by Amity Green
“Precisely. We must take advantage of any opportunity to stay a step ahead of him.” Ezra twisted on the seat, looking at me.
“We put it inside the grotto.” I didn’t have a clue how to get it there, but it seemed like a logical answer. “Ezra could take it down there, which works because Kai won’t expect him to be with us and we won’t have to worry about gargoyles.” I slid forward on the seat. I didn’t mention how Petra told me Kai avoided Tyrens like the plague. We needed every advantage we could muster, and placing the book in the grotto might throw him off a little.
Ezra continued. “I will be hidden from sight while I carry the book, although the second I no longer have it in my hands, the wards will let me be seen. I lack the skill to cast shroud over myself. I’ll use the wards to conceal my body.”
I leaned close to Peter. “Well, that’s something at least. So, when we get there, I go get Kai and tell him the book is in the cavern. Ezra will be hidden down there and between the two of us, we can use the element of surprise and ambush him. While we’re doing that, you go find Brea. We meet back at the car after we each complete our part of the plan and we drive home. I mean to the bookstore.”
My words came rapid-fire, reminding me of either Alvin, or another of the Chipmunks. I chewed my bottom lip. It would be really, really great if Kai would just go down to the cavern to get his book. That easy. Nobody else in the car said anything. Peter had quite the job to do locating Brea, but he was most familiar with the manor. Ezra would have a big challenge making it back to hide in the car until we were together and ready to escape.
“I’m taking Petra out of there with us.” Peter said from the front seat.
“Of course,” Ezra confirmed.
“Sounds like a plan.” I tried to sound sure of myself despite the sense that something was going to go horribly wrong.
“Faith,” Ezra reminded.
I took a deep, steeling breath. “We got this.” Buckle up … It’s going to be a train-wreck.
Chapter 28
In another life I would’ve considered the town of Kelty, Scotland completely charming.
The sun was shining as we passed through so we had the tinted windows up. I fought the urge to lean against the glass to read the names of the shops along Main Street. I could see myself traumatizing small children by pressing my transparent-skinned face to the window as we drove through town like a freakish float in a Dias de los Mortos parade.
Ensconced against the leather, I hid myself from view beneath my hoodie. Peter steered the car by gripping the bottom of the wheel so his hands weren’t in view. Ezra peered out his window with the gusto of a six-year-old whose parents had just pulled the family car into a parking spot at Disney Land.
The right turn onto Black Road took us toward Loch Ore, which we skirted with the solemnity of a funeral procession. I’d begun reading every road sign I could see miles ago to try to keep my senses. Pent up, anxious energy made it hard to sit still. I sat forward on the seat, close to Peter’s back.
“Do you know where to look for Brea?” I broke the silence, but didn’t really want to. I was still a little doubtful of the success of our plan. People ate other people out there.
“I’ve a fairly good idea she’ll be close to Petra’s room in the house. Kai will have Petra watching her.”
“Well that would make things easier,” I told him, softly.
“I imagine you’ll have an easy time getting Kai to follow you into the cavern.” His words were clipped, tidying up a loaded statement into an efficient little jab.
“That was a little terse, don’t ya think?” He’d sounded downright pissy.
“Just stating the obvious.” He didn’t look at me.
“Do you have a better idea?”
“No, and that’s why this whole thing is so bloody pitchy.” He sighed. “I don’t want the bastard touching you.”
“I know, Peter.”
“I don’t think you’ve a good grasp of how bad this could get.”
“Let’s just stick to the plan. Ezra takes the book into the cavern, you find Brea and Petra, I get Kai down in the hole, we ambush him, we wait for each other at the car,” I huffed and shook my head. “We sneak in and we sneak out. It’s mechanical, like a play-by-play.”
Peter knew the countless ways it could go wrong as surely as I did. I wondered if he had scenarios playing through his head like vignettes inside a haunted house, too. I glanced at Ezra, who remained quiet. Who could guess what was going through his mind. Sweat ran inside my hoodie. My knees bounced with my emotions, jittering my frame on the seat.
