Chapter Eleven
Three Greyhillians, fine feathers covering their faces and thin plumes falling around their shoulders like hair, blocked the passageway. The slight curve of their bodies told me they were girls. Except for all the feathers and beak-shaped noses, they looked and acted like teens from the human world.
“Did you see how he was staring at you?” one of the girls with blue and yellow feathers said.
“He wasn’t looking at me. Stop teasing,” the girl with yellow feathers and black plumes answered.
“Excuse me,” I said to a girl with red-tipped white feathers.
Her black, marble eyes studied me as she stepped aside to let me pass. “You should get to higher ground,” she called after me. “The rains are coming.”
My boots pounded against the bricks as I flew down the passageway. Nick was getting farther away from me. He disappeared into the blackness of a tunnel cutting through one of the tall buildings surrounding us.
“Nick!” I slowed down before stopping outside the tunnel, my eyes stuck on the entrance. “Nick!”
I could barely make out his white shirt in the darkness. He turned and sprinted for me.
My lips tugged into a smile.
He’s okay. We found him.
He was getting closer.
Nick was free.
I wanted to cry. Why was I just standing there? I started to take off, but someone caught my wrist, stopping me.
“Wait,” Bastien said. “Look at his eyes.” He moved in front of me and ignited an electric ball between his hands.
My gaze went to Nick’s fierce glare. His black pupils were so large I could hardly see any white in his eyes.
No, no, no, no, no. He’s compelled.
A loud crack sounded over our heads, and rain dumped down so hard that it stung my skin. My hair and clothes were instantly drenched.
Nick was almost to us. Like a charging bull, there was no stopping him. He was coming fast. Bastien pointed his hands in Nick’s direction.
I grabbed his arm. “Don’t. You could kill him.”
“He could kill us,” he shouted over the clapping of rain. A bright flash and another rumble of thunder shook the buildings.
“I won’t hurt him.” Bastien shrugged my hand away and let go of the charge. It exploded by Nick’s foot. He stumbled to a stop. Another charge left Bastien’s hand and hit Nick’s shoulder. He slipped and landed on one knee. His glare rattled me. I’d never seen such evil.
“Hey,” Demos yelled from the bakery’s steps.
I glanced back at him.
He pounded down the steps. “Do you see it?” He pointed up the passageway. Water trickled down the cobblestones. “Get inside. The flood’s coming.”
Just as he said his last word, a river rushed him and came fast at Bastien and me, knocking us off our feet. Demos collided into me and grasped my waist.
“Hold on,” Demos cried.
The debris-filled water stung my eyes, went up my nose, and scratched my throat. We were going to drown. I caught a glimpse of Nick climbing a wire trellis on the side of a building.
Bastien.
Where was he?
Think, Gia. What did Pop always say? Keep your feet pointed downstream in a flood. I struggled against the water until my boots were aiming in the direction it was going. Demos, still clinging to me, did the same. We rushed by Bastien; he’d made it to some steps and was climbing up them.
Demos’s hand slipped from mine. My head went under, and I choked on the rush of water. I pushed up, my head breaking out of the waves. Heavy coughs tore from my chest.
“Gia,” Demos yelled. “See that wrought iron on the side of the tunnel?”
I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me and shouted, “I see it!”
“When we get closer, I’ll grab it.”
“Okay.” The muscles in my arms burned as I pushed them through the raging water and wrapped them around Demos’s neck. He reached out his arm, readying to grab what looked like an open gate pushed up against the brick wall.
Angry water slapped my face, blurring my vision. I could barely make out the tunnel as we came up to it. Demos grabbed the gate at the same time a wooden chair crashed into me. I lost hold of his neck, the flood taking me into the tunnel. The darkness was terrifying. I reached out, hoping to find something to grab on to, but there was nothing.
I couldn’t form a globe. It took both arms and all my strength to keep from going under the water. And what good would it do, anyway? I had no control.
All I could do was keep my feet pointed downstream.
Keep my head up.
Try not to drown.
I gulped in some more rancid water and gagged, trying to catch my breath. My body twisted in a swirl of water while exiting the tunnel. A swoosh sounded above me, and then another one.
Another gate.
I crashed into the metal and clung to it.
Hands covered in white feathers with red tips grasped me under my arms and lifted me out of the water. We went high, the ancient city with its tall buildings and rope bridges falling away. She headed back the way I’d come, my stomach roiling.
The girl descended and placed me on one of the rope bridges. She lowered herself and stood on the planks in front of me, her marble black eyes narrowing. “I told you to get to higher ground.”
