Fate started to speak, when a movement near the top of the stairs distracted her. Brune was wrapped from head to toe in a bed sheet. Eustace gripped her by the arm, holding her straight as she teetered down each step. Gerdie followed from behind, propping Brune upright whenever she tilted backward.
“Fate?” Darcy’s tone was sharp.
“Huh?” Fate muttered as she dropped her gaze to the crowd. “Oh, uh…no I was okay with chopping them up. I’ve never exactly been a fan of rainbow-farting unicorns or sing-songy mermaids. Unless of course, they’re singing to lure sailors to their death.” She felt a sharp pang, remembering how Finn had come close to drowning when he’d answered a siren’s call.
Laughter and shouts of agreement filled the room.
Fate smiled tensely as she watched Eustace, Brune and Gerdie reach the bottom of the stairs. When she glanced back into the crowd to answer the next question, Darcy was staring back. Then she turned to see what was distracting Fate.
Darcy pushed through the audience toward the stairs. “And what’s this?”
“Any other questions?” Fate said, hearing the panic in her voice amplified by the mic.
“What are you hiding from us, Fate Floyd?” Darcy walked over to Eustace and tugged on Brune’s sheet. It fell away and everyone gasped. “A zombie? Wow, a really good one too.” Curling her nose, Darcy waved her hand in front of her face. “Ew, complete with special effects!”
“It’s amazing what kinds of smells the right number of chemical compounds can produce.” Eustace shrugged his shoulders, obviously uncomfortable with being discovered.
“Are you a chemist?” Darcy asked.
“I dabble,” Eustace muttered into the mic as Lana bustled over.
“What’s this?” Lana asked, grinning overly wide to compensate for her confusion. “Nobody said anything about this to me.”
Brune hunched in on herself as the audience crowded around to get a closer look. Some poked the gray, flaking skin of her skeletal arms, asking her what kind of makeup she’d used. Others backed away, complaining that she looked realistic enough without the realistic stench.
Jessie stepped in next to Fate. “How are you going to explain this?”
“Haven’t a clue. Any ideas?”
“Nope.” Jessie dug out her bag of corn nuts.
Fate frowned. “Put those away. This isn’t a movie. It’s my life.”
“Yeah, and it’s way more entertaining than a movie.”
“Thanks for nothing.” Fate turned to the audience and tapped the mic. “Hey everyone, listen up. I’ve got an announcement to make.”
Crunching on her snack, Jessie smiled. “Can’t wait to hear this.”
Faces turned in Fate’s direction, every expression filled with high expectation. “I was going to wait until the very end of the evening before we did the big reveal, but you’re way too on the ball for that.” She wagged her finger at Darcy.
Darcy folded her arms, her chin held high as she smiled smugly at Fate.
Fate paused for a moment, struggling to think of something believable to tell everyone, but all she could focus on was the sound of Jessie’s munching and the crinkling of the plastic bag as she reached for another corn nut.
“Don’t keep us all in suspense,” Darcy prodded.
Fate laughed. Sort of. It was more of a choking sound. “I uh…I thought I’d announce the title of my next book.” She gulped dryly as she scrambled for a catchy title. “It’s called…Diary Of A Zombie.”
The room was dead quiet for the longest minute.
“Yeah!” someone called out. “I like it!”
With that, everyone started asking questions all at once. As Darcy brought order back to the room, Fate nudged her chin at Eustace, gesturing for him to get Brune to the back room. Nodding, he and Gerdie slowly steered Brune away from the crowd.
After an hour of non-stop questions, Darcy finally concluded the Q&A session. “Help yourself to food and drink, everyone.” She turned to the tech guy and signaled him to start playing music.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Fate set the mic down and looked at Jessie. “Come on, let’s go find Eustace.” Checking to see that Darcy was otherwise occupied, Fate led the way, inching through the crowd toward the back of the bookstore. Just as she caught sight of the green velvet curtains leading into the storage room, Darcy and her boyfriend appeared in front of them.
“Hey Mason, look who’s trying to sneak out.” Darcy was talking to him, but her eyes were fixed on Fate with an air of suspicion.
