Muse Unchained (The Last Library Book 3)

by Jill Cooper

  “Attack!”

  ****

  The beam of light from my staff tore through the death hunters and sent them crashing to the ground. Dissolved into a mist, their robes fluttered down to the ground. The ones that hadn’t been killed, raced back to their portal. Ready to report back to their master.

  “They’ll grow their numbers. They’ll come for you. Creighton is already on the move.” Muse swept her hair across the air. “I can feel his darkness getting closer. He’ll travel through Imagination. He’ll slaughter those who won’t worship him. Those that do, will fuel him. His routine hasn’t changed.”

  Sebastian’s eyebrows furrowed. “Imagination… Is he there yet?”

  “Not yet, but he moves toward it. He’s massed more power than before with the fall of Rottenwood.”

  My heart grieved to hear her speak of my hometown in such a way.

  “We can still save the Civilized lands and give all those trapped there a better life.” Muse smiled. “You must show it to me. Where is the Last Library?”

  I felt like she struck me with a word. “I thought you were going to show it to me?”

  Muse’s lips drew together in a fine line. “It was close. You’ve been carrying it with you all this time. Did you misplace it?”

  “Of course, I didn’t. I don’t think someone can misplace a library.”

  Muse’s eyes widened. “The essence of the library is… For six hundred years, Temptress kept her on a short leash. Magenta and I made sure she could not escape to the Civilized World where Creighton would snuff her out. Then you came here. You met her and you knew you needed her. And now, you lost her?”

  I stared at her with confusion and then it all snapped together in my head and I felt faint. The way Ella could light the way. The way she absorbed the ancient spirits released from the Book realm. The things she knew, and the things she did to protect herself. The fear she had when she spoke of the dragon.

  Ella was the last library.

  Chapter: Tarnish Rose

  “I don’t understand,” George said. “How can Ella be a library?”

  “She’s the essence of the library. It’s becoming time for her to reach her full potential,” Muse said. She paced, her hands folded together. “She senses it, slowly her memories are being restored. That’s why she ran. That’s why she’s scared. She doesn’t want to die.”

  Die?

  My stomach rolled with regret and dread. “How can this be? She’s a person. Surely, she couldn’t have survived for six hundred years.”

  “Because I didn’t? Temptress didn’t? We are all ancient spirits, beings, of the book realm. So is Ella, but she’s of a different sort. She needed to hide from Creighton more so than the others. So, we buried her essence so deep, even she didn’t know it.”

  “But the memories she had,” I insisted and wasn’t ready to let this all go. “She remembered her parents selling her to Temptress. She remembered the deal Temptress made with her for the lives of children.”

  “A deal but not the one either remembered. Even Temptress’s memories were imprisoned by Creighton. I couldn’t trust either of them, so I inspired them both with stories and false memories. Of songs long forgotten. It had to be quick and sloppy, I was slowly losing my heart and transformed into a dragon myself.”

  “But, Ella knew her brother. She knew her family.”

  “Did she? Her story never changed? Was she ever able to give you a time table?”

  Muse spoke the truth and I fell silent. I felt Sebastian step up closer. “All of this back and forth aside, we need to find Ella. If she’s the library, we need her to defeat Creighton. She’ll have the spells and knowledge necessary so you can defeat him.”

  I drew a sharp breath and stuttered. “Creighton is an ancient spirit from the book realm. He’s Villain, isn’t he?”

  The muse bowed her head, but not before I saw the thick tears falling down her face. “The curse of man is that they don’t understand half as much as they think they do. They don’t believe in magic or make believe. When they rose to power and burned the books, destroyed the knowledge, and withdrew creativity from the world, they released something far worse. The spirits from the book realm, imaginary creatures, and the Villain took shape, possessing the body of a man.

  “And now he doesn’t want to leave. He’ll destroy every place, every person, and every thing before he’ll accept this fate.”

  Hearing all this was almost too much. I felt lost and alone. I turned to Sebastian. “The last library isn’t a place, it’s a person. Ella’s power is what I need to join with to defeat Creighton.”

