Page 33 of Curses & Keys (Curses & Gods #1)

PHAEDRA

W e arrive back at The Hari and sit down to make a plan. I show the rest of them what it says on the paper. “William of Durham founded Oxford…”

“I thought King Alfred founded it,” Mathias inserts.

His dark eyes spark with appreciation. “Thank you.”

Hawthorne turns from Mathias to me, then taps the paper. “We immediately knew it was Oxford, but the second part could mean one of three places—either St. Peter’s College, the Church of St. Peter-le-Bailey, or St. Peter’s in the East.”

I beam at him. “Correct. The keys to the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter, and those are the only buildings in Oxford with his name.”

Gatlin folds his arms across his large barrel chest. “We’re not splitting up.” His tone leaves little room for disagreement.

Jamison nods. “I agree, but the longer we spend in one place, the more likely the council will catch up with us. I don’t want them to know what leads we’re following. Is there any way to narrow it down?”

“Letz’ group started a thousand years ago,” I remind them. “St. Peter’s college wasn’t founded until the 1900s, so we can rule that one out. That leaves us with two. The Church of St. Peter-le-Bailey and the other church, St. Peter’s in the East. Both were built in the 12 th century, I think.”

Hawthorne leans forward. “Actually, a church stood in the same place as St. Peter’s in the East since the 10 th century, but it wasn’t renamed until the 12 th century.

” He stops for a minute. “The Church of St. Peter-le-Bailey was torn down and the new church built on the site in the 16—or—1700s. I remember, because they found some earlier artifacts from my world, Langit, buried there. That timeline would make it questionable.”

“I don’t remember, but I’m sure you’re correct,” I admit with a nod. “That leaves us with St. Peter’s in the East. It’s been a while since I’ve visited Oxford, but I know I didn’t visit any of the churches. I’m not sure of the layout.”

“We need schematics for the building,” Gatlin says as he moves around the room pulling together the weapons and gear that were delivered while we were out.

Mathias grabs his laptop off the nearby table. “I’m on it.” Fingers flying, he’s soon lost to the world of technology.

Hawthorne shifts restlessly beside me. “I assume we’re headed there tonight?”

Jamison quickly nods. “We can’t afford to wait.”

With a sigh, Gatlin stops what he’s doing and motions to the hotel phone. “Think your friend Sheraton will bring us some late dinner or rather…” He looks at his watch. “An early breakfast?”

I nod and start to stand, but he lays a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m quite capable of ordering us food,” he assures me in his usual gruff tone. “What would you like?”

“That depends,” I say, biting the inside of my lip. “How are we getting to Oxford?”

Jamison tilts his head. “It’s a relatively short distance. Portal, why?”

I grimace. I’ll definitely need something easy on my stomach. Turning back to Gatlin, I give him my order. “Toast, please.”

He immediately shakes his head. “You need something more than a few slices of bread. We don’t know how long it will take us to find this group or how long we’ll be there.”

“I’m not that hungry,” I insist.

He narrows his gold eyes but says nothing more. “Jamison?”

“Club sandwich,” Jamison orders.

“Omelet,” Hawthorne adds with a look at Gatlin, who nods. “And you know what Mathias needs.”

While Gatlin’s on the phone, Mathias connects a gadget to his laptop. Clicking a few more buttons, he projects the schematics on the wall for all of us to see.

“Clever,” I murmur.

He clears his throat and pushes his glasses up on his nose. “Thank you.” Using a red laser, he circles a couple of areas. “Based on the information I found, the nave and chancel were part of the original structure along with the crypt.”

Tapping on his computer brings up another image of a room made of stone with low ceilings. “This is the crypt. As you can see, it’s the length of the original nave and chancel above it. There’s a problem, though.”

I glance at him. “What?”

“In the 1960s, they changed it from a church to a library and made it a part of St. Edmund Hall. It’s open to Oxford students and faculty,” he informs us.

“It seems like it would be too risky for them to store relics and hold meetings there without anyone knowing. Still believe they would use it as their base?”

I think through the original logic and come to the same conclusion. “This has to be it. Crypts were designed to house relics and sacred objects. Maybe there’s a priest hole or a passageway to another building or something.”

Jamison studies me. “What’s your level of certainty?”

I bite my lip, feeling the pressure of their eyes on me. “That’s where we need to go next.” I’m certain of it. “Even if it’s only to get the next key or clue or whatever.”

