Museum of Masks (Paranormal Public Series)

by Maddy Edwards

  Risper shrugged. “A few demons got past the force field. We aren’t sure how, but we’re working on it. Of course they came straight for you.”

  My gut churned. I was the reason they were surrounding Public in the first place. I was putting everyone in danger and I hated it.

  “Maybe I should just leave,” I said. “Or maybe you should actually deal with them, instead of letting them sit there and beat down our defenses.”

  Risper’s face darkened instantly and his eyes became two black bullets turning towards me. “It is under control. You would do well not to insult things you do not understand.”

  “I might understand them better if someone explained them to me,” I shot back recklessly. “If I left, so would the demons.”

  “You wouldn’t last a day without protections,” said Lisabelle with conviction. “There’s no chance.” Her uncle continued to stare at me, but he didn’t say anything. I had stepped over a line, but he wasn’t going to try and put me back into place. Maybe he realized how hard this was for me, maybe he just didn’t care. The hard look on his face gave none of his thoughts away.

  I looked towards Risper’s niece. Deep down I knew she was right, but that didn’t change the fact that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to anyone else at Public because of me and those damned demons.

  “It’s not your fault,” said Risper, breaking the silence. The kindness in his voice surprised me. “We’re better off than we have been in years, and it’s because of you.”

  I tried to believe that, but the events of the evening before made it difficult. And obviously no one was going to listen to me when I said I thought the demons should be gone sooner rather than later . . . meaning gone NOW.

  “So, what else happened?” I asked, shaking off the melancholy that threatened to envelop me.

  “Mrs. Swan is a very capable fighter and Astra protects its own,” said Risper simply. “There were more protections than usual placed on the dorm, due to your presence, so it was harder for the demons to get in than they expected. Also, with the addition of Mrs. Swan, who I would not for the wide world want to meet somewhere in a dark ally, you were in very capable hands.”

  “Was Astra damaged at all?”

  “No,” said Risper. “Nothing serious. A few scratches that are being patched up as we speak. You are more than welcome to return there.”

  “I’d still like to know,” said Sip thoughtfully, “how the demons got through the defenses.”

  “Yes,” I said, watching Risper closely. I had a feeling he knew more than he was telling. “I would as well.”

  He cleared his throat and nodded to all of us, and then like air whooshing out of a balloon he quickly made his excuses and disappeared. When the door closed behind him I raised my eyebrows at Lisabelle, but she just shrugged.

  “Don’t ask me,” she said. “I’m just related to him. Bunch of hot air.”

  “It’s fascinating that you make the comparison of hot air with someone you’re related to,” said Sip, grinning broadly. Lisabelle pretended to throw her book at our friend and Sip’s grin just got bigger.

  Jacob appeared a few minutes later as the three of us continued to talk about the problems of the masks. Lisabelle thought there was a strong possibility that one of the students had taken the mask, and since I had been thinking for weeks that there was something off with Lealand, I was inclined to agree with her.

  “How are you feeling?” Jacob asked when he tottered in with another concoction. This time it was blue.

  “I’m really feeling fine,” I said, putting as much conviction behind the words as I could muster. I even walked around the room to prove it.

  “Pity you aren’t stronger,” Jacob murmured as he set the vile drink down next to me.

  “Why?”

  “Oh, well, you know, because of the force field weakening. It would just be better if a master elemental was here instead of a student.”

  Behind his back Lisabelle and Sip’s eyes locked on each other.

  “What?” I yelled. I had to grab the wall for support.

  “Oh, um, nothing. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.” Jacob looked around wildly, then darted for the door. “My accent, you know, it’s terrible.” And he was gone.

  “Well,” said Lisabelle sighing, “that explains more than it doesn’t.”

  When we left the infirmary my friends insisted on walking me back to Astra. I desperately wanted to see the damage that had been done to my home, so in an effort not to waste time arguing about my having an escort, I let them follow me.

  “You mean the demons got through the force field because I was too weak to do anything about it?” I demanded, outraged. “Because the strength of the force field requires the Power of Five? HOW COULD NO ONE TELL ME THAT? My presence is what’s putting everyone at risk. More demons have been showing up throughout the semester. No one can go near the force field and the force field is WEAKENING and I could have fixed it!”

  Sip let out a long sigh. “It’s not your fault, Charlotte. There’s only so much you can do. I’m sure the Committee knows what they’re doing.”

  I shook my head, fury pummeling at my insides and threatening to burst out in a scream of rage. Not only were the demons here because of me, but because I was too weak to reinforce the force field they were now getting through it. I felt sick. Some of my anger must have shown on my face, because Lisabelle said, “No, not a chance are you blaming yourself for this. Come off it. Sip and I are going to stay with you tonight, because Mrs. Swan is still resting. You are not going to do anything stupid.”

  “And who are you to judge when someone is doing something stupid?” Sip demanded.

  “Whose side are you on?” Lisabelle shot back.

  “The right one,” said Sip.

  “No,” I interrupted before I was even sure what I was protesting against.

  “No to what?”

  “No, I don’t want you to stay with me in Astra,” I said mulishly as I folded my arms over my chest.

