Hungry Earth (Elemental Book 2) (18 page)

“To the library.”

“Why?”

“I thought you wanted to know who I am.”

“A bibliophile?”

She laughed. “That I am. Too bad my father doesn’t
understand. He thinks you’re not ready, but he doesn’t realize that you’re not
safe.”

“He doesn’t think I’m ready for what?”

“You must find the key before Logan and Vincent do.”

“Why?”

“You saw the tower, remember? The wizards want to
destroy it.”

“What did that note say?”

“It said the fourth–”

*          *          *

I woke to a sharp hiss, which was followed
immediately by furious cursing in another language. “Kill that cat!” Darwin
yelled. I opened my eyes in time to see Darwin tossing one of his manga books
at Ghost, who was on his desk. The cat had scattered Darwin’s stuff everywhere.

Henry jumped out of bed at the same time the cat
vanished. “What was he doing?” he asked.

Darwin leapt from his bed as well. “He was after
Baldauf’s journal.”

“What did you find in the journal?” I asked. He
removed a panel from his bookshelf to reveal a hidden compartment, from which
he retrieved the book.

“It sounds like I would learn more from the published
books he wrote, but I was able to figure out that Baldauf was one seriously
messed up dude,” he said. “The man may have once been an innocent victim, but
when he wrote this journal, he was heavily into summoning dark beings. He makes
references to several legitimate grimoires and more sinister works.”

“So Baldauf was a bad guy?”

“He wasn’t a good guy, but I think ‘bad’ is subjective.
However, I don’t think we want Ghost getting this book. Whatever someone wants
this book for, it’s not good. It makes me wonder why Heather had it.”

“Maybe she was trying to keep it from Hunt and
Vincent. Does it say anything about a key?”

“Yeah, actually, it does. There is mention of a key,
but there are apparently four doors. He also made reference to a tower.
Unfortunately, he gets pretty ridiculous in that part. He would rant for pages
about the constructions workers not building fast enough or about the traps. I
get the feeling he wanted to find this tower and keep it to himself.”

“Well, I get the feeling we want to find it.”

“Can your instincts lead you to it?”

“If it was that easy, others would have found it. We
need to go back to the libraries and keep looking for that history book. If we
learn the name of the Englishman, maybe we can find some more books.”

A hard knocking on the door interrupted us. “Henry, I
need to talk to you,” Addison said through the door. Darwin and I rolled our
eyes.

“I don’t know what you see in her,” Darwin said.

“She’s not Holli.”

“Is your fiancé so bad?” I asked.

“My parents picked her out. From what you’ve told us
about Regina, they could be sisters. When I told her I would never marry her,
she just laughed and told me to stop being stupid. If Addison can put up with
me only wanting her for thirty-six days a year, I consider her perfect.”

“Really? I’m perfect?” Addison opened the door. Her
awed expression was almost saddening.

Henry glared at her. “The full moon starts on the
fourth,
not today; get out of my room.”

“That’s not how you keep the perfect girl, bro,”
Darwin scolded.

Henry frowned. “Well, what am I supposed to do?”

“Go get some cucumbers and you two can sit by the
lake and feed the kappa,” I suggested.

“How would that help?” He was honestly clueless.
Addie rolled her eyes, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of the room.

*          *          *

Darwin and I spent the entire day searching the
libraries for more information on Baldauf and found nothing. I caught him up on
everything that happened since I left with Hunt, minus the fact that Henry was
a thief. I trusted Darwin, but it was Henry’s secret to tell.

At dinner, Astrid sat beside Henry. “Logan has me
babysitting the other vampires until Clara is better,” she said.

“Clara isn’t better? Darwin, this is Astrid.”

“She has blood poisoning. She’ll be fine, but it will
take a few days for her to recover.”

“You the chica who ate his dad?” Darwin asked her.
“Das bad manners, lass.”

Astrid frowned at me and I wondered how many cultures
my young roommate just insulted. “Sorry, he talks that way with strangers,” I
said. “Just watch over the vampires because we don’t want anyone else walking
out like Jackson did.”

