Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers)

by Brenda Drake

  I glanced to where he was looking and it was a photo of him as a teenager wearing a cloak and holding a rolled document. Graduation? Was he thinking of how his parents were absent in the photograph as they were in his life?

  A smile might have hinted on his lips just then, but I couldn’t be sure, not with the weak lighting coming from the lamps. “Marietta and I discovered each other by accident. I knew instantly that she was my sister. Her resemblance to the changeling was precise, down to the mole on her cheek. I can hardly believe Marietta is gone.” He spun the chair to face the window.

  “But my mother’s last name was Costa, not Bianchi. Marty Costa.”

  “Costa, eh?” He swiveled his chair back to face me. “It’s the surname of a childhood friend of hers. She couldn’t use her real name. She didn’t want to be found.”

  Of course, she’d changed her name. “That makes sense.”

  He studied me. “Well, we needn’t speak of sad things right off. Shall we get to work, then?”

  I swallowed hard. “Sure.”

  Professor Attwood stood. “Well, then, each Sentinel can perform two globes. One is a light globe, which you can do, and the other is a battle globe.” He walked around the desk to me. “Stand up and give me your hand.”

  I pushed up from my seat and then placed my hand in his.

  “We’ll start with fire. Flatten your palm.” He unfurled my fingers. “Just focus on everything you know about fire. Imagine a flame burning, consuming your mind. Feel the heat. Smell the smoke. Hear the crackle. All magic starts from deep inside you, within the core of your being.”

  I stood there, thinking about fire. I even roasted a marshmallow.

  “Now, command it by saying fuoco, which means—”

  “Fire. I know. I took Italian.”

  “Good. Go ahead and try it.”

  “Fuoco!” I said.

  Nothing happened.

  “Try it again.”

  I attempted it several times. Nothing.

  “Okay, so we can eliminate fire. Let’s try water.”

  I tried to create water, but it just made me thirsty. Next, I strained to conjure wind. We continued working through his list of possible globes.

  A Sentinel’s wizard ancestry determined their abilities. Whatever magic was their ancestors’ specialty showed up in their globes. And there were many of them. Along with fire and water ones, we tried others—stunning, lightning, smoke screen, wind, and one that was like a sonic wave.

  An hour passed without any results. No matter how hard I imagined, or thought, or focused, nothing happened, and I stomped my foot. Maybe I couldn’t invoke globes after all. I’d had enough trouble keeping my light from winking out.

  As frustrated as I was, he dropped my hand. “There’s only one globe left. I hoped it wouldn’t be the one.”

  “Why, is it bad?”

  “It can be. It requires the person’s blood and getting it from someone can be dangerous. If it’s the one, you must promise to do as I say.”

  Yeah, that didn’t just raise a red flag. If I believed in superstitions, I would’ve crossed my fingers behind my back when I answered, “I promise.”

  He reached behind me, grabbed a pushpin from a holder on his desk, and pricked his finger with the point. Panic fluttered in my stomach. I hated the sight of blood, and there was no way I was going to make a blood oath with a stranger. There’s no telling what kind of diseases might transfer.

  “I’m not going to prick you. I want to see if you can create a truth globe. I’m not certain you can. It’s a difficult globe to conjure, but an ancestor of yours was able to master it.”

  I gave him my trembling hand. He turned it over, exposing my palm, and pressed his pricked finger above it. A drop of blood beaded and fell on my skin.

  “As I said, you need a blood sample from the person you’re verifying to perform this globe.” His blood raced along the creases of my skin. “Now, in Italian you’ll recite show me the truth, which is—”

  “Mostrami la verità.” Lights flickered above my palm and then vanished.

  “Well, we found your globe,” he said, his face somber. “Now, try it again.”

  I tried several times to form the globe. A thin membrane would bud, grow, and shape into a bubble, but before it could fully expand, it popped. Professor Attwood’s hand resembled an empty pincushion with all the tiny needle pricks glaring red against his pale skin.

  “Ugh,” I moaned. “I can’t do it.”

  “Yes, you can. Focus.” He let another drop of his blood fall into the cup of my hand.

