Chapter 3

The first time I entered the vault, an animated statue named Sebastian told me a little about it. “The vault consists of two hundred and fifty-three rooms, each holding anywhere from a single item up to more than two hundred items of similar magical properties.”

Two hundred and fifty-three rooms. That’s more rooms than many hotels. There are office buildings with less than that. The vault was a testament to my family’s dedication to following at least part of the orders they were given to help keep the Magi safe from the rest of the world. Part of me wished they hadn’t been quite that dedicated.

Walker set a strong pace from the start. Mom was barefoot and had trouble keeping up. Ruby and Jade had to occasionally jog to stay within view of their leader. I was also barefoot, but the stone floors of the hallways were cool and smooth. It was only a matter of time before Mom and I would have problems walking.

The air in the vault wasn’t musty or damp. It was dry and comfortable, which I was glad for considering I was only wearing a pair of pajama pants. When we turned the third corner, however, I felt a cool breeze flowing along the corridor. I crossed my arms and hunched over to stay warm. Then I noticed that Mom was doing the same.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jade asked me.

I looked at her in her full-body catsuit. “You can’t feel the breeze.”

“Breeze?” Ruby asked. “What breeze?”

I looked at Ruby, confused as to why she couldn’t feel it. Her outfit had several cutouts that should have allowed her to feel the breeze.

Up ahead, Walker wrapped an arm around my mother, apparently trying to keep her warm. Anger boiled up in me. I wanted to run up behind him, tackle him, and beat the crap out of him. Unfortunately, either Ruby or Jade would do something to stop me before I made it halfway to him. I watched as Walker led mom around another corner. And, for the first time, I wondered if there were any magical weapons in one of these rooms or something with which I could use to kill him.

Ruby, Jade, and I all followed them around the corner. I felt like we had stepped out of the breeze as if the hallway we had been in was a wind tunnel or something.

I looked over at Rho, wanting to ask her questions, but she walked along with us like a shadow. I cleared my throat and said, “I wish you would have let me put on some clothes before this trek.” Then I looked around at a door we had passed. “I wonder if there’s anything I could wear down here?”

Rho looked at me and said, “If that breeze is any indicator, you may regret wearing anything stored in the vault.”

Ruby looked me over, not knowing Rho had said anything. “Personally, I believe you’re overdressed.”

Jade shook her head and rolled her eyes at Ruby’s comment.

Rho smirked and the elegant dress she wore shortened and changed colors until she was wearing the pajama top to match my pants. Her top was barely long enough to cover her butt and was unbuttoned far enough to show off a generous line of cleavage. There was no doubt in my mind that she wasn’t wearing anything under the top.

We followed Walker and Mom around another corner and Jade staggered to a stop. I looked back at her. She was holding her nose and half-bent over as if threatening to be sick.

“What is that smell?” she asked.

I took a deep whiff but didn’t smell anything unusual, especially anything that might make me sick.

Ruby looked back too. “There’s nothing there,” she said. “Stop whining and come on!”

Up ahead, I noticed that Walker also seemed to notice something odiferous, but he shook it off, refusing to let it slow him down.

Jade looked up. Tears streamed down her face. I stopped and went back. I didn’t like Jade, but I couldn’t watch her suffer either. When I reached her, I decided to try to clean the air around her head. I imagined a bubble centered on her head. It would hold clean, breathable air and keep anything else out. Keeping my intent focused, I waved a hand around her head and let my power flow.

Jade watched me with burning eyes, but she seemed pleased when she could breathe without the overpowering odor. Without a word of thanks, she pushed her way past me and hurried along to catch up with the others.

“That was nice of you,” Rho said. “You could have taken advantage of the situation.”

I shook my head. “Not while Walker has my mom so close,” I said under my breath, and then I turned and strode off to catch up with the others. I didn’t have to go far.

Walker, Mom, Ruby, and Jade were all standing and staring down another corridor.

Curiosity hit me. I had been getting worried about our path because of all of the odd things happening that didn’t seem to affect all of us. What would force everyone to stop?

I caught up with the others and looked for myself.

Down the hall in front of us, the floor, ceiling, and walls were all covered with the material instead of stone. I didn’t think it was a big deal until Walker said “This shouldn’t be like this.”

He stepped forward and pressed on the material as if testing for quicksand. The material sank under his weight but held up enough for him to walk across it.

“It’s like walking on a bed,” he said and looked at Kelly.

She stepped out onto the material too. She bounced just a bit as the material settled under her weight. Without stopping to ask anyone, she dropped to one knee and ran her hand over the material. Then she looked up at Walker with a huge grin, and flung herself further out, landing on the floor with a bounce, just as if landing on a bed.

Ruby leaned close to me and whispered. “We may have to come back to this hall later.”

I glanced to the side, where Rho stood. She looked at the mattresses and then said, “It would appear as though the magic of the vaults is beginning to combine with the items in these rooms.” Then she looked at me and pointed at one of the doors along the mattress hall. “In that room is a set of mattresses that are enchanted to never wear out, to resist stains, and to encourage sex.”

I looked over in time to find Walker dropping to one knee on the mattress floor. Mom was fully reclined, with her legs spread wide, and drawing up the hem of her nightgown.

“Walker!” I barked, and he looked back at me. “We need to keep moving. It looks like the magic of the vaults has started to take on the properties of some of the items in these rooms.”

He looked around at the walls again, and then said, “Very astute, Seth.” Then he looked down at my mom. “Your son is right. We should keep moving.” Then he leaned over her and whispered something I couldn’t hear. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was the same as what Ruby suggested already.