He didn’t say anything. He was too busy staring at Fate with an awestruck grin.
Darcy stepped forward. “What’s the hurry? The party just started.”
Fate clenched her fists. This girl was really getting on her nerves. “I’m not going anywhere. My publicist just called a little confab in the back room is all. She’s waiting for me right now, so if you don’t mind, I’ll–”
“You mean her?” Darcy narrowed her gaze and stared past Fate.
Fate glanced over her shoulder to where Lana was interviewing a group of cosplayers and snapping shots of them. “Oh, she obviously got distracted.”
“Mmhmm.” Darcy wasn’t convinced.
Fate stepped around her. “Yeah, well, I’ll just go and wait for her.”
“You do that,” Darcy said as Fate and Jessie slipped through the velvet curtains.
“What’s her damage?” Jessie asked.
“I guess she’s still mad about me switching locations on her. Can’t exactly blame her. If I didn’t have such an unbelievably crazy excuse, I’d be feeling pretty crappy about it.” Fate blinked to adjust her eyes to the darkness. She’d braced herself for the assault of Brune’s stink as soon as they entered the small room, but all she smelled was the musty odor of old boxes. Had they gone outside? She called out to Eustace.
He flipped the light on. “Hey, Doodles. We’ve run into a bit of a problem.”
Gerdie stood next to him, wringing her small hands together. At her feet was Brune’s prone body, fully covered by the sheet.
“What happened? Did Brune do something?” Fate asked in alarm.
Gerdie shook her head. “That’s just it, she hasn’t moved for the last twenty minutes. We think she might be dead. For good.”
“That’s a bad thing?”
“It is if you wanna get into the Keep. And other stuff, if you know what I mean.” Gerdie gave Fate a conspiratorial wink.
Fear squeezed Fate’s heart. She knew exactly what Gerdie meant. Brune was the only one who knew how to find the gateway leading back to Oldwilde and to Finn.
Fate whipped the sheet off Brune’s body. Her corpse was now a dried husk. The rotting flesh had shriveled against the bone and looked as hard and tough as beef jerky. Whatever putrid sludge had filled her veins had most likely turned to dust, which would explain why she no longer stunk. Fate looked at them. “She’s all mummified. She was still squishy only an hour ago. How could this have happened?”
Gerdie shrugged. “I don’t know. I figured the Orb would keep her alive, but Brune must’ve gotten herself in trouble with some pretty heavy-duty magic for her to rot out this fast.”
Fate grabbed Brune by the neck in a panic and shook her. “Wake up, you witch!”
Eustace took Fate by the arm. “Fate, what’s gotten into you? Calm down. Trust me, we’ll figure this out.”
Feeling ashamed about her outburst, Fate let Brune’s head drop to the floor with a dull thud.
A thin moan filled the room.
Gerdie kneeled next to Brune, placing her ear next to her mouth. Another moan followed and Gerdie looked at Fate. “I was wrong. She’s still in there.”
“Oh thank god. Come on, let’s get her up and out of here.” Fate slid her hand inside her boot to retrieve the Key and stepped in front of the janitor door. With the Key poised near the keyhole, she stared at the Lock.
Her pulse raced with anticipation. She was finally ready to take that first step back to Fi
nn. If only she knew what was waiting behind the door. Fear gripped hold. Not for herself but for Eustace, Gerdie and Jessie. This all-consuming sense of duty toward the Keep and endless longing to be with Finn fueled her like nothing else she’d ever known. There was no turning back for her. But it wasn’t too late for the others.
Fate put her back to the door. “Dad. Jessie. Gerdie. This is where we say goodbye.”
8
The Fiery Divide
RUBBING HIS TIRED EYES, Finn set aside the scroll he was reading and looked out through the bank of windows to where the sun hung low above the ocean’s horizon. He stood and stretched his stiff limbs before walking out onto the balcony. Where had the time gone? He’d started going through O’Deldar’s library in the early morning. He figured it must be well past eight in the evening.
