Chapter Twenty
Ruth Ann’s decision to move Lorelle’s hand away from Carrig’s neck to above his chest gave me a better opportunity to hit her.
I eased my hand back, the glittery white globe spinning on my palm.
“No, you’ll hit Carrig,” Bastien hissed, grabbing my arm and causing my globe to slip from my hand.
It busted against the floor, and ice shot across the wooden planks.
Anger twisted Ruth Ann’s face. A guttural growl escaped her lips and she slammed the dagger into Carrig’s chest.
NO!
Electricity ignited between Bastien’s hands, and he released the charge. The powerful stream hit Lorelle’s body, and it crumpled to the ground. Ruth Ann’s dark, smoky spirit shot out of Lorelle and frantically flew around the room, hitting things off the table and slamming into the two guards. She knocked Bastien to the floor.
My eyes followed her spirit, waiting for the perfect time when she crossed in front of me, then I shot my ice globe at her. The hazy form froze in the air and dropped, shattering against the ground in thousands of little pieces.
I darted to Carrig’s side. His blood seeped into the sheet covering him. “No, no, no. Carrig! Someone help him.” My pleading screams were almost incoherent.
Two curers, an older woman and a young man, came to his side.
“Get her back,” the man said, pushing me aside and starting to work on Carrig.
Bastien wrapped his arms around me, and I yanked away from him.
The image of the curers working on Carrig was blurry with the tears pouring from my eyes. “Please. You have to save him. Please. Please.”
The woman’s eyes went to the hologram. “He’s too weak. His wife’s connection is draining his strength. They both will die.”
“No,” came out of me as a painful wail. Bastien reached for me again, and I shrugged him off.
“We must remove the bond,” the man said, “or we’ll lose them both. If we break it, he’ll have a chance to survive.”
I hung my head. The nightmare wouldn’t end. I would lose him. Lose Sinead. The pain was too great.
“Gia, you’re his daughter.” Queen Titania’s voice was staticky over the hologram. “We must save one of them. Do you agree? It’s your choice.”
I knew what my answer would mean. That in choosing one, I would lose the other. But I couldn’t let them both die. One life. But what would that life be without the other?
You’d lose both. Reason broke through my irrational thoughts. You can save one.
“Remove the bond,” I said firmly and assuredly.
Queen Titania nodded to a faery woman in a white jacket with a severe stare. The woman injected Sinead with a long syringe that had a silver liquid inside. I watched as the fluid emptied into Sinead’s arm. I wanted to hold her. To tell her I loved her, and that I was sorry this had happened.
“She’s gone,” the woman said and walked out of view.
I slumped, wailing. Bastien captured me in his arms before I hit the floor. With each sob, pain ripped through my chest.
Deidre. Oh, Deidre. This would be a blow to her. Sinead was her mother. They loved each other deeply. I never had a mother relationship, and I’d been envious watching theirs.
I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. The tears kept coming, and the pain I felt in my chest sharpened.
The Djallican girl bowed her head slightly on her way to the exit. “I am truly sorry for your loss. I wish—” She cleared her throat. “I wish we could’ve stopped her.” I knew her. She had been behind the counter in Asile’s basement common room when Arik and I had gone to practice my globe.
Since I was just staring at her and couldn’t speak with the emotions gutting my stomach, Bastien answered for me. “Thank you. No one is to blame here. We all tried our best.”
No one is to blame? It was as if a black fog hung over me. The voices around me were muffled, and the bodies were distorted by the pooling tears blurring my vision.
She nodded and followed the other guard outside.
“He’s improving,” the older woman said, checking Carrig’s vitals with some sort of clear tablet. “The dagger missed his heart. I believe he’ll pull through.”
The man beside her turned to us. “We must operate. I’ll send for you once we’ve finished. Please leave us.”
We turned to go, and the room felt like it was spinning. Bastien held me, helping me out the door.
No one is to blame? The words stung. But there was someone to blame. I shoved Bastien away from me.
