Authors: Brenda Drake
We were to jump from the Athenæum to England. One problem: we needed a membership card to get into the library. Nana went to get one, leaving me alone with this stranger against my wishes. I begged. I even used my best tactics to change her mind—sad eyes, a little whine in the voice, and persistence. She didn’t cave.
I stared across the table at Carrig.
He stared back.
So awkward.
Why didn’t Nana tell me about all this? How could she let them take me away? I trusted her.
How could she lie to me? Why?
I always knew I was different. Not many guys could beat me in fencing and kickboxing matches. There was an energy inside me, burning just under the surface of my skin. I was just like the man sitting across from me; I was a Sentinel.
“When did my changeling go to my house?” I said, breaking the silence.
“Early this morning. I first brought her to your grandmother to shield her, and then she went.”
“Where has she been all this time?”
“There be nowhere for your changeling to go when you went missing.” He leaned back against the chair. “Merl brought her to me. I took her in and raised her as me own. She’s a good girl, and she doesn’t want to be in your life any more than you want her in it.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. She must be scared, too.”
He tugged a hanky from a pocket in his trench then wiped the sweat from his brow. Wearing a trench coat in August was epically ridiculous, even if you needed to hide a weapon. No wonder he was sweating. He should’ve just concealed a knife in his boot or something more inconspicuous. “She knows the risks. That you must fulfill what you be born to do. Protect the libraries.” He leaned over the table and patted my hand. “The only t’ing I care about be the safety of me two girls.”
I barely felt his touch. My entire body was numb. Like my mind went off and left it behind or something.
I cleared my throat. “Well, apparently she’ll be safe with Pop, and I’ll be in mortal danger.”
He studied my face with sad eyes. “Gia, you are me flesh and blood. I never wanted me child to face the dangers I had to. Your mother never wanted that, either. That be why she ran. She was a brave woman to run. I love her more for it, though it broke me heart.”
I couldn’t count how many times I imagined my birth father—who, by the way, never looked like Carrig—telling me things like this.
He continued. “When Merl handed me the changeling and bid me to raise her, I could not refuse. He knew you were me child and the dangers of anyone discovering you be the presage. So I transferred to Tearmann and hid your changeling in a cottage outside a remote village in Ireland. Each moment, each hour, and each day I thought about you while I watched the changeling grow.” Sadness hinted in his eyes. “I should be calling her by her name—Deidre.”
“You raised her alone?” I asked.
“At first. I wanted to join you and Marietta with Deidre and me. To be a real family. I searched many years for you both. Every lead was futile.” He turned to see the clock on the wall behind the counter. “’Tis getting late.”
“No one asked me if I wanted to go to…whatever that place is called. You can’t make me.” The café suddenly felt hot. I tugged at my collar.
This insanity has to end. It just has to.
“It’s Asile,” Carrig said. “And you don’t have a choice in the matter.”
That’s what you think
, I wanted to say, but the scowl on his face made me think better of it. Instead, I said, “You mentioned an arrangement you made with Merl earlier, what is it?”
“I almost forgot…” Carrig’s face went vacant, as if someone had unplugged him. I watched him carefully, scrutinizing every tic and twitch. He looked pretty scary with those large shoulders, strong hands, and intense eyes. Then, like a rebooted computer, his eyes focused on me. “Jaysus, I’m knackered. What was I saying?”
What just happened?
Whatever it was, it sort of freaked me out. I glanced around the café and was relieved to find it was still crowded.
“Right, that be it,” he said.
I blinked with surprise.
He wiped his brow again. “We’re not heartless, you know. We won’t take your family and friends away from you entirely. You’ll be training with me for the remainder of the summer while Deidre stays at your home posing as you. During the school year, you’ll attend our academy. You may return home on weekends and holidays.”
“Great.” My shoulders sank. “Only weekends and holidays, huh?”
“Sorry. It’s me best offer.”
The stern look on his face told me he meant it.
“I can live with that,” I lied. Besides, I probably didn’t have much of a choice. “At least I can still see Pop and my friends, I guess.”
He grinned. “Good. Now then, do you have any questions?”
“If my brain wasn’t in overdrive, I’m sure I’d have plenty,” I said. “The only one I can think of is…well…What if I suck?”
“Do you mean at fighting or magic?”
“Did you say magic? I can’t do
magic
.” I fisted my hands, my nails digging into my palms. I debated whether I should mention the magical episodes—or rather, disasters—I’d caused before.
Carrig looked amused. “Of course you can. You’re a Sentinel. Your magic just needs summoning, is all.
“Okay. No pressure, right? It’s not like I’m
the one
and the fate of the universe rests in the palms of my hands or something lame like that.”
