Chapter Eight
The ceiling leaked in the dark room. My nose and ears felt like ice; I pulled the rough covers tighter around me. It was strange that the temperature had changed so drastically. Since arriving in the Fey realm, it had been a perfect seventy-two degrees. I sat up when a door creaked open.
I wasn’t in the same room I’d gone to sleep in.
“Your Highness,” a deep man’s voice said behind the flame of a candlestick in his hand. “You asked to be awakened with any news from Asile.”
“That I did,” Athela said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. I was in the head of Royston’s mother, my ancestor who’d lived hundreds of years ago. She was an enchantress, hijacking my dreams ever since I’d entered the Mystik realm, showing me things from her past. Things she felt I needed to know to help her son destroy the Tetrad.
The man turned his back as Athela crossed the cold floor, a flimsy nightgown flowing around her legs and her blond hair swaying against her waist. She grabbed a thick, red robe from a chair and slipped it on.
“What have you heard?” she asked, her voice shivering a little in the cold.
“Taurin’s sons have been murdered. The whereabouts of the Chiavi are unknown. Mykyl—” The man cleared his throat. “Your father’s body rots while the people of Esteril celebrate his crucifixion. Shall I send an army to retrieve it for burial?”
“No.” Athela tied a gold rope around her waist and stared into a distorted mirror. She was older than the last time I was in her body, most likely in her forties. “All is how it should be. My father betrayed our people. Betrayed me. Let them have their revenge.”
The anger Athela had for her father mixed with my sadness for her. She never felt the love from her father that I had from Pop. It must have been hard growing up with a father as cruel as Mykyl.
Why am I here? I thought. What does she want me to know?
The man kept looking back at the door. “As you wish, Your Highness. We must leave. You are no longer safe here. The uprising sends an assassin to your door as we speak.”
“Very well,” she said, turning from the mirror. “Alert Cadby. We leave tonight.”
His eyes went back to the door. “The council has sent Cadby to a Somnium for your son’s murder.”
She covered her mouth with a shaky hand. “He was wrongly accused. My son is not dead.”
“There is no reasoning with the Wizard Council,” the man said. “They fear the uprising. Those who want to overtake the human world won’t stop until you are dead. Taurin’s vision of two separate worlds won’t last. It is only a matter of time before those who want to rule all will rise.”
“My death will shock them all. It will cause the people to vote for a just high wizard to lead the council.” Athela grabbed bottles filled with what looked like insects and herbs. She opened a leather-bound book that I recognized. It was the ancient spell book that Nana had found and Emily now used.
It was her book.
“Taurin’s sons and daughters will keep the peace for many generations.” She read one of the pages of the book. “But it cannot last. His or her time will end, and another ruler will take over. The council will want to use the Tetrad to bring the Mystik world out of hiding. To enslave humans.” She dumped the contents of the bottles into a mortar bowl and worked at grinding them with a pestle.
A loud thump sounded somewhere in the castle, and the table shook.
The man adjusted his stance, his eyes darting to the door. “The assassins are ramming the door.”
She lit a match and set the crushed items in the bowl on fire. “They may kill me, but my spirit will not leave. I will send my own assassin. An assassin of their false truths.”
Her eyes closed and darkness overtook me. She chanted something, and a brightness lit the back of her eyelids. A loud boom resounded through the room, and her eyes flew open. The man lay unmoving under rubble from the ceiling, blood staining his beard and the candle by his hand snuffed out.
“Daughter of the Seventh, you are my chosen one.”
Is she talking to me? A chill ran through my thoughts.
“I’ve waited hundreds of years for you,” she continued. “I’ve cried thousands of tears for peace. It is up to you to guide my son in achieving what he is meant to do. You are the Assassin of Truths. Expose the evil choking the Mystik world. Destroy the weapon they mean to use.”
The roof collapsed, crushing Athela. A tugging sensation overcame me as her soul departed her body. It was as if someone had pulled a plug and everything suddenly turned dark. I was left there alone and cold within her mind.
Sadness hit me, so painful it cut through my soul. She was dead. And without doubt, I knew she would never enter my dreams again. She had shown me all I needed to know. It was her way of connecting with me, touching my heart so that I would understand her cause. So that I would do what she wanted. To expose the truth. To destroy the Tetrad. To finish what Taurin believed was the only way for the Mystik and human worlds to exist. One without the other. Separate. Because those with magic could control those without.
