Rooms: Are There Any Clues?

The three of them walked quietly down the hall, poking their heads into rooms and seeing what was in them. After a while, when they were walking down the hall, soft, muffled voices were heard.

"Do you hear that?" Seraphine whispered. "It sounds like the voices are coming from the wall."

"Over here," Terrence gestured to a wall. After staring hard, the illusion charm on the wall faded away to reveal a door.

"It's locked," Seraphine whispered. "We can't try to pick the lock either, or the people inside we'll see us."

'Daphne, this mansion is old, right?' Loki asked through their mind link.

'Yeah, it's practically ancient,' Daphne answered.

"What are you asking Daphne?" Terrence asked softly.

"Daphne said that this mansion is practically ancient, and in the old days, there would be plenty of secret passageways, right? So we just have to find those passageways. I feel like there is one around here," Loki felt along the walls. When his fingers tapped on a painting, there was a hollow sound. Sharing a look with the others, he pushed the painting aside, revealing a small hole.

The six of them crawled into the hole one by one, Seraphine closing the painting over the hole. The three of them continued down the short passageway before reaching a dead end.

"What now?" Terrence asked.

Before Loki could say anything, they heard the voices again, except that it was much clearer this time.

"Why can't I marry her now?" A voice said. They recognized it as Mr. Sor's voice. "I hire you for this sort of thing, and I want to marry her now!"

"He must be talking about Daphne," Seraphine looked disgusted. "As if marrying someone without their consent isn't bad enough already."

"We've already told you, we will not help in underage marriage, since that would bring too much attention to us. The moment she turns 17, if she hasn't made up her mind, she'll be yours."

"That's Ada's voice!" Loki whispered. "She is in on this!"

"Fine, but I want the wedding all set up. I'll pay for the entire thing, I want her at the altar in her wedding dress just before the midnight of her birthday. The moment it strikes twelve and she still hasn't promised to join, she'll be mine."

"Very well," Ada responded. "Everything will be ready. I do hope she joins The Snakes, though. She has a powerful Ability."

"I would prefer her as my wife," they heard Mr. Sor laugh. "I would make her my personal maid."

"You're sure you don't want us to wipe the records of you hiring a fake marriage officiant?" Ada asked.

"No, I want to keep it and laugh at my future wife," Mr. Sor smirked. "She seems adamant to not kill anyone, so she'll be my little wifey soon enough."

"The records are safe with you, right?" Ada pressed.

"Yes, they're in my safe. No one but me can open it," Mr. Sor confirmed.

'Loki!' Daphne suddenly yelled in his mind. 'Mr. Cooper wants to where you guys are! Saltavore told him you guys were getting food somewhere, but if you don't hurry back, he's going to send guards to check the mansion! If you get caught, it's game over for us'

"Guys, we've got to go," Loki hissed as the three of them rapidly backed out of the small tunnel, Seraphine pushing the painting aside and letting the three of them out. As they were putting the painting back in place, they heard the door to the room Mr. Sor and Ada start to open. The three of them took off running down the hallway as fast as they could.

"Did you see something?" Ada frowned. "I could have sworn I just saw someone running away."

"You must be imagining things," Mr. Sor laughed. "There wasn't anyone here."

The three of them rushed back to the main hall where there were still plenty of people milling around. They just managed to each take a glass of champagne before Daphne, Saltavore, Nishan, and Mr. Cooper walked up.

"I see you're here," Mr. Cooper said, a little too jovially. "So, have you tried any desserts? Saltavore said that you went off to find some."

Saltavore answered, "Yes, I did tell them that there were some great desserts. Did you guys enjoy the chocolate souffle and quiche?"

'Quiche is a sort of egg pie and chocolate souffle is a sort of chocolate cupcake. You can describe the quiche as fluffy and moist, and the crust is really good because it was professionally baked. The chocolate souffle is light and airy and chocolaty and it melts in your mouth,' Daphne let him know.

"The quiche was extremely tasty," Loki smiled. "They were really fluffy and moist, and had a delicious flaky crust."

"The chocolate souffle was really rich and chocolaty, but I felt like I could keep eating it, Terrence added.

Mr. Cooper's posture relaxed. "Ah, I see. I was afraid you were exploring in places you aren't supposed to. I have many priceless artifacts in my mansion, so I can't have people just wandering around. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that my party will be closing soon, at least for young kids like you. Your parents will be sending over a limo in a couple of minutes."

Mr. Cooper walked away, and Terrence breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness he left."

"Did you guys find out anything?" Nishan asked. "I do hope that this wasn't a waste."

"It wasn't," Seraphine filled them in on what they had overheard.

"So Ada is definitely deeply involved in The Snakes," Saltavore said as they were walking to the entrance where a limo was waiting for them.

"That isn't the main thing," Daphne seemed to be in deep thought. "We need to get to Mr. Sor's safe somehow."

"Well then, looks like our next stop is Mr. Sor's house."