Cinder shook his head in the first natural movement I'd seen from him. "My apologies, Justin, but I was only able to overhear one of their conversations. Although I desired to learn ninja stealth techniques from Elyssa, she was unwilling to spend time helping me."

My girlfriend still had trouble trusting the golem, despite my assurances. Then again, she was a Templar, and they weren't the most trusting people in the world. "Tell us everything you heard," I said.

Cinder began to recite what he'd heard. "Ivy said, 'Why is it here, Bigdaddy?' Jeremiah replied, 'Because it was a safe place to put it.' Ivy then replied, 'If we fix the Alabaster Arch, will you take me to the zoo? Please? You promised after Maximus you would.' Jeremiah then said, 'But that didn't work out so well, did it sugar?' Ivy replied, 'It wasn't my fault. It was my evil big brother's fault.'" Cinder halted his recitation.

"Don't take up an acting career anytime soon," Shelton with an amused expression.

I raised an eyebrow at him then turned to Cinder. "Is that it?"

He nodded. "At that point, they left the building and headed for the transport to the Queens Gate arch station. I determined it too risky to follow them."

"Why don't we just take Ivy to the damned zoo?" Shelton said. "Might get her on our side."

"Your sister thinks you're evil?" Lina said, horror in her eyes. "What have your grandparents been saying about you?"

That was a can of worms I didn't feel like opening, but I told her in brief how Ivy had attempted to kill all the vampires at Maximus's Atlanta compound, and how I'd somehow managed to tweak the spell so it simply removed their vampirism instead.

"How powerful are you?" she asked, brown eyes wide. "How powerful is your sister?"

"I suck at magic right now," I said. "I came here to learn. Looks like someone doesn't think that's a good idea."

"Oh, it's a lot deeper than that," Shelton said, his eyes glowing with the kind of fervor he usually reserved for his arcane detective work. "Think about it. They want to activate the special arch in Thunder Rock, but guess what? It's not working because someone sabotaged it. They figure the missing piece is here somewhere. Then they see you here, assume you probably know about their plans, and send Bigglesworth to kill you."

"Back up a minute," I said. "They still haven't gotten those smaller arches to work yet, according to the operator at the Grotto. That means they haven't gone to Thunder Rock. So how would they know there's something missing from the special arch there?"

"Maybe Daelissa visited Thunder Rock and found out it wasn't working." Shelton shrugged. "I mean, hell, remember when your mom saved you from Jeremiah? Remember how she seemed to teleport away? For all we know, the angels can do that kind of stuff all day long."

That was something I hadn't even considered. "Pretend I'm stupid, Shelton, and tell me where you're going with this."

He snorted. "Not hard to do that."

"Hey, now!"

He held up his hands. "I kid. I kid." He removed his hat, scratched his head, eyes lost in thought for a moment. "The problem is, we don't know enough about this Alabaster Arch. We don't know if there's just the one in Thunder Rock, or more of them scattered around the world."

"Well, we could ask Arcanes at other Obsidian Arch way stations whether their control rooms are identical."

He nodded. "But I have a feeling our Darkwater credentials are only gonna last so long, especially if we start asking sensitive questions."

"They are very secretive about those arch stations," Lina said. "One of the operators nearly took my hair off when I asked about seeing one."

"He nearly took your head off," Shelton said with a smirk. "Not hair."

"Such violence seems an overwhelming response to such a question." Cinder regarded Lina. "It is good you escaped without major damage."

"You are so cute!" Lina said, smiling.

I wrenched the topic back on course. "Shelton, do you know anyone who could ask about the control rooms, or maybe tell us about them?"

His jaw tightened. "Yeah, unfortunately." He looked at the floor. "My father."

Chapter 13

"Your dad?" I asked. "There's no other way?" I wasn't looking forward to another Shelton family reunion, or whatever his real last name was—a question best kept for another time.

"Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of other ways. But none would be faster than me asking Pops about the four-one-one on the control rooms." Shelton absentmindedly twirled his wand on the table. "Hell, he might even know off the top of his head."

"How much do you know about this Alabaster Arch?" Lina asked, looking at me.

I told her the little I knew about the one I'd seen in Thunder Rock. Another memory sparked to life, and something useful bubbled to the top. "You know, I actually activated that arch while I was there."