  “Of course we’re staying with you,” Sip argued.

  “I just want to be alone tonight,” I told them, standing outside the door to my dorm, subtly blocking the entrance with my body. “I’m really tired.”

  Sip crossed her arms over her chest and gave me her best violet-eyed death stare. “I don’t like it.”

  I sighed heavily. “You don’t have to, but I need to do this. I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast. Promise.”

  “Come on,” said Lisabelle to Sip. “Let’s give the girl her space.”

  Lisabelle actually had to take Sip by the arm and pull her away, but Sip did go, still glaring after me with a look that was a silent warning not to do anything stupid. Sip knew me too well, I realized, because what I was about to do she would definitely have considered stupid.

  In fact, if what I was about to do didn’t kill me, and there was a good chance it would, Sip and Lisabelle would probably race to see which one of them could off me first.

  I turned my back on the cold outside and went to get ready.

  I had demons to kill.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I waited a long time after my friends left, just in case they had seen enough of the insanity in my face to guess what I was going to do, and were lurking outside somewhere to catch and stop me. I knew what I had to do and I was going to do it. Since they were busy researching what was happening with the masks, I didn’t have to worry about the vampires, at least not tonight. I knew they were in good hands with my friends. Tomorrow, assuming I was still alive, I would continue trying to track down the oval mask and the Mask Thief.

  But not tonight.

  Tonight I had to deal with demons.

  It was almost comforting, dealing with a familiar foe.

  Whoever was attacking the vampires was not after me, and Dacer had said he didn’t think he or she was a demon, either. That meant that the thief was entirely unknown, and I hated that, because I couldn
’t picture who I was dealing with. But with demons and hellhounds, an almost happy humming raced through my bloodstream at the thought of sticking it to my old tormentors again. And afterwards, Public would be safe - whether or not I survived.

  Without Mrs. Swan there to chaperone me, sneaking out of Astra was easy. I just walked through the front door. I knew that what I was doing was crazy, suicidal even, but I didn’t care. The demon threat was one I could stop, and since I could stop it I would.

  I also now knew why Mrs. Swan had tried to convince me to stay away from the force field at the beginning of the semester. She was worried about what would happen if I got too close. She was right to worry. I was going straight towards it.

  As I slipped through the darkness of campus, I was again reminded that it was lonelier than ever without the vampires commanding the night. Normally they were out in force at this time, but since they were all sick there wasn’t a single one in view. I knew I had to help them, I had to help Lanca, but the demons had to be dealt with first. No one could work effectively at Public under the constant threat of demon attack. There was even a chance that the President was out and about, searching for a way to get in. I wondered how long it would take her. Maybe less time than we hoped, since she knew the campus so well. I almost wished she would come. I would like another chance at her. I had promised myself she wouldn’t slip away so easily again.

  Once I had done what I was about to do, though, she wouldn’t have such an easy time penetrating Public’s defenses. Not an easy time at all.

  The whole time I walked towards the force field I thought about the vampires and who could have wanted to do this to them. Of course, Dacer thought that someone was using the masks against the vampires, but his only suggestion had been an undead. We had learned about them earlier in class, people the vampires had subjugated hundreds of years ago when they had come to America, but supposedly Public’s magics were set to keep out the undead. But, there was always a chance Public’s defenses had failed. The President was proof positive that that was possible.

  Sip, Lisabelle, and I had suspected Zervos last semester and he had proved himself to be loyal despite his vile behavior. It didn’t make sense to suspect him this semester. Besides, he was a vampire. I decided that as soon as I got a chance, I would talk it over with Keller. He always had insights I might not have, and he was always level-headed. In the back of my mind I still thought it might be Lealand doing the damage, but I didn’t have anything to go on other than a gut feeling that he was keeping a secret, and his interest in the Museum. And that wasn’t enough. He was a powerful pixie, and if I challenged him I had to be sure he was the thief.

  By the time I had reached that conclusion, and yeah, going to talk to Keller on my own was going to be a big step for me, the force field had come into view. What was on the other side took my breath away. I hadn’t been to the edge of campus in weeks, so I had no idea how many demons had gathered lately. Now, looking at the force field, I had a very clear idea . . . because the entire perimeter was teeming with them. Their dark, unsubstantiated bodies rolled and pushed against the surface of the field, which was as smooth and invisible as glass, as if they were constantly sliding along its length, looking for a flaw. Blackness swam in waves over my eyes. There were hundreds of them, so that you couldn’t even tell where one started and another finished. Only tiny sparks of fire, the demons that were made up of flames, differentiated some of the bodies. Just trying to focus my attention on all the evil made me gag.

  Even so I pushed forward, determined to reach my goal. It was all the better that the demons were touching the force field, because it would be easier to destroy them that way. I just hoped that if I lived through this Lisabelle wouldn’t kill me. She would want to; she was going to be mad. Of course, she’d have to fight Sip and Lough for the honor, because they were both going to be furious as well.

  With every step I took closer to the force field, I could feel a current charged in the air, the power of other paranormals racing to surround me. Elemental power, old and activated by the Committee members to strengthen the barrier, flowed around me. It felt like Astra, or Keller: it felt like home. I almost sighed, except that I could feel my body readying, my own magic fighting to get free and join the defenses.

