Chapter Nine
“Gia! Stop, or you’ll be charged with treason.” Arik ran to one of the other parked aircrafts.
I gave Bastien a quick look. “Go!” I shouted and leaned forward. The aircraft took off, weaving between buildings and trees. My stomach lurched and dipped with each turn. Bastien’s machine kept up with mine.
We blew past several slower flying faeries, and I closed my eyes, fearing the craft would hit them. But it avoided them, maneuvering around the group with precision. Several times, it got close to a building or a tree, and I was sure it would crash.
I risked a glance over my shoulder to see if Arik was following us, but couldn’t see very far with all the buildings and trees blocking my view. I had to act as if he was. There was too much at stake for him to stop us.
We crossed low over the bridge, causing the faeries on it to gasp and duck.
“That was close,” Bastien yelled over the buzz of our engines.
The force of our crafts careening past the trees rocked the tiny birdhouse-like homes. I worried about the inhabitants inside—it had to feel like there was an earthquake shaking them. A launch pad, much like the one on top of the castle, came into view. It was in a clearing between the crowded trees. Panic fluttered my stomach.
“Straighten to stop,” I reminded myself. The craft was so fast that I sat up too quickly and too late. The vehicle dropped and landed hard in the clearing. It tipped over on its side and slid across the pad until it bumped up against a tree.
Bastien landed his craft and it hopped a few times over the ground before stopping.
A green-skinned man with bat-like ears hurried over to me. “You hurt?” His voice was deep and scratchy.
I rolled off the seat and lay unmoving on the ground for a second, dazed. My shoulder throbbed, but nothing seemed broken. “Surprisingly, I’m fine,” I finally answered.
Removing his helmet, Bastien ran over to me.
The man offered his hand, and I grasped it, letting him help me to my feet.
“We need to hurry. Arik is not too far behind us.” Bastien unstrapped the two boxes from my aircraft, opened the lid, and inspected the contents. “Only three broke.”
Only three? That meant we couldn’t save three Mystiks. Three souls might die because of my accident. Three souls would suffer as Dag had. I wanted to kick myself.
“You follow me, please,” the man said, pulling me out of my funk.
I had to forget about the broken vials. I couldn’t fail the others. There were so many more I could still save.
Bastien handed me the boxes, and I slipped the straps of both over my head, carrying them as I would my messenger bag. He retrieved his, and we followed the man into the woods.
I leaned close to Bastien and whispered, “What is he?”
“A goblin.”
The goblin stopped at a tiny sandstone building the size of a coat closet. “This is it.”
“Wait,” I said. “This isn’t the same way we entered the realm.”
“This is a secret portal.” He pulled a handle beside the door, and it slid open, dust puffing into our faces. “The Sentinel following you will exit the other one. This way is quicker.”
“Is the other Sentinel close?” I glanced behind us.
“The woods sent me a message. He isn’t far behind.” One long, green finger pointed at the entrance. “Now, you go.”
“Thank you for your assistance,” Bastien said, following me inside.
It was dark in the building, so I ignited a light globe. A whoosh sounded behind us as the door closed. In front of me was a wall with folded corners.
As I stepped closer, the wall moved, the corners pushing up and out. “We’re in the pop-up book.”
The paper rustled and popped until we faced the back of a gate that slowly opened. I held the straps to the two boxes crossing my body and stepped through first, then Bastien. The page folded back and the book shrank to its normal size.
I turned and walked backward, watching The Secret Garden float over to a nearby shelf and slide into a gap between two books. “That’s so wild.”
“We’re not in Edinburgh.” Bastien pivoted on his heel, taking in our surroundings, the boxes he carried bumping against his body, the vials inside clanking against each other.
“Careful,” I warned. “We don’t want to break any more.”
He grasped my hand, and we crossed the carpet to the middle of the room. My palm in his felt as natural as breathing. That was, if breathing came along with tingles and a heightened awareness of his skin against mine.
We were in a library I recognized. Fake trees reached to the ceiling, one of them with fall leaves, its roots hugging plaster replicas of books. A large sculpture of a book canopied the entrance. Little creatures, one of which was an owl, peeked out of holes in the trunks of the wooden pillars that held up the structure.