No pressure? Seriously. Pull it together
,
Gia.
Breathe. Breathe.
“Well, ’tis sort of like that, you know. You might be
the one
,” he said all serious.
My stomach flipped as I studied his face. “Are you messing with me?”
A smile reached his eyes. “Indeed, I’m messing with you. I believe we will be needing many to face what be before us, not just one. The coming be more terrifying than any nightmare you’ve ever imagined. And it won’t stop with the Mystik realm. It will destroy the human one, as well. Everyone you love will be in danger.”
So I had no choice. “One more thing. Brian Kearns is my father, so I’d prefer you treat me like a student and not a daughter.” I could’ve sworn hurt flashed in his eyes, but the smile stayed on his face.
“Deal. However, you might regret those boundaries. I’m a harsher teacher than I am a father.”
The bell jingled and Nana rushed to the table. “Got them.”
Carrig stood. “Shall we be on our way, then?”
I faced Nana. “You’re going, too?”
“I would never let you go alone, dear.” Her eyes did that warming thing when she smiled. “I’m sorry, Gia, I hated lying to you. I believed I was protecting you.”
I swallowed back the emotions clogging my throat. She had always been there for me. Always there to give me a hug when needed. Always at every match. Always.
I wasn’t sure I was ready yet to forgive her, but I understood what she’d done.
“I know you were,” I said, my voice quivery. “I love you, Nana.”
“I love you, Bug,” she said.
She hadn’t called me that since I was little. It meant more right now than it had at any time before. I held it in my heart as we headed to the Athenæum. A dark gloom hung over me like a reaper waiting for a corpse, the anticipation of the unknown scratching at my nerves.
Chapter Eight
T
he clouds stuck to the tall brick buildings like gray cotton candy. Rain chased down the gutters and clapped the ground, drenching the red cobblestone sidewalks, making them look glassy. It felt good to stretch my legs after sitting at the café table so long, even though it was hard to keep up with Carrig’s long stride. “So where is Asile?”
“We go through England to get there,” Carrig said.
“How?”
“Through a hidden tunnel behind a bookcase in an Oxford library. The Wizard Council had the tunnel systems constructed to connect all havens to a nearby library.”
“The havens. Are they in this world?” I asked.
“No. A different realm connected to this one. Created by wizards, but it broke into pieces by unstable magic and made the havens sort of like islands—isolated from each other.”
Okay. Mind blown.
I decided that maybe asking questions wasn’t such a good idea. Each answer was unbelieveable. And made me question my sanity.
“You’ll love Asile,” Nana said as she kept pace with me. “I’ve been to other havens and it’s just like visiting European villages. It’ll be like you’re studying abroad.”
I smiled. She had a way of always looking on the brighter side of things. Even in the middle of an apocalypse.
“You know,” I said. “Haven means safe place. And these places you’re talking about don’t sound very safe to me.”
“It be an old name,” Carrig said. “When created, they be places for the Mystiks and wizards who sought shelter from human persecution. Just like all good t’ings, a few rotten apples spoiled it.”
The Sentinels waited on the steps of the library. Dressed in street clothes instead of the leather warrior costumes of last Friday, they resembled normal teenagers. Loose black waves tumbled over Lei’s shoulders, and Demos’s sandy hair stuck out in a purposeful way. The other two Sentinels, who had helped kill the hound in the library the first day we transported through the gateway, introduced themselves.
“I’m Kale,” one said. His messy dark hair framed his face.
“Jaran,” the other added. His short black dreadlocks looked freshly washed compared to the other day in the library.
Arik, still in Nick’s clothes, looked like he’d been in a fight. There was a cut on his cheek and his eye was puffy. His shoulders seemed to be holding the weight of both worlds.
What happened to him?
I took a step toward Arik, but Lei shook her head, halting me.
I was sure it was my fault, and it felt wrong. I didn’t want anyone getting hurt because of me. I tightened my fingers around the handle of my umbrella, thinking I could use it as a weapon if we ran into any of those hounds in the library.
Nana pushed through the red leather doors of the Athenæum, taking Demos, Kale, and Arik in first with her membership card, and after fifteen minutes, I took Carrig, Jaran, and Lei in with mine. We met Nana and the others in the fifth-floor reading room where I had initially spotted Arik.
We broke up into groups and sat in different parts of the room. Nana and Lei sat with me at one of the large tables. The others took seats around the room while Carrig and Arik settled into one of the alcoves between the bookcases, their heads close together, seemingly in deep conversation.
After the room emptied of other visitors, we hid under the larger tables.
I bumped my head against the overhang of the table. “How come we just don’t jump now while the coast is clear?” I asked, rubbing my head.
