Guardians of the Boundary (The Conjurors Series Book 3) (22 page)

Gideon released a small breath
of relief, but she saw a new tension in his shoulders that spoke of something
more. “He did not indicate that he would leave the Globe so soon. Perhaps
because he knew that I did not approve.”

“That’s why I came to see you. I
asked Chrome what your reaction was when you found out that he would be sent to
Earth, and he didn’t tell me. I wanted to make sure that he’s not in some kind
of danger that I don’t know about.”

Gideon examined her silently for
a moment before he spoke. “I know of no risks to Chrome’s physical well-being
that would jeopardize his safety on Earth. My concern is for his mental
stability for such a task.”

“What do you mean?” Valerie
asked.

“I have known Chrome since I was
a pup, as he used to call me. Though he was always more serious than Jet, he
was the most fair-minded and honorable of Knights. But since Jet’s death,
hatred has arisen in him. Instead of justice, he seeks vengeance.”

“I can’t blame him,” Valerie
said, remembering her own losses the year before.

“Vengeance leads to a path of
war, not the light,” Gideon said. “Chrome may inadvertently serve the Fractus
by indulging in his blood thirst. I fear he is on the brink of losing control.”

“And if he lost control on Earth
and sparked a battle, countless innocent human lives could be lost,” Valerie
said. Gideon bowed his head once. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll watch over
him.”

“He respects you
more than you know,” Gideon said. “If anyone can bring him back to himself it
would be you.”

Back at Skye’s office, Valerie
was not surprised to find that her brother was still mentally projecting on
Earth. She knew she’d have to pull him back to the Globe eventually so that he
could eat and drink. But for now, she left him undisturbed.

Instead, she projected back to
the electronics store and found a couple of the human Guardians eating lunch.
They told her where she could find Chrome, which was now many miles away.

Valerie had to project to
several different locations before she caught a glimpse of Chrome, with an
exhausted Chisisi and Elisabeth trailing after him. He immediately sensed her
presence, and his eyes met hers. She caught an image of a forked path, and at
the end of each lay a treasure.

“Master Chrome has found two
trails,” Chisisi said. “One path leads to Zunya.”

“That must mean it also leads to
Joe!” Valerie exclaimed. “Does Henry know?”

“Oh, he knows,” Elisabeth said,
her tone loaded. “And he wants us to drop everything and follow it.”

“The other trail leads to the Byway,”
Chisisi said. “We have to decide which direction to follow first.”

“Chrome, which one is closer?”
Valerie asked, and an image of Henry’s face appeared in her mind. Then he
showed her the image of the trail again, and she saw that it was a winding one.
Zunya’s creepy vampyre magic was all over the city, which meant that they were
close to Joe, but also that it would take time for Chrome to unravel the path.

“Of course, our priority must be
the Byway,” Elisabeth said eagerly. “Your brother must see that we can’t
sacrifice the safety of everyone on Earth for the sake of one individual.”

Though there was truth to
Elisabeth’s words, they reminded Valerie of the argument that Reaper had made to
her and her brother, to convince them to support his cause.

Valerie tried to think like a
general, and not like a sister and someone who loved Joe. She knew she risked
sending Henry to Reaper’s trap by not rescuing Joe, but she wondered how
powerful Reaper would become if he didn’t have access to an easy way to send
his entire army to Earth.

She tried not to let her
struggle show on her face. It was time to behave like a leader and not a scared
girl.

“This isn’t a democracy. We’re
going to save Joe first,” Valerie said.

Elisabeth’s eyes widened in
astonishment, but Chisisi’s face remained closed. Chrome, however, simply
nodded his approval and began following Zunya’s trail.

Before Valerie left them to find
Thai and Henry, she caught Chisisi looking at her and would have sworn that she
saw doubt in his eyes.

Valerie projected her mind back
to the electronics store and found that Henry and Thai were both there,
consulting with the other Guardians. Henry’s excitement at the new lead in
finding Joe was palpable. He couldn’t stand still for a moment, restlessly
pacing as they waited for Chrome, Chisisi, and Elisabeth to return.

“He’s going to need time to
unravel the trails,” Valerie reminded Henry gently. “You need to eat and rest.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will,” Henry
said, barely paying attention to her.

“Henry, I swear to you that our
team will help Chrome around the clock until we find your dad. Go with Valerie
for now,” Thai said, standing in front of Henry. “You can trust me.”

His words snapped Henry out of
his trance.

“I know I can,” Henry said, and
he took a step closer to Thai. His voice was low as he added, “I’ll never
forget this.”

“You don’t owe me anything.
You’re a brother to me,” Thai said, but he was looking at Valerie when he spoke
the words.

“Come on,” she said to Henry
gently. “Kanti will want to hear your news.”

Henry nodded distractedly, but
when Valerie let her mind return to the Globe, she saw that Henry had returned
as well. It was dark in Skye’s office now, and the centaur had left. In his
place was Oberon, sitting beside two plates of food.

“It was hot when I brought it
here,” Oberon said when he saw Valerie and Henry stretching, back from Earth at
last.

