Shattered Secrets (Book of Red #1) (47 page)

“Okay.” Creiton mimicked me and took off down the hall. “Keep up if you can.”

“Go.” Katherine waved me on. “You don’t want to get lost in here.”

Lifting my skirt, I hurried after Creiton and bumped into him as I rounded the corner. He tumbled back, grasping for my arms to catch his balance.

“Sorry.” I backed away.

“It’s all right.” Creiton offered his arm again. “But maybe you should let me help you the rest of the way.”

Heat flooded my cheeks, and I accepted his offer, then we wandered through the strange structure. Or walked purposefully. I couldn’t tell with all the cut-throughs we took and turns down unlit halls we made. But after fifteen minutes, we entered a small square room outlined by cushioned tables that men, and one or two women, lay on. In the center of the dining area, a young girl played a flute, a simple tune. She stood next to a man who filled pitchers of wine from what appeared to be a giant goblet. Creiton turned right and helped me onto one of the odd seats, right next to Aedan, then sat next to me.

“Ahh, Creiton. Thank you for escorting Abigail.” Aedan held up a chalice full of burgundy wine, smiled, then took a drink. “Would you like some?”

Not if it’s poisoned, thank you. “No, thank you.”

“Don’t be a prude.” Aedan pointed at a plate of food sitting on a low table in front of me. “Eat. Drink. Tomorrow more of our best fighters will go out and participate in the war you started, and we will spend the next twenty or so years emotionally eradicating spirits from humans. You did good. This is our purpose. But the humans wouldn’t be suffering as much right now if your father hadn’t locked us all out in the first place.”

Laughter echoed throughout the room. Some men stared at me, but others were too lost in the music or wine to pay much attention. Though, a few diners glared at Aedan. He certainly didn’t notice.

My stomach growled. I had to eat. Katherine warned me about the food, but I couldn’t avoid it altogether. They’d suspect something, and then they might change their plan to kill me. I put the plate in my lap and picked at the bread first, then ate a few olives, and not even a quarter of the piece of pork.

“Has anyone ever told you that you eat like a bird?” Creiton whispered, leaning his shoulder against mine.

“Yes. I’ve never eaten much.” Liar. What I wanted could be found on the corner of 610 and Stafford Marketplace, a big juicy burger from Five Guys. Maybe some greasy French fries. And a handful of peanuts while I waited. I sipped a glass of water the servant brought me and then grinned at Creiton. “I haven’t seen you eat at all.”

“That’s because he’s not royalty, dear Abigail.” Aedan reached across me and patted Creiton’s knee. “But he’d very much like to be. Tell me, son, why
are
you still here?”

“The company, because it is so pleasant to be around.” My escort slid off the table then turned, grabbed my hand, and leaned next to my ear. “Don’t eat the desserts.”

My heart sped up. Creiton wasn’t part of the plot to kill me. He wanted to help. How many people knew of Aedan’s plans? And what were his plans for all my other friends? I realized he was staring at us and smiled as best I could. “Thank you.”

Creiton smiled as well and then walked out of the room as if he hadn’t a care in the world, his head held high and shoulders squared. He even took his time. His insides had to be squirming as much as mine were, but if they were, he acted well.

“What did he say to you?”

“Oh,” Melos interrupted, strutting toward us with a tray of nuts, pomegranates, and figs, “he probably told her how beautiful she is, didn’t he?”

I nodded.

“I knew it. Creiton has always been a glutton for pretty girls. And this one, Aedan, with her
bloodline
, is probably his next target.” He offered me the tray, and I picked a few nuts and figs and popped them in my mouth. “Here, have a few more.”

Thanks to Creiton’s warning, I didn’t have to worry about all the foods anymore, so I grabbed another handful of nuts and tried some of the fruit as well. “Thank you.”

“I figured you didn’t want to eat in front of that boy. None of the young women do.”

Melos set the tray next to my legs and started a conversation with Aedan, one I didn’t pay much attention to. I chose to stare at the girl still playing her flute. She made her way around the room, her skirts flowing behind her, curly black hair bouncing with each step she took. The song and her motions mesmerized me; the high-pitched notes and the way she moved seemed tethered to each other as though she’d written this song and played it a million times before. I swayed back and forth, fighting the urge to get up and dance around the room with her. Ballet was for my old life, not this new one. Not for these people. But I couldn’t deny the craving pulling me deeper into the music, into the words floating around the room. I hopped off the table and swayed on my feet a little. My head swam—oh no.

Oh no, oh no. They drugged me.

Warm hands gripped my upper arms, helping my suddenly heavy body stay upright. “Silly girl. You drank too much wine.”

The dinner guests laughed, and the music continued.

I had to wake up. I had to snap out of this. What was I thinking trusting Creiton? I should have avoided all the food like Katherine said. I should have punched Aedan in the face and told him to step down. That’s what he feared, so I should have followed through with it. Then he couldn’t have denied me anything. The people would have agreed. They’d want life back to the way the Maker intended—that’s why Aedan wanted me dead, so of course they’d have chosen me.

How stupid. How incredibly stupid.

Dad would be so disappointed in me. After everything he’d taught me, and I walked into the first trap set.

My eyelids sagged, and I was vaguely aware of someone dragging me away from the dining hall.

“Is she truly out of it, or is she pretending, Melos? We cannot afford her to fight, or draw attention to us.”

Aedan—or Melos—put his thumb on my eyelid and lifted it up, but I couldn’t see anything other than blurry outlines.

“Look at her pupils, Aedan. She won’t put up a fight.”

I tried to move my arm, to make a fist, but I weighed so much.