Hawthorne’s green eyes lock on Jamison. “I agree.”

The elevator dings, and Gatlin, who’s standing guard by the elevator, immediately pulls the gun from behind his back. “Who are you?”

With those words, we all stand to confront the stranger near the elevator with a cart.

Jamison and Hawthorne silently slide in front of me, and I take a step back.

My body can absorb most magic, but there’s been a few times when it’s proved to be lethal.

Thankfully, death isn’t a state that’s permanent for me, but it sure hurts like hell, and it takes time for me to regenerate. Time we don’t have.

Tall, with brown hair and an average face, the man waves a hand toward the cart. “You ordered food, correct?”

Jamison eyes him closely, then glances at Gatlin, who shakes his head.

“What did we order?” Gatlin asks softly, moving into position behind him and raising his gun.

“I’ll have to check,” the guy smoothly replies, his hand reaching toward the leather folio on the cart.

“Stop,” I order him, my gaze finding Gatlin. “The service is impeccable here. They would never forget the details of a simple food order.”

The man whips his hand out from under the portfolio and flings a dark ball of magic toward us, then turns toward the elevator to flee, but it’s too late. Gatlin drops him with one shot to his head.

Jamison stretches his arms wide, then claps them together hard, capturing the magic in a bubble of some sort. Hawthorne opens a portal beside him, and Jamison flings it into the dark void. It closes a second later.

That’s certainly efficient. “Where did you send it?”

“The council has a room that nullifies magic,” Jamison admits with a frown. “There’s only one problem… It tracks all deposits, which means they’ll be able to track it down to us here. Soon.”

Gatlin stares down at the body on the floor with a furious expression on his face. “Burn it.” He orders as he walks away and begins handing out weapons.

Hawthorne casually motions to the body, and it bursts into a green-blue flame. Magical fire is the only way to make sure a supernatural truly dies.

All five of us move into motion, gathering whatever we need to take with us. I pause and shoot off a text to Mercer to inform her of the breech and ask her for a clean-up crew. Once done, I exchange my heels for boots and layer on a few extra clothes, including a coat. Then, I load up on weapons.

“Ready?” Jamison asks, eyes darting from one to the other and landing on me. He holds out his hand, and I find myself reaching for it. A portal appears in front of him, making my hand tighten on his.

Gatlin strides through first, of course.

Alert and ready to take on the world before we arrive.

Mathias follows him, then it’s our turn.

As we step in, I glance back and meet Hawthorne’s determined green eyes.

Most of the time, they’re bright and full of knowledge, but anger has made them dark and turbulent. I shiver. Glad I’m not on his bad side.

The portal takes us directly to High Street, and we make our way over to the former church. Now a library, the doors are locked tightly against intruders.

Gatlin takes up position between us and the street while Jamison holds his hand out toward the lock on the door. He immediately jerks his hand away and shakes it.

“There’s a spell on it,” he grits out. “Stings like a bloody wanker.”

I dip my hand into my pocket and pull out the key from the safe deposit box. “Maybe this will work?”

He steps back, and I move in front of him. The key inserts smoothly, and within seconds, we’re in the library.

“Nice of Letz to leave us a key to the front door,” I murmur as we walk down the center aisle.

Streetlamps from outside send light streaming through the tall windows on each side, illuminating rows of bookshelves.

Lining the right and left sides of the room, they lead to the previous altar and three large stained-glass windows.

The place still looks and feels like a church, with its quiet air and musty smell.

Mathias moves in front of us. “This way.”

He moves quickly and quietly to the end of the room, where there’s an exit door. Heading through the door, he takes the stairs down into a much darker area than above.

I stumble in the darkness, and he stops and takes my hand in his.

There’s strength in his cool fingers, and it reminds me of how strong he is.

Vampires have unnatural speed and strength.

And come to think of it, spectacular eyesight.

So, why does he wear glasses? I make a mental note to ask him later.

I reach back with my other hand and grab Jamison’s, creating a train for him to follow. Two flights later, we’re in the crypt. The air is frigid and thick with darkness. I can’t see anything. If it weren’t for Mathias, I wouldn’t know where to step.

“See anyone?” Jamison softly asks.

“All clear,” Mathias replies in his normal low tone.

A ball of light appears above our heads. Jamison sends it around the room to peek into all the dark corners to ensure we’re alone. Once it finishes, he positions it in front of us. “Where to next?”