  “We have to find her. And fast if Creighton is already moving to face us,” Sebastian said.

  “She could be a week behind us or more,” George said. “And we can’t move the tower until sunset.”

  “Is there anyway we can summon her? That you can bring her to us?” I asked.

  Muse placed her chin to her chest, eyes closed. Her hands folded in front of her. “I can attempt to locate her. See if I can find where she may have gone. Where she could be hiding.”

  “You can actually do that?” Ana asked. She pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. I had to wonder what she was so afraid of, but even I was made nervous by all this talk about the Dark Lord Creighton.

  Muse extended her hand over the ground and swirled it through the air. Snow and dirt picked up in a tiny whirlwind that only grew bigger, the size of a cup. I watched as it flew through the air, keeping my eye on it as it flew past to the tower and there it remained.

  George’s eyebrows pinched together. “She’s still in the tower?”

  “She’s hiding,” I said and pressed my lips together with relief. “I knew she didn’t really want to leave. She’s just been afraid.” Ella needed a friend and I could be that person for her. If she knew what she was, she had to be scared. I knew I would be.

  “I will go with you. We’ll find her together.” Ana said and slipped her arm over my shoulder. “Some girl talk should help her, shouldn’t it?”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Ana. We’ll tackle it together. I’ll be right back. Move inside if the weather gets to be too much. Muse, please treat my tower as your home.” We parted ways. Ana and I sprinted for the tower and then took the stairs back up.

  On the ground floor, I gazed around. “I wonder where I would hide if I were her?”

  Ana frowned as she thought. “Wouldn’t be the dining hall or the bedrooms. We’ve all been in those. You don’t think she’d venture to the very top and hide out in the prison, do you?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I can’t say for sure, but it’s best to start at the top and work our way down.”

  Ana sighed with relief and grinned. “Well, it’s as good a plan as any I’ve heard. Let’s hurry and we can put an end to this.”

  “Rightfully so.” I climbed the stairs quickly and Ana wasn’t too far behind me.

  It took several minutes to climb all the flights of stairs required until we reached the prison level. Once there, we twisted through the corridor, gazing into each of the cells. “Hmm, no sign of her.”

  “Let’s keep looking,” Ana said. “I’ll go this way, you go that way.”

  “All right. Call out if you see anything.”

  I stepped forward, keeping my steps light. As I turned the corner, I saw Ella in the cell directly ahead of me. She sat on the floor on her knees, twisting and turning as if trying to get her hands free of something.

  “Ella!” I called and raced toward her. When I reached the bars, I realized not only was the prison door locked, but that Ella was gagged. When her eyes met mine, she shook her head violently, as if to warn me off.

  Who had done this to her?

  “I’m going to get you out of here.” I noticed on the floor was a piece of toast and a plate. Someone I trusted had done this, someone who was part of my crew, and I remembered the words the narrator had said to me.

  Someone in your party will betray you. />
  I thought the narrator had meant Ella. Oh, this really was all my fault.

  Ella started shaking her head, biting on her gag, pushing it down so she could speak. Her eyes widened and she started to yell something, but I couldn’t understand her muffled cries.

  “I’ll have you out of there in a minute. Ana! I found her!” I whipped my staff around and jolted the door open with a blast of power.

  The fear intensified in Ella’s eyes. I rushed in and pulled the gag out of her mouth. “Look out, Tarnish!” She screamed. “Look out!”

  A shadow on the floor overtook me. I pivoted on my heel and spun my staff, clashing with Ana’s bow. “Ana!” Disbelief washed over me.

  “Surprise.” Ana deflected my staff and swung her sword, slicing through my leather armor and piercing my abdomen.

  The searing intensity of the pain blinded me as I fell over onto the ground. I heard Ella scream. “No, Tarnish! No!” I didn’t know what would happen to Ella next, but I heard the footsteps of Ana as she came into view and picked up my staff.

  “Not as planned, but I think my master will accept what I’m going to tell him. I think he’ll happily be rid of you, Tarnish Rose.”