“Don’t make it a habit to kill my boys.” Kai’s voice played in my mind through a decrepit phonograph. There were touchy elements to each of our parts.
“What about Osgar and his friends? Won’t they want to help defeat Kai?”
“Osgar would be more than willing to help get rid of Kai. They’re held in check by threats against the lives of remaining kin. I’ve watched over the centuries as the clan has dwindled in numbers. Now they stay and do Kai’s bidding to preserve what’s left, lest Kai kills off more.”
“Why has Kai kept them alive this long?” Crappy question, but I needed to know what was going on. The whole story.
Ezra turned to face me. “He would have done away with the whole clan, but for the brave soul who stole that book and brought it to me that day, centuries ago. Kai couldn’t make any more gargoyles after that, so his plans were cut short.”
“It’s the book that makes gargoyles. Not Kai. And not you, either.” My statement was met with silence. The will of the user made the book a weapon in the same sense as any other weapon verses the whim of the one wielding it. I let my point rest, moving on. “So the only thing keeping Osgar and the others alive for the past thousand years is you keeping the book hidden.”
“Kai can’t see it when it’s warded. Neither can Hamish or any of the others. Kai is a master at manipulating people. Just look at how fast he was to find a way to get you to retrieve the book for him.” Ezra looked out his window, frowning. “When he found that you are somehow immune to most magic, he kidnapped your friend.”
“Don’t you feel better knowing we’re not alone in this? Because I do.”
“No one else knows we’re headed back with the book,” Peter reasoned.
“Why don’t you guys carry cell phones?” A gusty sigh accompanied my words.
Peter and Ezra exchanged puzzled glances.
“There’s likely no cellular service out that far,” Peter said, at last. “I’ll get Brea to the car first, then go back for Petra if I don’t find her along the way.” The car continued forward at a slow pace. Peter was giving us time to sort out the last bits of the plan before we got out. “And how will you ensure Kai buys in?”
“Well he won’t know where his book is without me showing him, right? I mean, because of the wards?”
“Yes.” Ezra agreed.
“Then he’ll have to go down there to get it.” I felt the outline of the dirk along my calf. “The first he can see of me will be when I come out of the stairs, because he’ll think I carried the book into the cavern, not Ezra. I’ll need to be quick.”
I glanced at the feeble looking man in the front seat. Hopefully Kai would never even know Ezra was there.
I didn’t see Ezra as the cruel sorcerer I had before. The psychotic edge had faded from my impression of him. He was still quirky and downright odd, but those things endeared him to me. Living for so long had taken a toll on the man. He struggled for sanity, often reverting to childish behavior, almost like an odd form of senility.
“Ezra, why are you risking Kai getting his book just to help me save Brea?” The question had been bothering me. Brea and I were only two people. If Kai got control of his book, the two of us would be two small casualties in a world of chaos.
“Tessa.” Peter gave me a stern look in the rear view.
“Well seriously, Peter. Think about it. It’s like the good of the man
y should be way more important than just us two.”
He looked away.
“This has gone on long enough,” Ezra stated. “This life has exhausted me and taken too big a price from my kin.” He looked down at his clunky boots. “You’ve given me hope that we will come out victorious.”
I wasn’t much to get one’s hopes up over. Tessa Conley was just a girl in a world of beasts.
We pulled onto the winding drive toward The Grotto. I dropped my hood since we were out of sight of anyone who might need therapy after seeing my thin-skinned, sinewy face in the sunshine. Peter pulled the car off the road and popped the trunk so Ezra could retrieve the book. We all got out. I needed to stretch my legs desperately.
“Ezra?” Peter said.
“Tessa, tell him I’m beside the door here.”
“He’s back up here,” I told Peter. Wow. It hadn’t occurred to me that Ezra wouldn’t be seen or heard by anyone but me when he was wrapped in the wards surrounding the book. “This is going to be interesting.”
“I’m going to take the book into the cavern. You can lead Kai to it, although he won’t see it until he can find a way around the wards. That should be the end.”
