by Brenda Drake
He straightened. “What is she doing here?”
“Is that anyway to greet your girlfriend?” Deidre said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him firmly on the lips. “I missed you, too.”
Their kiss deepened and I stared at my Converse. “Hello, you guys, feeling awkward here.”
They separated. “Sorry,” she said.
“Now, seriously, why are you here?” Nick said.
“Because she can get us into the gallows,” I said. “We’ll explain later. Let’s get out of here before we’re caught.”
“Yeah, okay.” Nick straddled his motorcycle.
Deidre swung her leg over and scooted as close as she could to Nick’s back. “Get on.” She patted the seat behind her. “How are we getting into the library?”
“We told Miss Bagley that we’re meeting Uncle Philip.” I got on behind her.
Nick took off and my butt almost slipped off the back. I gripped Deidre’s waist tighter.
...
The gallows were just as I’d imagined—similar to the medieval ones I’d seen in movies—dark and gloomy. The ceilings were arched and high, the walls rocky and slick, and the floors uneven and dusty. A rank smell stifled the air. Everything was caged in the gallows, even the lights dotting the walls every few feet.
A faery named Odran led us down a corridor that seemed as ancient as he looked. His pointy ears were hairy, wire tendrils of red hair surrounded the bald spot on his head, and he walked hunched over as if he couldn’t straighten his back.
“I had a tough time getting you in,” he said over his shoulder, “what with all the heightened security after the attack on the Vatican recently. But I owe Sinead my life, and if she needs something from this Toad then she shall have it.”
“Thank you,” Deidre said. “My mother has always thought highly of you.”
“Why is Toad in the gallows?” I asked. “I thought it was for those sentenced to death. I read that he got life, not death.”
“The gallows are for the criminally insane. Those who won’t survive the Somniums. Not that anyone survives them, but it would be depraved for them not to have a fighting chance.” Odran suddenly stopped, turned to a door, and unlocked it.
Nick practically choked. “We’re going to see him? Alone.”
“We’ll be fine. I have my globe, and I’m sure you can’t destroy anything here with your pyrotechnics. Everything is rock.”
“Your magic won’t work in the gallows.” Odran pushed the door open. “The charms here disarm magic.”
“Isn’t that comforting,” Nick muttered under his breath.
Inside the cell a gangly Laniar, with long salt-and-pepper hair and a matted beard, was on the small bed pushed against the wall. He sat with his feet on the thin mattress and his arms wrapped around his legs, his large sagging eyes darting around the room.
“You have visitors, Toad,” Odran said, and then turned to Deidre. “I do this as a favor to your mother. You have fifteen minutes, no more.”
“Thank you,” Deidre said and motioned Nick and I with her eyes to go inside.
I went in first, followed by Nick, who cowered behind me.
“Um…Mr. Toad, sir,” I said. “I was wondering if we could have a word with you.”
“Only one?” He grinned, his teeth sparse and yellowy.
I took a step closer. “Sorry?”
“You said you wanted to have a word with me. That would be one. Are we done?”
I gave Nick a curious look. “That’s just a— I meant, can I talk to you?”
“I don’t talk to no one. Only the walls are my friends.” He scooted around on his bed until his back faced us.
“I’m Gia and this is Nick. We’re Gian Bianchi’s great-grandchildren. I think you were expecting us?”
He spun back around. “What took you so long?”
“Well, first we had to be born,” Nick said.
I elbowed him and hissed under my breath, “Leave it to me.” I didn’t want Nick’s sarcasm messing things up. He didn’t have a filter and not everyone got his humor.
The man scooted to the end of the bed and dropped his feet to the floor. He whispered something that I couldn’t understand.
I stepped closer. “What?”
“I suppose you came for the Chiave,” he repeated.
“Yes. Do you know where it is?”
Toad pulled at his beard.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “We know you didn’t kill Gian.”
His gaze went to mine. “But I did kill him.”
“You did?” I gave Nick a look.
