While I chewed, memories of the fight back at Glastonbury flashed in my mind. What had that dragon been? And where had it taken the Ubilaz demon?

I reached out with my dragon sense to find the demon. But I couldn’t find anything. No tug, no sense of its location.

What the hell?

A cold sweat broke out on my skin. “The Ubilaz demon might be dead.”

Oh, fates. What did that mean for me if I couldn’t get its blood for the antidote?

Roarke’s brow creased. “It’s not dead. I’d know if it had returned to the Underworld.”

Hope flared. “What do you mean?”

“When demons reappear in their Underworld, my staff knows. I asked, but they said he hasn’t arrived.”

I set the slice of pizza down. “So he’s definitely still on Earth?”

“Yeah. But you can’t find him?”

I shook my head. “No. That’s weird. He’s blocked from my sight.”

“What can do something like that?”

“Um… A concealment charm, for one.” For years, I’d worn one to protect myself from the Monster who lurked in my past. Ever since we’d escaped from him at fifteen, he’d hunted me and my deirfiúr. He was gone now, killed by Cass, but the charms had hidden us from his seer’s vision for years. Concealment charms were rare and hard to come by, though.