Hollow Dolls

by MarcyKate Connolly

  Maeve reclaims my hand, and I don’t resist. I keep my talent on guard, reaching out for Rachel and Sebastian’s thoughts. I feel them and a whole contingent of guards a few yards away from the cave entrance. The other shells follow behind us like silent ghosts, still subdued and under Maeve’s control. Jemma and Ida, though, are nowhere to be seen. Is Maeve really leaving them behind? Maybe she has other plans for them. With every step, fear tightens around my chest.

  How many people can she control at once? Is there even a limit? I hope Rachel and Sebastian are wearing their obsidian amulets. Maeve won’t hesitate for a second to take over Sebastian if he isn’t. To be honest, a part of me is surprised he’s here, knowing how scared he is of the body walker. The rest of me understands.

  He’s here for the same reason I tried to rescue him last night: I couldn’t bear leaving him alone with his greatest fear.

  We’re almost there, I think at Rachel.

  We’re ready, she says.

  When we reach the entrance to the cave, morning light streams inside as far as it will dare. We step into the sunshine, and the trees greet us. Maeve squeezes my hand. “See?” she says. “It’s a perfect day. Soon we’ll be far away from here and won’t have to worry about anyone trying to separate us again.”

  Then the forest erupts.

  Guards in silver and green uniforms swarm us, taking Maeve by surprise. One grabs her by the arms, and she simply stares him down. He releases her and attacks the other guards.

  “Don’t touch her!” I cry. “She uses her talent through touch!” The guards slow their approach as they circle us, cutting off our exit back to the cave. Ropes and netting appear in several hands. Some of them also have obsidian amulets around their necks, but not all. Rachel must have brought every artifact she could find at the library.

  Maeve jerks me closer. “You knew?” she says. The hurt in her eyes is unbearable.

  “I can’t let you do it,” I whisper. “It isn’t right. In your heart you know this too.”

  “Let the children go,” warns one of the guards.

  Maeve laughs. “I don’t think so.” Suddenly a huge fire-breathing creature lumbers out of the woods behind the guards. Many duck and yell, temporarily breaking the circle that surrounds us.

  Natasha’s work, but not something they were prepared for.

  Maeve yanks me toward the trees while the illusory dragon chases nearby guards, but I wrench my hand free. Her face falls. “You said you wouldn’t try to escape.”

  “I’m not escaping. I’m being rescued,” I say.

  “But you must come with me. I’m your mother.” She lunges for me.

  I run as fast as I can. I don’t glance back until I’m safely sandwiched between Rachel and Sebastian.

  And when I do look back, I wish I hadn’t. Maeve’s face has transformed into a hard line.

  “You tried,” Rachel says. “It’s all you could do.”

  Thanks for coming back for me, Sebastian thinks.

  Likewise. I manage a smile that quickly fades as the struggle unfolds.

  Maeve still has control of one of the guards, and he prevents the others from capturing her until his fellow soldiers apprehend him. Rocks and branches fly through the air. Melanthe’s talent hard at work. Rachel shoves us behind a tree to keep us safe.

  Finally, the guards manage to subdue Maeve, catching her up in a net. She struggles and grunts.

  “Simone! Tell them I’m your mother. They must let me go. Our family depends upon it!”

  Before I can stop him, Sebastian gets to his feet and approaches Maeve with an outstretched arm. She tilts her head at him, as puzzled as the rest of us. But a quick look with my talent reveals all.

  “No! Sebastian, don’t!” I lurch forward and pull Sebastian away from Maeve. He gives me a confused look.

  “Why not? If I remove all memory of meeting us, she’ll leave us alone. She’ll have no reason to trouble us ever again.”

  Rachel shrugs helplessly in our direction. “I didn’t have time to fill him in on everything,” she says.

  “First of all, she’s looking for shells. Even if you take the memory of meeting us, she’ll still keep after us because of what we are. That’s how she found us to begin with.” I take a deep breath. “Secondly, what Maeve said is true. She is my mother, Sebastian. She’s doing this because she wants our family back. She isn’t a bad person, and the fact that she cares about me is the only crack in her resolve to carry out her plan. If you take those memories, we’ll have no way to reach her.”

  Sebastian hesitates. Before he can make up his mind, a terrible sounds rips through the clearing. It’s as if the forest has launched itself in defense of Maeve. Thick branches—much larger than the ones Melanthe has thrown thus far—strike the guards. When the sound stops, the four guards who were holding the net are on the ground, dazed or unconscious. Before the rest can even react, a knife dropped in the struggle shoots up into the air, then whistles toward the net holding Maeve captive. The knife makes short work of the ropes, and Maeve slips out unharmed. She gives a hard look at me and Sebastian, then retreats into the dark forest, leaving Melanthe to keep the guards at bay until she’s a safe distance away.

  Epilogue

  We return to the library, safely away from Maeve’s influence. The guards managed to capture Kalia and Natasha and bring them with us. Elias and Melanthe were nowhere to be found.

  Maeve surely has them.

  Still under Maeve’s control, Kalia and Natasha resisted at first. But the librarians gave them each an obsidian necklace to ward off any future attempts to reclaim them. Until we can find a permanent solution, they must always wear obsidian or risk being controlled by Maeve again. They’re bewildered but grateful. Rachel requested permission from Euna to research ways to permanently break the psychic bond a body walker creates with their victims and was granted it.

