Nadine Book 4

71. X's

17 minutes later, we are running back in human dresses with flat sandals and our hair in ponytails.

We run in and everyone who is going is in the room. Elek is here too. Frode is at the table with some papers.

Tre smiles. "Very pretty."

I hug him. "Thank you sir."

Dipak clears his throat and shakes his head. I hug Tre tighter.

Dipak rolls his eyes. "Everyone make sure you stay in groups. No one roaming around alone. Elek stay with me. Also, this is not a pirate mission. We will take nothing."

Omar shakes his head. "Oh, I'm taking the note."

Dipak blinks at him. "We will take nothing that is not case relevant. We are also not hostile. Hurt no one unless you have to."

"Can we start with that plant right there? That thing is huge and creeping me out."

"Yes, same."

We go down every leaf and stem, searching as close as we can. The plant loses a lot of leaves. Then we get to the pot. It's so big it takes both of us to push it over. Then she searches the dirt. I do the bottom of the container. Then we get the whole plant out and search the inside of the container. Then we stand up and brush the dirt off ourselves.

3 guards, 2 servants, and Elek are staring at us.

Thora shakes a leaf out of her hair. "That plants fine."

I brush dirt off my arm. "No magic there."

"What do you 2 have against plants?"

"WE ARE SEARCHING."

"WE NEED TO BE THOROUGH."

"Fine. Fine."

"Your mother was told." Elek nods. "The guards know we are here now. The advisors have been notified. They will stay out of our way. Me, Dracul, Tye, and Tre start in the dungeon. Kane stay with the girls and Elek until we get out of the dungeon. Once we are out. We can disperse more. For now, stay closer together. Omar, you go where you're needed as always."

My boys roam off and Kane looks at us. Elek still has his eyebrows up.

"Where should we start?"

"Apartments."

"Which apartment is Elroys?"

"This way." He leads us to it. They are a lot like ours.

Kane directs him to the couch. "Sit down and don't watch." Kane grabs a book and sits down.

Thora grabs me, and we take off to the back of the apartment. "He's got 2 bedrooms. One is empty."

We start at the empty one and there is no magic in it. No magic in the closet. But we do break the shelf. A big piece of wood crashes to the floor.

Kane yells, "YOU STILL GOOD?"

"YEA WE'RE GOOD."

We crawl into his bedroom and go through his closet. Then his dresser. Around his windows. I pull a painting right off the wall thinking it will open. I hit Thora with it.

"OUCH."

"SORRY. I DIDN'T KNOW IT WOULD COME OFF."

I search the back of the painting and the front. "Everything is the same. They didn't change one thing about this room."

"That's good for us."

We pull the sheets off the bed. Check the mattress and nothing. We pull it off and nothing under it.

I turn to leave and see a circle on the bottom of the mattress. "They did flip the mattress though."

She pulls the mattress, so the circle is up. "Let's see if it's holding any."

She jumps in the middle and pink hair. I jump on it. I get pink hair too.

We then go threw the bathroom. Nothing in it. Then we search back down the hallway. We get in the living room. "Kane we have..." I get smacked with a painting. "OUCH."

"Sorry those really do come off easy."

"Let's do this room last. They seem content in it."

We go through the cupboards in the kitchen. I do the ones on bottom this time. She stands on the counter top and works her way around. I try to wiggle behind a big stack of bowls, so I can search behind them. I knock the bowls out, and she drops a bunch of plates at the same time.

The boys come running in.

"Sorry accident." They stand there frozen in place.

Elek spots me in the cupboard. He opens his mouth.

Kane shakes his head. "No questions."

I see something bright blue in the very corner. "I'VE GOT IT."

"WHAT DID YOU GET?"

"I DON'T KNOW YET. I HAVE TO REACH." The next stack of bowls fall out. I get to it. It's something small again. I take off the glasses and I see nothing. It blends in perfectly. I put the glasses on, and pick it up. "I'VE GOT THE KEY."

Kane tilts his head, so he can see under the cupboard. "The key to what?"

Thora yells, "WE DON'T KNOW KANE. WE HAVE THE KEY TO IT. STOP SLOWING US DOWN."

"HERE TAKE THE KEY." Kane takes the key. "DON'T LOSE IT. I NEED IT."

"Of course. We'll be in the sitting room."

We destroy the rest of the kitchen and don't find anything. Then we search the dining room. We find a wall safe there when I throw a painting across the room. Nothing much in it. A little money. Then we pick up the chairs and check them. We flip the table over and push it out the way. Then pick up the rug.

"Oh that's new."

"WHAT?" Kane glances at us from over his book.

"It's an x'd out circle."

He gets up and comes over. "I'll summon Omar. Don't touch it. Do the sitting room."