My gaze touched all the fantastical murals, trees, woodland animals, and the many book sculptures dominating the walls.
“I know this library. I’ve been here before. We’re in the Brentwood Library in Tennessee.” Nana had brought me to the city for one of her conventions when I was twelve. Going to the library was my reward for surviving the boredom of sitting in a room with old women talking about herbal cures. Now that I think about it, it was probably a witches’ convention.
Jumping through the gateways, I’d never ended up in a modern library before. The Fey were always changing the entrances into their realm, so it made sense they’d branch out to newer places. The library was a children’s fantasy. I wanted to sit down on one of the large, stone books like I had five years ago and enjoy all the magical artwork around me.
“This must be a secret exit,” he said.
“I hope there’s a gateway book in this library.” I adjusted the straps to the leather boxes crisscrossing my body. “Sei zero sette periodo zero due DOR.” I spoke the charm for calling the gateway book and listened for any sound that would lead me to it.
A fluttering noise came from just outside the children’s library.
“Is that a bird?” Bastien let go of my hand and marched toward it. “It’s the book.”
“Oh good. It’s not tied down.”
Bastien followed the book as it passed him and flew to me. I caught it and thumbed through the pages until I came to the Abbey Library of Saint Gall’s photograph. I gripped the book tight at the memory of Bastien and me being sucked into a trap there and dumped into a barren Somnium. We could have died, but luckily, we had escaped when I’d thrown my globe at the trap. But I’d also released Conemar from his prison, along with tons of Mystik convicts.
Bastien placed his hand on my back. “Are you okay? Your knuckles are turning white.”
I loosened my hold on the book. “Yeah.”
“Don’t be frightened.” His voice was soft and soothing. “It won’t happen again.”
He was right. It wouldn’t happen again. I’d broken all the traps and released the Somnium’s creatures into the libraries. It took weeks and a few human lives before every one of them was captured.
I placed the opened gateway book on the floor.
“I’ll go first in case there’re guards in the library,” Bastien said. “They won’t suspect me. Give it ten minutes before you leave.”
He clutched the straps to the boxes and jumped into the book.
I paced as I waited. It had to be the longest ten minutes ever before I plunged into the gateway. There was a slight tug on the leather boxes as I went, but then they slacked and sped along with my body. The black coolness of the gateway engulfed me. I stretched my arms out. Fresh, cold air rushed over me and filled my lungs.
The strap on my right suddenly loosened. I pushed against the wind trying to reach the strap. The box tore away before I could grab it.
No, no, no.
Panic caused me to lose my balance, and I tilted forward. I quickly righted myself.
Think, Gia. You have to catch it. But how?
I created a light globe to search for the box. It was behind me and too far away to reach. Air resistance. The flat bottom and sides of the box were slowing it down. I’d reach the exit to the library before it would… All those cures. All those people. I couldn’t let it crash into the library. I had to stop myself.
An idea came to me. The globes.
I reached down and tore my dagger away from my boot. In my free hand, I ignited a globe. Fire? That wouldn’t work. I tossed it and formed another. Glass.
No.
A light dotted the blackness in front of me. The exit.
“Come on. I need ice,” I yelled above the wind’s howl, anger taking over me.
A shimmery white sphere sprouted on my palm.
“Yes!” I tossed it at the blooming light, hoping it would spread as it had across the bookcases when that Sentinel had thrown it at me.
I was getting closer, and adrenaline shot through my veins at a speed faster than I was going.
The globe hit the side of the exit and ice rushed around the opening, crackling and fanning out, growing until it covered it. I landed hard on the ice, the vials in the box I still had clinking against each other. The heel of my boot went through the frozen membrane. I stabbed my dagger into the ice and used it to hold on.
The box got closer. It was too far left. I would miss it. I tried to stretch more, but it wasn’t enough. I kicked my other boot against the ice to make a foothold. Facing the ice, my boots holding me up, I removed the dagger and stabbed the ice as far as I could reach in the direction the box was heading.
I rolled to my back to face the gateway and punctured my heel into the ice to keep from slipping. The box landed on my stomach and punched the air out of me. I clung to it with my free hand, not moving, trying to catch my breath.
“Great. Now how am I going to get through the exit?”
