Guardians of the Boundary (The Conjurors Series Book 3) (20 page)

“Or your children,” Valerie
added, her voice soft.

“You are correct. Any of our
bloodline could enter, though I did not think of it at the time. Things were
different then. Chern—Reaper—and I were friends, and he helped me bend space so
that I could lock Babylon away as Adelita’s and my private retreat.”

“What about Reaper? Can he get
in, too?” Valerie asked, her palms sweating.

“No, the lock was done with a
drop of my blood and a drop of your mother’s. Reaper wasn’t present when we
performed the ceremony,” Oberon said. “Why do you take such an interest in that
old relic, children?”

“The People of the Woods believe
that the Globe’s Byway is located there,” Valerie explained.

Oberon dropped his shovel to the
ground, and stared at them both, stunned. “I never knew the Byway was hidden
there. It was merely a fit of fancy that I hoped would make Adelita smile.”

“That’s okay, Dad,” Valerie
reassured him. “Now you can go with us, and we’ll find the Byway. We can return
it to the People of the Woods to be destroyed.”

Oberon’s hands trembled, and all
of his earlier mischief was wiped from his expression. “I can’t go back there.
It’s hard enough walking these paths where she trod so often, her ghost around
me, close enough to torment but too far to ever touch. To return to where we
were happiest would break my heart in twain.”

He bent his head, and even
Henry’s face softened at the sight of Oberon’s grief.

“It’s okay, Dad,”
Valerie said, hugging his waist. “Henry and I will go.”

By unspoken agreement, Valerie
and Henry went alone to the spot Oberon directed them. It might have been wiser
to bring protection, but after seeing their father’s grief, it seemed right
that their visit be private.

“Oberon might think that Reaper
can’t access Babylon, but something tells me he left a back door for himself
that had nothing to do with a blood lock,” Henry said, breaking their silence.

“I know. That’s why we can’t get
it out of there soon enough. If it’s even still there,” Valerie said,
quickening the pace of her stride.

They found the patch of trees
Oberon had described. A heavy curtain of vines hung from their branches.
Valerie pushed them aside, and she and Henry stepped into what had to be one of
the most beautiful spots in the universe.

There were tiers of white marble
that overflowed with thousands of flowers, and waterfalls trickled between
them. Even though it had been abandoned for decades, the garden was perfect. Valerie
remembered how, two years ago when she’d stumbled across this garden, it felt
as if it belonged to her. And in a way, it did.

Next to her, Henry’s eyes were
swimming with tears. “It’s hard to believe that Mom’s dead. It’s as if some part
of her is still alive in this garden.”

Valerie reached over and
squeezed her brother’s hand.

“Do you remember our mother at
all?” she whispered.

“No,” Henry said, his voice
sounding strangled. “I have a distant memory of someone rocking me, someone I loved
and trusted. But she had gray hair and her skin was covered in wrinkles.”

“Our grandmother,” Valerie said.
“I remember her a little, too. I think she was trying to protect us. Then one
day, there was a knock on the door, and her eyes were so scared.”

“Yes!” Henry said, and he opened
his mind to her. Valerie saw the door of a small, cramped apartment open, and a
shadowy figure was on the stoop. Her grandmother slammed the door in the
visitor’s face and gathered them up.

“I remember running, running…”
Valerie said.

“The Fractus must have found
her,” Henry said, and Valerie caught a glimpse of the depth of Henry’s hate for
the people who had taken his father. The darkness frightened her, and Henry’s
mind abruptly shut her out.

“We’ll never know what happened,”
Valerie said. “But it’s enough to know she loved us.”

“Still, I wish I could remember
our mother,” Henry said.

“Come on, let’s find the Byway
and get out of here,” Valerie said. Babylon suddenly seemed like a graveyard
instead of a haven. She shivered.

Henry scanned the vast garden.
“Do you have any idea where to even start? We could spend weeks searching.”

“Elden said it was behind a
waterfall,” she replied. A flicker of memory hit Valerie in her gut. “I think I
know where it is, and who’s guarding it.”

Valerie led Henry up through the
tiers of flowers until they reached the top and could see the other side of the
garden. A huge waterfall fell into a sparkling lake that mirrored the beautiful
grove of trees that surrounded it.