“Too dangerous,” said Carrig. “Transporting so many at a time would leave an energy trail.”
Nana placed an invisibility spell around us, and we waited until the library had closed and all the employees had gone home for the day. Only dimmers lit the floor, and the library became even more silent.
“Let’s be on our way.” Carrig edged out from our hiding place. “Jaran, get the gateway book. Kale, retrieve our items from the coat check.”
I crawled out from under the table. “Oh no, our stuff. They know we’re still here.”
Nana straightened her shirt. “Dear, you underestimate my abilities. Our items magically disappeared after they were checked.” She winked at me.
Jaran hurried over to a bookcase at the far end of the room, grabbed the familiar leather-bound book, and rushed back. He dropped it onto the table and flipped the pages.
Arik went to the book and spoke the key. The colors of his body bled together, and he went in with a swirl of rainbow-colored smoke, the book quivering in his wake. After a few seconds, the book stilled.
I looked to Lei. “What’s wrong with Arik?”
“A compelled cornered him,” she said leaning close. “They torture their victims with visions of past regrets before they go for the kill.”
I gasped.
“It’s a ghastly business,” Lei added. “The life span of the wizard controlling the compelled diminishes during the compulsion. The wizard has to be really desperate or insane to use it.”
“How awful. Is there some way we can help?”
Lei patted my back. “Don’t worry about it, ducky. He’ll be back to normal soon enough. We’re taught to overcome their mind games. Some visions take longer than others do. This one had to be bad.”
“Gia,” Carrig said. “Demos will escort you through the gateway.”
Kale strode across the reading room, carrying my backpack and Nana’s tote bag. He’d forgotten my weapon—the red umbrella. It was one of the few things I owned that belonged to my mother. With Arik gone and everyone anxious to leave, I didn’t have time to retrieve it. I’d have to get it later. Kale handed my pack to me. I thanked him, slipping my arms through the straps.
Carrig studied my face for a moment. “I’ll be going through the gateway with Ms. Kearns. Are you okay to jump?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Who was I kidding? I was terrified to jump. I wasn’t sure who to trust, and my danger radar was blaring out of control. How bad could it be, anyway?
I could break my neck, or wind up back in the Vatican, that’s how.
“All right, then,” Carrig said. “After the book be silent, follow us.”
Demos nodded. “Will do.”
The other Sentinels jumped first, in case danger waited on the other side of the gateway. Carrig grabbed Nana’s arm, and they vanished into the pages. I stared at the photograph of the Bodleian library in Oxford, England. Trying to get up the nerve.
“It’ll be all right,” Demos said. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Before I could psych myself out of going, I rattled off, “
Aprire la porta.
”
This was my third time through the gateway, and already I was getting used to the falling sensation. It was easier to keep myself upright, though it required a lot of limb flailing. I landed on the hard floor with a loud thump and staggered forward before stopping.
Demos flew out of the book right after me.
“Bravo, Gia.” Kale applauded. “You were born to jump.”
I smiled at him, taking deep breaths of musty air. “I guess so.” I dashed to Nana and gave her a tight hug. “How was your jump?”
She patted her chest. “I hadn’t jumped in years. It knocked the wind out of me.”
“I know, it’s a real rush, right?”
“That it is. Excuse me, I must ask Carrig something.” She headed over to where he was talking to Jaran and Demos.
Arik shuffled off from the group as well, shoulders slumped.
I sidled up to Lei on my right. “I don’t think he’s getting over it. What happened to him?”
“We got separated from him. The two men following us were only decoys. They led Arik to an alley where a compelled man waited.” She glanced at him. “He must’ve had Arik longer than we suspected. Tortured him. Arik’s the leader of our group, so he doesn’t want any of us to see him weak.”
Arik stood in the moonlight streaming through a tall gothic-style window. Dust danced in the beams of light around him, making him look like he was in an old silent movie. His silhouette was small in comparison to the height of the dark bookcases bordering the room.
The tilt of his head made me aware he was staring directly at me. My stomach jolted, and I reeled away.
Carrig ordered everyone to follow him, leading us down a corridor of bookcases. A row of desks sat between each set of shelves we passed. Dark wood arched overhead. The coffered ceiling had many squared tiles with depictions of open books on their surfaces. Carrig stopped at the third bookcase on the left.
“This is the passageway to Asile.” He pulled down two wooden knobs flanking each side of a house-shaped box fastened to the bookcase.
“
Ammettere il pura,
” he said.
Admit the pure.
I was certain now that the reason my mother wanted me to take Italian lessons was because, so far, all the keys were in Italian.