I had to break the ice. With as much force as I could, I kicked my heel against the ice. It cracked but didn’t budge.
I kicked again.
Crack.
And again.
Crack.
The crack spread across the surface.
On the next strike of my boot, I broke through, shooting out of the gateway. I turned and fell backward, keeping the boxes in front of me. My body dropped hard onto a marble floor. One box landed on my chest and the other on my stomach.
I laid there, stunned, my back stinging. “That hurt.”
The bookcase I’d flown out of was dripping, the ice thawing and slipping down the spines of books.
“Gia.” Bastien fell to his knees beside me. “Are you injured?”
“I’m not sure.” I pushed myself up to a sitting position and, surprisingly, I hadn’t broken my back. Bastien lifted the box with the broken strap off my chest. I placed the other box on the floor, opened it, and examined the vials. Two were broken, liquid puddled at the bottom. Each damaged one represented a life I couldn’t save.
“What happened?” he asked.
“The strap broke. It must’ve torn when I crashed the aircraft.”
Bastien unsnapped the other box and lifted the lid. “No others are damaged in this one. Just the three broken vials from before.”
“So now what?”
“We need to summon Doylis and my guards,” he said. “They’re waiting for us. Can you use the tracer?”
My fingers touched the silver tracer on my wrist. I’d forgotten about it. I blew on the butterfly form. It pulled from my skin and hung in the air in front of me.
“Find Doylis.” The tracer jetted off, bouncing along the display cases filled with antique books until disappearing around a corner. A dim light shone across the dark wood and gold leaf accents on the pillars and bookcases surrounding the large room.
“We should get to a place less in the open.” Bastien lifted two of the leather boxes and carried them into a nearby alcove surrounded by polished bookcases. I followed him with mine and placed the carriers on the floor, sat beside them, and hugged my legs, resting my head on my knees. Bastien put his down next to mine and took a seat beside me.
“I messed up.” The weight of my mistake crushed me. “I damaged vials.”
Bastien slid an arm around my back. “It was an accident. You never flew an aircraft before.”
I tilted my head to look at him. “People will die because of me.”
He lifted my chin with his fingers. “There are forty vials in each box. You will save one hundred and fifty-five beings.”
A deep voice called Bastien’s name from the reading room.
“It’s Doylis.” He released my chin, stood, and offered me his hand.
I gripped it, and he towed me to my feet. He kept hold of my hand all the way to the reading room.
With Doylis were five older Sentinels—two women and three men in their late twenties or early thirties. Bastien let go of my hand and crossed the room to them. “I’m so glad to see you, dear friend.”
Doylis towered over Bastien and the others. “Glad to see you made it, as well.”
The tracer flew over and bounced in front of me. I lifted my wrist and it sank into my skin.
The gateway book flew out of the bookcase, water spraying out as it opened. Arik jumped out of the thawing page, followed by Demos.
I sucked in a ragged breath and quickly backed away from them.
I hadn’t seen Demos since our hideout in Ireland. His Sentinel gear was a little banged up. A few of the red plumes on his Roman-style helmet were bent, the visor dented.
Arik straightened, water dripping from his clothes and hair. His brown eyes peered through the eyeholes in his helmet and surveyed Bastien and the others before landing on me. “What is this? Gia, you need to come with me.” He held out his hand, his fingers motioning me over.
Three of the Sentinels moved between us.
“If you go with them,” Arik said, hurt sounding in his voice. “You will be deemed a traitor.”
My hands curled into fists. “You would let thousands die? How could you? Arik, please, don’t do this.” The look on his face told me no matter how hard I pleaded with him, he wouldn’t listen.
Demos’s face screwed up in confusion. “What is she saying?”
My gaze went from Arik to Demos. “There’s a cure for the disease spreading through the Mystik covens. The council has forbidden its release.”
“Why don’t they want to distribute it?” Demos asked.
With my eyes back on Arik, I said, “Ask him.”
Arik pulled his fingers through his wet hair. “It hasn’t been tested. Get your battle globe ready.”
“They’ll die without it.” My fists tightened, nails biting into my skin. He had to understand. Had I really misjudged him this much? I believed he’d fight to save people. “It’s been tested. It works. I’m doing this with or without you. Try to stop me.”
