Chapter 209

Before entering the hotel, Noah caught a whiff of lavender. Despite the fact that she could see no lavender flowers around, she pushed through what felt like a thick, tingly wall of gel. Panic began to set in as she wondered if she was ever going to make it out the other end. Mercifully, she popped out and took a moment to gather her bearings.

What she thought was a standard hotel, with a reception room that led off towards bedrooms, was in fact something entirely different. In the foyer were tables as far as the eye could see, with lamps casting a harsh glow about the place.

Around two hundred guests were crammed around tables, calling out for champagne or close to breaking out into a fight. Heavy cigar smoke lingered around the air, causing Noah to choke as she tucked mouth and nose into her cape to avoid breathing in the fumes.

“Gambling? Here?” She muttered under her breath as she slinked around the walls. She spotted some scantily clad women leave the game area with some men in tow, eagerly rubbing their hands. “And prostitution, as well. What the hell have I stumbled upon? But that also means…”

Someone roughly elbowed her out the way. She stumbled and caught herself on the window as she rubbed her arm. The man who had shoved her was carrying two pints of ale in both hands, dodging and weaving over to a specific table. Noah dabbed at the spilt ale that had dripped on her sleeve and glared at the man’s back, and then jumped slightly at the sound of someone shouting and scraping their chair back. She watched as the man tried to conjure a spell of sorts, only for it to not work. Not even a spark flew from his hand.

“You moron. Magic doesn’t work in here, remember?” One of the other men got to his feet and lightly clapped him round the head. “Now stop being a sore loser and hand over the chips.”

“Magic doesn’t work… Wait, the barrier!” Noah pressed herself up against the window and saw a shimmering barrier in front of the hotel. She only knew it was there because of the oil trickling down it. She realised that the barrier blocked magic and spells from taking place inside.

She closed her eyes and tried to piece together what was happening. The contaminated magic that filled Harrell was being recycled. The source of the spell was the wastewater from the great black lake. At first glance, the seemingly insignificant amount of the spell was gathered enough that it covered the lake, exerting enough power to create such a strong barrier.

As Noah stared out the window, the intense lavender scent was giving her a headache. She unlatched the window and opened it a fraction to allow in some fresh air.

“Are you mad?!” A boy, his face smeared with oil, brushed past her and slammed the window shut. “Do you want to become addicted?”

“Addicted?” Noah frowned at the boy’s bluntness. “Addicted to what?”

“Have you been living under a rock, or have you somehow stumbled into this place?” The boy sighed, and leant against the window. “When it rains, the magic discarded from the factories spreads five times faster than before. It is also highly addictive, and if you become addicted, you’re going to become deformed. It was incredibly gloomy this morning, did you not see that?”

The boy stared at as if she was completely stupid. He pointed over to a table where some men were hunched over a table. One man, half his face wrapped in a bandage, was aggressively shuffling cards in his hands. His skin was black and calloused, just like the scales of a reptile

“See that man over there? He used to work at the wastewater disposal plant. This hotel is the only safe place in all of Harrell. Go to bed if you have a headache. Don’t blindly around outside.”

The boy bolted off, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She stared out the window, watching the oil trickle down the barrier. She had no idea where Kyle or Muell were, or even if they were safe. She did end up dumping her problems on him with little warning, and then fled from the back up that was meant to be arriving. At least she was safe in the hotel, until the rain had stopped. And where, exactly, where the civilians who had all fled to safety?