Page 76 of A Trial By Blood

“Hmm, not sure I love this bossy side of yours, Ronan.” She headed across the foyer. “We’ll revisit this topic of conversation at a later date.”

A weird feeling gathered in my gut as I followed her. I didn’t like it one bit. “Rose.”

She rounded a corner and I followed. She stopped in the middle of a wide hall and pointed to one of the doors. There was a temporary barrier there and a sign with “restricted access” written on it. “I’d say that’s where we need to go.”

I strode over and tried the door. “Yes, it’s locked. They obviously don’t want anyone in there since it’s still an active crime scene.”

“Yeah, and thankfully, the council still thinks Willow’s doing the investigating,” Rose said. “I have to assume, whoever was behind this had someone helping them, someone who can use magic to block themselves or the council would’ve found them on their own.”

A scent hit me, it was faint, but there was no mistaking it. “Blood.”

Rose stilled, her nose crinkling as she sniffed the air. The sight made me want to kiss her again. “I can’t smell anything.”

“It’s buried under bleach, but it’s there.”

She lifted her hand and pressed it to the door. “Blood magic. This door has been sealed tight. I’m not sure even your power can get us through.”

I lifted my hand and it touched cool steel. “You’re right.” Not much could stop me, but there was no getting through this.

Rose glanced at me. “There might be a spell, one Iris told me about. She used it during her task. The ward is strong, but it’s a couple of weeks old. It’s weakened, and wards like this need to be maintained daily.”

“What do you need?” I asked.

Rose slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out her small knife. “This.”

My lips curled back.

“I have to do this, and you have to be okay with it,” she said, reading me easily.

I wanted to snatch the blade from her hand when she lifted it to her palm but forced myself not to. There was no stopping my snarl, though, when she sliced a small X into her skin, trying to muffle her gasps of pain.

“I’m fine, Ronan,” she said.

“Now what?” I asked, wanting this over with so I could heal her wound as soon as possible.

“You can’t break a ward like this if you have evil intent. This spell can see right into the heart of the spell caster. The words have to come from light and goodness, and the spell itself acts as an impartial judge with the ability to grant entry or not. My blood is essentially giving the spell life, for a short time. That’s how it works.” She pressed her hand to the door handle, tilted her head back, and closed her eyes. She jolted, then began whispering, saying the spell over and over, faster and faster. She was breathing hard, her body trembling.

She gasped and was almost knocked back, barely keeping her hold on the door handle. I rushed in behind her, snarling as I held her up.

It came again, like a kind of surge that flowed through Rose, so strong it lifted goose bumps all over me.

Then the lock clicked, the ward breaking.

Rose released a breath and fell against me for a moment, then she tilted her head back and looked up at me. She was beaming. “I did it. I broke the ward.”

The pride on her face and the happiness in her eyes was mesmerizing. “You did,” I said, my voice rough as I lifted her hand and kissed the bloody X before swiping my tongue over it to start the healing process. Her taste instantly ignited my senses.

“I wasn’t sure I could…but I did it.” Her smile grew even more dazzling. “Right, let’s see what they’re hiding.”

We walked in, shutting the door behind us.

“I smell it now…the blood.” She spun around. “There was a lot of it.”

“Yes.” I moved across the room. “Here.” Someone had tried to clean it up, but there was no disguising it from me or Rose, it seemed. She was far more powerful than she realized.

“Do you think it’s the guard’s? He’s still missing.”

“Possibly.”