“Come on,” she said, and led her
brother down a steep path.

At the bottom, she pulled him
into a cavern hidden behind the waterfall. Inside it was cool and damp. As she
remembered, a woman dressed as a warrior was posed inside, ready for battle.
She appeared to be reaching for a sword at her side, but her sheath was empty.
If the statue had been real, she could imagine the woman’s frustration at
finding her weapon missing from where it belonged. She reached down to feel the
hilt of her sword, remembering how her own fingers had itched for Pathos every
day that it had been absent from her side.

Henry approached the warrior and
touched the statue tentatively.

“There’s something really weird
here,” he said. “It’s almost like I could reach out with my mind and connect
with the statue.”

He shook his head and pulled
back.

“It has to be the magic of the Byway.
It must be nearby,” Valerie said, looking into the corners of the cavern and
wishing that Cyrus were there to provide some light.

Instead, she drew Pathos and used
its glow for her search. She’d have to make sure Cyrus recharged it when she
saw him again, because it seemed dimmer than the last time she’d used it in the
darkness of the Black Castle. Probably a side effect of Kellen’s magic.

The instant it was removed from
its sheath, Pathos seemed drawn to a spot on the ground. It reminded her of
when it had led her to a secret panel in the wall of the Black Castle. Like it
had then, Pathos slid into a crack like a key fitting into a lock.

A piece of the ground shuddered
and then fell away, revealing a dark opening in the ground.

“Henry,” Valerie breathed. “I’ve
found it.”

Valerie had no doubt in her mind
that she’d found the Byway. She’d thought it might be a weapon or shiny orb.
But growing from the ground, in complete darkness, bloomed a perfect yellow
rose. Henry knelt beside her and touched it with a finger.

“How do we get it out of here without
hurting it?” Valerie asked.

“Something tells me that the Byway
isn’t as delicate as it looks,” Henry said, but his hands were very gentle as
he dug around the roots of the flower and pulled it out of the ground with a
big hunk of dirt so that it could be transplanted.

Valerie unzipped the bag that
she carried on her back, and Henry placed the flower inside. It hit her that
what they were doing was more dangerous than carrying a backpack full of cash
through a dangerous part of town. There were many Conjurors who would attack
them if they suspected what she carried.

Some of her tension must have
rubbed off on Henry, because his muscles tensed.

“Let’s go. The sooner this is in
Elden’s hands, the sooner it will be the People of the Woods’ problem,” Henry
said.

“They have to destroy it,”
Valerie said, though the thought of killing the beautiful flower seemed like a
travesty.

The cavern began to shake around
them, as if from an earthquake. Dirt fell from the ceiling onto the ground, and
Valerie dragged her brother to the mouth of the cavern so that they wouldn’t be
trapped inside.

Valerie could see a blurred
figure through the water crashing down in front of them.

“It’s him,” Henry whispered, his
eyes huge.

Temporary panic made the edges
of Valerie’s vision go dark, but she clenched her fists and forced herself to drive
back her fear. The rushing water parted, and Reaper stepped through, not a drop
of mist touching his body.

Valerie raised Pathos, ashamed
to see the blade trembling in her grasp. She took a small step forward, hoping
Henry didn’t notice that she put herself between him and Reaper. She would die
before she let Reaper torture Henry like he’d done to Midnight.

“Have you reconsidered my
offer?” Reaper asked Henry, not coming closer. “No matter what your sister has
told you, my goal is not to senselessly waste life. I do not wish for harm to
befall your father. But I keep my promises.”

“My father doesn’t want me to give
you what you want, even if it means he’ll die,” Henry said, and Valerie was
proud that his voice didn’t tremble.

“Sometimes we do not know what
is best for ourselves,” Reaper said. “I am not asking you to end lives, Henry.
I am asking you to save them. I must sacrifice a few to save the many. Think
for yourself when you make your decision. Your sister’s opinion is clouded with
emotion.”

“I think for myself,” Henry
snapped.

Henry opened his mind to
Valerie, and she saw that his annoyance was a distraction. He had a plan.

“Then decide now, and come with
me,” Reaper said, drawing nearer for the first time. He spared a glance for
Valerie that was laced with disgust and disappointment. “And I will be taking
that Byway with me. I was surprised it took you so long to find it. I’ve been
waiting for you to come to Babylon and unlock the Byway with Pathos for weeks.”

