Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(92)

I was allowed to walk through the double doors and inside the castle. It looked as though the building had been sleeping for a thousand years. There was almost no light coming through the walls. Though they appeared crystal-like from the outside, they kept the light out from the inside. Nim walked around, throwing open windows and revealing the high, arched ceilings and magnificent stonework on the floor. There was very little in the way of furniture but books were piled high in shelves and stacked on the floor. There was a thick coat of dust over everything. When the light hit the great room, I could see that plants had tried to make their way in but the lack of light made them sad-looking creatures.

“This just won’t do.” Dev shook his head as he walked around. He placed his palm to the side of what looked like a stone wall. In an instant, we were surrounded with life. Vines popped out and flowers bloomed, and great sprigs of holly and ivy were everywhere.

“Beautiful,” Nim said with wonder, looking around at the roses suddenly blooming around all the doorways. The burst of color and life changed the gloomy building into a faery castle.

“Show off,” Daniel complained under his breath, but I caught the wink he sent Dev’s way.

“I sense the wizard.” Stewart’s eyes closed, rapture plain on his face. “He’s close.”

Nim walked to the back of the great room. She had found a torch and lit it. “He’s in the room below. Come now, Daniel, Stewart. The rest of you may make yourself at home. I don’t know how long this will take.”

“Like I’m staying here.” I moved toward the staircase that went down into the darkness. The wizard Merlin was sleeping in the floor below, and Daniel was about to wake him. I wasn’t hanging out upstairs, pruning roses. I turned and waited for Daniel. I wasn’t going to be left behind, but I knew the protocol. I was testing Daniel as it was. I certainly wasn’t going to go anywhere without him.

Dev was right behind me. “I’m with my goddess. I have no intentions of allowing Daniel to have all of the fun.”

“It could be dangerous, Your Highness,” Nim pointed out to Daniel.

He shook his head. “I got no scene control, Nim. They’ll just follow us anyway, and Z will probably find a way to make a dangerous situation into something truly insane.”

“Well, at least the wolves can…” Nim began.

Lee elbowed his way past them, followed by Neil, who wasn’t letting anyone leave him behind. Zack frowned and hung back. He watched Lee’s and Neil’s heads disappear down the spiral staircase and looked completely pitiful. Nim rolled her violet eyes and gave up the fight, following Neil down the dark stairs.

Daniel sighed. “Come on then, Zack. I’m not going to punish you for being the good one. I won’t leave you up here all by yourself.”

Zack scampered down the stairs like an eager puppy.

“You know you would miss all of us,” I teased Daniel as he began down the stairs.

“No one ever lets me miss them,” Daniel complained, but I could hear his affection. He loved his little crew even when we annoyed the hell out of him. Dev and I followed.

Nim and Lee were busy lighting torches as we entered the dungeons of the crystal castle. Down in the dungeon, even the air was heavy. There was a feeling of deep gloom in every aspect of my surroundings. It was a large room, but it somehow managed to feel cramped. I could hear the sound of rushing water. When there was enough light, I saw a large fountain in the back of the room. Upon really studying it, I found it was more like a small waterfall, and a man could probably stand beneath it and shower.

“He’s not happy,” Nim said under her breath.

“No, he is not,” Stewart concurred.

“How do the two of you know?” Neil walked to where Stewart stood looking down.

I joined him and caught my breath at the sight of the desiccated body in a glass coffin. The wizard lay there, still dressed in his deep purple robes. The garment seemed to be made of velvet, but the wizard had shrunk inside his clothes. They were obviously made for a much larger man. They hung off the corpse-like wizard, sliding from his shoulders like they wanted to escape the confines of the coffin.

I had to agree with Neil. The wizard looked like he would never feel anything again. His face was a thin sheet of papery skin over bones, his eyes sunk deep into his skull. In the low light of the dungeon, he was an ashen gray color.

“This isn’t the way I left this room.” There was a scowl on Nim’s face as she glanced around. “I left it in good shape. His own anger has made it so gloomy. Devinshea, could you please?”

My fertility god flicked his wrists negligently, and I heard a slithering sound. Rose vines from upstairs wound their way down. They snaked around the staircase and formed lovely patterns across the walls.

Nim took a deep breath as the place lost its musty scent. “Much more cheerful.”

All at once the roses withered and died on the vine. Dev’s eyes widened as he took in the scene. Flowers never died around Dev.

Nim walked up to the coffin and slapped it with the flat of her hand. “That was rude, Myrddin. He’s only trying to help. Leave those roses alone this time or I swear to the goddess, I will let you rot in here.”

Dev touched the vines and they came back to life. This time they stayed that way.

Daniel walked over to inspect the coffin. His eyes showed no emotion as he peered down at the wizard. Almost as though compelled to, Daniel reached down and touched the top of the glass. I took a startled step back as Merlin’s hand shot up as though magnetically attracted to Daniel’s.