Chapter Twenty-Two
Arik’s cold, dark eyes fell on me. He had several guards and two Sentinels I didn’t know with him. “Gia, where is he?”
I shrugged a shoulder, turning my right palm up. “I have no clue who you mean. Accendere la stun.” A purple globe formed in my hand.
His eyes widened. “How did you do that?”
“It belongs to one of those Sentinels who died when Veronique attacked me in the New York Public Library. I guess I absorb Sentinels’ globes after I kill them, even if it’s an accident.”
He stared at me, most likely trying to process what I’d said.
“Arik, just let me go. I don’t want to fight you.”
“Drop it,” he said, creating his fire globe. “Have we come to a place where we are enemies?”
“I don’t know.” I glared at him. “You tell me.”
A book falling to the floor above us sent a smack sound through the library.
“Up there. Go!” Arik ordered his guards and Sentinels. He manipulated his fireball into a whip.
The guards charged to the upper levels using different stairs. I popped the stun globe, purple flickers of light dying on the air.
Arik lowered his hand, his fire globe snuffing out. “You did that to distract us.”
“I was taught by the best.”
“Flattery won’t help you out of your predicament.” Even as he was being cruel, his accent made it sound so proper.
“He’s gone,” one of the Sentinels shouted from the fifth level. “Jumped through the gateway book. It closed, so we can’t determine where he went.”
“Bring the book and get down here,” Arik said.
His dark eyes narrowed on me, and those beautiful lips that I’d kissed so many times pressed together in disappointment, shattering my soul. He closed the distance between us.
Tears formed in my eyes as I looked up at him. “How did we get here, Arik?”
“Don’t speak. Because if you do, I won’t have the strength to follow my orders.” He lowered his lips to my ears. “Gia, everything comes back to you. I loved you. My heart is ruined. You’ve broken me.”
“I’m sorry.” The hurt in his eyes made something inside me implode. “It wasn’t my fault. I wish…” What did I wish? That Emily never came between us? That Arik and I never broke up? That Bastien and I never fell through that trap? I didn’t wish any of those things. My wish would be for Arik and me to find a common ground. To be friends.
“Why can’t you follow orders?” His voice was softer then.
“Because it’s wrong. Can’t you see that?” I stepped back from him. “I thought I knew you. That you knew right from wrong. I put my faith in you. And I broke you?” The laugh that burst from my lips was weak and shaky. “You tore me to pieces.”
Footsteps pounded across the tiles, and Arik took a step back from me before the guards and Sentinels joined us.
“The shackles,” Arik said, his jaw tensed.
My face heated with the anger burning inside me like a furnace.
One of the guards pulled out a long chain with two metal plates at the end.
Avoiding eye contact with me, Arik said, “Hold out your hands.”
I lifted my arms. “Don’t do this. We don’t have much time.”
Another guard helped put the metal plates against my palms and fastened the chains around them.
Arik couldn’t look me in the eyes. “Gianna Bianchi McCabe, you are under arrest for treason and will be allowed a trial. Take her to the gallows.”
“Arik, please. You’re wrong. The new council is with Conemar—”
“You’ll be safer in the gallows than running loose in the covens.”
The two guards dragged me over to the gateway book and jumped with me to the Vatican Library. I struggled in their grasp, trying to break free. We came out of the book and crashed against the floor, one of the guards landing on top of me.
“You had to struggle,” the guard grunted as she rolled off.
The second guard pulled me to my feet. Arik and the other guards and Sentinels came through one by one.
Arik stayed in the back as the rest rushed me through the tunnel and down to the gallows. The faeries attending there were ancient-looking and tall. I glanced around for Odran, the only one I knew. He was the faery who let Nick, Deidre, and I visit Toad when we’d come to get a Chiave from him. But the faery wasn’t there.
“You can remove the bindings,” Arik said. “Her magic won’t work down here.”
A woman guard undid the metal plates from my hands. Two faeries, a tall, lanky woman and a stout man, shuffled me along the long narrow corridor. There were prison cells on both sides. I glanced over my shoulder, my tear-filled eyes finding Arik. I stared him down until he turned and exited the gallows.
He left me here.
I wanted to scream out, but I couldn’t. It was like a concrete slab fell on top of me, crushing me to the ground, knocking the air out of me.
When I’d first entered the Mystik world, I had thought Arik would always protect me. I once trusted him with my life. He taught me how to survive in this new world. How could he care so little for me? After everything we’ve been through…
He had said I’d broken him. But I wasn’t about to let him break me. I didn’t know how, but I was getting out of there. And if it came to blows between Arik and me, I’d go down fighting.
As we passed a cell on my right, I recognized the man staring through the barred window of the door.
“Uncle Philip!” I struggled against the hands gripping my arms.
He grasped the bars. “Gia, what are you doing here?”
“For treason,” I said. “Arik arrested me.”
The faeries stopped and unlocked one of the cells.