“Gia, wake up.” A whisper tickled my ear.
I opened my eyes. Emily leaned over me. Her pasty, heart-shaped face glowed in the spotlight of the moon coming in through a nearby window. It was warm again. Colorful crystals hung from the ceiling, and white sandstone walls surrounded me. The cushions on the chairs and bedcovers were various shades of blue. I was back in the bedchamber in the Fey realm.
I hadn’t seen much of her the last two days. She had been locked up in her room studying the ancient spell book.
“You’re crying.”
“Bad dream,” I said and noticed my messenger bag on the bed. “Thanks for keeping my bag safe.”
“No problem.” She smiled. “Anyway, I found something cool in here.” She flipped open the ancient spell book to a page she’d dog-eared. “This is going to sound awful and somewhat barbaric, but hear me out. I found a charm that can hide things on a person’s body. Wizards used it to keep thieves from stealing precious gems and other stuff. It’s going to get tough carrying around the Chiavi everywhere without someone noticing. And considering both worlds depend on them not falling into the wrong hands, I think we should try it.”
I sat up. “Go back to the part where you mention it’s somewhat barbaric.”
She exaggerated a breath. “I have to brand them into your skin.”
“What?”
“That’s just a response, right? You did hear what I said.”
“Yeah, I heard you.” My fingers went to the crescent moon scar on my chest. Nana Kearns had branded the charm on me when I was a baby. It shielded me from the Monitors. I could jump through any gateway book unnoticed. “My nana branded me once. She used a numbing spell on the area before doing it. Do you know how to do one?”
The apologetic look on Emily’s face told me she didn’t know. “I’m not even sure I can do the branding spell. We can try one in a place not visible. See how it goes.”
“How about some of Nana’s elixir?”
She shook her head. “The lab was locked, and Nana didn’t answer when I knocked on her bedroom door.”
Nana used earplugs while she slept. Even the smallest noise would keep her up.
I stared at my hands.
Come on, Gia. Toughen up. It would be hard to travel with a bag full of Chiavi clinking on my side. And it was better if they were hidden.
“Okay, let’s do it.”
She nodded and placed the book on the bed. “Where do you want me to put them?”
Where do I want them? Not the arms. Someone would notice. Stomach? No. Someplace it was easy to hide. “My side. How do I get them off when needed?”
“I’ll teach you the charm for removing them. We’ll practice.”
I turned my side toward her and removed my shirt. Thankfully, I still had my sports bra on. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”
She passed me a thick piece of leather.
I took it. “What’s this for?”
“You know, to put between your teeth and bite down on so you don’t scream or bite off your tongue or something.”
“You’ve seen too many movies.” I turned the tan piece over in my hands, inspecting it. “Where did you get this? Is it clean?” There was no telling where that thing had been or what germs were on it.
“I washed it. I cut it out of a chair in my room.” She looked over her shoulder at the door. “Let’s get this done before someone comes.”
“Okay. Torture me.”
“Funny,” she said, adjusting her position in front of me.
The leather was stiff between my teeth and tasted like my sweaty kickboxing gloves. Emily opened my messenger bag to retrieve one of the Chiavi. She pulled out the cross and placed it on the bedding in front of her. It was the size of her palm, made out of silver, decorated with gemstones, and attached to a chain. After reading over the spell in the book, she held one of her palms over the cross, placed one hand on my side and said, “Abscondere.”
“Nothing’s happening,” I said around the leather piece in my mouth.
“Hush. Let me concentrate.” She lowered her head and mumbled to herself.
Still nothing.
“Abscondere,” she said in a forceful voice. It didn’t even sound like her. There was a darkness to it.
A burning pain hit my rib cage, and I bit down hard on the leather, groaning. It was more like a guttural screech. I slumped forward, leaning over my lap and holding back my screams. Tears stung my eyes. My skin was on fire. I took several deep breaths, releasing each slowly.
“Are you okay?” The worried look on Emily’s face scared me.
“What does it look like?” I strained to view the brand on my side. A cross the size of a thumbprint was burned into my skin. As I stared at it, the angry red mark faded until it was a white scar. “It’s really small.”
“And it healed fast.” Emily flipped the page in the spell book. “Do you want to try and remove it?”
“I don’t know if I can do this six more times,” I said.
“Maybe it won’t hurt as much the next time. You know, as they say, the body gets used to pain.”
I doubted it. “Okay, how do I get it off me?”