The end. At that point Ezra would be a target to Kai and his “boys” as he called them, until he made his way back to the car. I forced thoughts of a bad ending from my mind. We would all meet back at the car. No one would be hurt. I had to keep my glass half full or I’d go crazy.
Peter looked across the car at me, worry etching his dark features. A low breeze caught his long ebony hair, scattering it in a rich cascade over his jaw and neck. The effect against his silver-grey eyes and transparent skin was amazing. He looked more savage than horror, more otherworldly god than beast. I really wanted to feel the security of being tucked away in his arms one more time before we parted, but it would be incredibly awkward with Ezra standing there with us. I stared back, trying my best to hold my ground against the urge. We didn’t have a lot of time as things stood.
I turned to Ezra, trying to emit confidence I wish I owned. “Here goes.”
“Not to worry, I’ll be right back with you, dear girl.” He looked over at Peter and was quiet for a long moment. “Tell Peter I’ll see him soon, please. And that I controlled what he read in an attempt to make him forget, even after he requested I stop. He’d been through so much when I found him and his sister. Then she was taken away. I thought it best. I apologize if I was wrong.” He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but changed his mind. Instead, he shut the car door.
Ezra walked into the trees, large boots clomping through brush and leaves. His white hair waved with his steps, stark in the dark cover of forest.
I leaned my elbows on the car and looked at Peter. “He said he’ll see you soon, and that he was trying to protect you by choosing what you read, so you wouldn’t be sad. He wanted you to be happy, so he let you read things he thought wouldn’t remind you of the past.”
He stared quietly ahead into the lush forest and ivy.
“He’ll be okay Peter, don’t worry.” I added. I reminded myself of a cheerleader, rooting for a team constantly on defense. Go team, go.
I swallowed hard as warmth hatched in my chest. Eerily, a small part of me was looking forward to an altercation ahead. I’d warmed to the rush of bloodshed, before guilt set in. That made me wonder just who—or what I’d become. At least before then I could identify with myself, knew the hand I’d been dealt. Everything was switched. I sighed loudly in a shaky rush. Peter glanced at me.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I said, feeling a flood of tears behind my eyes. “I mean shouldn’t I be scared to face a monster that could potentially ruin parts of the world? I’m worried about losing Brea and your sister, but I’m not scared of being hurt or killed. And I should be.” I jammed my fingers into my hair, rubbing my temples. “I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s almost like I’m looking forward to the confrontation with Kai.” I wiped my face on the sleeves of my hoodie. I’d never been one to thrive on conflict. “I think something went wrong with me, or got turned loose when I killed that guy.”
“Something is different in you,” he said, nodding. “But that’s not necessarily the worst thing. It’s good you don’t want to run from a fight, yes? You’ve got a bit of steel to you, Miss Conley.” Peter nodded with a tight-lipped smile. “Not that I’m in love with the idea of you being in the same room with that … Kai.” He eyed the roof of the car as he spoke. “Be careful, Tessa,” he looked into my eyes. “Just do what you have to and get to the car. If I’m not there, Brea will be and I’ll be right along with Petra.”
“I don’t love the thought of you being hurt, either.”
Our gazes locked, loaded silence carrying thoughts that neither of us was ready to say.
“I’d better head out before I lose Ezra.”
“Keep at a run.” His words were selective. My battered emotions basked in the knowledge that he was in my corner, that I was not alone. That he cared about me and whether I continued in life.
I turned in the direction Ezra had taken into the trees and broke into a fast run through the underbrush, dodging low branches and skirting outgrowths of ivy and brush. I stretched out my legs and pounded the soft forest floor as I sprinted. I caught up with him easily, just as he came to a crouch behind an outcropping of the ruined castle proper. The grounds were in plain view.
I fidgeted in place, rocking on my feet. “I’m going to wait till I hear Peter pull up before I come out of the stairwell. The car should get Kai’s attention.”
“We’ve got this.” Ezra winked.
I couldn’t help laughing a little. He’d said it, trying his best to mimic my casually drawled phrase by dropping his accent.