The floor quivered, and the bookcase wheezed and creaked as it slid open, exposing a staircase plunging into the darkness.
All the Sentinels, except Carrig and Arik, held up their palms and in unison said, “
Luce.
” Light. A glowing sphere the size of a softball formed in each of their palms. One by one, they went down the dark stairwell, the light from the globes bouncing on the rock walls. Carrig aided Nana down.
Arik produced a globe and stepped over to me. The blood around the cut on his left cheek had coagulated, and there was a knot by his right eye.
I reached to touch it but pulled my hand away when he frowned. “Does it hurt?”
“I’m mint. Get going.”
I scowled at him and adjusted my pack. “Why are you mad at me?”
He watched the others disappear down the steps. “I’m not angry with you.”
“Then what’s your problem?
“I haven’t a problem.”
“Well, you were nice to me earlier and now you’re glaring at me.”
“This morning?” He raked his fingers through his dark, tangled hair. The light globe in his other hand lit up his beautiful face. The globe reflecting in his eyes looked like a star in a pitch-black sky. “I fancied you. Your bravery. How quickly you responded in the Paris library, the way you wielded that stapler. Even your willingness to attempt the jump from the Vatican without my help. But you are a Sentinel. There are laws—”
“You fancied me?” I interrupted.
“It wouldn’t matter if I am…
was.
Sentinels can
not
be together. The punishment is severe.”
“Doesn’t matter anyway. I’m the Doomsday Child. You should keep far away from me.” I spun on my heel and headed for the stairs.
Arik seized my arm before I took the first step. “Who told you that?”
I whirled around to face him, yanking my arm from his grasp. My foot caught on a raised part of the floor. I fell forward, and he caught me with one strong arm.
“Easy there,” he said, keeping the light balanced on his palm.
I stared into his dark eyes, shrugging out of his hold. “Carrig. My nana. They both told me.”
His face fell serious. “Shite.” He paced in mad circles, glancing at me a few times before he stopped. “Oh, Gia,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I pulled back. His fingers gripped mine tighter, and my hand sparked under his touch. I bit my lip to stop its tremble. “That compelled man showed you something about me,” I said. “Didn’t he?”
“No. It was all about me… Some tragedy of my own. The compelled can only see their captive’s past and fears. No need to worry. You’re safe here. Trust me.”
“What did he show you?”
“I…I can’t…”
“You ask me to trust you, but you won’t trust me.”
He lowered his head and studied our linked hands. “I was fourteen and in training. A hound had attacked my group in the library. My parent faery, Oren, was with me. The hound sunk its teeth into Oren’s leg, and the beast pulled him through the gateway book. I froze. By the time the older Sentinels reached Oren, he was dead. That’s what the compelled showed me. He also revealed that I would face the same choice again in the future. And I will fail again—” His voice cracked. “I miss Oren very much. He was a loving father. It’s like the hound tore a piece of my heart away when he took him.”
I squeezed his hand. “You were just a boy. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Many have said the same, but I’m still haunted by it.” His voice was gravelly with emotion. “In the throes of sleepless nights, I still see the horror in Oren’s eyes as the beast dragged him away.”
My thoughts caught up with me.
I’m going to a place where these creatures live. If they find out who I am, they’ll kill me. I’m going to die.
My mouth went dry. “I’m scared,” I croaked, swallowing back the gumball-sized lump in my throat.
Time stalled as he stared at me, his dark eyes so intense and full of compassion. “Gia,” he said finally, voice soft. His face was mere inches from my own. He smelled like sweaty leather and soap. His jaw was tight, causing only hollows in his cheeks where his dimples came out when he smiled.
I focused on his lips, staring at the cleft just below the bottom one. My heart raced as his arm came around me and I leaned into his embrace, feeling the warmth of his body. My heart felt like it would fly out of my chest. He rested his cheek against my head, and his warm breaths whispered against my hair.
Something scurried over my Converse, startling me. I yanked away from him, teetering on the edge of the stairwell. He caught me before I fell backwards, losing the light globe he held in his palm. It burst, and little flashes zapped the air.
He laughed. “You’re dangerous.”
“
Oww
,” I snapped, grabbing onto my injured leg.
“Are you all right?”
“It’s just the cut in my leg,” I said. “My stitches pulled. Something ran over my feet. It was way too big to be a rat.”
“The rats down here are rather huge. They’ve lived here for centuries. They won’t harm you.”
“Says you.” I glanced around my feet, my skin crawling.
He chuckled. “We should catch the others.” He seized my hand in his and turned my palm up. “There’s a charm that releases one’s light globe.”
“Yeah, I heard you say it.
Luce
, right?”
“That’s correct. Clear your mind and think only of light.”