“Place your middle and index finger on the brand. It has to be your dominant hand. Think of the cross and only it. Then say, ‘Reditum.’”
The scar felt raised under my fingers. I concentrated on my first memory of the cross. I was playing around with my mom’s red umbrella, waving it in the air like a weapon, when the handle detached and the top of the umbrella went flying across the room, almost hitting Afton. The cross was inside the handle.
“Reditum,” I said.
It was like ripping off a very sticky Band-Aid when the Chiave tore away from my skin and slowly grew to its normal size. The cross hovered in the air, the silver chain swinging underneath it. I grasped it.
Emily’s mouth gaped. “Now, that, you don’t see every day.”
“How do I put it back?”
“Like I did. You say abscondere, and it will brand into your skin.”
“Great.” It was anything but great. Each time I used them, it would be painful.
“What do you think?” Emily adjusted on the bed, crossing her legs. “Do you want to put them all on you?”
It took me several beats to get up the courage to answer her. Having the Chiavi hidden on me was the best way to keep them safe. Only Emily and I would know how to release them. But the pain of having them branded into my skin made me hesitate.
Stop being a baby. Just do it.
I nodded several times, swallowing back my fear. “Okay, I’ll try.”
…
After branding all the Chiavi into my skin, Emily went back to her room. I’d let her keep the ancient spell book. She was coming into her own as a witch, and it felt like the book belonged to her. My heart sank as I kissed Gian’s journal. I no longer needed the information in it, but it tore me apart to leave his words behind.
You have to travel light. I placed the journal on the crystal nightstand. My wounds still ached, but the pain was now dull as I pulled on my pants then a long-sleeved T-shirt. My fingers went to Faith’s pendant and then the glass locket with Pip’s white feather inside. I should leave them behind, but I tucked them inside my shirt instead. They were like lucky charms, and I was afraid to part with them.
The black trench coat Emily had found to replace my bloodied one fit snuggly around my body. One of the pockets had a hole in it, so I buried Gian’s leather canister holding the two vials and instructions in the other one. Since I didn’t have my sword, I left my sheath on the bed and made sure my dagger was secured inside my boot.
Before I met Nana, there was something I had to do. The hallway was vacant. The sound of my boots hitting the polished rock floor bounced off the bare walls. I eased the infirmary’s door open and slipped inside.
The lights were dim, but a lamp attached to Dag’s bed spotlighted Afton. She sat on a stool, her soft voice drifting over the other beds. She was reading to Dag.
Afton heard me approaching and stood. “Hey, what’s up?”
“They have books here?”
Her eyes went to the chapter book in her hands, then passed it to Dag. “They borrow them from the libraries. You’re not here to talk about a book, though, right?”
She knew me well. “I’m leaving tonight. Just wanted to check on Dag and say goodbye to you.”
“He’s improving by the hour. The cure is working.” She spun on her heel, glancing around the infirmary. “It’s healing them all. Dag gets to stay with Peyton and Knox tomorrow.”
“That’s wonderful.” I bent over and brushed the hair away from Dag’s face, the face that reminded me of Bastien and made my heart ache for him. “You do look much better. Did you get ice cream?”
The corners of his mouth turned down. “They don’t have it here. But I did get some treats.”
“Well, maybe you can have some when you return to Asile.” I ruffled his hair and straightened. “I have to go, but I hope to see you again.”
“Me, too,” he said and continued studying the illustrations in the book.
There were tears in Afton’s eyes when I turned around. “What is it?”
“I miss Nick,” she said. “If you find him, tell him…tell him—” A sob cut off her words, and she covered her mouth with a shaky hand.
I gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I’ll tell him. I’m sure he loves you, too. We’ll get him back. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”
A tear dropped from her eyelashes and skittered down her cheek. “I know you will. You should get going. I’ll be fine.”
My eyes traveled up to the third-floor gallery.
“Sinead’s the same,” Afton said. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.”
We hugged, neither of us able to let go first. I gave in and released her. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
I turned quickly and bounded down the aisle, not wanting her to see the tears in my eyes. Fear settled in my stomach like a seed growing and branching out, its roots threatening to take over my body. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see her again.
So I wouldn’t get lost, I hurried back to the corridor my room was in and passed the door.
Two lefts. Then a right. Then up a long stairwell. I replayed Nana’s directions to where we were to meet.