“We have our orders.” Arik formed a fire globe on his palm. “Gia, if you go against them, you are an enemy of the Wizard havens, and I must take you in. Don’t turn this into a fight.”
Demos stepped in front of me, faced Arik, and sprouted a green globe. A faint howl came from the swirling wind in his hand. “We may have pledged our allegiance to the council, but she’s the presage. We are sworn to protect her.”
By the look on Arik’s face, Demos’s betrayal had gutted him. His jaw stiffened, and he squared his shoulders. “Back down,” he warned. “The council comes first.”
A rope of blue light shot across the room and wrapped around Arik’s arms. He fell, his knees thumping hard onto the floor, and struggled against the electric bindings.
Bastien manipulated the stream with his fingers, keeping Arik down.
Demos turned his globe toward Bastien. “Release him.”
“Not when he wants to arrest Gia,” Bastien said.
“All right. We’ll tie him up.” Demos lowered his hand, and the green sphere popped. “Does anyone have something I can use?”
Bastien and Doylis glanced around as if trying to find something. As I searched myself, my fingers grazed over the belt securing my trench coat. “Will this work?” I removed it and handed it to Demos.
Demos inspected it. “It should do,” he said, then turned to Arik. “I’m truly sorry.”
Arik scowled at him. “You’ll regret this.”
“I’m sure I will.” Demos tried to move one of Arik’s arms behind his back, but Arik fought him, breaking free from his grip, and then wincing when the electric rope shocked him again.
“Let me help,” Doylis said, holding Arik’s arms together so that Demos could secure the belt around Arik’s wrists.
Demos avoided touching the electric rope while he tied a final knot in my belt. Doylis released Arik’s wrists.
“Now, remove the lasso,” Demos directed Bastien.
Bastien lowered his hand, and the electricity snapped from his fingers, the rope disappearing in a series of sparks. Arik sat back on his heels, his hands tied behind him, and he took a deep breath.
“The longer we stay, the more likely we’ll be caught.” Doylis kept a hold on Arik. “Where is the cure?”
“I’ll get the boxes,” I said and headed for the alcove. My lip trembled, and the tears pooling in my eyes blurred my vision. At the same time that Bastien’s love was filling my heart, Arik’s resolve was breaking it. Betraying Arik, going against him, felt wrong. Since entering the Mystik world, he’d been my rock, protecting me and guiding me through this scary adventure. I missed him, and letting go was tearing me apart.
Bastien came into the alcove. I lifted one of the boxes and slipped the strap over my head. His hand on my shoulder stopped me before I could grab another one. I turned, and he cupped my face in his hands.
His eyes were like dark pools in the low lights of the library. “You know what I admire most about you, Gianna? It’s your ability to empathize with others.”
“It hurts too much.”
“You care for Arik, and that’s okay. It’s similar to how you feel about Nick. And you feel guilty…as if you’re betraying Arik. The lives we can save matter more than his battered ego. He’ll come around and see our side of things, eventually. I just hope it’s sooner than later.”
How did he always know exactly what to say or how I was feeling?
“Stop being so perfect,” I whispered.
“It can’t be helped.” Amusement lit his face, and he pressed his lips against my forehead. It was a brief and tender kiss, but it held so much emotion, causing a warmth to rush over me. He released me. “Now, we better get out of here. We have those lives to save.”
He picked up two boxes, and I took the last one. Doylis held Arik’s arm and followed Bastien and me to the other room. Demos took up the rear, darting looks over his shoulder in case anyone jumped into the library. We stopped at the third bookcase on the east wall.
“Ammettere il pura,” Bastien spoke the charm.
The bookcase shuddered as it moved across the floor.
Admit the pure. The charm was a way to keep out those with evil intentions. But did it really work? Veronique had entered Asile when I’d first come to the Mystik world, and she was rotten to the core.
What she said before she died hit me. We are all between good and evil. Make sure yours is the right side—
It was as if chilly fingers ran up the back of my neck. I had been on the wrong side without knowing it. I believed in the Wizard Council because Arik and Uncle Philip put all their faith in it.
I stepped over the proverbial good versus evil line and followed Bastien down the steps into the dark tunnel.