  Tired, hungry, and frustrated, I glared at the pool of blood. Why wouldn’t the damn thing form, already? Anger heated my face. There was a tug in my stomach and a vibration ran up my spine. My hand buzzed as if it had fallen asleep, and electric sparks zapped at my fingertips.

  “Mostrami la verità,” I said.

  Like a sprouting seed, a silver globe grew in the palm of my hand.

  Chapter Eleven

  I practically jumped with excitement, the globe jiggling in response.

  Professor Attwood dropped the pushpin. “There, you have it!” he said. “Now, ask if I’m true. You can say it in any language, and it will answer you in that language. Remember, only keys and charms must be spoken in formal Italian.”

  “Why are they in Italian?”

  “The keys and charms were once in Latin,” he said. “A wizard adapted them into Italian. The change made for a better implementation of magic, so it caught on, and soon everyone used his system.” He nodded to the globe. “Go ahead and ask.”

  “Is Professor Attwood true?”

  His smoky image appeared in the globe and said in a tinny voice, “I am truthful.”

  “Now, simply pull your hand into a fist to close the globe.”

  I closed my hand over the globe, and it popped like a bubble, leaving behind little silver sparks. I sank into my chair and leaned forward, shaking uncontrollably. I wanted to vomit.

  “I suspected you might have a reaction to the power,” he said. “In a few weeks, your body will get accustomed to the power and the side effects will cease. You can avoid the reaction, by eating a healthy diet. Don’t skip meals.”

  “Yeah, I haven’t had breakfast. Or lunch”

  Professor Attwood retrieved a juice pouch from a small refrigerator behind his desk and then handed it to me.

  I gave the pouch a curious look.

  “What’s the matter? You don’t like punch flavor?”

  “No, it’s not that. I just thought you’d give me a goblet of something, not this.” I fumbled with the wrapping on the straw.

  He took the straw, unwrapped it, and stabbed the pouch for me. “I’m addicted to these. The kids bring them back from your world for me.” Professor Attwood returned to his seat while I sucked down the sugary goodness. “Truth globe wielders in ancient times were considered thieves. For they stole lies by revealing what was true. Anytime you aren’t sure of someone, I want you to use your globe. However, you must be careful. It’s best if you can find a way to get their blood secretly.”

  “Why?”

  “If they are untrue, they may kill you just for asking.”

  “Oh.” My shoulders sank. My ability didn’t sound very useful. Or safe.

  “The globe isn’t suitable for battle, but it does come in handy for interrogations.” He picked up a pen to take notes. “You won’t be a forward Sentinel. Also, you’ll feel weak afterward, so make sure to keep something sugary with you.”

  “What were my parents’ globes?”

  He looked at me sharply. “Parents?”

  Crap. Crap. Crap. Think of something, fast. I tried faking calm, but the stern look on his face made me nervous. “Um, did I say parents? I meant parent.” Yeah. Good one. Can I be any more tragic? I’m obviously not cut out for keeping secrets.

  He raised a brow. “I clearly heard parents. If you meant your mother, you would have said mother. What aren’t you telling
me?”

  I gulped, wavering between telling him about my parents or not. The truth globe had said to trust him. I hoped the hocus-pocus blood trick was legit and decided to go for it. “Carrig is my father. Marietta is my mother. Put the two together and here I am.” I forced a grin at the end.

  He dropped his pen. “I don’t believe it. Why would Marietta defy the warnings? He’s a Sentinel, for Christ’s sake—a reckless one at that.”

  Reckless. I filed that away to think about later and bit my lip. Maybe Professor Attwood would tell me Carrig and Arik were wrong, and the prophecy didn’t spell disaster. “It’s a mistake, right? I can’t be the Doomsday Child.”

  “If you are the presage, I believe you are our salvation, Gia, not our doom.” His smile comforted me and I breathed a sigh of relief. “There is a way of knowing the truth. A drop of your blood should do it.”

  “You want me to perform a globe on myself?”

  “Or we could just forget about it and never know the truth about your parentage.” He didn’t do sarcasm well.