The sinking sun spilled fiery sparks over the calm sea. Finn gripped the stone balustrade until his knuckles turned white. The last time he’d looked out over these waters, Fate had been with him, and for one precious moment, everything had been perfect.
The ever-present ache in his heart climbed into his throat and tightened into a painful lump. He couldn’t stop the sweet recollections from surfacing, even if he wanted to. Every detail of that night was etched into his soul. He closed his eyes, remembering how his touch had made Fate shiver with desire. For a split second the memory came to life and he saw her lips, slightly parted, waiting expectantly for the kiss they’d both been craving. He’d been completely unprepared for the honeyed taste of her mouth, and with it, her wild unabashed response. She’d innocently offered herself then and there. God knows he’d wanted to. Even now his body hungered for her skin against his, their two hearts beating as one.
But there’d been too much darkness surrounding them. Just as there’d always been, from the second their lives had first collided.
Swallowing the pain, Finn opened his eyes and frowned at the dusky sky.
He’d defeated the darkness Mugloth had cast over him. The shadow was gone now. There should be nothing keeping them apart. Yet here they were, two worlds apart. Separated by a magical barrier of sentient fire.
Finn let out a weary sigh. He’d spent the entire day searching for answers and had barely finished the first stack of books. There were at least a few hundred more left to investigate, and too many scrolls to begin to count. If only there was a way to zero in on the right texts.
He turned, setting his back against the railing as he stared at the mountain of knowledge resting within the dusty chamber. “The answer’s in there. I know it.” He narrowed his gaze on the daunting pile. “Where is it hiding?”
The sound of seagulls and waves crashing against the cliffs below were the only response to his question. Giving into exasperation, Finn shifted his weight to the other foot and sighed. As he did so, the last rays of the sun shot past his legs, reflecting off something shiny sitting on one of the bookcases lining the back wall. His grandfather had taught him to heed all signs, regardless of how small or insignificant they might seem.
Finn crossed the room, careful not to block the sun as he closed in on the sparkling object. It was a large sapphire embedded within the spine of a leather bound book lying on its side, buried at the very bottom of a huge pile of other books. Kneeling down, he grabbed the books on top and set them aside.
“Hmm, Immram Brain,” Finn mused as he held the book and slowly translated the Gaelic title. “The Voyage of Bran.”
He knew this one well. Grandda had recounted the ancient Irish tale more than a few times. A man named Bran Mac Febail is visited by a woman from the Otherworld, a place of eternal summer, where the people are forever youthful and healthy, and food and water is endlessly abundant. She invites him to voyage across the sea and visit her land. Bran gathers a company of men and leaves Ireland for the Otherworld. After happily staying there for what seemed only a year, Bran grows homesick and decides to return to Ireland. The woman wishes he would stay, but when he insists he must leave, she warns him not to set foot on the shores of his homeland. When Bran and his crew sail back, the people who gather along the water to greet them do not recognize his name except in legends passed down through many generations. This upsets one of Bran’s men. He jumps off the boat and swims ashore. But the moment he steps on dry land, the man turns to ashes. Seeing this, Bran turns his ship away from Ireland, sails out of sight and is never seen again.
“He turned to ashes,” Finn said under his breath as he thumbed through the last pages of the book, stopping when he came to a penned drawing. Spread across both pages was a wall of fire stretched without end between the people on the shores of Ireland and Bran’s ship.
“The fiery divide,” Finn whispered with a grim smile. He’d finally found evidence of its existence, which meant there had to be something else in O’Deldar’s library that would show him how to cross the divide without being burned into a pile of ash.
9
This Is The Keep?
“GIVE ME THE MUMMY.” Fate reached for Brune.
Eustace held tight to the stiff carcass. “No.”
Jessie crossed her arms. “I second that.”
Gerdie kicked a box. “What do you expect me to do? Enroll myself in the first grade?”
Fate had to admit, Gerdie had a point. The life she’d left behind had died over seventy-five years ago. There was nothing here for her now. If anything, Gerdie was probably more prepared for what was to come than Fate was. “Okay, you can come. But that’s it.”
