Chapter Twenty-Five
I struggled in Arik’s arms, pushing my back hard against his chest, trying to break free of his embrace. “Let me go. I have to go. They’ll kill him.”
“The gateway is lost,” Arik said against the back of my head.
“No, no, no, no.” I gulped in several breaths. “Please, let me go. He—he can’t be gone.”
Arik’s arms tightened, and I pushed against them harder.
He held me for a long while as I cried, painful sobs shaking my body. His warm breaths puffed against my hair and the back of my ear.
Oh Bastien.
I prayed for him to be all right. I asked every saint I’d learned about in Sunday school to watch out for him. I begged God to trade me for him. To bring him back. And I doubted any of them would listen. I wasn’t even sure I had faith anymore. So why would they care that my heart had been ripped from me? That Bastien was gone?
Jaran sat on his heels in front of me and wiped my eyes with some tissues he must have found in the library. “Come on. We need to go.”
I took a deep breath and shook my head hard. “No. I can’t leave him.”
“He’s gone,” Jaran said. “We can’t help him here. Not if we are caught. Can you stand?”
I nodded.
Arik released me, and I stood on shaky legs. Jaran wrapped an arm behind my back and guided me to the entrance into Barmhilde. My knees buckled as another sob tore from my throat.
Jaran lifted me into his arms, and I wrapped mine around his neck. “I’m here,” he said. “You’re not alone.”
…
Jaran’s eyes followed my pacing. The tent felt hot and suffocating. “Why are they making us wait? We have to go after Bastien.” I fisted my hands to stop them from shaking. The fear of what Bastien could be going through clenched my stomach and twisted it tight.
Please, let him be okay.
A light tapping came from the outside of my tent. Jaran pushed the flap aside.
Arik ran his hand through his hair, shifting his weight.
Emily smiled, a tray of food in her hands. “I brought you something to eat. You need to get your strength up.” She pushed past me.
“We must talk about what happened,” Arik said. “I hope you’re up for it. I believe it will help Bastien if…”
We all knew what Arik couldn’t finish.
If he is alive.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I brought a little of everything,” Emily said and placed the tray of food beside the pillows on the floor.
I crossed the carpet to the corner of the room and sat on a pillow. Arik dropped down on one opposite me. “Tell me about the events leading up to the Writhes’ attack in the library,” he said.
Jaran adjusted on a pillow beside me. “She might need more time to recover.”
“We haven’t the luxury of time,” Arik said.
“It’s okay. I’m fine.” A sense of doom weighed on me when I thought about what had happened in the cave only hours ago. “Conemar ambushed us.”
Demos came in balancing a metal box in his arms. “It’s all over the Mystik news.” He set the box down and pushed some buttons on it. A hologram image snapped on above the box. Screaming came from the speakers. Between the hurricane and cracking earth, the Tetrad moved like a glacier, destroying everything in its path.
Four beasts, each threatening and scary.
The despair on the people’s faces matched what was in my heart.
“What coven is that?” I asked.
“Nymhold,” Jaran said, ignoring the platter of food beside him.
I covered my face with my hands. “It’s my fault. I failed.”
“You’re alive,” Arik said, going into his leader mode. “That’s all that matters. We’ll have to figure out a way to stop the beast.” He must’ve remembered he was no longer our leader and added, “We must ask Lei what she wants to do.”
“We have a way,” I said. “Royston.”
Arik’s eyes were stuck on the hologram. “Then we’ll make a plan. This time you’ll include us. We would’ve been better prepared for what happened in the library if we knew what you were doing. Someone needs to get Lei.”
The flap opened and Lei came in. “I’m here. Everyone in the camp has a Mystik box on.” She slanted a look at me. “How could you have been so careless?”
“I didn’t think…” I said. “I don’t know how they knew where to find us. Royston and I were both shielded.”
Royston came into my tent, his arm raised. Deidre was right behind him, a frown on her face. The silver tracer Aetnae had given me shook on Royston’s wrist like it was stuck on a flytrap. “What is this thing doing? It won’t leave me alone and has been annoying me for hours.”
“It wants free,” I said. “Blow on it.”
He did as I said, and the tracer lifted off his skin. It swirled in the air around us before hovering in front of me. “Gia,” a ghostly voice came from it. “Go to the library.”