“I’m so sorry. I never wanted this for you.” He had a beard, and his usually perfectly cut hair was shaggy. There were bruises on his face and bags under his eyes. “Stay strong.”
The faeries shoved me into the cell and locked it.
“Well, well, you never know who will join you in the gallows.”
I spun around.
Pia lay on one of the cots. “Hey, roomie.”
The last time we saw each other, she and her twin sister had buried arrows into guards and some of the high wizards attending Toad’s trial in Mantello. And they’d killed him. Her sister ended up dying that day, too.
“What are you in for?” Pia sat up and swung her legs over the side.
I sat down on the cot opposite hers. “You know, trying to save the worlds.”
“You were always so ambitious. And such a softy.”
“Unlike your evil heart.” I lay back on the cot. There was no way we could share a cell without me killing her. Toad had been innocent. He didn’t deserve to die. Actually, the wizards she’d killed were all good. The council was now corrupted because of their deaths.
She leaned back against her pillow. “Word trickles down here, believe it or not. And the rumor is we’re on the same side now.”
I shot off the cot and grabbed the collar of her shirt. “Because of you, Conemar will take over the Wizard Council. Because of you, bad leaders are in control of the council. Because of you, Mystiks died of a disease when said bad council refused to give them the cure they knew would save them. Because of you—”
The tears rushing down her cheeks stopped me, and I released her.
“You’re not worth it.” I kicked the air and fell back on the cot.
“I’m sorry, Gia.” She sniffed and swiped at her eyes. “I believed it was the right thing to do. When Santara was attacked, her distress call went unanswered. We thought the council ignored it. About Toad, we believed he murdered Gian, the father of the resistance. Philip told me everything. We were fools. Anger made us act on the lies fed to us. And I lost my sister because of it.”
I turned my head and was about to answer her, but three guards came to the cell door. “That’s her,” the woman said, her blond hair cut short and her eyes the brightest blue. “Gianna Bianchi, come with us.”
Pia stood. “Where are you taking her?”
“Sit,” the short, stocky guy hissed between the bars in the window.
The fear on her face as she sat back down shook me. What had they done to her? More importantly, why did they want me?
The other guy, with arms bigger than my thighs, charged in and pulled me up by my arm.
“Okay,” I said. “You don’t have to be so rough. I’m coming.”
They brought me to what looked to be an interrogating room and forced me down on the only chair in the place. The stocky man chained my arms to the chair.
“This can be easy or it can be hard,” the woman said. “It’s your choice. Now, where are the Chiavi?”
“I guess it’s going to be hard,” I said, acting all brave while being completely terrified.
The woman’s fist slammed into my cheek. An explosion of pain rattled my jaw, and I screamed as tears stung my eyes. “The Chiavi,” she growled.
Another fist to the cheek.
And another shock of pain.
Flashes of light sparked my vision. I took deep breaths.
How can I stay strong? I can’t do this.
I wanted to give in. Tell them where the Chiavi were. Anything to stop her from hitting me again.
I’m too weak.
Gia, you can do it. Leave your body. Come to me.
“Nick?”
The woman glanced behind her. “Who do you see? A ghost?”
I closed my eyes, waiting for the next blow. The grass under my feet felt real, my face warmed by the sun. I opened my eyes and sat up. I was in a beautiful meadow. But I wasn’t alone. Nick, with that silly smile on his face, the one where he’d just played a big prank on me and I’d fallen for it for the thousandth time.
But this wasn’t a prank. It was real life, and he wasn’t there. He was somewhere living a nightmare, same as I was living one.
“Of course you’d have to put a damper on a beautiful dream,” he said, smirking.
“I wish you were real.” I started picking wildflowers, because that’s what you do in a dream.
“What are you going to do with those?” Nick asked. “Make a crown?”
I turned my back to him. “Maybe. What’s it to you?”
When I looked back, he was gone.
I stood and dropped the flowers. “Nick? Come back. Don’t leave me.”
Dark clouds rolled overhead, and I fell to the grass. I shivered.
“Gia?”
A girl’s voice?
Something scratchy dragged over my shoulder. It smelled like dust and a bit moldy. A wet cloth wiped my cheek. I opened my eyes, except the left one wouldn’t fully open.
“Those animals,” Pia said. “They really hurt you.”
“Did I tell them anything?” My voice sounded strained and scratchy.
The sounds of boots traveled down the corridor and got louder the closer they came to our cell.
“Gianna,” a guy’s voice I’d heard before called from the window.
“What do you want?” Pia asked.
“Unlock the door,” the voice commanded someone.
Antonio? The Vatican’s Sentinel had to be there to get me out. If I weren’t in so much pain, my spirits would be lifted.
The door opened and he came in. “Get on your cot,” he ordered Pia. He bent down beside me and brushed the hair out of my face. “What have they’ve done to you? This is your fault,” he said to someone behind him.