“Not by choice.” He grimaced when he yanked a few hairs out. “I was compelled by a wizard. I tried to fight it, but I could not.” He examined the hairs in his hands. “The wizard must’ve wanted Gian dead real bad to use up some of his life compelling me.”
“Hurry up, time’s running out,” Deidre said from the door.
Toad shot up from the bed and paced frantically around. “Who is she? Go away. I only talk to Gian’s heirs. No one else. Go!”
“She’s my sister,” I said, backing up with Nick.
He stopped and looked at her, and then me. “You twins?”
“Yes,” I lied. I figured it was better than going into the whole explanation about her being my Changeling.
“Our time is almost up,” I said. “How about the Chiave? Where did you put it?”
“Oh yes, oh yes, the Chiave.” He shook his head several times, clenching and unclenching his fist repeatedly. “No one discovered it hidden in my waistband. Their magic did not pick it up. Chiavi are invisible to magic, they are.”
He moved his cot away from the wall and dug his fingers into the cracks of one of the stones. The stone slowly moved, and he rocked it back and forth as he eased it out. After placing the rock on his mattress, he reached into the crevice and removed a parchment rolled around an ancient-looking metal spool.
“Time’s up,” Odran commanded from outside the hall.
“Take it.” Toad reached the scroll out to me. “Only trust your own. Don’t trust outsiders.”
“I will.” I grasped the scroll.
He didn’t let go, his face sad and shadowed. “Dangers are everywhere.”
“We’ll clear you of this,” Nick said.
“That is kind of you, but too late. I am beyond help.” Toad released the scroll. He put the rock back in place, pushed the cot against the wall, and crawled onto his cot, pulling his knees to his chest.
I unrolled the scroll and read the name written on it. “Royston.”
“Who’s that?” Nick said. “Deidre, do you know someone with that name?”
“No,” she said, her eyes darting from us to the corridor.
A siren sounded from down the corridor.
“Hurry,” Odran urged. “There’s been a breach. I must get you out through the back.”
I didn’t move, staring at Toad.
“Gia, come on.” Nick grabbed my arm.
“We can’t leave him.” I looked over at Odran. “Whoever is coming is after him. Please, let us take him. He didn’t murder Gian under his own will.” My eyes pleaded with the man.
His hairy, pointy ears twitched as he considered it. He glanced from me to Toad and back to me. “Yes, yes. All right, then. We must hurry.”
Toad hopped up from his bed. “I can go?”
“He said you could.” I removed my jacket and put it on his shoulders. “Put this on.”
He pushed his arms through the sleeves. My jacket fit him, except the sleeves were too short.
When Odran was out the door, I handed Nick the scroll. “Here, put this in your backpack. Guard it with your life.”
“Come on,” Nick said. “That’s a little melodramatic isn’t it? My life for a scroll. You do realize which one I’d choose, right?”
“If the wrong person got that name, every Royston alive would be murdered,” Deidre said.
“My thoughts exactly,” I said.
“Well, are you coming or not?” Odran shouted from outside the cell.
We sprinted down the corridor and through a skinny door. Winding steps led up somewhere into the darkness. If it was The Red hunting us, I was not going to face him alone, not when I had other lives at stake. I tugged out my window rods and pulled them apart. The screen ignited, blue light ghosting Nick’s body in front of me.
“Arik Baine,” I said to the screen. It took several seconds for him to answer.
“Gia, what’s the matter?” His eyes were half open and he had wicked bed hair.
“I’m in the Vatican. We’re being—” My foot missed a step and I stumbled, dropping the window rod. One of the rods split in two. I quickly gathered the pieces and bounded up after the others, hoping Arik understood we needed help. The tight stairwell spiraled and spiraled a long distance up to another tight-fitting door. We single-filed through it, Odran leading the way into the Vatican Library.