“It’s your fault!” The words came out guttural, scraping my throat. “You stopped me. I could have hit her with my globe and you stopped me.”
Bastien looked like my words had slapped him. “I’m sorry. I thought—”
“You didn’t think! You don’t trust my abilities. Because of you, Sinead is dead.” I ran from him.
“Gia! Wait!”
I ignored his call, sprinting down the hill. My foot hit a rock, and I crashed to the ground.
“Gia!”
My boot slipped as I scrambled up to my feet. I tore into my tent and paced, my breaths loud and painful, coming quick and hard. Too quick. Panic rose in my chest like bile bubbling up and burning my throat.
“Gia, may I enter?” Bastien’s voice came from the other side of the tent’s flap.
“Go away.”
There was silence and then a deep sigh. “All right. I’ll be back to check on you.”
I didn’t answer him.
The sound of him plodding off caused another sob to rip from my lips. I removed my boots, lowered myself onto the mat, and pulled the covers over me.
I cried until I couldn’t cry any more.
Demos pushed open the flap and charged into the tent. “What happened? There are rumors that someone tried to kill Carrig.”
I just stared at him.
Bastien barged in after him. “What are you doing in here?” he asked and pulled Demos to the side.
“I heard about Carrig,” Demos said.
Bastien whispered a play-by-play of what had happened at the curer’s building. Demos’s face changed from concern to anger. Tears filled his eyes. When Bastien mentioned that Sinead had died, Demos fisted his eyes and dropped into a squat.
“No,” Demos cried. “I’ll kill that woman.”
“She’s gone,” Bastien said. “Gia destroyed her with her globe.”
Demos looked at me. “I’m so sorry, Gia. What can I do for you?”
“Can you ask Edgar for some Fey Water?” I asked. “I just want to sleep.”
“No,” Bastien said, stopping Demos before he left. “It’s too risky. She’s already had a taste of it and could get addicted. Just get ready for tomorrow. We’re still going as planned.”
Too tired and distraught to comment on what Bastien had said, I tugged the covers up to my chin and turned onto my side.
The flap rustled as Bastien and Demos left the tent.
I cried for a long while before falling asleep. Dreams rushed in and out of the darkness behind my eyes. Faces of my family, friends, and the Sentinels. The first day I met Sinead was so vivid it felt real. I was walking through a corridor in the Asile castle after being drugged. She’d caught me before I fell to the hard floor. She was beautiful with her perfectly angled face, choppy red hair, and pointy ears, her movements graceful.
Would she be mad that I chose to save Carrig? Never, I could almost hear her say.
Wake up, Gia. You are the Assassin of Truths. Show them what they do not see. Show them all.
“Sinead?” I opened my eyes. Bastien held a Mystik Observer in one hand and a cup of something steaming in his other.
“How long have I’ve been sleeping?”
He folded the paper. “For a long while. It’s morning. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. Just extremely sad.”
“I can imagine.” He placed the illegal newspaper on his lap and studied my face. “Can I get you something?”
“No—” My eyes went to the newspaper, and I sat up. “The Mystik Observer.”
“Yes.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “You want to read it?”
I shook my head, picking it up. “Where do they print this? Do you know?”
The look on his face said he was trying to figure out why I’d asked. “I don’t, but possibly The Red does. Do you care to explain what’s turning inside that pretty head of yours?”
I glared at him. “Don’t call my head pretty.”
“You’re still angry with me.”
It was a statement, so I didn’t feel like answering it. “We can use the paper to expose the council’s lies and tell the people what they’re planning to do.”
A smile slowly pulled on his lips as he studied the paper. “That’s a brilliant plan.”
Someone knocked on the side of the tent.
“Come in,” I called.
Demos ducked his head in. “Your nana and Afton just arrived in Barmhilde.”
“No. They can’t be here. They’re supposed to stay in the Fey realm where they’ll be safe.” I grabbed my boots and shoved my feet into them. “Where are they?”
