CHAPTER 21
The Moon. The Ace of Swords . . .
—Tarot cards drawn for Annie Freemont
I fled across the training yard, the thump of fists and weapons, the jeers of the onlookers, the screams, the shouts, all blurring into a dizzying roar. I ran under the colonnade and down into the empty arena. Not a single torch marked the way, only the light from the aurora and the waning moon.
My sides ached from running. I could hardly breathe. I stopped and hunched over, clasping my hands behind my neck. Chase. His last words rang in my head. I could see the anguish in his eyes. His ruined nose. The bruises. The blood. The blue of his aura oozing from the marks drawn on his skin.
Last year, I’d taken an ethics class with some of my home-school friends. The instructor had asked us if we could kill. I’d said no. But I’d attacked the shadow-genies and Culus to save my dad when he was possessed. I’d attacked the guy at the yacht club. And now I was certain. I could kill. Lotli.
“Annie.” Dad sprinted up next to me, his breath ragged. “What’s going on?”
“We need to find Mom,” I said brusquely.
I clenched my teeth against the pain in my side, straightened up, and started walking again, heading for a tunnel entry on the other end of the arena. I knew where it went. I knew its tricks: deadly glass rosebushes that could block off retreat, magic carpets that could lead to anywhere. But the tunnel was also one of the fortress’s main arteries and was regularly used without dire consequences.
I lengthened my strides. In the distance a bell began to toll, marking the hour or the changing of the guard, I didn’t know which and didn’t care.
Dad grabbed me by the arms, jerking me to a standstill. “Stop this. What was that bullshit Lotli said about you not liking what Chase is becoming? What did she do to you?”
“She didn’t do anything,” I snapped.
“We’re not going anywhere until you tell me the truth.”
I yanked free. “We have to get Mother.”
“Did she threaten you?”
“No, she told me she’d vanish. Without her, we’ll never get Mother or Chase.” I ground my teeth. “Is that enough for you, or do you want to stand here all day?”
I clenched my hands, my pulse ratcheting so high my head felt like it might burst. Just as I was about to scream from utter anguish and frustration, I realized my feet were planted next to the arena platform where Lotli had performed in front of Malphic and everyone. Where she’d played her flute and made Chase act like her sex-starved puppet. I stood on exactly the same spot where I’d smashed the hummingbird egg. The spot where I’d caused our last mission to fall apart.
Dad lowered his voice, a demanding growl. “What else?”
I shook my head, readying to repeat my denial, but I couldn’t. Last time, I’d let Lotli drive me into being stupid. I couldn’t—no—I wouldn’t let her do that again. Besides, Dad loved me. I loved him. Until recently, we’d never kept anything from each other. Together we were stronger, smarter.
Cold hard determination lifted my chin. No more craziness. No more lies. Focus, work as a team, that’s what Chase would say—and do. I met Dad’s eyes. “I agreed to forsake Chase. . . .”
I gave him an abbreviated rundown. I even told him how Lotli had opened a hellmouth in the elevator. “I don’t know if it was real or an illusion. But I know Lotli is way more powerful than she’s letting on. If we’re lucky, Kate and Olya will find out exactly how much from Zea. But we have to play by her rules for now, even if it hurts.”
Dad crossed his arms; then he unfolded them. He gave a resigned sigh. “I don’t like the idea. But I suppose you’re right.” His gaze darted back toward the colonnade. “Chase and Lotli are expecting us to get your mom, then meet up with them once he’s put in the cell after—” His voice dropped off abruptly. The detail he’d avoided mentioning hung in the air between us. The fight. Chase had to survive one more, both physically and mentally. Then he’d be alone with her.
I bit my tongue, struggling to shove thoughts of what could happen from my mind, the fight, the change, Lotli. “This way,” I said, taking off at a fast walk.
Dad caught up with me, his hand swept my arm. “Annie, remember, if something does happen between them, it doesn’t matter. Sex isn’t everything.”
I hurried my steps, jogging out of the moonlight and into the eerie brightness of the tunnel’s flickering torches. My brain knew it was true. But my heart rebelled against the possibility. Of course sex mattered. Or at least it had to a little.
The march of footsteps came from ahead of us, followed by the distant outline of a swiftly approaching guard. We slowed our steps and bowed our heads submissively. The guard passed without a glance.
Once his footsteps faded Dad continued, his voice a cautious whisper, “I’m serious. Lotli and Chase. Your mother. Malphic. What happened or happens between them. That doesn’t matter.”
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t like to see Malphic dead,” I muttered before I could stop myself.
He shrugged. “Maybe. Okay, I did for a long time. But in the scope of things that could happen, Chase and Lotli . . . it doesn’t matter.” He patted his chest. “What’s in here matters, right?”
“I guess.” But mostly I didn’t want to talk or even think about it.
We came to where the tunnel intersected another. I turned right. My muscles were tense, my insides on fire from so many emotions going every which way.
Dad leaned in close to me and chuckled. “To tell you the truth, I wish Malphic’s nuts would shrivel up and drop off.”
I let out a long breath, my tension melting away. “I wish all her hair would fall out—and her teeth.”
Dad gave my hand a squeeze. “That’s my girl. Now let’s get this done.”
In silence we hurried on toward the portico and main palace, the swish of our robes loud in the empty tunnel. On either side of us, frescos of glowing genies battling with humans, shadows, and wolfmen that were transforming into whirlwinds decorated the walls. Swords. Knives. Rods. Whips. Hatchets. Blood. Guts. The deeper we went into the tunnel, the more alive the frescos seemed in the gloom and torchlight.
Finally, I slowed. “It’s awful quiet around here.”
Dad nodded. “Where do you think Malphic is?”
“Too close,” I said as two guards and a man in flowing black robes appeared in the tunnel ahead of us.