  Sighing, I snatched a pin from the holder, then sucked in a deep breath and pricked my finger, wincing at the sting. I squeezed the tip, letting a drop of blood fall onto my palm. I thought only of the globe and willed it to life. The familiar pull and tingle rushed through my body. The silver globe sprouted, and I recited the key.

  Professor Attwood came around the desk and stood beside me. “Ask it to reveal your true parents.”

  “Show me my real parents,” I ordered the globe.

  A blurry movie played across the surface of it. The actors were Marietta and Carrig. I wanted to reach into the globe and touch my mother. She was so alive, soft brown hair tumbling around her shoulders and full lips pressed together as she stroked Carrig’s cheek.

  Carrig pulled her into an embrace. “I love you.”

  “I love you, as well.” A bruise shadowed the side of my mother’s face. “It’s against the laws for us to be together.”

  Okay, it was more like a Lifetime movie, except her bruise bothered me.

  “When you were on the verge of death,” Carrig continued, “I wanted to die me self. I cannot live without you.”

  “You are all I think about, my love,” she said, tears drenching her cheeks. “I can hardly breathe when you’re not around. We’ll meet secretly, but we must be careful.”

  “We will,” Carrig said, cupping her face and wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

  I glanced at Professor Attwood. “Does that mean they’re my parents?”

  “The globe shows the truth. It cannot lie.” He rubbed his temples. “I remember when Marietta was injured. She came out of the gateway book battered and bloodied. A hound had attacked her, and she was barely alive. Carrig did seem overly concerned about Marietta, and now I know the reason for it.”

  “Guess they weren’t very careful.” I popped the globe with my fingertips.

  “They were foolish. The cost would’ve been banishment to—”

  “Where? Where would they send them?”

  “To Somnium. There are many isolated habitats within the Somnium. It’s a place of limbo. As if being in a dream state of nothingness forever.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound so bad,” I said.

  “Can you imagine nothingness? A desolate land that never changes, and where you are alone forever?”

  I gulped. “That does sound bad. Where is it?”

  “The entries into the habitats are in the libraries,” he said. “We know the locations of some and use them as prisons. The ones we haven’t found are like trap doors. You could come across one without knowing and it’ll pull you in.”

  The traps Arik mentioned. I shuddered. “That’s creepy. I’m never going in a library again.”

  “There is a way of sensing the energy around the entries of Somnium. I’ll teach you.”

  “Well, that’s good. I think. But what about humans? What happens if they get sucked into the Som…the Som-thingy?”

  “Somnium,” he corrected. “Humans are immune to the traps.”

  That sounded legit. “So what are we going to do about me being…you know?”

  He gave me a questioning look.

  “The Doomsday Child…the Coming or whatever you guys call it.”

  “I’m not certain, but we’ll sort it out. I need to train you posthaste so you can protect yourself. The attack on the Haven yesterday is only the beginning. I fear other tribes will fall to whatever evil is about.” He scribbled something on a notepad. “Is there anyone else who knows who your parents are?”

  “Well, Carrig, of course, my Nana, Merl…and Arik.”

  He placed his pen down. “I wonder why Merl didn’t tell me about you.”

  I shrugged.

  “You must perform a truth globe on Arik immediately. I’m going to give you a book on charms and one about the Mystiks. Study ferociously, for you will need to prepare yourself in case of an attack. Learn each Mystik species’ weaknesses.” He went over to the bookcases and searched for the books. In small ways, his movements reminded me of my mom.

  I thought about Pop with Mom. If she’d really cared for him. Then I imagined Pop with my changeling and knew she couldn’t love him the way I do, although she probably would over time. Did he notice a difference between us? That she wasn’t me? I resented that she’d slipped into my safe life while my whole world spun upside down. But mostly I was sad that she had kind, loving Pop and, except for Nana, I was pretty much alone. I wanted to tell Pop I loved him, but it would be months before I saw him again.

  Professor Attwood grabbed several books from the shelf. “Time to go,” he said, handing me the books.

  “Where are we going?”