Walker then got up and helped Mom to her feet. Without looking back, the two of them continued down the hall.

Jade shook her head as if disgusted by what she saw. I couldn’t help but agree. Oddly, I was the next one to step out onto the mattress floor. It felt like I was walking across a very large, very long bed.

Jade and Ruby followed me, and while Jade didn’t seem to have any problems walking on the soft material, Ruby had to lean on a mattress wall to stay on her feet. I suppose walking in high heels isn’t as easy as they normally make it look.

About halfway across the mattress, I noticed that Rho’s pajama top had shrunk. The buttons on the front strained to hold the material together around her bust, and the tail stopped at the top of her cheeks. Nothing else covered her.

I couldn’t react to the sight of her, though she didn’t seem to realize how she looked. Maybe that was her way of expressing how the magic affected her.

Jade caught up with me and took to running to reach the stone floor at the end of the hall. Maybe she didn’t like how the magic was making her feel - or she liked it but didn’t want anyone else to know.

Ruby, however, slowed to a stop. “These heels are killing me,” she said and pulled at them. The problem was, she was wearing thigh-high boots. It wouldn’t be easy for her to slip them off, but that didn’t stop her from sitting down and struggling with them.

After a few fruitless tugs, she looked up at me, pointed her toe at me, and asked, “Would you be so kind...?”

I looked at Jade, who stood with her arms crossed at the end of the mattress, watching us. Then I turned back to Ruby. Worst case scenario, we would end up doing the mattress mambo. Hopefully, things wouldn’t devolve into that so soon. The only way I could see of making this work to my advantage would be to leave her here without any help. I would only then have Jade and Walker to contend with later. But I couldn’t leave her. It was the same as with Jade and the weird odor that made her sick.

I stumbled over and ended up on my knees at Ruby’s feet. She smiled at me and relaxed back on her elbows. Something about her posture just did it for me. I gripped her ankle, still planning on removing her boots, and ran a hand up the inside of her leg to find the zipper. She was warm and willing - judging by the way she had treated me so far. I found the tab and gently pulled it down the full length of her leg. Her eyes flicked between my hand and my eyes, and her small pink tongue flicked out to lick her full, ruby lips.

I pulled at the heel of her boot and it slipped off. I dropped it, while holding her bare leg, and ran my hand along her skin. She was pale, silky smooth, and smelled pleasantly of a mixture of perfume, leather, and skin. I raised her leg, leaned forward, and set her heel on my shoulder. Then I reached for her other foot.

“Seth! Stop!” Someone barked.

I frowned and looked behind me. Walker stood on the stone floor with Jade, Rho, and Mom. He didn’t look angry, so much as annoyed. “Get off the mattress before I have to drag you two off of it.”

“Ignore him, Seth,” Ruby said. Then she ran her bare food down my chest and rubbed it against me through my pajama pants.

I couldn’t believe how good it felt.

Someone grabbed my shoulder and jerked me away from Ruby.

I looked up to find Walker standing over me. He pointed toward the others. “Get off the mattress. Now.”

I blinked at him, not sure why I should do what he said.

“All you will want is sex,” he said as if reading my expression. “You will stay until you starve or die of dehydration.”

I wasn’t sure how that would happen. One good romp wouldn’t cause me to dehydrate.

Walker, tired of waiting, flung his arm at me and something propelled me back, tumbling head over foot until I hit the stone floor. Pain shot through my shoulder where I landed on the stone, and for a second, I didn’t move. The pain didn’t feel deep, so I tried to move my arm. I realized I had a bruise, but nothing more serious.

I sat up and watched Walker drag Ruby toward the rest of us. He pulled her up onto the stone floor, let her go, and dropped her boot on her.

Mom eased to Walker’s side and looked longingly back at the mattress floor as Walker led her further into the vault hallways. Jade threw me a contemptuous glare and turned to follow them. Ruby pulled on her boot, zipped it back up, and then held up a hand for me to help her to her feet. I did, and she used the opportunity to pull me to her for a kiss.

I didn’t try to stop her. If anything, I enjoyed it.

When Ruby pulled back, she was flushed. “We better catch up before Walker decides he has to either drag or throw us both the rest of the way.

I nodded, without saying anything, and we continued, arm-in-arm for a few paces before slipping apart so we could walk faster.

Rho walked along my other side. “Walker was right. The enchantment would have trapped the two of you in an endless circle of sex until one or both of you died of exhaustion or dehydration.”

I gave her a subtle nod and resolved to take my own suggestions to heart.

A few turns later, Walker slowed down as he approached a door that appeared to be open. So far, every door we passed had been closed. None of us had tried to open a door, and from everything I had been told, all of the doors, except for the key room, were locked.

Walker stopped a few feet from the door, craning his neck as he tried to see inside the room without getting closer.

Mom leaned into him, trying to look too. “Why don’t we go in?” she asked.

“We’re not down here to explore or play,” he said. “There are very specific items we’re after. This is not one of the rooms that hold any of them.” He then reached out to push the door closed. The rest of us watched. I secretly hoped something would grab him and drag him inside, Unfortunately, with the way Mom was holding his other hand, she might get dragged inside as well.

Walker pushed on the door, but it didn’t budge. He grabbed the door, but it wouldn’t move to open further or close. Then he pulled back and shrugged his shoulders. He turned to look at the rest of us, probably to say something, but then he stopped and stared at me.