The Rose Witch - Chandelle LaVaun Page 0,68

photography classes my first years at uni. A much simpler time.

The sky was blue but there was a hazy white cloud stretched thin across the sky. It was chilly but not unbearable, despite the fact I’d just realized I left my coat back at home.

The colosseum stood in front of us, standing tall and proud and making the rest of the world go around it.

“Of course. Henry always said this place was special and that humans would never let it be destroyed.” Malachi rolled his neck. “I can feel Holy Ground from here. We go inside and I bet we’ll find it. And I bet that’s where we’re supposed to bury this.”

“I guess we find the fourth rose first?”

“Exactly.”

I blinked and then we were standing in front of a railing a quarter of a mile closer to it than we’d just been. I frowned then looked to my soulmate. “Was that you?”

“I certainly hope so.”

I rolled my eyes. “So that’s how it’s gonna be now?”

He grinned at me. “I would think there’s a reason why he dropped us way back there. Perhaps the fourth rose is easier to see from a distance.”

“Excellent point.” At that, I eyed the massive ancient structure in front of us.

The road we’d been on was raised, so from where we stood on a staircase that led to ground level, we were level with the second story of the colosseum. The first three levels had the open archways that led inside. The fourth level, the top one, was a solid stone wall with squares cut into them. I bit my lip and tapped my fingernails on the metal railing. Malachi’s point had to be on to something. My father had clearly planned things out very carefully. If we went down to the colosseum we wouldn’t be able to see the third row of archways, yet when we were on the road back where we came out of the red painting that level was perfectly visible.

Something told me we had to go through one of those archways at the top. I didn’t know if that made any sense, but my instincts were screaming it at me. Except… so far the clues only revealed themselves when we got close to them. What does he want us to do, fly around up there?

Okay. Think, Chloe. Dad had obviously wanted me to know about that spot at All Souls College or he wouldn’t have brought me there so many times. In Vegas I had to use my magic with the painting — I gasped. That’s it. My magic. I looked down at my hands. My magic was dark red smoke. If I shot it toward the colosseum it would trigger the next rose to appear. I started to summon it when a little girl tripped and bumped into my back.

And that was when I noticed just how many humans were nearby. It couldn’t have been more than nine in the morning but there were dozens of people in every direction I looked. How am I supposed to do this now?

“Why are you looking at them like that?”

“If I use my magic right now, will all the humans see it?”

He narrowed his eyes and the gold sparkled. The air pulsed around us. Then he shook his head. “We are now invisible. What are you thinking?”

“Do you think he knew you’d be with me for this?”

He was silent a moment. Then, softly, he said, “I promised him I would be. That I’d see this locket to its end. Why?”

I threw my hands out in front of me and pushed my magic out. Dark red smoke shot into the air like rockets. When it got to the colosseum I flicked my arms out to my sides and my magic copied. It coiled around the colosseum like a giant, menacing snake.

Bright light flashed like the North Star from an archway on the third level.

I gasped. “There!”

Malachi whistled under his breath. “Brilliant. Come on, let’s get up there.”

I leapt into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck without taking my eyes off our target. To my surprise, we weren’t taken by darkness like usual. We lifted off the ground and flew. I turned toward him and my eyes widened. His big white angel wings flapped like an eagle’s wings in the breeze.

I grinned. “Your wings are beautiful.”

“Thank you,” he said with a chuckle. “I didn’t want to lose sight of our destination. Here we are now.”

A shadow passed over me and I jumped –