  Then we can save Elias and Melanthe too.

  The librarians have sent for their families, but Kalia and Natasha want to remain here. They want to help stop Maeve.

  The guards searched the caves from top to bottom and found Ida and Jemma tied up in a cave deep in the system, farther in than I’d ventured. No wonder the brief hint of their thoughts was so faint. Jemma’s horse was found, too, lodged in a stable in the nearby village. According to one of the guards, food and supplies had been going missing every couple of days over the last few weeks. Both Ida and Jemma had been seen in the village acting strangely. As near as we can figure, Maeve was sending them in to the village at night to take things she needed after having them scout the place first. Perhaps her assertion that she had plenty of money was all a lie. Or it was at least ill-gotten.

  But now they’re free. Sebastian and I are anxiously waiting outside the infirmary for Jemma to get the all clear so we can see her. It feels as if we’ve been in the hall waiting for hours, though Sebastian keeps telling me it hasn’t been that long at all.

  To keep myself occupied, I let my talent wander the Archives, reaching out to brush over the thoughts of the librarians and their servants.

  And then—I’m so grateful they found them and took them in…

  The familiar shape of Jemma’s thoughts cuts through the static of all the rest. I give Sebastian a huge grin.

  “She’s coherent again. That’s something.”

  If thoughts could make people float, Sebastian would be lifted right off his feet.

  As soon as we can see her brown curls, Sebastian takes off at a run. I’m right behind him. Seeing Jemma again almost makes it seem possible that everything could return to normal.

  In spite of who I am, of who my mother is and what she’s willing to do.

  Jemma embraces both of us tearfully, and we’re ushered into a sitting room and left to catch up. Sebastian begins to tell his sister everything before she’s even fully seated in the chair.r />
  “I was worried about you both,” she says when he finishes. “I’m glad Maeve found you in the woods and took care of you, but to think that she was the body walker all along… She’s the one who…who…took over my body.” Jemma shivers.

  “What happened after we left you?” I ask.

  Jemma’s expression darkens. “I only remember bits and pieces. I had just settled with the tavern owner and was walking back to our table. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and then…I was no longer in control. I fought it at first, but they were too strong. After you two fled, I didn’t have the strength to keep fighting. It was like falling into a dreamless sleep.”

  I shudder. I know that feeling well. But for me it was more like a waking dream. Doing things I didn’t wish to do, but without a choice in the matter. Perhaps I experienced it differently because of how Lady Aisling’s magic worked with mind-based talents.

  “When I was myself again, I was in the woods. I had no idea how I got there, but eventually I found my way out, and not far from the inn either. I was able to collect my horse, but I had to pay extra; apparently I’d lost two whole days. They were ready to sell poor Red off. I started after you, and then… The rest is a blank.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. Maeve is my mother, and I can’t help feeling as if this is somehow my fault.

  “You have nothing to be sorry about. You hadn’t even met Maeve yet, and had no idea what your real mother was like.” Jemma squeezes my arm warmly. I’ve missed her. She’s kind and warm and honest, all things Maeve is lacking.

  “I just… I feel responsible.” I shrug helplessly.

  “Well, then what do you wish to do, Simone?” Jemma asks.

  Determination fills me from head to toe. I’ve given this a lot of thought over the past few days. I know Maeve is going after the soul summoner, and that there was a soul summoner last seen in Wren before it flooded. She may have gleaned more information than that, but it’s a place to start.

  “We have to stop Maeve from carrying out her plan. We must save our captive friends and her from herself.”

  And then and there we promise each other: that’s just what we’ll do.

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, I must thank my readers. Your love and support of the Shadow Weaver series is what made this companion duology set in the same storyworld possible. It quite literally would not exist without you. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you love Simone’s story too!

  My editor, Annie Berger, for taking this second journey through the Cometlands with me and Simone and her friends. I’m so glad you love my weird little girls as much as I do! And, as always, none of my books would make it to bookstores without the rest of the incredible team hard at work behind the scenes at Sourcebooks Young Readers, especially Margaret Coffee, Sarah Kasman, Cassie Gutman, Ashlyn Keil, Michael Leali, Stephanie Levasseur, Lizzie Lewandowski, Heather Moore, Valerie Pierce, Stefani Sloma, Heidi Weiland, and many, many others. I’m so grateful to work with you all.

  Super agent Suzie Townsend, for having my back two hundred percent of the time (to some, that may seem like an exaggeration, but if you know Suzie, you know just how accurate it is). And the rest of the team at New Leaf Literary & Media, but particularly Cassandra Baim, Dani Segelbaum, Kathleen Ortiz, Mia Roman, and Pouya Shabazian. I truly have the best team a writer could possibly hope for.

  And last but never least, my family. My writing schedule has been completely bonkers, but you’ve helped me stay grounded and sane. In the end, all these books, all this work, is for you.

  About the Author

  MarcyKate Connolly is a New York Times bestselling children’s book author and nonprofit administrator who lives in New England with her family and a grumble of pugs. She graduated from Hampshire College (a magical place where they don’t give you grades) where she wrote an opera sequel to Hamlet as the equivalent of senior thesis. It was there that she first fell in love with plotting and has been dreaming up new ways to make life difficult for her characters ever since. She is also the author of the Shadow Weaver duology and The Star Shepherd. You can visit her online at marcykate.com.

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