No one else was out this early, aside from the staff at the visitors’ center. Ms. Terwilliger and I walked around the stone ruins, looking for signs of magic and occasionally casting detection spells. Eddie stayed near us protectively, doing his own searching as well, but mostly relying on us to find whatever it was we were looking for. The part of me that had long loved art and architecture couldn’t help but get caught up in the ruined grandeur around us, and I wished Adrian was with me. We hadn’t officially had a honeymoon after our wedding, but we’d often talked about all the potential places we’d like to go, if only we had the freedom. Italy was still high on my list, as was Greece. But honestly, I would’ve gladly settled for Missouri, if only Adrian could be with me, free from pursuit.

After a few hours of searching, we were hot and sweaty but had yielded no results. Eddie, still not convinced of Zoe’s intentions, was growing nervous about us lingering and wanted to be on the road soon. As lunchtime neared and we contemplated calling a break, something flashed in my pe-riphery. I turned and looked up at one of the castle’s dilapidated towers and saw something small and golden shining in the afternoon sunlight. I touched Eddie’s arm and pointed.

“What’s that gold thing?”

He put a hand above his eyes and squinted. “What gold thing?”

“On the tower there. Right below the top window opening.”

Eddie looked again and then dropped his hand. “I don’t see anything.”

I beckoned Ms. Terwilliger over and tried to show her. “Do you see that? Below that window on the tallest tower?”

“It looks golden,” she said promptly.

Eddie was incredulous and turned back to where we indicated. “What are you guys talking about? There’s nothing there.” I could understand his disbelief. Dhampir vision was superior to that of a human.

Ms. Terwilliger scrutinized him for a moment before fixing her gaze back on the tower. “It’s possible we’re looking at something that can only be seen by those who perceive magic. This could be what we need.”

“Then how do we get to it?” I wondered aloud. The tower itself was little more than a high stone wall, and I wasn’t confident it offered great footholds for climbing. It was also in a section of the castle behind a fence, warning visitors to stay on the outside. With a few more tourists wandering through, plus the occasional park ranger, I knew there was no way we could covertly jump the fence.

Eddie surprised us both with a magical suggestion. “I could climb it. Can’t you guys do an invisibility spell?”