“With Carrig. He’s awake,” he said, holding the flap open for me as I charged out. He and Bastien sprint-walked trying to keep up with me.
When I entered Carrig’s room, he was propped up against the pillows. Tall glass cylinders glowed red and hummed in the corners of the room. By how hot it was inside, they had to be heat lamps. Afton fed Carrig a spoonful of broth from a ceramic bowl with a chipped lip. Nana sat on a chair beside Afton, saying something to him that I couldn’t catch.
Carrig’s red-rimmed eyes landed on me. Afton and Nana turned to see what he was looking at.
“Oh Gia,” Afton said and placed the bowl on the table beside the bed. Three brisk steps and she had me in her arms. “I’m so sorry. What you went through—had to do—it was awful.”
I hugged her back, inhaling the rose scent in her hair. “I’m okay. But why are you here? It’s not safe. You should have stayed in the Fey realm.” I gazed over her shoulder at Nana. “You both should have.”
Nana pushed herself up from the chair. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of Afton and myself.” She hobbled a little as she came over to me. “Now give me a hug.”
After releasing Afton, I stepped into Nana’s embrace and she whispered against my ear, “You are never to feel guilty about the decision you made. We would have lost them both. The bond Sinead accepted to marry Carrig would never let her live without him.”
“Come here.” Carrig’s voice was hoarse and weak.
I shuffled over to him. He motioned for me to get closer, and I bent over him. It took a lot of effort for him to give me a simple kiss on my cheek, but it meant so much to me. Tears dropped from my eyes and blotted his sheet.
Nana handed me a handkerchief.
“Thank you.” I took it and wiped my eyes.
“You aren’t to be worrying about me,” he said.
With the redness in his eyes and the moisture on his eyelashes, it was obvious he’d been crying. I couldn’t imagine what losing Sinead felt like to him. It was a blow to my heart, and it had to be a hundred times worse for him.
When I hadn’t spoken, he continued. “You did the right thing. I have you and Deidre. I’ll be fine. My love is waiting for me, and we’ll be together again one day. Now then, get prepared for what you must do today. Sinead would want us to keep fighting. My apologies for not being able to take up arms with you today.”
I dabbed at my eyes again. “You don’t have to apologize. I have plenty of fighters going with me.”
It took him some effort to smile. His eyes drooped, and he forced them open.
“We should go and let Carrig sleep,” Nana said.
Afton turned to Carrig. “Do you want some more soup? I can stay and—” She stopped, realizing he had already fallen asleep. “I guess I’ll come back later and try to feed him again.”
The cool air outside felt good after being in the hot room. I noticed the Mystik newspaper still clutched in Bastien’s hand. He must’ve carried it with him without thinking when he’d chased me up to the curers.
Nana dabbed at her forehead with her floral scarf. “I’m getting tired. Is there a hotel someplace in the village?”
“Not sure. We haven’t seen any.” I turned to Demos. “Could you show Nana to my tent?”
“I’d be delighted,” he said and held his elbow out to her. “Shall we?”
Nana grasped his arm. “I bet you’re a real charmer with the ladies.”
He led her down the hill. “It’s been mentioned a time or two.”
My cold eyes met Bastien’s worried ones. Guessing I was still angry with him, he excused himself and plodded after Nana and Demos.
I faced Afton. “You were on the news staff at school. Do you think you could help write something for me?”
Her eyes studied me. “I’m not sure I like the expression on your face. Every time you look at me that way, you want to do something that could get us in trouble.”
“Okay, so it could be a little illegal,” I said. “And if we’re caught, it may be punishable by death here in the Mystik world.”
“Well,” Afton said, “it’d better be worth it, then.”
“It is. We’re going to assassinate the council’s truths.”
Her eyebrows crinkled together. “Assassinate their truths? What does that even mean?”
“Expose their lies.”
Afton crossed her arms. “I’m in. What do you need me to do?”