Water dripped from my hair and soaked clothes, wetting the planks of the bridge. I shivered, my lips shaking and my teeth clattering against each other. “Th-thank you. I don’t know how to—”
Her hand raised, stopping me. “I know who you are. My parents talk about the presage all the time. You don’t look like much. I’m not sure how you’re going to save the worlds; you can’t even save yourself from a flood.”
She was definitely like some of the girls at my school—a lot of attitude and no filter. “And thanks for your vote of confidence,” I said. “What’s your name?”
“Shyna. Not like you’ll remember it.” She stretched out her wings.
“Did you have those earlier?”
“They retract into my back. I must go. I’m late.” She flapped her wings and took off into the sky. No goodbye or see you later. She just left.
Nick.
He was somewhere around here. I glanced over the ropes. The street was nearly three stories below. I searched the buildings up a ways from me where he’d climbed out of the flood. There wasn’t any sign of him.
The rope bridge stretched across the passageway from one tunnel to another leading into the buildings. I wasn’t sure which way to go. The one in front of me led in the direction Nick had gone. The one behind me would take me to Bastien and Demos, hopefully.
I turned and headed for the second tunnel. The bridge shook, and I grasped the rope, catching a glimpse at how far it was down to the bottom. My stomach lurched. But I straightened, carefully putting one foot in front of the other.
You’re not going to fall. Just don’t look down.
“Gia.” Nick’s voice stopped me.
I held up my palm and ignited a battle globe. A purple ball appeared. Stun.
Shaking from the cold, or from the fact that my best friend was behind me and most likely possessed, I faced him.
His eyes were soft brown again, and his face pained. “I’m sorry.”
I dropped the globe and teetered to him, my arms flying around his shoulders. I hugged him tight. “Oh, Nick.” I buried my face in his shirt and cried. “I’m so sorry. I tried to stop him from taking you.”
“I know,” he whispered against my ear. “I saw you.”
“What has he done to you?” I sobbed into his shirt. “You mean so much to me. I love you, Nick. I won’t let anything happen to you again. We’ve never been without each other. I’d die if something happened to you.”
“I love you, too. And it wasn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself, okay?” He pulled my arms from him, held my wrists between us, and stared into my eyes. “I don’t have much time. The flood must have broken the connection between my compeller and me. You have to get far away from here. I won’t be able to stop him. He’ll make me kill you.”
“I can’t leave you.” Panic swelled in my chest. “Don’t ask me to.”
“I mean it, Gia. I’m not Nick.”
“Yes, you are.” I reached for him, and he shrugged me off. Tears slid down my cheeks. “You’re scaring me. Please, come with us. Uncle Philip can help you. We can break the compulsion.”
He took my face in his hands. “You mean the world to me. Promise you’ll fight me and not give in if it comes to that.”
I shook my head against his hands. “I can’t.”
His eyes pleaded with me. There was so much pain behind them. I lowered my head, and he lifted it back up. “Promise me, Gia.”
My heart was crushing, but the look in his eyes told me he needed this.
“I promise.”
He smiled, one full of longing and hope. “I wish we were in the North End right now. You drinking a latte and me my Vitaminwater.”
I smiled back at him, mine weak and full of defeat. “Me, too.”
He kissed my temple, released my face, and bounced over the rope bridge back the way he’d come.
“Wait.” My voice sounded as broken as I felt.
He stopped and turned.
“Where are you going?”
“As far as I can get from you before—” He couldn’t say it this time. And I didn’t want to hear it, either.
But I couldn’t help but think it. Before he’s no longer in control. Before he can kill me.
He continued across the bridge and ran toward whatever horror awaited him. Back to Conemar.
And I just let him.
Without a fight, just rocking on the rope bridge, staring at his retreating back.
Alone.
He’s alone. I crumpled, my knees smacking against the planks. I covered my face with shaky hands and sobbed.
Demos and Bastien rushed out of the tunnel, the bridge swaying under the force of their boots. Bastien dropped down in front of me and pulled me into his arms. I buried my face in his chest.
“Are you hurt?” Bastien asked.
I shook my head. “It’s Nick… He was… He was here. You were right. He was compelled. He’s supposed to kill me.”
“I’m here. You’re okay.” Bastien’s arms were warm around me.
“I just let him go.” I swallowed down a sob. “I should have done something.”
Bastien brushed my wet hair from my face. “There’s nothing you could have done.”
“It’s Nick. I should be with him.” I wanted to stop shaking. Why couldn’t I stop? “All my life he’s been there. It’s always been just us.”
“I’m here. I’ll never leave you.” Bastien took his jacket off and put it over my shoulders. “We’ll get him back.”
“That boy’s messed up,” Shyna’s voice came from above us, and I looked up. She was on the roof. The clouds had parted, and the sun shone over her. Her hand shaded her eyes as she watched something in the distance. “You should get out of here before he comes back. He did tell you to run.”