  With his hand firm on my back, he ushered me swiftly to the door. “I have an appointment coming. You must seek out Arik and find out if he’s trustworthy before dinner. I know you already trust him, but we should verify it anyway.” He pushed a pamphlet into my hand. “This is a map of the castle. You will find the Sentinels’ chambers listed on it. Your room is in the visitor corridor. It’s all on the map.”

  “That’s crazy. How do I get his blood?”

  “You’ll figure a way. Are you afraid of him?”

  A picture of Arik flashed through my mind. Tall, broad, with a confident swagger, there was no doubt he could kill if he had to. But I trusted him. He’d saved my life more than once. “No.”

  “Good. If he wanted, you would already be dead.”

  “Thanks for that. I feel much better.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you being sarcastic?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Duh.”

  He smiled, which made him look less intimidating. “Just go. We haven’t much time.”

  I had no idea why he was in such a rush. “Why—”

  He popped open the door. Standing on the other side was a cloaked man, his hood pulled over to hide his face.

  “Excuse me,” I said, squeezing by him. The hood slipped back and I recognized the guy. “Hey, I know you.”

  “I’m sorry, we’ve never met,” he said, moving into the office.

  “Well, no, we didn’t meet. But you were in the Athenæum with Arik. He said your name. Edgar, right?”

  Professor Attwood scooted past him and took my arm. “I must ask you to keep Edgar’s visit with me a secret. It’s a matter of life or death. His.”

  I glanced through the crack in the door. Edgar attached a small metal device to Pip’s globe. “What’s he doing?”

  Professor Attwood yanked the door closed. “It’s his mission recorder,” he whispered. “He’s transferring the information to Pip.”

  “Who is he?”

  “I asked you to keep his visit a secret.” Professor Attwood gave me a warm smile. “Will you do that for me, and stop asking questions?”

  I didn’t like not knowing, but his pleading eyes said he wouldn’t tell me even if I begged. “Okay,” I huffed. Again, someone else wasn’t giving me all the in
formation I knew I needed.

  “Good, then, I’ll see you at dinner.” He went back into his office, leaving me staring blankly at the door.

  Because I’m the world’s worst navigator, following the map Professor Attwood gave me proved a bad idea. After a series of missed turns and hurried backtracks, I ended up in the long corridor containing the Sentinels’ rooms. I stopped at the door the professor had marked on the map and pounded on the thick wood. I yanked my hair tie free, letting long brown strands fall past my shoulders. He didn’t answer. I knocked louder.

  “You are seeking for Arik. No?” a girl barely older than me asked in a French lilt. She embraced a stack of towels as she came down the hall. Her blond hair swept her shoulders with the rhythm of her hips. Plain English words couldn’t describe her beauty as well as sexy French ones could.

  “Yes,” I answered, studying her almond-shaped eyes, their color almost too blue.

  “Well, ‘e’s not zere,” she said, eyebrows arched to sharp points. “All Sentinels ‘ave been sent on a…how do you say?” She puckered her puffy pink lips as she tried to find the correct word. “A mission, zat’s it, no?”

  “A mission? Do you know when they’ll be back?”

  “Perhaps a few days, perhaps weeks, zat’s all I know. I’m merely the c’ambermaid.”

  “Thanks.” I hugged the books to my chest so she wouldn’t see the titles and headed back the way I’d come.

  Before I went around the corner, I gave her a quick once-over. She stood with one hand on her hip and the other balancing the towels as she gave me an icy stare. With biceps like that, there was no way she was a c’ambermaid. She looked like a spy to me. I would have to tell Professor Attwood about her later. Right now, I wanted to get to my room and check in with Nana.

  I had an eerie feeling someone was following me as I raced down the hall. I darted glances over my shoulder. Nothing. I skidded around a corner into another empty corridor.

  Rubber shoes squeaked across the floor in the hall I’d just left.

  I spun around and waited. “Wh-who’s there?” I called.

  No one answered. I hurried around the next corner, my heavy breaths pounding in my ears. Scratching noises sounded above my head. My gaze flew up to the ceiling. Nothing. A thud sounded down the hall, but it was empty.