Shelton's eyes widened. "You activated it?"

"Yeah, there was a symbol for it, so I pressed it."

He leaned forward on his elbows. "What happened?"

"Well, there was a deep bellowing sound, like an alarm, and it flashed black and white for a minute, just like the others do. I remember looking at the world map and realizing the arch didn't light up any of the stars, so I decided not to take it."

Lina touched my hand. "It is good you didn't. Otherwise, we never would have met."

"And you'd probably be angel food," Shelton added.

I grimaced. "Yeah, well, it certainly looked like the arch was working, but I never saw it actually connect with a location on the other side. Then again, I didn't stick around to watch, because a cherub grabbed my leg."

"Well, let's assume there's something bugged with it," Shelton said. "Otherwise Conroy wouldn't be hunting for this mystery piece."

I considered that for a moment, and a question I'd asked myself earlier returned to mind. "I wonder if the arch has something to do with the Grand Nexus. If it goes back to the Seraphim plane of reality—"

Shelton snapped his fingers. "Exactly. This Grand Nexus is just like Grand Central Station. It's the place all the angels came into our world. When it went kaplooey, all the angels nearby turned into husks."

"But there are husks at El Dorado," Lina said. "Wouldn't that mean—"

Shelton snapped his fingers again. "There was another arch there."

Cinder tried to snap his fingers, though it took him a couple of tries to meet success. "This gesture means I have made a startling discovery?" he asked.

Lina put a hand over her heart and gave him an oh-he's-so-adorable, squeee! look. "Something like that, yes."

"The Grand Nexus might not be one place," Shelton continued, ignoring the exchange, "but several interlinked places. Unless the husks somehow managed to take those smaller arches from Thunder Rock to El Dorado, I'd bet good money another Alabaster Arch exists in Colombia."

I pictured both places in my head. Both were abandoned relics. Both had the creepy cherubs—far too many to explain them having migrated there through any other means. It meant both places must have an Alabaster Arch or some other connection to Thunder Rock. "Okay, this is what we need to do. We need to research this Alabaster Arch and see if it shows up in either of these schools' histories. Maybe cross-reference Thunder Rock and El Dorado for starters." I turned to Lina. "I'll send you some pictures of my grandparents. Maybe you can keep an eye out for them."

"There are pictures of the Conroys in the main hall," Lina said. "They apparently donated lots of tinsel to the university. But, I would like a picture of Ivy."

"I don't actually have one of her." I no longer had pictures of anyone in my family. The thought made my breath hitch in my chest. Why did I even bother? Everything seemed so futile. As if to underscore the fact, icy cold veins throbbed through my entire leg.

Lina suddenly squeezed me in a tight hug and kissed me on the top of my head. "Everything will be okay, Justin."

I hugged her back and felt the hot sting of tears trying to break free. I let go and smiled, trying desperately not to lose it in front of everyone. "You bet!" I said, my voice brimming with fake enthusiasm. I hopped up from my chair. "I'll go to the library stacks tomorrow and hunt around for clues to the Alabaster Arch."

"I'll hunt down dear old daddy of mine," Shelton said. "I'm sure he's still trapped here with the rest of us."

"Just try not to get into any fist fights," I said.

"Pshht," Shelton said, dismissing my words with a roll of his eyes. "He ain't worth the energy."

"Who, exactly, is your father, Harry?" Lina asked.

His eyes met hers. "That's a damned good question." He stood, slapped his hat atop his head, and gathered his wand from the table. "I'm gonna take a walk. This room is stuffy." Without another word, he left.

"I should head back to the university," Lina said. "I really need to work on my elementals, but the overflow list for gauntlet rooms is so long I had to wait two hours for my turn today."

"Really?" I said. But school hasn't even started."

"Some students are here on scholarship like me," she said with a sigh. "If we don't keep a high grade average, we lose the money. Elementals are my weakest subject, so I have to practice as much as possible."

"You can't practice outside?" I said. "Looks like there's tons of open ground around the university."

She shook her head. "They don't allow it for safety reasons." Lina rolled one of her bracelets on her wrist. "To make it even harder, the elite students who participate in the Arcane Tourney have priority on gauntlet rooms."