Henry put his fork down and started sniffing at
Astrid. She scooted a few inches away from him, but he leaned closer to her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Are you early this month?” Darwin asked him. “Is
your biological clock off?”

Henry snarled at him, then fisted his hand in
Astrid’s green satin shirt and pulled her against him. She tried to push him
away as he pressed his face against her throat. Darwin opened his mouth to say
something, but I held up my hand to stop it. This wasn’t how Henry normally
acted, even under the full moon. “Astrid, hold still. Henry, what do you
smell?”

He snarled and let her go. “Nothing.”

“Then I hope you have an explanation, or Astrid is
going to break your nose.” She was furious, but apparently willing to wait for
my permission.

“The shadows have done something to her scent.” He
stood and walked off, leaving us staring after him in confusion. A few minutes
later, he returned with Zhang Wei in his tiger form. Astrid let the tiger sniff
her. When he roared, Astrid raised her fists to defend herself if he attacked.

Seeing how everything could go wrong, I jumped
between the tiger and the vampire. “Stand down, Zhang Wei,” I said, as calmly
as I could. The tiger looked from me to Astrid and took one hesitant step back.

He tried to connect with my mind and I allowed it.
Confusion and worry invaded my mind.

“I know. It’s okay, we’re figuring it out,” I said.

The tiger shifted back. “There is death on her,
Devon,” he warned me.

“That’s a little vague. Are you saying she’s been
around death or that–”

He interrupted me in Chinese. After a moment, Darwin
responded, also in Chinese. They spoke for a few minutes before Darwin turned
to me. “Death has marked her,” he said. “I think the shadows have marked her as
the next to die.”

I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them take her.

*          *          *

I decided that, rather than blindly searching for the
tower, I would try to find out more about it. As far as I knew, it could have
been a doorway into Hell. Thus, Henry, Darwin, Astrid, and I spent every free
minute looking for any book on the history of the school or Baldauf. Henry kept
bringing Darwin books he found, such as
The Magus
by Francis Barrett,
which I thought was a sort of peace offering. Despite the fact that he wasn’t a
wizard and couldn’t even do fae magic, Darwin loved magic books.

Darwin couldn’t find joy in the books because he was
worried about Amelia. Henry, Zhang Wei, and Li Na searched the entire castle,
including the top floor of the underground level. They concluded that Amelia
was missing. I tried to get a moment to ask Hunt, but he was gone most of the
time, so I figured he was looking for the key.

On Wednesday, Henry suggested we get a little more
aggressive about the search. He volunteered to break into the headmaster’s
office and look for anything in there. Seeing as how the wizard could walk
through shadows, I told Henry not to. The fact that he so easily offered to
break into the headmaster’s office when he was so unwilling to shift told me
how dangerous his jaguar was.

Langril was missing all week, including for our
weekly elemental training. On Friday, my roommates and I skipped Kale’s class
and went to the top floor of the dorms, where Henry was able to sniff out the
professor’s room. Of course, the door was locked, but that didn’t slow the
expert thief for a second. He pulled a professional-grade lock picking kit out
of his school bag and went to work on the deadbolt.

He had it open in seconds.

“Damn, you should help me break into the–” Darwin
started.

“I do not enjoy this work,” Henry interrupted. “If
you have a legitimate cause, I will be happy to help. However, I will not feed
your penchant for trouble.”

“Buzz kill.”

I sighed and Henry pushed the door open.

Professor Langril’s room was actually too tidy and
normal for the eccentric professor. There was a standard twin-sized bed with
dark blue blankets, a work-desk with nothing on it, a reading chair in the
corner, and a bookshelf next to the chair.

“Darwin, check the bookshelf, Henry, check the desk drawers,”
I said. They immediately got to work while I searched the wood floor for any
loose boards that could have hidden a secret compartment. Ten minutes later, I
found nothing, but I felt like I was missing something.

My instincts weren’t helping, so I stopped in the
middle of the room, sat down, and focused.

“Bro, it’s not nap–”

“Shut up and let him work,” Henry interrupted.