We walked to the edge of the jagged rock wall, joining hands so we were both hidden by the book’s wards. I peeked around the edge. Not a soul was in the yard. The stairs to the cavern were close ahead, so Ezra would be down at his post in plenty of time.
I closed my eyes. Please, please let this work.
I breathed in my resolve as we stepped around the rock wall and walked toward the stairway. We were both far too nervous to talk.
The plan was in motion.
Chapter 29
Ezra left me to descend the stairs into the cavern. I waited a few moments a couple steps down, listening hard for the sound of the Aston Martin to pull up next to the garage and hoping I encountered no one on the stairs. When tires sounded on gravel, I started out of the stairwell toward the house. I opened the front door and made it inside when I saw Kai stalk into the foyer. Just like I’d thought, he eagerly waited at the front stoop after seeing Peter show up with the car.
“I assume since I can see you, you’ve relieved yourself of my book, Tessa. Where is it?” His eyes narrowed on me.
“Carrying it around made me feel jittery, so I stashed it.”
“Where?” he asked, tight lipped.
“I figured down by the baths would be a good place. I mean, that’s where you left me for safe-keeping when I tried to escape.” I couldn’t help getting a little smart-assery in. I was still angry he’d left me down there so long.
“That’s ridiculous. You could have brought it straight to me.”
“As if I knew where you’d be or something. I sort of expected you to be waiting by the garage or at the front door. I didn’t see you, and I thought it would be a good idea to hide it. I don’t know all the rules with those ward things. Someone, or something out here could have seen that book the second I took it out of the car.” I’d never hoped to sound stupid before, but that time, I prayed I appeared dumb as a brick.
“If you’re attempting to deceive me, your friend will pay the price,” he warned.
A twinge of intimidation bit at me. Neither of us doubted how he would murder another person. That was a kind of understanding I never thought I’d have with someone.“Come, Tessa. There’s something I want you to see,” he said, gesturin
g to the door outside.
Worry carved into my face and I tried to relax the muscles of my brow. It was like knowing I’d wiped paint on my cheek but couldn’t do a measly thing about it until I could get to a mirror. Donning a poker face in the same room as Kai was a trick.
“I’m fine here, thanks,” I answered, calmly.
“I insist.” Kai grasped my arm above the elbow and drug me down the long set of steps to the front yard. “There, you see?” He pointed to a wrought iron balcony, backed by a set of glass French doors. Brea stood in plain sight through the windows. Kai waved and one door swung wide. She was shoved onto the landing. A man who was at least six inches shorter than she was stepped out behind her, tossing and catching a small dagger. Sun glinted off the blade each time it caught air before he’d catch it with a quick hand and sent it flipping up again. The man smiled down at me with the kind of grin I associated with a psychopath. And a murderer. His features were blackened beneath transparent skin, muscle and sinew pulling tight with each movement of his face, arms and hands. One hand rested on Brea’s elbow and when he saw I was watching he began to caress the skin of her arm.
Brea jerked away, keeping her eyes locked on me. Her captor snarled, white teeth gleaming inside blackened gums and lips. He grabbed her again, shaking her elbow hard. She stumbled backward.
“There’s something more assuring in older forms of insurance, don’t you agree?” Kai looked down his shoulder at me.
I met his gaze.“I just want you to know that if that sawed-off little bastard hurts my friend, I’ll burn this place to the ground.” I didn’t blink, and neither did he. “And I’ll make sure you’re in there with him.” We continued to stare for a few moments longer.
I’d never spoken in such a way to anyone, but Kai. The first time had been when he insisted that one day I’d love him and I told him I would never. I really hoped he didn’t doubt my conviction. Because I didn’t.
“The beauty of this, Tessa,” he said, “is that soon, you’ll give me what’s mine, and I will change your mind about the whole situation.” He pulled me toward the stairs leading down to the grotto. I looked over my shoulder one last time at Brea and the psycho. She stood still beside him, a picture of stagnant emotion. Kai jerked me hard by an elbow, crushing my arm and making me stumble against him, reminding me how tall and strong he was. We crossed the yard and started down the winding stairs, descending into the room that held the key to the end of things in the world, or else the end of my best friend.