Demos grabbed the ropes with both hands, staring off in the direction she was looking. “We should do as she says.”
Bastien touched my cheek. “Can you get up?”
I nodded, and he helped me to my feet.
“Where are we going?” Demos asked.
My legs felt wobbly, and I leaned into Bastien’s hold. “There’s a Talpar’s tunnel,” I said, my teeth still clattering. “It’s in the basement of a building around here. The address is Three Barley Flower Passage.”
“A Talpar.” Shyna exaggerated a shudder, her wings flapping around her. “They’re Undergrounders. Their long noses with those feelers attached to them, wiggling all over the place like that, creep me out.”
“Why do you sound so much like a teenager from my world?”
“Human television. I’m obsessed.” She flew off the roof and landed on the bridge, shaking it. Her wings retracted into her back. The feathers ruffled into place, covering the holes in her shoulder blades. “Follow me. I’ll take you there.”
Demos leaned in toward me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“It’s kind of odd,” he said, “but I find Bird Girl a little attractive.”
A small laugh escaped me, and then a pain twisted my heart. Demos’s humor was like Nick’s, and it reminded me of how my friend must be suffering.
I won’t let you down, Nick. I’ll get you back.
Shyna led us through tunnels and over rope bridges until she stopped at a door. “Here it is. Take the stairs down. It’ll lead you to the tunnel.”
“You’ve been a great help,” Bastien said and opened the door.
“Anything to help the presage.” Her eyes went to mine.
“Thank you.” I squeezed her hand. The feathers covering it were soft under my touch.
The corners of her mouth went up slightly. “I’m sorry about saying you weren’t much. I think you’re everything. All the Mystiks have hope you’ll be like Gian and fight for us.”
“I’ll never give up.” I smiled at her and ducked inside after Demos. Bastien followed me and closed the door behind him.
…
The tunnel led us into the Abbey Library of Saint Gall in Switzerland.
After I was through, I turned. The door to the tunnel was still open. “How does it close?”
Bastien searched the walls. “I don’t see anything.”
Demos fiddled with a golden filigree attached to the bookcase. It moved a little, and he turned it. The wall closed, and the bookcase settled into place. “You two would be horrible in an escape room.”
“Wait,” I said. “When did you go to an escape room?”
“Back in Branford. I used to go all the time with Ka—”
He stopped, unable to mention Kale’s name or unsure if he should. Not mentioning Kale felt as if we were forgetting him. He’d lived. He was here. And he was taken away from us too soon.
“Kale always loved puzzles, didn’t he?” I smiled at the memory of him trying to solve a crossword in Pop’s Sunday paper.
Demos smiled, one that said he appreciated my comment. “That he did. I had to cheat to beat him…on occasion.”
A smirk formed on Bastien’s lips. “Only on occasion?”
“Okay, it might have been more than that.” Amusement sounded in Demos’s voice.
Bastien paced the floor in front of a display case. “Where are Doylis and my guards? They should have beaten us here. I better contact them. Excuse me.” He pulled out his window rod and spoke Doylis’s name.
I rested my back against the wall, wondering how much longer my legs could hold me up. With all the adrenaline rushing through my body earlier, I hadn’t noticed the pain from where I’d bumped around in the flood.
Demos leaned against the wall beside me. “Good thing the wall doesn’t need us to hold it up.”
I chuckled, turning my head to face him. “Good thing. So how are you doing?”
“Better than you, I’m certain.” He winked. “It really rots about Nick. It’s hard to lose a friend.”
“Yeah, it does, and it is.” I flicked my gaze in Bastien’s direction. “He doesn’t look happy.”
Bastien snapped the window rod closed.
I pushed off the wall. “What’s wrong?”
“They’ve been detained,” he said. “We better go on without them.”
“Well, I guess we should call our escort then,” I said and raised my arm and blew on the silver butterfly embedded in my wrist. It pulled from my skin and flew across the room. I hadn’t really looked at the library until then. It was a beautiful room covered in polished, dark wood with gold-leaf accents and a domed ceiling made up of murals and decorated with elaborate filigree and white frames. The two-story, balconied-bookcases would make a great place to hide for an ambush.
“I’m going to find the loo,” Demos said, crossing the room with confident, measured steps. “Don’t leave without me.”
When he was gone, Bastien came to my side and took my hand in his. “How are you faring?”
“I’ve been better.”
He squeezed my hand. “This will pass.”
“How are you doing?”
“Better now that you’re not being tossed in a raging flood. Danger seems to find you at every turn.”
I tilted my head to look at him. “Please never leave me.”
A worried smile spread across his lips. “You couldn’t chase me away.”
My heart loosened as if it had been bound tight with hurt and fear.