“It’s Aetnae,” I said, watching the tracer escape through the opening of the tent.
We passed questioning looks. “I guess we should go,” I said.
“Get your gear on,” Arik said, standing. “We’ll meet at the entrance into the library.”
The others followed him out, except Deidre—she turned to me as I straightened. “I’m going. You’re not leaving me behind, again. I’ve been trained to fight like a guard.”
“No,” I said. “You’re not going with us. You don’t have magic.”
And I can’t lose anyone else.
“You can’t protect everyone, Gia,” she said, crossing her arms. “And you can’t prevent me from fighting for a cause and avenging my mother’s death.”
My fear finally dropped to my feet, and she must’ve seen it on my face.
“I know.” She grasped my arm and looked tenderly into my eyes. “I love you, too. And I’m afraid of losing you, but I’d never stop you. It would be selfish of me. So let’s kick some bad guys’ asses and win the day, okay?”
I chuckled. “I think Pop should limit your Netflix binging. You’re sounding more like an American teen every day. Sinead would be mad if—” I stopped myself. “I’m sorry.”
A sadness settled in her eyes. “Don’t worry about mentioning her. We can talk about my mother. Laugh and cry while remembering her time with us. But let’s not omit her from our lives, okay?” A smile turned the corners of her mouth. “Besides, she’d be angry if we forgot her.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her angry.”
“That’s because she missed your puberty years.” She went to the exit. “Trust me. She got frustrated with me often. Get dressed. See you in a few.” She disappeared around the flap.
…
Being back in the Chetham’s library caused all my fears and sadness over Bastien to rush back to me. There was no telling what Conemar and his creatures were doing to him. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. Crumbling wouldn’t get him back if he was alive. I had to press on and stop Conemar.
Dressed in proper Sentinel gear—metal breastplates, helmets, swords, and shields—which the Couve guards had brought for us, we eased down the row of bookcases in teams, back to back, covering one another.
Arik glanced over his shoulder at me. “Keep an eye on the top of the bookcases.”
“Okay,” I said. I felt uneasy partnering with him again. Though we made a great team, I wasn’t sure I could trust him anymore. The cut healing on my lip reminded me he was the one who put me in the gallows. But I decided to go with it. Keep your enemies closer.
Jaran and Demos, back to back, were a few steps down from us. Lei had teamed up with one of the French Sentinels, Abre, an athletic girl with short brown hair and bee-stung lips. I wondered how Lei felt having a different partner. Before Kale had died, she’d been with him since the first year at the Asile Academy.
The silver tracer came out from behind a bookcase and darted in the air around us. We followed it to a room with a round table and more than a dozen red leather chairs surrounding it. We stepped inside.
Across the room, the tracer flew into the stone hearth, which, with the chairs and cabinet in front of it, looked to be out of use. The fireplace moved forward, pushing the furniture with it. We backed up as the table approached us. It stopped, and footsteps sounded from inside the opening.
A Talpar poked his head out from around the side of the hearth, the feelers on his nose sensing the air. He moved all the way out, carrying a gateway book. His large feet shuffled across the wooden floor, his eyes shifting from face to face.
The silver tracer rushed to me. I held up my wrist, and it landed, its butterfly body sinking into my skin.
Arik went to the Talpar and accepted the book he offered.
“When we had our own coven, just outside of Esteril,” the Talpar said, his nose twitching, “this was ours. But Conemar has destroyed our home, forcing us to move into the tunnels. By the kindness of strangers, we made new homes within their covens. We gladly relinquish this gateway book to stop the same fate falling upon other Mystik races.”
The Talpar returned to the hearth and disappeared around it. The fireplace moved back into place, the furniture staying where it had been pushed.
The book in Arik’s hand shook. He placed it on the floor. The pages flipped, stopped, and Aetnae darted out.
“Oh my, oh my,” she said, zipping around excitedly.
“Aetnae, slow down,” I said.
She landed on my shoulder, but she could barely stay still. “The worlds are ending. Have you seen the Mystik Observer? The live news?”
“Yes,” Arik said. “We are aware of what’s going on.”
“Did you know there was an article about what the council was up to? They arrested a group of Greyhillians who ran the underground press, and then…and then the Tetrad attacked the coven. A massive earthquake.” She took a deep breath.