  At the demons’ first glimpse of me they went into a frenzy, pounding against the smooth surface of Public’s defenses. Some started fires against the glass, some howled like banshees, others started to vibrate darkly. They were excited. Their goal had walked within reach.

  I met the burning black eyes of the demon directly in front of me. With my acknowledgement, it let out a loud-pitched screech. I had to hurry; there were probably professors along the walls who would be drawn to all the racket.

  I stood in front of the force field, unsure how to proceed. I wanted to feed my magic into what was already there and make it stronger, but I had never done anything like that before. Magic had always just fed out through my elemental ring and I had to face it, I hadn’t even been doing that for very long. Surprise gripped me as my magic slammed inside me, desperate to get free. In a panic I tried to rein it in and keep it under control, but it was too strong. My knees hit the frozen ground hard and I winced, knowing that it would cause bruises, but I couldn’t help it. My magic was going crazy. It didn’t want to wait to go through my ring, it just wanted to burst out of me and fight. An intense pain started to rip through my chest as I tried to draw breath, but my efforts only made the pounding of my magic worse. Digging my fingers into the ground, I begged the elemental part of me to stay calm and let me figure out what to do. Mere inches away from my bent head, demons flamed.

  Dacer’s voice rang in my mind, like wind rustling distant trees. “Just put a mask on. You don’t have to do much. The mask always knows.” He had said that to me one day when I was frustrated as I worked with the elemental masks. I had wanted to be all prepared before I slipped one over my hot cheeks, but Dacer had told me there was no preparation required. The masks would recognize my magic. My mistake had been to think I had to act as a guide to the magics, when in reality they would guide me.

  The ground swam before my eyes, mottling and rippling as if I had just jumped into the water. Forcing myself to focus, I slowly pushed to my feet. I remembered that when I was young and I had a cut or a scratch, all I had to do was tell myself it was a temporary pain that would soon be over, and that the best thing I could do would be to embrace it. So I would concentrate on the pain, and somehow that lessened it. Later, when I was in middle school and I broke my foot, I did the same thing. It was harder, because I could see my mangled bones. But I got as close to the pain as I could, and somehow that made it not so bad.

  Tonight, for the first time, that didn’t work. My magic was ripping me apart. I vaguely wondered what would have happened if I had accidentally walked too close to the force field in the past few weeks, not knowing that it was desperate for more elemental magic to keep going. I wondered if I would have just died right then, or if somehow my coming here tonight gave my magic permission to fight me. Either way, I knew what I had to do.

  Standing up, I stared at the force field. “This is for my mother,” I breathed. “And for every other elemental who should be here, but isn’t.”

  Eyes burning, I stepped into the force field and was consumed by the magic.

  I had been prepared for more pain from throwing myself into such a complex and powerful magical working, but I wasn’t prepared to feel like I was being torn in two. My magic was flowing out of every part of me, desperately seeking freedom and power. A scream started to rip from my chest, but it was lost in agony. I tried to turn around and step out, but I didn’t have the strength. Instead, the magic simply ate me alive.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I woke up to a terrible racket. There was screaming. It sounded like bad heavy metal music, the kind where you wonder how the lead “singer” hasn’t totally destroyed his vocal chords. At first I thought it might be the demons, cr
ying out in torment; it took me a while to realize that the person screaming . . . was me.

  I closed my lips and tasted blood; they were cracked and bleeding. My mouth was dry and my eyes felt like someone had taken fistfuls of sand and rubbed them into my irises.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this. It’s going to get us into SO much trouble,” Camilla hissed at whoever was carrying me.

  Why was Camilla anywhere near me? Last I knew she thought I carried the plague or something.

  “She’s a friend. We have to help her,” Cale’s voice answered. He sounded strained, as if he was carrying a heavy weight. Dazedly I realized that the weight was me. Under normal circumstances I would have felt awkward having anyone, especially someone cute like Cale, carry me. But with all the pain my body was in, there was no room for awkward.

  “She’s your friend, and only because you refuse to listen to me when I tell you to LEAVE her alone,” Camilla shot back. Fury laced her words and I was surprised she hadn’t tried to attack me. “We shouldn’t have been in the library so late to begin with, and if your eyes weren’t so good and you hadn’t seen her drop we would be safe in Volans right now!”

  We had started up the steep slope towards the Tower and the rest of Public when Camilla ordered, “Stop.” Cale halted. Just like a good boyfriend, I thought bitterly.

  “There are people coming.” Camilla sounded more irritated than worried.

  I tried to turn my head, but dizziness swamped my senses and I was forced to close my eyes again.

  “It’s Charlotte’s friends,” Cale muttered. “And Trafton.” Obviously no one on campus liked the good-looking dream giver, except Lealand.

  If I hadn’t been in so much pain I would have laughed at his attempt at a joke.

  “What on EARTH happened?” Lisabelle’s biting voice sounded across the dead grass. “I said we should just kill Camilla and get it over with last semester, and now look what she’s done. She always had it out for Charlotte. Get her AWAY from my friend.”