“Write an article. I’ll tell you what to say, and you make it sound legit.”
“It’s fabricated?” She gave me that look that said she drew a line at false news.
“No, I just need you to make it sound eloquent.”
“Oh,” she said. “Well, I can do that.”
“Splendid. Then we should find The Red and see what he knows about the Observer.” I glanced back, not wanting to leave Carrig but knowing I had to. There was much to do, and we still needed to get Royston away from Asile.
…
The rain streamed down the window of the small village library. It had television and, apparently, spotty wifi and the oldest computer I’d ever seen. I sat on a short file cabinet and tapped my boot against the leg of the desk, watching Afton’s fingers fly over the keyboard.
“How do you have human world technology here?” I asked, hoping to make the time pass faster.
The Red leaned against a wall, inspecting the sharpness of his long, claw-like nails. I imagined he’d use them as a weapon while fighting. “The capability is there, but the Wizard Council forbids it. They argue that we should cherish a simpler life and that technology has ruined the human world. You can’t miss something you’ve never had. So the people of the Mystik world are in the dark as far as human technology is concerned.”
“I see.” I glanced over Afton’s shoulder.
“You know that makes me nervous,” she snapped. “Stop watching me type.”
I returned to my seat on the file cabinet and continued tapping my boot.
Demos had joined us after leaving Nana in my tent. He stood guard at the window to make sure no one interrupted us.
Afton glared at my foot. “Do you mind? You’re shaking the desk, and I can’t concentrate with that noise.”
I shrugged a shoulder at Demos and mouthed, Whoops.
He quirked a smile. “She’s just anxious. We all are.”
“Well, good thing I’m done, then.” She reclined against the back of the chair. “Now what?”
“Do they have an email address where we can send it?” I asked The Red.
“They do have an illegal computer like this one here,” he said. “But it isn’t a good idea to send an email. There’s no telling who can intercept it. We can print it out, and I’ll have it delivered it to the Mystik Observer in Greyhill.”
“Shyna could take it,” Demos said. “Since she’s a Greyhillian, she wouldn’t raise suspicion.”
“That’s a great idea.” I hopped down from the cabinet. “Let’s go ask her.”
The Red pushed himself off the wall. “If we send her, we put her in jeopardy. No telling what they would do to her if she’s caught with that article.”
“I will deliver it,” a Talpar woman said from behind the other desk. I’d forgotten she was there. She was the librarian, and she was the woman who’d given us the map to the Talpar tunnels.
I shook my head. “No. You can’t. What about your pups?”
“My mother will take care of them,” she said, her small, mousy voice shaking a little at the beginning of each word. “I want to be part of the Resistance. Because of the council, my husband died of that disease. There was a cure, and they refused to distribute it to us.”
“But the council’s guards discovered an entry into your tunnels,” I said. “They’ve been searching them for me. You could run into one of their groups.”
The feelers on the side of her nose wiggled. “I can sense movement in the tunnels for miles. Besides, since we knew our tunnels were discovered, we’ve dug new ones and filled the old with water. A few guards were lost in the flood.”
And Bastien, Edgar, and I were almost lost, too.
“I will send two of my men with her,” The Red said. “It’s best we prepare for the library distraction. Jaran and Lei depend on us. If they’re caught trying to get Royston out of Asile, they’ll welcome death to avoid what the scryers will do to them.”
…
The wind outside kissed my tent and flapped the doors. Nana reclined against the large pillows on the mat covering the ground. A note had arrived from the underground for me from Buach. Briony, a few faeries, and Couve guards had sneaked into Tearmann and rescued Galach and his guards from their captors.
Bastien. He knew how worried I was for Galach and the others, and I was pretty certain this rescue was his doing.
“You look as if you belong in Sherwood Forest in that get-up,” Nana said.
I glanced down at the leather breastplate, tunic, and army green pants before giving her a questioning look. “I guess so. All I need now is a bow and arrow, and I’d be Robin Hood.” The leather strap creaked as I tightened the belt of the holster around my thigh.