“Slow down,” I said, “you’re going to fall off.”
Demos stepped closer to us. “Have you heard anything of a bird girl named Shyna there?”
“No,” she said. “I’m sorry. But I could have the curers ask about her when they go to aid the injured.”
“I’d appreciate it,” Demos said, his head lowering.
“There’s more,” she continued. “The Tetrad caused a tsunami in Veilig. The Aqualian undersea village was destroyed and many died.”
“Oh no,” I said, looking at Arik. “We have to stop it.”
Aetnae tugged at my hair. “I followed that boy you said liked me. The one with cropped brown hair and large wings. It was innocent, really. It’s not as if I was being nosy. A girl just needs to know what a boy is like before—”
“Do you mean Sen?” I had to stop her. She was making my head hurt.
“Yep.” She stomped her foot against my shoulder. “He’s a spy. That bug. I’m going to smoosh him flat if ever I see him again. He told Conemar what you were up to.”
“So that’s how Conemar found us,” I said.
Then I had an idea. “Aetnae, do you think you can follow him again? Bastien”—I swallowed, his name touching my lips tearing at my heart—“was taken by Conemar’s Writhes.”
“I don’t have to follow him,” she said. “Conemar is bringing his army and the Tetrad to Barmhilde. Sen told him where you are hiding.”
My heart felt like it had collapsed. The Tetrad was coming. There were so many families in the coven. And because of me, they were in danger.
“All right,” Lei said, walking around, giving each of us a stern look. “We know what’s coming. We must get with The Red and Edgar and prepare the coven for an attack. We’re on the defense, so we must gear our plan toward holding our ground and preventing loss of life.”
“There isn’t a gateway book registered to this library,” Jaran said. “That should slow them down.”
“It should,” Arik agreed. “So we’ll use the time to our advantage.”
“Let him come,” Lei said with a fierce glare in her eyes. “Because of him, Kale is dead. I want a piece of him.”
Because of him, Bastien is missing. I hoped she’d save a piece for me.
We returned to the coven and prepared for the attack we knew would come soon.
I sat on a bench near the fire pit in the middle of the camp and ran the blade of my sword across a sharpening stone. Arik dropped his canteen on the ground and took a seat beside me, picked up a stone, and started sharpening his own weapon.
Emily approached carrying a basket of sandwiches wrapped in wax paper. “Are you hungry?”
“Famished,” Arik said.
She extended the basket to him, and he took one.
“Take two.” She smiled. “You have to keep up your strength.”
He grabbed another one and put both on the rock beside him.
She moved the basket in front of me. “How about you?”
“Thanks.” I took two and put one down beside me.
She headed over to Jaran and Lei, practicing their sword skills. I placed my sword on the ground.
“How are you holding up?” Arik ran his blade across the stone with a shiiiiing.
I focused on unwrapping the sandwich in my hand, letting my hair fall against my cheek so he wouldn’t see the tears. “What happened keeps popping into my head. It’s like a horror film on replay. I lose my grip on Bastien, and those creatures pull him into the gateway.”
Arik dragged his sword across the stone again. “It was the same with me when my parent faery was taken by that hound. It will get better.”
“It will never get better,” I said. Or maybe getting better meant not having a heart at all. Never wanting to love another person again.
“I understand,” he said. “You care for him. Loss is painful. I’m just starting to feel again.” He glanced at Emily.
My eyes went from Emily to him. They were falling for each other. I took a bite of the sandwich. It was chicken salad, but I couldn’t taste it. There was no enjoyment in food or much of anything else for me since Bastien was taken. I forced myself to eat to keep up my strength like Emily had suggested.
He lifted a smile. “Good to see you have your appetite back.”
“Yeah.” I brushed away a strand of hair stuck to my eyelash. “About the plan. I don’t think we should have the weaker adults and children leave by way of the Talpar tunnels. It’s not safe. If the Tetrad creates earthquakes, the tunnels could collapse. I think we hide them in the woods behind the cliffs.”
“That is a better plan,” he said. “What other thoughts do you have?”
I smiled at his reassurance. “The women gather something called bimcord. They use it to make indestructible rope. Maybe we get the locals to make a net or something out of it. We can use it to snare the Tetrad. If anything, it might slow the creature down.”