A painting on the wall stopped me. It was of a man lying on his back with a woman cradling his head. They both wore Sentinel gear. A battle was happening around them. There was a cut on the woman’s hand, and she held it over the man’s mouth. I read the Italian writing on a scroll by the woman’s knee.
Erede di erede. Sangue per sangue. Si trova la cura.
I translated it under my breath. “Heir to heir. Blood to Blood. It is the cure.” Gian had written that on the parchment I found in his leather canister. He must have seen this painting before, walked these halls.
“Gia?” Arik’s voice startled me, and I spun around.
“Um… Hi,” I said, totally sounding like I was up to something and just got caught.
He measured his steps to me. “What are you doing awake?”
I could ask you the same thing. But I didn’t, fearing it would sound too defensive.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I took a walk.” I glanced up and down the hall. “Guess I’m lost. I can’t find my room.” The lie made my lip twitch, and I sucked the flesh between my teeth to stop it.
His eyebrow went up as he watched me.
Did he notice? He knew the twitch in my lip was a telltale sign I was either nervous or lying or both.
He couldn’t know where I was going. Nana had warned me about telling Arik what we were doing. He would never let me go against the Wizard Council’s orders, and I wasn’t about to let innocent Mystiks die. Not if I could save them.
Arik nodded the way he’d just come. “It’s back that way. This castle can be confusing. There aren’t many distinctive markers or artworks, and every hallway looks exactly alike. I’ll escort you.”
My heart practically thudded to a stop. I would be late to meet Nana, but if I refused, he’d know something was going on. I forced a smile. “That would be great.”
We walked side by side in an awkward silence through the corridors.
“Are you angry with me?” He broke the silence.
“No. Are you mad at me?”
“Do I have a reason to be?”
He’s suspicious.
“Of course not. I’m just nervous about Sinead.” Which I was, so it was only half a lie, but it still tasted bitter on my tongue.
“Here we are,” he said. “Perhaps you could join me for breakfast tomorrow morning?”
“Okay. That sounds good.” Another lie.
“You understand why I mustn’t let the cure go to the Mystik covens, don’t you?” he asked.
His words broke my heart. How could he not want to do the right thing?
“I don’t understand,” I finally said. “The cure was tested. It’s working. The sick here are getting better by the hour.” Frustration and anger bubbled up in my chest like a geyser waiting to erupt, but I held it back. “Listen, I admire how loyal you are, Arik, but sometimes it can be a mistake to trust without question. I hope you will reconsider your decision. So many lives depend on it.”
“I gave my oath as a boy to do whatever the Wizard Council commands of me. I don’t know how to be any other way.” His eyelids weighed on his deep brown eyes. He was tired and worried. “If this cure indeed works, the council will have the same results as Katy’s tests and will distribute it to the sick.”
We didn’t have time to wait for the council to do their tests. But I didn’t say that to him. The effort would be wasted.
Instead, I smiled and said, “Thank you for showing me to my room.”
“Sleep well.”
I opened the door. “Good night, Arik.” I closed it and leaned against it, holding my breath and listening to his boots clack against the floor and fade down the corridor.
Once I was certain he was far enough away, I breathed again. The minutes seemed like hours as I waited to make sure the coast was clear. Not wanting my boots to make noise, I took them off before leaving the room.
Two lefts. Then a right. Then up a long stairwell. I found a door there, and I stepped out onto a balcony that resembled a helicopter launch pad. Parked in the middle were two single-driver aircrafts. The moonlight danced across the black bodies of the bird-like machines. About half a dozen faeries secured leather boxes with straps to the back of the crafts while Nana supervised.
Bastien was beside one of them, and all my frustration toward Arik dissipated. He wore a black leather Sentinel outfit. A copper helmet that resembled an acorn was on his head, and another one just like it in his hand.
He spotted me, and a spectacular smile stretched his lips. It was a smile that said he’d missed me as much as I did him.
I dropped my boots and ran to him, crashing into his arms and almost knocking him to the ground.
He laughed. “Easy there.”
“You’re here?”
“I believe so.” His breath teased my cheek.
Leaning back, I stared into his striking blue eyes. “I thought we were meeting in the library.”
“I had nothing better to do.” He grinned, the one where his lips had a little bit of a smirk to them.
“Oh really?”
He brought his lips to my ear, and his whisper sent shivers across my skin. “I’d kiss you, but your grandmother is watching us.”
