Chapter 59

Jasmine's POV

Dimitri held my hands and we were looking for something, but we didn’t know for what exactly. We were in the furthest corner, where it was the darkest, candlelight barely reaching here. I looked at the books, but they were about politics and medicine, just like on the other shelves.

“Why isn’t there a bookshelf?”

“We don’t need it yet, so we left that part bare. Why?”

“I don’t know. I find it suspicious for some reason, but don’t pay attention to me. It’s just this feeling I have and it’s making me imagine things that aren’t there.”

I let go of Dimitri’s hand and touched the wall. It was ice cold, but the temperature in the library was nowhere near to the freezing point. I looked around and touched the wall on the opposite side. It was warm. That meant, something was behind that wall, something that wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.

“Something’s behind that wall. It’s ice cold and the other ones are warm. Are there any secret passages in the castle?”

“There aren’t, the castle was built simply. There was no need for secret passages and rooms, because we were here alone and nobody could get inside the realm. On the other side of the wall is the backyard. There cannot be another room. It’s physically impossible.”

“I see, but that doesn’t mean there is not a room or a passage under the castle. Something has to be there.”

“Aryana is right, I can feel it too.” - said Ares, startling all of us with his sudden arrival.

“Do you have any idea what that is or from where it’s coming from?”

“Nope, I just feel it and it’s something really bad. I don’t want to jinx it, but that something might need to stay where it is. On the other hand, Aryana is right and we have to figure out what is behind that wall. These are the two possible outcomes; either it’s something harmless or it’s something that can destroy all of us.”

“Well, thanks big bro. I wasn’t feeling bad enough. And I guess you want me to decide what to do.”

“You’re the Queen, you have to decide.” - Ares wasn’t helping at all, he just made me more nervous.

“Fine. If it’s protected by magic we won’t go inside and leave everything before a disaster happens. If we can get inside without any complications we find the source.”

I had no clue where to start. There has to be a way to get inside. I was in my thoughts when I recalled Dimitri’s words. On the other side there was the garden, so the wall was just a beacon. We had to get there through the floor. With this realization I dropped on my knees and searched the floor for something. I couldn’t feel anything, so I started tapping and part of the floor sounded different.

“There’s something under the floor. This part sounds different when I tap it. Lately everything is connected to my blood. Can someone get me a needle?”

A guard returned with a small needle and I pierced my finger for the umpteenth time and a few drops of my blood soaked into the floor. We waited a bit, but nothing happened, it seems like I was wrong this time. My blood was not the solution this time or so I thought. Minutes later there was a popping sound and the mentioned part of the floor disappeared. There were stairs leading down to somewhere. It was pitch dark, but the first steps were still visible and everything was covered in cobwebs and some slippery substance. I didn’t want to know what that was, but it looked disgusting. The guards went down first and cleared the path for us. When we reached the bottom of the stairs we were underground. On our way down I switched on the flashlight on my phone so we wouldn’t stumble down the stairs.

The room was huge and we split into two groups looking for something. I was going to the right and Ares to the left. The castle was built on this underground room. The question was why? At the end of the room there were caskets made from marble. On them names were carved into the marble. I read the first name, Vasileiou, this was my family’s burial site. Why would someone build a castle on top of a burial site? This was just sick.

“We couldn’t find anything there. Whoa, what is all this?”

“Our family Ares. The castle was built on the burial site. Apart from the caskets we didn’t find anything else, yet.”

We were looking, but nothing was unusual. I still felt the same energy, but I couldn’t pinpoint its origin, until I found a casket with a different name. This one casket had the name Markopoulos carved into it.

“Dimitri, what is Hector’s surname?”

“Markopoulos, why?”

“Because I just found the casket of the Queen’s brother we read about.”

As we went closer to the casket I could tell that the energy I felt was coming from inside. I tried lifting the lid and I succeeded. It wasn’t sealed shut. I expected to find a rotting corpse or bones, but it was empty, except for a medallion inside. I reached for it and took it in my hands. It was the same medallion that I saw in the neck of Hector’s ancestor. If it was here, then what did I see? I could swear to my life that I saw the exact same medallion in someone’s neck before. Suddenly the medallion turned to ash in my hands and I was starstruck. How was that possible? I didn’t do anything except touch it.

“What just happened?” - Dimitri asked.

“I didn’t do anything, I just touched it.”

“Aryana, I found a letter in the casket. This is important, you should read it.”

“Dear child, my ancestor! I hope you are the one reading this letter. You have to destroy the medallion before it reaches hands that it mustn’t reach. Only a drop of your blood is needed. Once the medallion turns to ash, you win the battle. I was foolish and did not realize that my brother betrayed me out of greed and jealousy. I can assure you, this is the real medallion. You might see the exact same design outside of this burial site, but those are just replicas. I was unable to destroy the medallion. Its magic was too strong. The Markopoulos family are traitors. You need to wipe them out. Without the medallion they are nothing, but you cannot underestimate them. They still can turn to other supernatural races for help. You need to show them who you are and they will join you without questions.”

I finished reading the letter and sighed in relief. The medallion was destroyed and Hector had no leverage against us. It was only a matter of time until he realized that the medallion was gone. Finally something good happened. It was time for us to reach out to every single supernatural race. With their help we had a chance to find Barbie and kill her. I passed the letter to Dimitri so he could read it too.

“I guess that’s it then. We just need to kill them.”

“Exactly. Finally something good came out of this.”

We were leaving the underground burial site when the library’s door opened with a bang and Aaron ran in, barely getting air into his lungs. I was worried about him, but with a few deep breaths he calmed down enough that he could speak.

“Arayna, Hector and Cecily are dead. I was with them when they dropped to the ground and turned to ash. I have no idea what happened.”

“Their life must have been tied to the medallion we found in the casket. I destroyed the medallion; therefore, I destroyed their life too. I want to say that I’m relieved, but not quite yet. The biggest threat is eliminated for good, but Barbie’s still out there. She might carry on with their plan.”

“We’ll find her Jasmine.”

“I know Dimitri. Hector and Cecily had a quick and painless death, but Barbie won't be that lucky. She’ll suffer.”