We flip the chairs over and then check the cushions. Then we check the tables and drawers. We flip them over. Thora throws the painting at me on accident.

Then I glance at Elek. "Sit in the chair a second please."

He moves over and puts a chair back together. Me and Thora search the couch. We find nothing.

Omar walks in. "What do we have in here?"

"s*x circle, key, and x circle."

"Key's are nice. Show me the x circle."

"Under the table."

"Circles can be set up to power magical things. Not only to collect magic."

I raise my hand. "Like a door?"

"Correct. A door will not last forever, but if you make a circle and connect it to a door. The circle will continue to power the door. Essentially being able to keep the door open forever." We nod at him. "This X cancels that out. Whatever this circle was powering, it will not power that anymore. Did you get the magic out of this circle for your hair?"

"No. This was the s*x circle."

"So this may still have power as well. I might be able to remove the X and power up whatever it was powering before."

I raise my hand. "What kind of magic could be collected on a dining room table?"

Kane rubs his eyes. "We don't know."

"You 2 go to the next apartment and I will try to cancel this x."

We clear 2 empty apartments and then get to 1 with stuff in it.

She looks at me. "The empty ones are so much easier."

"Yea but we don't find anything."

We destroy it top to bottom and don't find anything. Then we do another empty one. Then we go to another with stuff in it. We destroy it and find a bright blue ring in the back of the wall safe.

I hand it to Kane. "Found this."

We destroy another empty one, and then we get another with stuff in it. Elek and Kane are just waiting outside them now. But Elek is green. I am betting this is his.

Thora smirks at me when we get in his bedroom. "Let's see what he's really like."

I smile.

We find nothing.

"Let's check under the table quick and come back."

We clear the dining room and X circle again. "OMAR. WE NEED YOU DOWN HERE."

Eleks eyebrows shoot up.

We go back to the bedroom. We finish it and then the other one. Omar starts messing with the X, and we go in the bathroom. The wall turns into a portal. We knock each other down trying to get out. "PORTAL." We yell at the same time.

The boys come running back with Omar. We collide. We're still trying to get away from it.

"NADINE SUMMON DIPAK." Kane flips Thora over his head and puts her on her feet.

I drop to the ground and crawl through their feet and legs. I get back to the main hallway. "GUARD SUMMON DIPAK NOW. ACTIVE PORTAL."

All 4 of them come speeding in the room. Thora and I stand in the dining room and point down his hallway.

"Let's do the kitchen while they play with that."

We destroy the kitchen. I find another key in the exact same spot. "I've got another key."

"Another one? You are finding everything today."

"Lucky, I guess."

We finish the kitchen and then do the sitting room.

Then we go to the bathroom with everyone still in it.

We sit in the bath. "It's an open portal from this side. It goes somewhere from here."

"Can't you alter it, so we can see what's going on over there?"

"I can try. But we are going to have to put more magic in that circle. I don't know how long it will hold. If I try to alter it, it will probably close."

I look at Elek. "What do you do on the dining room table that makes magic?"

Dipak rubs his eyes. "Do not say it."

Elek smiles. "I clean fish. Sometimes meat. That's about all I do on the table."

"Thank god." I give Dipak a funny look. "Never mind."

I nod. "It's sacrificial magic. We need things to kill on the table."

Omar shakes his head. "Do you kill things on the table or clean them?"

"Little of both when it comes to fish."

Omar nods. "It's sacrificial magic. Boys go get some animals to kill. Let's really power this thing. Did you find anything else in here?"

"Another key." I hand it to him.

"Key's are good. You go grab a couple of animals. I'll get a fire going."

"We're going to relax in the bath." I lay down on the bottom and put my feet on the side.

"We can't hunt anyway." She lays down like I do.

Tye turns the shower on full blast.

"TYE!" We jump out yelling.

"YOU ARE OUT OF THE FUN BOX."

"YOU CAN SEE MY BOOBS NOW."

"GOD DAMN IT TYE."

"MINE TOO."

Tre grabs onto me and pulls me into him. "I'm going to kick your ass Tye."

Tye, Kane, Omar, and Elek bust out laughing.

Dracul rolls his eyes. "Well, let's go get these animals."

Thora comes back with 2 of Elek's shirts. "Can we borrow these?"

"Yes."

Dipak rubs his eyes. "Tye seriously. Why?"

We throw them on over the dresses and then unsnap the dresses, so they fall out the bottom. Then we hand them to Tye.

Thora looks at him. "Hang those in the sun, so they dry while you hunt. We'll find somewhere else to relax that's not wet."

Dipak shakes his head. "Stay out of his bed."

"We'll sit on the couch."