Nana rolled over to her hands and knees and pushed herself up into a standing position. “Getting old is such an annoyance,” she said, her breaths heavy.
I slid the dagger into the sheath. “I never think of you as old.”
“Thank you, dear,” she said with a smile. “Never stop lying to me.”
Afton came in the tent carrying straps of leather. “This is all I could find to tie your hair up. Maybe I can braid it?”
“I was thinking a high, tight bun. Nothing loose where my hair can get pulled.” The first time I met The Red, he’d yanked me up by my ponytail, and it was painful.
Afton dug her fingers into my hair and started weaving it. “Okay. Something warrior chic. Got it.”
“Gia, are you ready?” Bastien called from outside the tent.
“Just about,” I called.
“What’s wrong with you two?” Afton asked, tugging my hair as she worked to braid it.
“Nothing.”
Everything. I wanted to say. When he prevented me from using my globe, it had caused us to lose Sinead. But I couldn’t tell them that. I cared about Bastien, and I didn’t want them having negative opinions about him.
Nana’s soft green eyes glistened. “Your pop would be terrified if he knew what you were about to do.”
It was her way of letting me know she was terrified for me, too.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I just don’t like leaving you guys here alone.” I glanced from Nana to Afton. “Maybe we can get you to the Shelter with Pop?”
“I’d rather go to the Shelter than stay here.” Afton tied the ends of the leather straps securing my hair.
Nana studied Afton’s work. “Looks good. Almost romantic.”
Afton frowned at the top of my head. “Is it tight enough?”
I shook my head hard and nothing moved. “It’s perfect.”
Bastien’s head poked into the tent. “What’s taking you so long?”
“I’m ready,” I said, picking up my bag with Gian’s book inside. “Can we get Nana and Afton to the Shelter beforehand?”
“If we leave now,” he said.
Nana exited the tent first, and before Afton went through, she gave me a hug. “You got this. You’ve met every challenge head on. Don’t hesitate, ever. Remember what your coach said once.”
“The toughest opponent is the one in your head.”
Her lips hinted at a smile. “That’s it. Love you, G. Stay strong.”
“I love you, too.”
We scrambled out of the tent together. The setting sun blinded me as I trotted down the hill with Afton. I could barely make out Nana and Bastien’s silhouettes against the brightness. Just past the hill, a group gathered in a circle. When we neared them, Demos broke away from The Red and his gang of misfits and met us.
“Are you all ready?” I asked, approaching.
Demos gave me an incredulous look. “We’ve been waiting on you.”
I flashed a wide grin. “Oh, then I guess we’re ready.”
Bastien stood beside me, looking everywhere but at me.
“I know what you did,” I said.
He gave me a questioning look. “What have I done now?”
“Galach’s rescue. Thank you for helping Briony.”
“It’s the least I could do,” he said. “And we’ll need as many guards as we can find for whatever is ahead. They should be at the Shelter by now.”
Of course he’d downplay it. Whenever he’d done good deeds for others, he was humble.
“Everyone has their assignments,” The Red hollered. “We’re off. Remember, you start jumping at two in the morning London time.”
The group broke up and headed in different directions.
“Red,” I said, approaching him.
He rotated to face me. “You need something, Gianna?”
I reached behind my neck, unfastened Faith’s pendant, and handed it out to him. “I wanted you to have this. It was Faith’s, and it should belong to you. Maybe it’ll bring you luck.”
He inspected the pendant that was connected to the dainty chain dangling from his large hand. “Thank you. It’s as beautiful as she was.” He sniffed and strained his face, trying not to cry, but he couldn’t hide the emotion in his voice. “I miss her every day.”
I glanced off, not wanting to catch the emotions choking him up. “I do, too.”
The Red squared his shoulders. “Enough sap. It’s time we be warriors. Stop Conemar and his followers. That’s what Faith would want us to do.” He secured the necklace around his neck, tucked it into his shirt, and stomped off.
