Bloodfire (Blood Destiny 1) - Helen Harper Page 0,81

my heart and attest to the fact that we were not hiding any dragons anywhere. We weren’t concealing anything, other than that we were a bunch of shapeshifters. Perhaps Iabartu had something against the were. But then that didn’t make any sense because why would she target us in isolation? Why not go straight to the heart of the shifters and aim for the Brethren in London? Strategically it was a stupid move.

Johannes moved the door back into position and held it, whilst I clambered up on a ladder and started to connect the hinges back into place. It was awkward getting this done with a dishtowel wrapped round my arm, but not impossible. I pulled out a heavy iron nail. If only I’d had this in my pocket a few hours ago. I pushed it into the hinge bracket and began hammering, imagining that it was Iabartu’s face that I was hitting. I just couldn’t think of anything that we had that a demi-god would so desperately want. Up until now, I hadn’t examined in much detail what her motives might be, but perhaps if I could understand why she was doing this, I’d have more chance of understanding her. Know thy enemy.

“J, can you think of anything that we have that someone would go to this trouble to get?”

He sighed. “Nah. There’s nothing that I ken of. We dinna have onything locked away because it’s too valuable to be seen by others.”

I paused. Actually we did. In John’s office there was that magically sealed drawer that I’d been unable to open. It was just possible that there was something inside there that Iabartu was after. I couldn’t think of any reason for why John would have wanted to keep anything hidden away from the rest of the pack, so whatever was in there must be important.

I knocked the nail into place. I needed to get into that drawer. Unfortunately I’d not seen Alex since I returned and he would surely be my best bet for breaking through a ward. Remembering the melted pen, I figured that attacking it myself might not be best the idea. But silver could work. I needed to get some anyway for when I went through the portal so I reckoned that there was no time like the present. Quickly finishing up the door, I shouted down to Johannes to try closing it. The heavy oak slammed shut into place. Perfect. At least if Corrigan caught up with me again I could prove that I’d been busy.

“I need to take care of a few things, J,” I said to him as I climbed back down the ladder.

“Aye, lass,” he nodded, “you do tha’. ‘n’ make sure ye catch that fecker ‘n’ all.”

No prizes for guessing who that ‘fecker’ was. At least someone still had faith in me.

*

I had to make sure that none of the Brethren saw me returning to the keep. I was pretty sure that if I was caught shirking the orders that Corrigan had given me, then they’d throw my sorry ass down the disused well at the back of the keep and wipe their hands of me. Before I did anything, however, I had to find Julia.

As I was confident that she’d have been taken to her own room, where she could be made the most comfortable, I headed back inside the keep but avoided the main stairwell. Off the great hall was a small door that led to a staircase that had been used by servants in times gone past. I reckoned that the Brethren wouldn’t know about it yet – and even if they did, they’d have no cause to use it. Despite my gut feeling that I wouldn’t bump into any of them along the way, I moved cautiously up the steps, trying to be as silent as I possible could. When I reached the third floor, where Julia’s room was located, I carefully pushed open the door just a chink and peered through.

I could just make out her room at the other end of the corridor and voices coming from inside it. I watched for a few moments and then Corrigan and the doctor emerged. The looks on both their faces were grave. Swallowing hard, I waited till they had headed to the main stairwell and begun to descend before I made a move. There was one heart-stopping moment where Corrigan seemed to pause and sniff the air, and I pushed myself back against the wall