“Another great idea.” He put his sword and stone down and picked up one of his sandwiches.
“Those are just things I would do if we’re staying here.”
“You believe we should go after the Tetrad,” he said.
“Stop the creature, and we’d have a better chance against Conemar.” I unwrapped my other sandwich. “Once we get rid of Conemar and the Tetrad, we have to take down the council.”
“I can present this plan to Lei.”
“Good.”
After Royston destroyed the Tetrad, I would search for Bastien. I had to find him, bring him home for his mother and for his people. But mostly, for me. I couldn’t live with the knowledge that he was out there somewhere—dead or alive.
Arik reached over and removed another strand of hair that had stuck to my eyelashes. “One day, we’ll feel less awkward around each other.”
“One day, you’ll tell Emily you have feelings for her.”
He stared down at his sandwich. “One day,” he repeated.
…
Jaran and I jogged along a trail that circled the lake. It felt good to stretch my muscles. I was growing stronger. Two days had gone by since losing Bastien—the same number of days we’d been on alert for an attack from Conemar and the Tetrad.
The last televised news report was yesterday. The Tetrad had caused several “natural” disasters in the human world. It was part of Conemar’s plan to make the human world weak so he could take over. He’d already brought many of the covens to their knees—both Greyhill and Darkton had surrendered.
The article Afton and I wrote for the Mystik Observer exposing the council’s corruption had circulated wildly. I just hoped when war came, the covens and our allies in the havens would join the fight with us.
High wizards loyal to Conemar now ruled the havens. Taxes and tariffs had increased by nearly 30 percent. The Mystiks and the people in the havens were growing poorer every day. Curfews and travel restrictions had been put into place.
I welcomed Conemar’s arrival to Barmhilde. The sooner he got here, the sooner we could be done with this.
Jaran rounded the corner and noticed it first. Barmhilde’s green and red flag with a large sunburst in the middle was at half-mast. We picked up our speed and ran to the other side of the lake and past the outdoor showers. When we’d made it to the fire pit in the middle of the camp, The Red, Edgar, and Arik were speaking to the crowd gathering around them.
“I’ve just come back from Esteril,” Edgar was saying. “Conemar’s forces and the Tetrad are there. Your plan to burrow in and wait for him to come to you is careless. To win this fight, we must go on the offensive. Keep them away from here. Away from your loved ones.”
I pushed my way to the front. “There isn’t a way to get an army through the libraries without the Monitors sensing it.”
“We don’t need an army,” Edgar said. “We have you and Royston. We just need to get you to the Tetrad.”
“That’s suicide,” Lei said. “We must draw the Tetrad into the open. Distract it so Gia and Royston can have a chance of destroying it.”
Edgar walked along the group. He had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept for days.
“Do you not see?” he asked. “If you bring the beast here, it will cause destruction and death you could never imagine. Not only was I in Esteril. I was there when the creature attacked Darkton.” He lowered his head and scratched the blond stubble on his scalp. “It was horrible.”
The Red patted Edgar’s back. “That’s enough. You need to rest, my friend. Your concerns are noted. Our leaders will meet and discuss what you have told us.”
Edgar raised his eyes to him. “You’re pacifying me. You believe your way is the only way. Do as you wish. Kill your people.” He walked off, following the row between the tents.
I charged after him with Jaran on my heels. “Edgar, hold up.”
He turned and waited for me to reach him.
“I think you’re right about going to Esteril.”
“You do, huh?” He rubbed his chin. “Lei will go along with whatever The Red decides, which means her Sentinels will have to follow suit.”
Jaran darted a quick look over his shoulder before saying, “She’s coming.”
“We need to meet,” Lei said, approaching our group.
“There isn’t time for it,” I said. “We should go to Esteril and stop the Tetrad before it gets here.”
Lei nodded as she processed what I’d said.
“What’s going on?” Arik asked, coming around the corner of a tent with Demos.
“We’re going on the attack tonight,” Lei said. “Get your gear ready.”
Arik turned to Edgar. “Are you with us?”
“The moment you said ‘going on the attack,’ I was with you.” Edgar headed down the row between the tents. “Meet me in the library at two.”
In the morning? Why did every nefarious thing have to happen so early, when a person should be sleeping and not dancing with death.