I focused on Heather. I had never connected with her
mind, so I pictured the last time I had seen her alive. She was taking me to
see Mrs. Ashcraft. I focused on her bright smile, the sound of her voice, and
the scent of her. I felt something; not a mind but something more obscure.

“What are you looking for?”
It was her voice
in my mind.

“A book,”
I said.

“Where would you find a book?”

“In the library, but we already searched the
libraries,”
I told her. She sighed right before I got it. I opened my eyes
and broke the connection. I wasn’t a complete idiot. I stood up and searched
the bookshelf, but found nothing more than Darwin had.

I pulled out books like
The Occult
by Wilson,
Compendium
of Magic and Occultism, Tarot for Fun and Profit, Astrology for Fun and Profit,
and
Coffee Table Book of Spells and Magic
. “What the hell is this
shit?” Darwin asked. “I thought he was a wizard. These books are for wannabes.”

“So why are you taking them down?” Henry asked as I
piled the books on the desk. Without waiting for my answer, he started helping
me.

“Where would you find a book?” I asked.

“In the library,” Darwin answered.

“Right, so where do you find a secret book?”

“In the… secret library. I get it.”

None of the books were triggers, so Henry and I moved
the bookshelf. There was a rust-colored stain outlining the wall where the
shelf had been. “Oh, well, I guess we should just give up, then,” I said
sarcastically. Like I had done when Ghost showed me the secret passage, I
pressed my hand firmly against the wall. The section inside the stain gave
about a half inch, then slid open to the side, revealing an eight-by-ten secret
library. I pulled out my penlight and clicked it, only to remember I had killed
it.

“Got a light?” Darwin asked, grabbing a candle Henry
had found in the desk. I pulled out my lighter, lit it, and held it out like a
torch.

Against the far wall was a small writing desk that
was spilling over with papers. Every inch of every wall consisted of
bookshelves that were crammed with books. “Henry, check the desk. Skim through
the pages to see if anything strikes you as odd. If it’s in another language,
ask Darwin.”

“I can read Portuguese,” he said.

“Good to know. Darwin, help me check the books.”

We got to work. These books were mostly hand-written
grimoires, some old maps, and some very old and rare books, such as a copy of
the Egyptian Book of the Dead with papyrus paper. I found a small book that
looked to be only a few hundred years old, written in German.

“Darwin, check this one.”

“I found something, too,” he said, holding out a
familiar book. He laid his out on top of the desk and started flipping through
pages. “We got it! This is the same history book, but it’s not vandalized.”

“What’s the Englishman’s name?”

He skimmed through a couple of pages. “Leara
Kingling,” he finally said. “That’s an odd name. It sounds… not familiar, but
like my brain is trying to recognize it.”

“That was the name the gnome gave me. He said that I
had to stop Leara Kingling. Maybe it’s a language you know?”

“No, that’s the first thing my brain works out.
According to the book, the man died, so maybe the gnome meant for you to stop
whatever Kingling was trying to accomplish.” He gathered several more from the
bookshelves, but didn’t bother looking in them. “Let’s get these back to our
room before we get busted.”

We were careful to put everything but the selected
books back exactly the way we had found it. When we got back to our room,
Darwin spilled the books across the floor and flipped through pages of multiple
books at once.

“Damn,” he said after about half an hour. “First off,
Baldauf and Kingling knew each other. Apparently, Kingling was an extremely
powerful wizard. Baldauf got into the dark stuff and began building the castle
about the same time he met Kingling. From the books, it sounds like Kingling
was a servant to Baldauf, but Baldauf was terrified of Kingling and the
Englishman was definitely a more powerful wizard.”

“Does it say anything about the tower?”

“A bit. It looks like the castle was built around the
tower as a conduit for summoning… the translated word would be shadow walkers.
I think the tower is some kind of portal or gateway. There’s a phrase Baldauf’s
daughter wrote over and over again on everything and with anything she could
possibly write.” He showed me a black-and-white picture of a bedroom with
writing all over every wall, etched into the wood of her bare bed, and even
chalked on the floor.