He ran his fingers through his dark, curly hair. His large nose was now crooked. I wondered if he’d broken it when he fell out of the gateway book after being attacked. It was when Nick and I were looking for the Chiave.
“Get out of my way,” Arik said.
Antonio straightened and moved to the side.
Arik crouched down. The only eye I could open met his stare. Tears formed in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Gia.” He shook his head, trying to gather his emotions, and he glared at Antonio. “Your guards did this. If anyone touches her again, I will kill them.”
“They aren’t my guards,” Antonio said. “They’re the Wizard Council’s. We have to get her out of here.”
“Time’s up,” the guard snarled.
Arik brushed my hair back and leaned close to my ear. “They won’t hurt you again. I’ll get you out of here.”
The guard rattled his keys. “I said time’s up.”
Arik stood and walked out of the cell. “Send a curer to her straightaway.”
Antonio rushed after him. “Arik, they’ll hurt her again. We must get her out.”
The guard slammed the door and locked it.
“What have you done to her?” Uncle Philip shouted from his cell.
“Shut your mouth, you,” the guard said.
“Arik, come back,” Uncle Philip pleaded. “Listen to me. They’ll scryer her. You can’t leave her in here.”
“They won’t harm her.” Arik’s voice sounded farther away.
There was a bang as if Uncle Philip had kicked his door. “Gia, are you all right?”
Pia went to the door. “She’s been beaten badly, but she’s talking.”
“Thank you,” he said, sounding defeated.
She came back to me and continued washing my face with what little water she had. “I can’t believe Arik would let them do this.”
My mouth was dry. “Water?”
She put down the cloth, picked up a metal cup, and put it to my mouth. I flinched when it touched my cracked lip. “Too bad I can’t create my water globe. This stuff isn’t the best, but it’s wet.”
I drank it and choked a little. “That is horrible.”
The curer, a young woman with curly red hair, arrived and slathered gunk all over me. Before leaving, she placed a tattooed hand on my head. “Don’t give up. Keep fighting. And don’t be scared if the power goes out tonight. It’ll be extremely dark down here, but it’s only a few moments.” She slanted closer to me and whispered, “Even the wards and charms will be down.”
After the curer was gone, Pia came and sat at the edge of my bed. “I’ve been here for months and the power has never gone out. Why do you think she told you that?”
“Whoever she’s with is giving us a window to escape,” I said. “But what can we do with a few minutes? I doubt our battle globes could do anything to that thick steel door.”
“Then why did she even tell you that?”
“I don’t know.” I rolled over and faced the wall. “Let me think.”
She adjusted on her squeaky bed.
The pain made me restless. I stared at the dimmer lights just above our door, thinking about my globes. Glass would just shatter. Fire wouldn’t do anything. The ice and stun globes would be useless. Pia’s water globe would probably only drown us.
A dimmer next to the door glinted against one of the hinges. I needed a tool or something to undo them. There wasn’t anything in the room that could break them.
Hinges.
I sat up at the memory of when I’d used the Chiave to get Carrig out of a cell. The Chiave could cut metal. I just had to wait for the power outage to get the sword off my skin.
A yawn stretched my mouth. “No. You can’t sleep now,” I scolded myself.
“What?” Pia groaned and pulled the pillow over her head.
Worried I’d fall asleep and miss the power outage, I stood and paced the cell, keeping my eye on the dimmers above the door. Hours passed, and I paced.
Memories played through my mind.
And I paced.
Sweet memories of the past when Faith, Kale, and Sinead were alive. When my birth father, Carrig, had first found me outside the Boston Athenæum. When Arik wasn’t such an ass.
And I paced.
When it was just Nick and me, before Afton. And then when Afton had joined us. And when Pop and I were alone after my mom had died. Sunday dinners and Saturday picnics on the Boston Common with Pop.
And I stopped.
The light flickered. I pulled up my shirt, found the raised sword in my skin, and pressed my fingers to it.
The lights flickered again.
A loud pop sounded somewhere in the gallows.
And dark.
“Reditum.” I grimaced as the sword ripped from my body. It grew and floated in front of me, and I grasped it.
“Get up, Pia.”
I waited until the light came back on and hit the sword against the top hinge. Metal sang against metal.
“What’s happening?” Pia stumbled out of bed.
“We’re getting out of here.” I hit the next one, then the bottom.
With all the strength I could gather, I threw my body against the door and crashed with it into the hall. Pia helped me to my feet. Footsteps and voices came from farther down the corridor. I limped to Uncle Philip’s door and broke each hinge with the sword.
“Back up,” he warned before pushing the door out. It hit the floor like thunder. When he was out, I hugged him tight.
“Come on,” Pia said. “Where are we going?”
“This way.” I bolted up the corridor in the direction Odran had taken Nick, Deidre, Toad, and me when we’d come to get a Chiave from Toad. At the end, I found the narrow door Odran had brought us to and tugged it open. With every step up the tight, winding stairwell, my head felt as if it would fall off.
Suddenly the door below us flew open.