Valerie considered his words. He
hadn’t said he’d been locked out of Babylon, but that he couldn’t unlock the Byway.
Why hadn’t he tried when Kellen had taken Pathos from her?

In her connection with Henry,
she saw that he had gathered the formidable pool of magic that he’d been
collecting under Oberon’s instruction. He hurled his power outward in a blast
of telekinesis that threw Reaper off his feet and sent him crashing through the
waterfall and into the lake.

Henry and Valerie raced out of
the cave as fast as they could. Their feet had barely touched the shore when
the world seemed to turn around them, like it had shifted 45 degrees. It was
disorienting, and Valerie and Henry bumped into each other as they tried to
continue their escape.

“Run for the trees,” Henry said,
getting his bearings first. He pointed, but before they could move, their feet
began sinking into the sand.

Reaper stepped from the lake,
dripping wet and glowering. He raised his arms, and the air in front of them
began to whirl, like a tornado. The force was so strong that it nearly ripped
the pack off of Valerie’s back, and she gripped the straps tightly.

Rocks and droplets of water rushed
into whatever it was that Reaper was creating. The churning air began to turn
more cohesively, and Valerie recognized what she was seeing. It was a vortex,
like the one Reaper had created two years ago on Earth that had been meant to
suck Henry in and transport him to the Black Castle. It had taken Venu instead,
and Henry had escaped that day. She doubted that they’d be so lucky this time.

The hair on her arms rose, and
without thinking, Valerie spun on her heel and raised Pathos above her. Her
blade connected with Reaper’s arm, which had been about to shove her into the
vortex.

His face didn’t register pain as
her blade sliced through muscle. His flesh knit itself back together before the
first drop of his blood hit the ground.

But Henry’s power exploded at
the sight of his sister threatened by the man who had kidnapped his father. The
power that burst out of him then reminded Valerie of the moment at the Black
Castle when all of the Fractus had dropped their weapons. It was like her
vivicus power—something he could barely control.

Its effect on Reaper was
powerful. The vortex vanished, and he collapsed to the ground. Henry stood over
him, gritting his teeth, and Valerie saw in his mind the urge to annihilate
Reaper then and there. It was a force even more powerful than his magic.

Reaper grabbed Valerie’s arm
then. She was still holding Pathos, and he brought her blade to his throat.

“Do it. Kill me,” Reaper said,
his voice hypnotic. “Don’t make your brother live with my blood on his hands.
End my life for his sake.”

There was truth to Reaper’s
words. Not for the first time, she saw the potential in Henry to slide into
darkness, and murder would eat away at his soul one way or another forever. And
to have her greatest enemy beneath her blade—when would she ever have the
chance to end the battle with the Fractus so simply?

But as soon as she asked the
question, she knew that it wasn’t true. Zunya, Oleander, and countless others
would continue the momentum that Reaper had begun. He would be a martyr to the
cause.

As vivicus, Valerie would die if
she took a life. It was a price she was willing to pay, but why would Reaper willingly
sacrifice himself to end her life? She remembered how the Fractus at the Black
Castle had tried to throw themselves on her blade in order to force a death on
her hands. He must have a powerful reason to want her to commit murder if he
was willing to die for it.

Her mind’s connection with Henry
was still open, and when she remembered the price that she would pay to kill
someone, Henry’s rage receded.

“No,” Valerie said, her eyes
boring into Reaper’s. “I won’t kill you. But that doesn’t mean I won’t hurt
you.”

She raised Pathos, ready to use
it to deliberately draw blood for the first time in her life, but before her
blade connected with his flesh, he dissolved before her eyes. The vortex collapsed.

An instant later, Reaper
reappeared behind Henry and locked his arm around his neck. Before Valerie
could respond, her right arm burst with pain and began to blur. Reaper was
dissolving her arm, the way he had with Midnight.

Valerie couldn’t have stopped
the scream that ripped through her throat if she tried. In response to her
pain, Henry’s body tensed, and a burst of his magic nearly knocked her off her
feet.

Reaper was thrown backward, and
his head struck a rock. The pain in Valerie’s arm eased. She grabbed Pathos and
stood over Reaper, pressing the sword’s tip against his arm.

