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Gods save me. If they want to experiment, they’d better save it until we return to the palace. I love my sister, but I do not need to know all the ins and outs of her sex life.

“Noted.” Agnar snorts. “Changing the subject, there’s probably other doors we can get in through.”

Still smiling, Bastian twitches his wings as he inspects the towers. “If we could fly, it would be easy enough to get in through those windows.”

“Which is likely the reason magic is used to halt flying.” I follow him around to the left, checking for lower windows or smaller doors we can use to enter the palace. We’ve come too far to just give up.

Though, come to think of it, there’s nothing saying that what we need is inside the palace and not out in the city somewhere. Still, it will be easier to search this solid stone building than the decrepit and crumbling wooden ones.

Standing face to facade, I know this will be a massive undertaking. “Ziva help us.”

Rustling causes me to spin around, where I find vines growing in the trees. Something slides out of the thick, shadow-draped foliage.

Hand on my sword, I approach the fallen object.

A black feather.

How is that possible? There are no birds around here since they can’t fly. Except…that owl did just before dawn. Was it outside the barrier of magic or?—

“What was that?” Bastian is already nearly shouting distance away.

“We should split up.” I raise my voice, gesturing to ensure everyone understands me. “I’ll go this way with Bastian. You three go the other way. If you find something, send up a wind gust, Blair. We’ll send up fire if we do. Meet back here at the front doors at sunset.”

“Sounds good. Stay safe. Sterling will skin us alive if you get hurt.” Blair waves over his shoulder as he continues waltzing away.

Agnar and Leesa look at each other and shrug.

Tucking the feather in my bag, I run after Bastian.

Within a few minutes, we discover an open window, glass more than likely hidden under the weeds below. Carefully climbing through the opening, we find ourselves in what appears to be a clerk’s office.

Thinking this might be just the sort of thing we need, Bastian and I dig through the desk and the shelves, flipping through every ledger.

The problem is, we don’t know what we’re searching for. We only know that Queen Aero came here to learn how to deal with the drachen.

Still, we uncover nothing that mentions drachen, shadowy creatures, Queen Aero, or even Tirene or the Barda line. Though many of the books and scrolls have all but shriveled to dust in the many years since this castle was abandoned.

Leaving the office behind, we continue our search through cobweb-filled halls and dust-layered rooms.

As we roam, oddities emerge. None are useful as far as I can tell. A door that leads to a brick wall. A staircase spiraling to open air with no hint it wasn’t built that way. A cube made up of a bunch of smaller, moveable cubes with no identifiable purpose.

There are cave cats at nearly every doorway. Painted, stitched, carved, or sculpted, they track our every move. Owls watch from perches high above, heads turned this way and that in silent judgment.

Were all these people infatuated with cave cats? Did they worship them?

Bastian and I continue on, our footsteps echoing off the stones, the shadows in the hallways a taunting reminder of the drachen’s absence. They’re out there, somewhere, feasting on dread and despair. And here I am, chasing ghosts in a castle full of cat’s cradles and owl’s wisdom.

Room after room, we search the palace. As we come to the next intersection of halls, I head right. I’ve taken three steps before I notice the warmth.

The air continues to heat as we progress down the wing. “Why is it so hot in here?”

Bastian stops digging through a wardrobe to stare at me. “What are you talking about? It’s been the same temperature the whole time we’ve been investigating. I’m actually pretty comfortable.”

I fan my face with my hand. Is he joking? I still don’t know him well enough to tell.

I forget about him as another flash of heat pulses through my veins and continue wandering,

trusting the unseen currents to guide me.