Enoon, the tough man with boar features and tusks who we ran into at Barmhilde, was first. “It is our custom to show respect to our greatest warrior by a slap on the back. Not many receive such an honor. Don’t worry, the others won’t hurt you.” He clapped my back. “Death be a stranger.”
Another Mystik with ashen skin and twig-like hair came up and repeated Enoon’s words and actions. The line continued with men and women from the many different Mystik covens—Laniars with their sharp canines and greyhound shaped bodies, horned men and women, a few older Sentinels, and many others. Their various colored and shaped eyes held hope and so much warmth for me.
A Writhe, one not turned into an evil, ominous creature by Conemar, stopped in front of me. He moved his bald head from side to side, studying me. Raised veins just under his pale skin branched out like roots of a tree.
The Writhes were the first coven to fall to Conemar. He’d used the ones who hadn’t escaped or he hadn’t killed as experiments for an ancient potion he’d found in Esteril. It turned them into evil creatures driven by the thirst to kill, but controlled by their master. The first high wizard of that haven and Athela’s father, Mykyl, had come up with the recipe to create the Tetrad—four warriors made into terrifying creatures joined by one soul with the power of all the elements.
“I do this for the loss of my people.” He lightly tapped my shoulder as if afraid to hurt me, which completely surprised me. All this time I had been afraid of every Writhe because of my encounter with the ones Conemar had changed into feral beasts. But I was wrong. The Writhe standing in front of me was proof that not all of them were bad. “Death be a stranger,” he said and walked off with his head high and determination in his gait. He joined a group of Writhes up the hill. There were about a dozen of them joining the fight with us.
Two hounds paced around the Writhes. They looked like nightmares on four legs, resembling demon-possessed rhinos with a large tusk curving up from their snouts. Nick, Afton, and I had encountered one that first night I accidentally jumped with them to a Paris library. Most of them had died during Conemar’s attack on the Writhe’s coven.
After each Mystik performed the ritual on me, they headed for the village. A rush of pride caused me to stand straighter. Their respect and the hope they placed in me sent fire through my veins. We had to stop the council’s plan. We couldn’t fail. Too many lives depended on it.
Taking up the end of the line, Bastien smiled as he approached me. “I thought it would never end.”
“Me, either.” I glanced over my shoulder at the Writhes. “I’m surprised they came.”
He looked to where my eyes were set. “They have had it harder than most. Those men and women are the last of their warriors. It was hard for them to leave their hideout. They know the remaining survivors are vulnerable without them.”
“There are more of them? Survivors?”
“Yes. Their hope is to one day return to their coven and rebuild. That is their motivation for joining us.” Bastien slid a glance at me. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Just a little overwhelmed by that ceremony.”
“It’s a great honor,” he said.
An uncomfortable silence settled around us. Ever since Sinead’s death, things were off with us. Everything felt numb—my body, my mind, my soul. Nana said I was just grieving, and that with time, I’d feel better. I sure hoped so, because the funk I was in made me feel like there was a black hole eating up my insides.
When it was obvious I wasn’t going to respond to his last statement, he said, “I forgot to tell The Red something. Excuse me.”
My eyes followed Bastien as he jogged over to The Red, who was in a deep conversation with Edgar.
Demos came up to my side. “Hey, it’s going to be tough tonight. I just wanted to say—”
“Wait.” I stopped him. “You’re not going to say you love me, are you?”
His eyebrows pushed together. “Have you lost your senses? Why would I say that?”
Because Nana and Afton had? I shrugged a shoulder. “Um, I don’t know.”
Okay…awkward.
“I was going to tell you to stay alert,” he said. “And that I like you most days, so try to make it back alive, all right?”
“You watch yourself, too. You’re kind of nice to have around…most days.”
He smirked and took long strides up the hill, following The Red’s gang.
There was no certainty our plan would work, but watching the determination in the creatures storming up the hill, I felt ready to face it.