“Follow me,” he said and darted over the checkered tiles to a reading room with balconied stacks on one side of the room and arched windows directly across from them. Bookcases lined the walls between the windows. He slipped his hand between two shelves of one of the bookcases and pushed something. The case swung out. “Get inside. We must hide.”
The secret door closed behind us, shutting out all light. I ignited my light globe. Disturbed dust swirled around the room. Antique shelves filled with volumes and volumes of record books lined the walls. My light flashed against the copper bases of several empty candle stands bunched in a corner.
“What is this room?” I whispered.
“It’s the census records for the Mystik world. Every Mystik ever born is recorded in these books.”
We sat there on the floor, not daring to move or talk for nearly forty minutes until we heard noise in the room outside.
Footsteps and muffled voices came from the other side of the bookcase. I popped the light globe in case its glow seeped through the cracks around the case. At one point, someone mentioned Nick and me by our names. How did they know we were here? The only people that knew we were going to the gallows were Atenae and those in the room with us. Deidre had library hopped through several gateway books before coming to the Vatican. There was no way all the Monitors could communicate her jumps to each other so fast.
Nick stretched his leg, knocking over one of the candle stands. We all froze when it hit the floor with a clank, holding our breaths, wondering if our pursuers heard it.
A light flickered under the door. “Did you hear that?” A man’s deep voice came from the other side.
“Yeah, what was it?” another man asked.
“Don’t know, but it came from behind this bookcase.”
I leaned close to Nick. “Get your fireball ready,” I said, barely audible. “After you throw it, I’ll shield us. Okay?”
He nodded.
“It has to be a secret room,” a woman’s voice said.
The bookcase shook as if someone tried to move it. Books thudded onto the floor. It was only a matter of time before whoever was trying to get in would succeed. Something banged against the wood.
Bang.
Bang.
Crack. The tip of a sharp blade broke through the wood. Another whack and the head of an ax came through. A man’s eye peeked through the slit.
“I can’t see,” the man said. “You have a light?”
“Sentinels are here,” the woman said.
A fight broke out on the other side of the door.
“Gia!” Arik’s voice called over the clangs of metal against metal, shuffling feet, growls, and grunts.
I pushed on the door and it wouldn’t budge. Searching for a button or something to open it, I glared over at Odran. “Let me out!”
Odran pulled a lever on the wall and the bookcase swung open. Deidre seized my arm. “You don’t have your sword or shield,” she said, yanking me back.
Beside her, Nick had an electric charge building between his hands.
I stepped aside to let him pass. “What? No fireball?”
“I’ve been practicing. I wouldn’t want to burn the place down.” I sensed he was mocking me.
I glared at his back. “Just make sure to hit the bad guys and not one of ours.”
“Give me some credit.” He threw a glare at me before bolting out the door.
I turned to Deidre. “Can you stay here with Toad?”
“Yeah, go, and make sure Nick doesn’t do anything careless.”
My Converse squeaked across the floor as I chased after Nick. He abruptly stopped and lowered his hand. The electric charge died on the tiles. Arik, Jaran, and Demos, along with a few other Sentinels headed our way.
“What happened to the bad guys?” Nick asked, disappointment in his tone. He gave me a sidelong glance. “Guess we’re late for the party.”
“Remind me to send you an invitation next time.” Demos nudged a man on the ground with the toe of his boot. “This one’s out cold.”
The bloodstain around the man grew wider as it soaked the carpet fibers. Luckily, the wizards had Cleaners to remove all evidence of the fight there.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Arik bounded over to me. “Bloody hell, Gia, you can’t just run off jumping in libraries and not tell anyone where you’re going. It isn’t safe.”
I took a step back at seeing his angry face. “I had to.”
Arik’s jaw tightened before he snapped. “You had to? You had to risk Nick and Deidre’s lives. The lives of those in the gallows? I don’t know what to do with you anymore. You’re careless and your rash choices will get someone hurt, again, or killed next time. You can’t just act on your impulses.”
He doesn’t know what to do with me anymore?