“And she drank water from a chalice Maurran gave her, so no one will doubt us when we say she overindulged and wandered around after we took her to her room.”

“Do you believe we’re doing the right thing, sir?” At least Melos carried some confliction about murdering me.

“You are too young to remember the old days, Melos, but Guardians wouldn’t even mingle outside their kind. They ruled our world, deciding when the planes should be opened and closed, no matter how their decisions affected the rest of our people. Their undiluted bloodline meant the most to them—”

“Until her father.”

Aedan sighed. “This is the way things are, Melos. Look how you’ve done without Guardians as Elders.”

“I don’t like it.”

“
Help
…” My voice came out weak, feeble.

“Tell me to stop, then.”

Please tell him to stop, Melos. Be what you’re supposed to be: good. I don’t want to die, not yet, not this way.

“Let’s get on with this,” he mumbled, crushing my hope.

One of them took a tight hold of my upper arm and jerked me forward. My face met the floor with a loud
crack
. Warm liquid trailed down my lips and pooled in the corner of my mouth, leaving a salty taste on my lips. I wished I could move. Just a little. The knife holster dug into my leg, a mocking reminder that I’d trapped myself with my stupidity. One hour—two max—and then I could have eaten anything.

If I lived to see another day, I’d kill Creiton, but no way would I get that chance.

“Clean up that blood before someone sees it, then meet me where we discussed.”

I hated Aedan. I hated the
Book of Red
.

But as he dragged my limp body toward the spirit of rage, I realized I couldn’t do anything about any of it.

Derick

I waited.

And waited.

My calves cramped from crouching outside this room so long, listening for the door to open, for that specific moment where I’d have to burst through, toss my potion, and rescue Abby.

But nothing.

Silence. Hours of it.

Even the spirit of rage stayed quiet. I’d expected to sit here listening to a caged animal cry out for help, or in disgust. What the hell did a spirit of rage even look like? Couldn’t be good. That’s for sure.

I pressed my ear against the cold limestone wall and heard muffled footsteps. This was it. Scrambling to my feet, I grabbed the potion in one hand and my knife in the other. Deep breath.

Hinges squeaked.

One
: I turned the handle.

Two
: I took another deep breath, pulled open the door, and ran into a space without any light.

Three
: I tossed the potion. White-hot sparks exploded from the ground and showered down throughout the small room, revealing a wide-eyed Aedan and Melos dragging Abby.

Dragging
her.

Blood covered her face, and her eyes were wide open but empty of life, empty of the vibrant girl I loved.

“What did you do to her?” Shit. I took a breath; the smell of sweet honey filled the air. My chest already burned.

Aedan and Melos dropped Abby, and her head bounced off the slate floor.

I wanted to kill them. I wanted to rip out their throats and shove my knife through their hearts. How could they do this? Boredas and Ruckus put her through enough trauma already. Abby didn’t deserve to be dragged to her death. No one did.

Lifting the bottom of my t-shirt over my face, I took another breath, squeezed the knife in my hand, and rushed the two men. My muscles burned, and my teeth ground as I forced myself not to breathe again.

“Did Old Alexander help you get up here?” Melos asked, his face blanching. “Oh, the sweet smell of Intruder potion.”

My feet tingled. A lot. I felt as if no floor existed below me and had to stop just short of Aedan, my vision swirling. I flipped the knife to my other hand and punched him as hard as I could, which felt strangely light.

“You hit an Elder,” Melos said, stumbling toward me with his arms outstretched.

“You’ve sentenced us all to our deaths.” Aedan dropped to the floor, Melos two seconds behind him, and I reached for Abby’s hand but fell, too.

I rolled onto my back and saw the outline of a man standing over me, tall and thin as though food was a scarcity, black eyes dull and lifeless, a cruel sneer disfiguring his sunken face.

Running was impossible. Death seconds away. All I could do was stare.

“And they say we’re the bad ones. You lot kill yourselves. I must say that makes our job much easier.” The man knelt beside me and placed his bony hand on my arm; my blood vibrated everywhere he touched. “But you know what? I’ll help you out of here if you’ll do one thing for me.”

“W-wh—?” Words caught in my swollen throat, and my eyes rolled back in my head.

“Return the
Book of Red
to Boredas of Copper Rocks, and only him.” He
tsked
. “I’ll even stay here as a prisoner. A sign of good faith.”

Could I trust him? Would putting that book into the hands of our enemy make things worse or better? The only thing I knew was that the good guys were trying to kill us and so far the bad guys helped us the most—or at least two of them had. The book belonged to the Fávlosi. Maybe the time for giving it back was now. And returning it would save Abby’s life. “O-k-k—”

“I’ll take that as a yes, but know this: if you don’t fulfill your promise, the world
will
die, and I’ll be the first to make the end of your life miserable.” He lifted my arm and yanked. “I assume you want the girl, too, right?”

I nodded—or hoped I nodded.

“Such a shame. When they offered her to me, I really thought things were changing around here. Oh, and you’ll need to send up someone to renew the spell trapping me here as soon as
Elder
Mordha dies; otherwise, I’ll be free to roam about the temple.” The spirit laughed and pulled us to the open doorway. “You’re going to have to take it from here, buddy.”

He placed Abby’s hand in mine, and the warmth of it released tension from my chest. She was alive. Before this moment, I didn’t know that for sure. I rolled to my side, every muscle shaking, nausea tormenting my stomach, then slowly got to my knees and crawled backward, not letting go of her.

Once we were through the door, the spirit slammed it closed. I fell next to Abby, and the world around me faded to black as deep, blood-curdling screams flooded my ears.

Melos was dead.

So was Aedan.

I did this
.