“I won’t kill you, but how would
you like to live without your arm?” Valerie asked, pressing the tip of her
blade into his flesh hard enough to draw blood.

Reaper began to dissolve again,
and Valerie thrust her sword into his arm. She felt her blade slice muscle
before Reaper disappeared completely.

Henry turned in a circle, his
eyes searching frantically. “I don’t feel him, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t
lurking somewhere.”

“He’s gone,” Valerie
said, her tone certain. Even if Reaper could heal the wound she inflicted, she
suspected that it would take more than a moment.

Valerie and Henry didn’t speak
as they left Babylon behind. Despite the fact that they had survived an
encounter with Reaper, Valerie couldn’t shake off the unsettling thought that nothing
had happened that day that Reaper hadn’t orchestrated, including leaving her
with the Byway.

Babylon was barely behind them
when Azra stepped from the trees. Her body glowed white in the patch of
sunlight that lit her. She shut her eyes in relief when she saw them.

I tracked you both to Babylon to
provide my protection should you need it. But I did not sense the breath of
Reaper’s magic until it was too late.

“You can’t put yourself in
danger now,” Henry said sternly.

Azra tossed her mane, almost as if
she was annoyed, but there was a sparkle of humor in her eyes as well.

Thank you for your concern,
Henry. I would not needlessly put my child in harm’s way, but neither could I
let you two travel alone for such a dangerous and important task, though I
understood your impulse.

“You’re right,” Valerie said.
“It was irresponsible not to bring Gideon and Chrome, at the very least. Reaper
almost walked away with the Byway—and both of us.”

“But he didn’t,” Henry argued.
“He’s not as powerful as we thought.”

Valerie didn’t contradict her
brother, but instinct told her that Reaper had been holding back. The encounter
in Babylon had been a psychological one, and seeing how rattled Henry was made
her suspect that at least one of his goals had been met.

“He walked away from taking the Byway
too easily,” Valerie said. “It must not be as important to him as we thought.”

Azra’s eyes were troubled as she
considered Valerie’s words.
It
may mean that the Byway on Earth has been compromised, or soon will be.
Regardless, we must get the Globe’s Byway to safety immediately.

“For all we know, an army of
Fractus could be racing here as we speak,” Henry agreed.

Valerie and Henry jogged beside
Azra as she hurried through the forest. The unicorn stopped in a valley of
wildflowers that shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow, like Azra’s
mane.

“Don’t we need to climb a tree?”
Henry asked.

The People of the Woods
communicate through living things, and this valley is sacred to them. They know
that I would not use it to communicate unless it was something of great
importance.

Valerie nodded, and Azra bent
her head so that her horn touched a purple flower.

Send Elden. The Byway has been
recovered.

Azra’s words made the valley
gently hum with magic, and a breeze rippled the flowers. Valerie heard the
echoes of a whisper at first, and then the response coalesced into words that
she could understand.

“I’m not far. Stay where you are;
there is protection in place,” said a voice that sounded like it belonged to
Elden.

Around the perimeter of the
valley, Valerie saw a slight shimmer, like they were inside a bubble. The trees
and sky looked slightly distorted through it, and a deeper hum vibrated in her
bones.

Azra knelt in the grass to rest
her swollen belly, and Valerie sat beside her.

She will be here soon.
Azra’s thought carried an
emotion that was infinitely tender for her unborn foal.

A little of the fierce tension
left Henry’s face, and he sat down, too. “You know that it’s a girl?”

Azra dipped her head once, and
Valerie noticed that she began to restlessly flick her tail.
She will join our world, and
then all too soon I will pass from it.

“Are you afraid to die?” Valerie
asked her. It was a question that she would never have allowed to cross her
lips another time, but today as she wrestled with her decision not to kill
Reaper, it slipped out.

Though I will pass from this
place… and all of you… I will meet those I love in the ether. So no, I do not
fear death. But I am afraid that my foal will be abandoned when I am gone. To
be the last of your kind is a lonely fate.

“I swear that she’ll always have
friends,” Valerie said, and Azra nudged her with her nose in thanks.

The thought of those who will
guard her and love her gives me peace.

Before Valerie or Henry could
say anything more, Elden passed through the ring protecting the valley, his
face alight with more excitement than she had ever seen him express.