He wrapped his arms around me and kept me in his embrace for a long while. His chest rising and falling against my cheek with each of his breaths was like a lullaby—soothing and relaxing. If I weren’t standing, I’d probably fall asleep. I inhaled, his scent filling my nose. He had always smelled like fresh laundry and a hint of his cologne, but not now. There was no cologne, and he smelled of the herby soap that we all had to use in Greyhill.
“Now, isn’t this sweet. All this love stuff makes me miss my new girlfriend.” Demos leaned against one of the many display cases that held antique books as he studied his hands. “I wonder if she misses me.”
“Do you mean Shyna?” I asked.
A grin pushed up his cheeks. “Yes. Shyna. Such a pretty name for a pretty bird.”
Bastien exaggerated an eye roll at me; he wasn’t hiding it from Demos.
Demos ignored the gesture. “So who does the tracer summon?”
“Me.” Aetnae’s tiny voice startled us.
“A book faery?” Demos pushed himself off the display case.
She landed on my shoulder and grabbed my wet hair. “Eww, what happened to you?” She wiped her hands on her skirt. “You smell rancid.”
“Nice to see you, too.” I frowned down at my wet, muddy clothes. “I could use a bath.”
“Or a fire hose.” Demos laughed.
Aetnae gave Demos a disapproving look before taking off from my shoulder. “We need to use the gateway book.”
Demos turned to us and shrugged. “I thought it was funny.”
Bastien shook his head at him. “I’m not certain this is the proper time for fooling around.”
“I think it’s the perfect time. It lightens the mood.” I smiled at Demos.
Bastien called for the gateway book. When it didn’t show up, he went off looking for it, and Aetnae zipped along with him.
I spun around, scanning all the beautiful woodwork and the many colored spines of books.
“What are you doing?” Demos’s eyes followed me.
“There never seems to be enough time to explore the libraries.”
Demos’s eyebrow rose. “Did you hit your head?”
“I’m serious.” I sighed. “We have this gift to transport ourselves to any library anywhere in the world. It’s amazing, but we never get to enjoy it, to just sit in one and read books written ages ago.”
“There was a time we could do that,” he said. “Perhaps we’ll be able to do it again.”
When Bastien and Aetnae returned, we jumped to Chetham’s Library in Manchester, England. Like a dark blanket around me, the gateway was chilly, and I shivered. My boots slid across the floor when I landed.
“This way.” Aetnae zigzagged in the air as she led us down a small aisle.
On one side, books on the shelves were behind small, chained fences. The other side had dark bookcases that stood single file behind gates resembling saloon doors. Large wooden beams crisscrossed the white vaulted ceiling. It was like walking in history. The floorboards were old, the books fading with age. I wanted more time to be there. More time to explore and marvel at all the details that were hidden to first glances.
“You’re taking us to Barmhilde,” Bastien said, pulling my attention from the book stacks.
“I am,” she answered and hovered in front of a dark wood paneled wall. “This library is nearly four hundred years old, and was one of the first to hide Mystiks from human persecution. Not many from the wizard havens come here. They’re afraid of the creatures living in the coven. Call them heathens. Uncivilized without belief in a god. So I’ve heard. But in reality, they’re just like us, but some have scary exteriors.”
“That’s sad,” I said.
“It is,” Bastien said. “Many of my friends are here. Some of the nicest beings you’ll meet.” His eyes slid to Demos. “There’s no going back for you. The moment you sided with Gia, you became a fugitive like me, like her, and like everyone behind this panel.”
“I’m aware of the cost.” Demos nodded in my direction. “Without her, there is no hope. Arik will come around. He’ll join us.”
I doubted that.
Aetnae whistled and flew to my shoulder.
“What was that for?” I craned my neck to see her. Before she could answer me, the silver tracer flitted to me, landed on my wrist, and seeped back into my skin.
“If you need me, you know what to do.” She dove off my shoulder and flew into the darkness of the library.
Bastien placed his palm on the door and spoke a charm different from the one we used to enter the wizard havens. The panel slid open, and we walked onto thick grasses that buried our boots. The panel shut, and we crossed the field to dense woods. We followed a tight trail to a small village. The many tiny homes were low and crumbling.
As we walked down the muddy road, the villagers’ faces turned to watch. There were Mystik races I’d seen before and others that were new to me. We approached a man with a boar’s face and tusks sticking out at the corners of his mouth. His large biceps flexed as he slammed an ax into a thick log.
The man spotted us and charged in our direction, ax in his hand.
I ignited a globe, not knowing which one would appear. A white, frosty sphere balanced on my palm.
Okay. Don’t freak out. Big scary men fall harder, I thought, trying to convince myself.
I waited for him to get closer, planting my feet shoulder width apart and drawing my arm back, ready to launch the globe.