My eyes went wide, and I pulled away from him. I’d totally forgotten where we were. Nana was doing a horrible job at pretending to be busy discussing something with a red-haired girl.
I stared up at him. “You have an acorn on your head.”
That smirk was back. “And I look good in it.”
He was right, but I wasn’t about to tell him so.
Nana walked around the craft to us. “Gia, what took you so long?”
“Arik caught me in the corridor. I had to ditch him.”
She glanced down at my socked feet. “Why aren’t you wearing your boots?”
“The heels were making too much noise in the hall.” I went over to where I’d dropped them and slipped them on.
Bastien offered me the helmet he’d been holding when I was done. “Here. Wear this.”
“Now, you must be careful not to break any of the vials,” Nana said. “Especially when jumping through the gateway. We don’t want any of the cure wasted. Emily will meet you in a few days after I have the vaccine ready.”
“We’ll keep them safe,” Bastien said.
Nana looked at me. “Do you remember Sinead’s tracers?”
“Yes,” I said.
Nana waved to the girl with the red hair. The girl rushed over carrying a shimmery butterfly on her fingers.
“Raise your hand, palm up,” the girl said.
I did as she said.
She spoke to the butterfly in a language that sounded ancient. It fluttered over to me and landed on my wrist, its body and graceful wings flattening onto my skin. It was so light, like a faded tattoo.
The girl grasped my wrist and inspected the butterfly. “She’s on good and tight. When you need to summon someone, just blow on it. The tracer is already programmed and will know what to do when you give it an order.”
“But the Monitors will pick up Bastien’s jump,” I said while twisting my wrist, studying how the wings slightly glinted under the lights.
“My travel plans were sent to the Monitors,” Bastien answered. “It’s believed I’m here to discuss the cure with the Fey. They’ll ignore my jumps.”
It was a smart plan, except for one problem. “But you’re not going home from here.”
“I included several libraries in my plan.” He placed his palm on my cheek. “Don’t worry. I’m traveling all the time. They won’t suspect a thing.”
Nana cleared her throat, and Bastien’s hand dropped away from my cheek.
“Once you deliver the cure to Greyhill,” she said, “you mustn’t use the gateway books. You are to use the Three Barley Flower Passage. It’s an address in Greyhill. It’s in the basement. Push on the brick farthest from the stairs and follow the Talpar’s tunnel to the end. You have to hide from the Wizard Council.”
A Talpar tunnel? I didn’t like the idea of going underground. The Talpars were a Mystik race that looked like a cross between a mole and a human. The Red had used one of their tunnels to escape after the attack on Asile when we’d lost Merl. There were many tunnels, but most of them were secret and only the Talpars knew their locations.
“It will lead you to a library,” Nana continued. “Use the tracer to call Aetnae. She’ll take you to a place where you’ll be safe. Oxillia will show you how to operate the aircrafts.”
The young faery with the red hair had bright amber eyes and was just a little shorter than I was. She wore a fancy tool belt around her waist. “Have either of you ever ridden one of those human motorcycles?”
“I have,” I answered, leaving out the fact that I’d also crashed one before. But really, it wasn’t my fault. I was dodging battle globes while chasing after the Subaru speeding off with Nick.
“I’ve never been on one,” Bastien said.
Eyeing the craft, a sinking feeling soured my stomach. “I don’t think we should drive them. What if we crash?” I put on the helmet.
“Try not to.” Oxillia cocked her head in the direction of the two crafts. “Get on. I will give you a quick lesson. It’s not as complicated as the human vehicles.”
Placing my foot on the running board, I hoisted myself up and straddled the seat. Bastien easily threw his leg over and adjusted on the cushion of his craft. After we went through her instructions a few times, Oxillia pushed a button in the middle of my handlebars, and a three-dimensional GPS blinked to life.
“I’ve programmed your crafts to take you to the entry leading to the portal back to the library.” Oxillia pushed another button. The metal bird roared to life. “All you have to do is keep it upright and lean into the turns. Simple.” She went over to Bastien and turned his on. “The tough part is landing,” she yelled over the noise. “Don’t press too hard on the brake.”
“What happens if we do that?” Bastien asked.
“You’ll crash,” Oxillia said matter-of-factly. “When you’re ready, just lean forward and you’ll take off. It’s a quick ride to your destination. Try not to throw up. It’ll blow back in your face.”
Just then, the door leading into the castle flew open, and Arik came storming out onto the launch pad.