Eustace frowned. “Since when do you give me orders?”
Fate smiled nervously. “Since now?”
“Not happening, Doodles. But I’m in full agreement with Jessie staying behind.”
“No way! I’m not staying in Boringville after all this!”
“You can, and you will,” Eustace said in his parent voice.
Tears filled Jessie’s eyes as she stared at Fate. “How can you do this? What happened to besties all the way?”
“That was before I nearly died five or six times. You have no clue how dangerous it is.”
Eustace shifted Brune to the other arm. “Not what I want to hear, Fate.”
“Sorry. I might’ve exaggerated. It was probably only two or three.”
Eustace tightened his lips.
“Go!” Jessie pouted. “Just go!”
“Jess, please don’t be mad at me.”
Gerdie tugged on Fate’s hand. “We gotta go. Time’s tickin’ down on Brune.”
Unable to face Jessie’s anger, Fate turned to the door and slipped the Key in the Lock.
As soon as she turned the Key, the door sprang ajar, the hinges creaking as it swung all the way open. A cool draft swept past them. Fate peered into the darkness. Any janitor supplies that had been inside the closet were gone, replaced by a long corridor with a faint pinprick of light at the end. Something about the radiant glow of light beckoned.
Holding onto Gerdie’s hand, Fate stepped through the threshold. As Eustace followed lockstep behind them, the whole world tilted without warning. Gravity pulled on her, causing her to lean forward at an alarming angle. Reaching for something to hold onto, Fate had no way of righting herself. The gravitational pull yanked her off her feet.
Fate screamed as she hurtled through space. A circular tunnel of neon-blue lightning churned around her, bolts zapping and burning from every side. As the G-forces increased, pain tore through Fate’s body as if she was being stretched across the universe. Just when she feared she would burst into a cloud of atoms, it was over and she was tumbling over a stone floor.
Still in shock, Fate rested her face against the cool surface of the floor, grateful to have something solid beneath her again. She started to rise, when a blow between the shoulder blades flattened her.
Gerdie rolled off her. “Sorry about that. Again.”
“Yeah,” Fate groaned. “This really needs to stop. I’m not a mattress.”
Gerdie hurried from the spot. “Speakin’ of which, you be
tter move before your dad comes flyin’ thorough the portal.”
“Oh, jeez.” Fate scrambled out of the way on all fours. She no sooner cleared the area, when Eustace shot through the portal and landed in a heap. Brune’s stiff corpse whipped past him and slid to a stop a few feet away.
Fate stood and rushed to her father. She’d never seen him look so astonished and out of place. “You okay?”
Eustace straightened his tie and smoothed his thick bangs back in place. “Bit of a bumpy ride. Other than that, I’m quite fine.” The tightness in his voice said otherwise as he rose shakily to his feet and glanced around at their surroundings.
They were in a large circular room with a domed ceiling that, by all appearances, looked to be a library. The curved bronze metal walls were lined with tall bookcases, broken here and there by portraits of strange lands, a few statues of mythical creatures and a stuffed, furry alien creature in a cage. Some kind of lab experiment bubbled away amidst ancient tomes stacked all over a huge wooden table, which hovered a foot off the floor in the center of the room.
Fate walked over to the table and stooped to see what was holding it off the ground. Was it magic or science? Eustace did the same. When he straightened, there was a curious glint in his eyes. “Interesting,” he mused.
Fate nodded. “Curious for sure. But I was expecting something much bigger and more impressive than this.” She glanced at Gerdie. “Are you sure this is the Keep?”
Gerdie stared at the ceiling with a confused frown. “Somethin’ tells me this ain’t all of it.”
A leather book embossed with a grotesque face encircled by tentacles caught Fate’s attention. “Necronomicon. Wasn’t that a fictional book by H. P. Lovecraft?”
“I would not touch that if I were you. Otherelse, you risk calling the Great Old Ones.”
Fate backed away from the table, searching for the owner of the crackly voice with an East-Indian sounding accent. Sounds of gears and clanking metal had her turning in the opposite direction.
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