His words slapped me, and a spark hit my chest. He had never lost it like this before. “I didn’t ask for this,” I said tightly. “And I’m going to make choices you won’t like. I had to do this tonight. Don’t forget who I am, Arik. If I hadn’t come tonight, we would have lost a very important Chiave. I don’t answer to you. I answer to the High Wizard of Asile. So you don’t need to know what to do with me.” I threw his words back at him with so much force it left me shaking.
Arik glared down at me. “I’m your lead. You do answer to me.”
Demos got between us. “Okay, we’re a little heated here. Let’s all calm down.”
Jaran put his arm around Arik. “We should let emotions simmer down before something is said that can’t be taken back.”
“Too late,” I said, and turned my back to Arik. If I looked at him, I would cry.
“What were you two doing here?” Demos asked, returning his sword to its scabbard then adjusting the belt around his waist.
Deidre came out of the secret room with Toad and Odran. “We came to get him.” She placed her hand on Toad’s back.
Jaran lowered his arm. “Who is he?”
“This is Toad,” Deidre said. “He murdered Gian, but not by choice. He had a Chiave. We had to get it.”
I pushed past the others and headed for the reading room. I didn’t want to talk. Not only was I mad, I was also tired. Of all people, I thought Arik would understand the burden I carried. With it came tough decisions. I had to do this without the Sentinels. If they had come with me tonight, forget losing a Chiave, Toad would’ve been dead before we arrived. And there was something innocent about Toad. Someone had compelled him to kill Gian, and I wanted to do whatever it took to clear him of the charges against him.
Chapter Nine
I hadn’t spoken to Arik in two days. His reaction in the Vatican Library still upset me. I angrily tucked the blanket under my chin and curled up in my bed. I wanted to stay under the covers all day. Tears filled my eyes, making the room blur. When would he trust my judgment? I put all my faith in him. It wasn’t much to ask for him to do the same for me.
The bedroom door opened, letting in
all the wonderful smells that only Thanksgiving could bring. I tugged a pillow over my head.
“Go away, Deidre.”
Heavy boots clunked across the wooden floor, and then muffled over the area carpet. “Are you going to hide out in your room the entire holiday?” Arik’s voice startled me.
I sat up. “W-what are you doing here?”
“I was invited for bird and stuffing, whatever the latter is.”
“I invited you before…”
His dark eyes surveyed my face. “Before what, exactly?”
“You know, you snapped at me.”
He dropped down on the bed. “I believe you aren’t used to someone other than your father worrying about you.”
“That was worrying? You used that whole bloody hell thing on me, which means you were angry. And you said many hurtful things.”
He pinched his brows together. “So that’s why you haven’t attended practices the last few days.”
“Well, obviously you didn’t care. You didn’t even check on me.” I folded my arms across my chest. “So why are you here now?”
“If you would have answered when I rang, you would’ve known I wasn’t around. I had a matter to settle before returning home.”
“Who calls? You really need to learn how to text already.”
He covered my hand with his and stroked his thumb across my knuckles, sending chills over my skin. “I could never ignore you, Gia. Couples fight all the time, and make amends afterward. I’m sorry it got heated.”
His brown eyes full of sincerity were like probes melting my insides. The more time we spent together, the more I couldn’t resist him. That concerned face of his was making me feel bad. Why was I always the irrational one in the relationship?
“I’m sorry, too,” I said, ashamed, looking down at the pink comforter I wouldn’t have picked for myself. Deidre had decorated our room.
He lifted my chin up and gently kissed my lips. “Truce?”
I nodded against his lips. But there was something different in his kiss—a lack of connection.
“Get dressed. The guest of honor should be brown and crispy by now.” He stood.
“By the way, where did you go?”
He stopped in the doorframe. “I went along with Merl to attend the Wizard Council. There was a ceremony for the novices that made senior wizard. While there, we arranged a new trial for Toad. Asile is holding him until the proceedings, which shall be in a month’s time.”