  Chapter: Ella

  Ella watched with horror as the blade struck Tarnish. Her friend fell to the ground and a puddle of blood poured out of the gash in her side. Would she die? What would that mean for Creighton and his dark reign on the world, especially now with the Temptress dead?

  The Temptress’s words came back to Ella. It’s been us since the beginning. Tarnish Rose will find you when she needs you the most.

  Ella thought she had alluded to the fight with Creighton, but maybe this is what she meant. As Ana picked up the staff, Ella’s mind was made up. She had to attack her and free the staff. Ella had to get help for Tarnish before she bled out laying unconscious in the prison cell.

  “Tarnish!” Ella called and twisted the ropes behind her back. Her wrists burned with pain and they were wet, thick with Ella’s blood, but she almost had one free. It hurt, nearly blinded her, but Ella continued to twist her wrists until her skin pinched between the rope fiber.

  Ana pointed the staff out at Ella. “Time for you and I to head for our Dark Lord. Don’t worry, I promise he won’t hurt you too much before he destroys you.”

  Ella’s hand slipped out of the rope. She kept it hidden behind her back, wiggling her fingers to make sure everything worked as it should. “You sure about that?”

  “What’s going on here?” Sebastian demanded as he rushed in from behind Ana. “Tarnish! Ana, what—!”

  Distracted, Ana turned her head around and Ella made her move. Her ankles still tied, she jumped up and hurled her body at Ana. Extending her bloodied hands, one still coiled in rope, Ella pushed her hands out, casting Ana in a shining bright light.

  Ana was blinded as Ella tumbled into her. They both fell to the ground, rolling over top of one another. Ella kept her hands tight around Ana’s chest to hold her down in place. Beside them, the staff clattered to the ground, but was unhurt. Ana screamed and tried to lift her head. Her hands grabbed Ella’s shoulders.

  “You’ll want to rethink that,” Sebastian said and drew his bow, the tip of his arrow mere inches from her head.

  Ana gritted her teeth and shrieked. “You’ll all pay for this. The Dark Lord will make sure all of your deaths are slow and painful.”

  “Are you all right, Ella?” Sebastian asked, not taking his eyes off of Ana.

  “I’m fine, but Tarnish is in the cell behind me. She’s been badly wounded. We need to get her help right away.”

  Sebastian eyes darted away toward the cell and back toward Ella with conflict in them. Ella sighed with frustration. “Go to her. I have this, I promise. I can handle Ana now that she hasn’t caught me by surprise.” Ella stepped off of Ana and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, dragging her toward an empty cell.

  Ella tossed Ana in and slammed the door shut. “We’re going to have questions for you,” she said angrily, wrapping her fingers around the cell bars. “I think I’ll let Robbie and Beatrice start. What do you think they’ll have to say about that?”

  Ana sneered, rolling over on the floor and touching her bloodied lip. “Maybe they were in on it with me. Did you think of that?”

  Ella had, but she doubted that was the case. “If so, the three of you could’ve over powered us at any time.”

  “I didn’t know who you were. Not until I heard what Magenta said to you and then it all made sense. You’re a relic of the old age. A relic that needs to be lost and destroyed. Creighton should’ve finished you off when he could. He would’ve, too, if you hadn’t been hidden.”

  Sebastian rushed toward the stairs, carrying the fallen body of the curator. Ella felt great sadness and despair to see how much blood covered her leather dressings and how her arm seemed to swing lifelessbeside her.

  “Ella,” his voice was pained, “I need your help. Hurry!”

  Ella turned away from Ana and nearly tripped over the fallen staff. She bent over and picked it up. When her fingers curled around the golden rod, the runes lit up as if she were the curator. Ella closed her eyes and tried to ignore everything she knew, everything she was just finding out about who she was and what it was she could do.

  Now more than ever, Ella wanted to be nothing more than just a regular person, but it seemed even that was far out of her reach.

  “Let it be then,” Ella said with determination, pushing her lips together in a straight line. “What will happen will happen,” she said to Ana, who glowered at her. “My friends need me and I sure as hell don’t need you.”