Valerie had never spent such a
long period of time mentally projecting on Earth before, and returning was like
waking up from a dream.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said, and
began shoveling food into her mouth.

Henry ate, too, but he didn’t seem
to taste his food. Oberon examined his son and then gave Valerie a questioning
glance.

“Chrome found Zunya’s magic
trail,” Valerie explained. “We hope that means he’s close to finding Joe, as
well.”

“He will,” Henry said, slamming
his fork down to the table with emphasis. “He has to.”

“You both need your rest,”
Oberon said. “Henry, tonight I will follow the search for your father, and I
will wake you up if anything significant happens.”

Henry examined his father. “You
would do that for me?”

“I would do much more,” Oberon
said, and he squeezed Henry’s shoulder.

Valerie, Henry, and Oberon left
Skye’s office and headed home in the fading light.

“I should talk to Kanti…” Henry
said, trailing off as he stumbled over a tree root in his exhaustion.

“She is a determined young
woman,” Oberon said, and Valerie saw the approval on his face. “She is waiting
for you at our home. She wanted to come to the Relations Guild, but Skye didn’t
want to attract any more attention with additional visitors.”

They had reached their garden,
and Valerie saw Kanti asleep on the front stoop. Henry gently woke her, and
they had a whispered conversation that Valerie couldn’t follow.

“I’ll stay on the couch
tonight,” Kanti said.

“Nonsense,” Oberon replied.
“Henry will stay on the couch. You can sleep in his bed.”

His words made them
all chuckle. Valerie went straight to her room, in order to get the minimum
amount of rest she needed before returning to the search on Earth and checking
in with Elden and visiting the Knights and…

She’d almost drifted to sleep
when a light knock at her window awoke her. She was on her feet and Pathos was
unsheathed before she was fully conscious. When she saw it was Cyrus, she
dropped her weapon and opened the window.

Cyrus was trying to stifle his
laughter.

“You’re such a cute little
warrior,” he said. “Pathos goes well with your pink pajamas.”

Valerie hauled him into the room
with a little more force than necessary, so he tumbled to the ground. He
grinned as she helped him stand up.

“Come on, is that any way to
tell me that you missed me?” he said, and then pulled her in for a kiss.

It started as a teasing peck,
but Valerie’s heart soon began to pound. It was as if all of the danger from
the day had charged her up, and kissing Cyrus let her channel her energy in a
much more exciting way. Cyrus’s hand was tangled in her hair, and he pressed
her closer. He made a low noise in the back of his throat and Valerie reluctantly
pulled back.

“If my dad finds you here, he’ll
incinerate you,” she said into his ear.

“Literally. With lightning. But
it might be worth it,” Cyrus replied. His breath against her neck made her
shiver.

“You’re right,” Valerie said,
smiling as she leaned back in for another kiss.

This time, it was Cyrus who
pulled back. “I’d risk it, but I forgot one important thing.”

“What’s that?” Valerie asked.

“Leo’s waiting for us outside,”
Cyrus said.

“There’s a lake that leads to Illyria
around here?”

“No. He left Illyria,” Cyrus
said, and the mood was broken.

“What happened?” Valerie
exclaimed, horrified. It had to be serious, because if an Illyrian chooses to
leave behind his immortality, he can never return. She immediately began
pulling on her jeans over her pajamas. She made sure to strap Pathos to her
side, as well.

“I think you need to hear it
from him yourself,” Cyrus said. “Should we get Henry and Kanti, too?”

Valerie bit her lip,
considering. “No. Henry has enough on his mind right now, and he needs his
rest. With Dad projecting on Earth to watch Chrome, Henry has probably snuck in
to sleep next to Kanti.”

Cyrus nodded and climbed out of
the window with Valerie behind him. He led her a short distance away to a tiny
clearing in the woods. Leo sat in the grass with his back pressed against a
tree trunk. He was watching a handful of fairy children playing their game with
the glowing ball.

Valerie’s eyes met Cyrus’s as
they both remembered their first date. Even though it had been weeks ago, they
hadn’t managed to have another.

“There’s never enough time,”
Valerie whispered.

Cyrus’s charming smile dropped
away, and his eyes filled with an emotion that Valerie couldn’t even guess at.

“Less than you know,” he said,
and she saw him swallow. For a fleeting moment, she thought he was going to
tell her something, but Leo had caught sight of them.

“It’s beautiful above the
waves,” he said. “Illyria is so eternally quiet. I thought I’d love the peace,
but I missed all of the life, the constant changing that occurs every day on
land.”

“Leo, I’m so sorry that you’ve
lost your immortality,” Valerie said, sitting near him on a fallen log. Cyrus
sat next to her, his leg pressed against hers.

“I’m not,” he said. “It wasn’t
the right path for me. I don’t think I’d ever find the answers I was looking
for about my family. They’re gone, and I’ll only know for sure where they are
when I pass into the ether myself.”

“Is that why you left?” Valerie
asked.

Leo sat up straighter. “No. I
had hoped to be a help to you as a conduit to knowledge in Illyria. But it
became too dangerous. Gabriel began visiting Illyrians who opposed the Fractus,
and then they wound up missing.”

“Do you think he killed them?”
Cyrus asked, and his hand found Valerie’s.

Leo shook his head. “Not
exactly. He evicted them from Illyria, so their lifespans are considerably
shortened now that they dwell on land, as I do. But they won’t live long
without help. After being among the Akashic Records for so long, they have
forgotten the mundane details of how to survive above ground. They may perish
trying to remember how to do simple things, like eat and find shelter.”

“Did he evict you as well?”
Valerie asked.

“No, I left when I heard that I
was on Gabriel’s list. I wanted to surface in a place of my own choosing. I was
already considering leaving before this happened, and the reason has to do with
your Cyrus,” Leo said, his eyes crinkling when he smiled at Valerie.

Valerie was mystified. Her
expression must have shown, because Cyrus shifted away from her.

“What, you can’t imagine that
I’d be important enough for Leo to consider leaving Illyria?” Cyrus asked.

Valerie wanted to deny the truth
of Cyrus’s words, but her instinct had been exactly that. Cyrus was hers—her
rock, her companion, her boyfriend. She didn’t want him to have an important
role to play in this dangerous dance with the Fractus. She gripped Pathos’s
hilt instinctively, and touching it reminded her that he already was a crucial
part of it all.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. Not
only have you saved my life more than once, but you’re one of the pillars. I
wish I could protect you from that, but I can’t,” she admitted.

“I’m not a child or a damsel in
distress for you to take care of,” Cyrus said, glaring at her.

Leo gave a little cough, clearly
uncomfortable, and she saw Cyrus force himself to take a breath.

“We’ll talk about this later,”
he said, and Valerie nodded. She reached out to squeeze his hand, but he didn’t
reach back, so she dropped her hand.

“Tell me what made you leave,
Leo,” Valerie said, tearing her gaze away from Cyrus.

“When I was chosen to go to
Illyria, I left everything behind, including my Guild. I never wanted to touch
a weapon again, much less create new ones. But when Cyrus showed me how he
could inject light into existing weapons, I must admit it sparked my old
fascination with the craft.”

“And I’m not the first
lightweaver he’s met,” Cyrus added, and Valerie saw that the angry tension had
begun to melt away from his tense stance. In its place was his usual
confidence. “No one thought it was possible.”

“To wed existing materials, like
metals, to light, is incredibly complex. I doubt other lightweavers considered
it possible,” Leo said. “Cyrus’s ability could be the weapon that will enable
you to defeat the Fractus.”

“Explain what you mean,” Valerie
said, trying not to let herself get too excited.

“Until now, Zunya and the other
Fractus like him have been nearly invincible. If anyone gets too close, their
powers are stripped. It’s much harder to defeat your enemy without magic,
unless you’re specifically trained.”

“Even most Knights aren’t
trained to battle without using their magic,” Valerie agreed. She thought of
her recent encounter with the young Fractus in Ephesus who had been able to
suck away her magic. She and her team had no option except to run from them.

“Zunya is a vampyre, and his
weakness has always been light, but he has been too strong and too clever for
it to seriously impede him in the past. But if a drop of light were to enter
his bloodstream through a weapon, it would be poison to his system,” Leo said.

“Like Sanguina,” Cyrus added,
unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. “The instant you nicked her
with Pathos’s light, she was a goner. She would have been dead within minutes
if you hadn’t saved her.”

“Are you sure it would work the
same way for Zunya?” Valerie asked.

“He’s been the number one
Fractus target for decades, so I have accumulated a large amount of data from
Conjurors who have survived encounters with him. I have every expectation that
this will work on Zunya and all Fractus who are derived of the same type of
magic,” Leo replied.

“Tell her about the Fractus’s
new weapon,” Cyrus interjected.

“I did not see the Akashic
Record on the subject for myself, but a reliable source informed me that the
Fractus have begun developing a weapon that harnesses Zunya’s power. In
addition to being deadly, it would weaken the power of any Conjuror who was
near it. However, the person holding the weapon would be immune to its
effects,” Leo explained.

“That sounds a lot like those
funnel things that Jack and his gang used when they worked for Zunya,” Valerie
said. “And now all of Jack’s old comrades have been turned into human versions
of that thing, which is even more powerful. Why would they need another weapon
that does the same thing?”

“You don’t understand the power
of the new weapon,” Leo said. “It isn’t something that can simply be run from,
like when you faced the boys in Ephesus. It enters your system through an open
wound and will follow its victim until all of their magic is stripped away.
There are even rumors that it doesn’t stop at that, but continues to consume
the victim’s life.”

Valerie repressed a shiver, suddenly
aware of the chill in the night. “So you’re saying that Reaper could use such a
weapon in addition to his magic. With it, he’d be unstoppable.”

“Unless the person fighting him
had a weapon made of light,” Cyrus said.

“That’s only a theory,” Leo was quick
to add. “Because the basic magic of the new weapon comes from vampyre power, it
makes sense that light would be a powerful defense against it. But this is all
a guess.”

“It’s the only theory that we
have,” Valerie said. “And I’m afraid we’ll have to test it soon.”