  Chapter: Timothy

  “Surprise!”

  The faces jumped out at Dani as she entered Alessa and Scott’s home with Timothy by her side. Dani screamed and her heart fluttered extra fast as she gazed around at Alessa’s friends gathered around the room. “What’s going on?” She asked with trepidation as Alessa and Scott hugged her. Georgia was waiting in the wings to join in.

  “Food on the table, drinks chilling, and a humble collection of presents, and she doesn’t know what’s going on here,” Alessa smiled. “She’s just the most darling thing ever.”

  “It’s a party for you and our baby,” Timothy said. “It’s a baby… shower?”

  “That’s what they used to call it.” Georgia grinned. “But I don’t know why they call it that because there isn’t a shower around anywhere.”

  Alessa shrugged. “Who cares? All that matters is that you’re here, healthy, and ready to celebrate. And goodness, look at the size of that baby. You’ll be ready to go any day.”

  Dani blushed and cradled her belly. “I should have another month to go, at least. But I do seem to have dropped.”

  “I’ll say.” Georgia laughed. “The way that dress is sticking out, I wouldn’t be surprised if the little hon fell right out of you if you jumped around some.”

  Everyone laughed and Alessa poured Dani a small glass of punch. “This is the good stuff. Real fruit in this thing so don’t let it go to waste. Sit down and I’ll get you something to eat. Something real nice.”

  Dani sipped her fizzy punch and struggled to sit down. Timothy grabbed her arm for support and she smiled at him. “Did you know about this?”

  “I did,” Timothy grinned. “I’m the one who told them how much you love fizzy drinks.”

  Dani laughed and cringed as a sharp pain hit her. She rubbed her belly with a groan. “This baby has a mind of its own. I hope you’ll be ready in a few weeks to be a father.”

  Timothy’s face drew together into sincerity and Dani wished she hadn’t said anything. She started to apologize when he kissed her cheek. “I think I’ve never been more ready.”

  ****

  The party was in full swing when Ben started to cry, awake from his nap. Scott went to attend to his needs and Timothy sat by Dani’s side. She opened a few brown paper wrapped presents to find a crocheted baby blanket, a fabric sling Alessa had
made her, and some hand-me-down baby outfits from Georgia.

  Her smile was wide as she lay a small outfit across her belly and Timothy’s heart filled with joy. It reminded him why it was so important to do the things he needed to get done. “I’ll be right back.” Timothy slung his satchel over his shoulder. “I’m going to see if Scott needs any help with the baby.”

  “Hurry back,” Dani said. She looked tired around the eyes, but her smile was wide as he leaned down to give her a quick peck on the nose.

  “Party games are next, Timmy.” Alessa winked. “Hurry back if you want to spin the baby’s bottle for prizes.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait.” Timothy chuckled with a good natured smile. Once he was safe in the back hall, his smile dropped. He snuck into the master bedroom and peeled the curtain back. He had his pick of paint to choose from. There was an array of glass jars filled with pink, blue, and purple paints. An assortment of paint brushes were stored in a box beside them.

  He grabbed the purple jar of paint in the back, assuming it wouldn’t be as missed, and a few paint brushes. He stuck them inside his satchel and turned from the room. The door to the baby’s room was open and Timothy saw something he never expected to.

  Scott was nursing the baby to his chest. Scott wasn’t a man.

  He was a woman.

  Timothy had never in all his years considered a relationship that wasn’t one of a man and a woman. Marriage existed for one reason—to forge a union that would make a child. Two women couldn’t make a child. But they had, hadn’t they? They had Ben.

  He thought back to the suicide of Lucy Tanger and how she said her baby hadn’t been born stillborn. By the workmen, Timothy thought to himself, the color draining out of his face, Alessa stole the baby and passed it off as their own. Alessa might as well have killed the woman herself.

  His foot slipped in the hall and Scott looked up. When she saw him peeking through the window, her eyes widened. “Timmy!”