by Hanna Peach
“No, you?”
“Not a trace. There are no constellations. There are barely even any golden stars on the ceiling. They all seem to be silver.”
“Maybe we are in the wrong place.”
She let out a growl of frustration and slammed her palms on the balustrade. “This has to be it. It has to be.” She let out a breath, trying to loosen up her shoulders as she leaned on the railing and stared down at the circular void the staircase created below. It was almost hypnotic the way the staircase wound around and around like a spiral all the way down to the ground, glimmering as the light filtering in from the skylight shone off all those stars embedded into the handrails.
Oh my God.
The spiral stars of gold…
It wasn’t a constellation painted on the ceiling. It was this staircase.
“Israel, look!” She grabbed his arm and yanked him to her side. She pointed over the railing, her finger tracing the staircase handrails as they spiraled around and around all the way down to the ground.
“The spiral stars…” He looked up and caught her eye, admiration shining from them. “Alyx, you’re a genius.”
She flushed. “We should go down there and see if I’m right before you start calling me names.”
He grinned. “Race ya.” He turned and sprinted to the stairs.
“Hey!” She raced after him down the stairs, their laughter and their footsteps echoing off the walls.
She was never going to win if she just ran. She grabbed the railing and pulled herself up to sit on it then slid down, building up speed and overtaking Israel. Giddiness flowed through her body as she wound down the staircase. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this way. The end of the railing was coming up. She didn’t even flinch as she shot off the end and twisted in the air to land smoothly on her feet.
She spun around. “I won.”
Israel stopped partway down the stairs, shaking his head. “You cheated,” he called down.
“You’re just mad that you got beat by a girl.”
He let out a laugh before he grabbed the railing and threw his feet over it.
A shot of fear lashed through her before Israel twisted in the air, once, twice, then landed gracefully on the marble in front of her, a grin on his face. “You technically might have won, but I have way more style.”
She shook her head. “You think you’re so impressive.”
He stepped in closer. “Don’t lie. You’re so impressed by me.”
She let out a snort. “Come on. Let’s find this globe.”
They got down on their hands and knees, studying the circular section of floor contained within the spiral staircase.
“Over here,” she heard Israel say. “This tile is loose.”
She rushed over and dropped to her knees beside him. Her heart skipped a beat as he shifted one of the large marble floor tiles sideways, revealing a small dark hole.
“There’s something in there,” Israel exclaimed. He reached in. Something inside the hole flared with a blue light.
They’d found it.
He pulled out…an empty glass globe about the size of a large apple, the light from the inside of the glass already fading. It wasn’t a world globe, but a snow globe.
“We did it.” Israel dusted the globe and handed it to her. She slipped it in her canvas bag before slinging it back across her body, the globe sitting on her back.
She saw the shadow moving along the ground before she heard the call of an eagle. “Look out!” She shoved him aside, knocking them both over as a sword came crashing down against the marble.
Chapter 12
Alyx rolled off Israel and leaped up to her feet, her sword singing as she pulled it out of its sheath. Her eyes darted all around her as she counted four, five, six attackers, the same ones who had chased them before, some men, some women, all dressed in black leather just like her uniform and all carrying long, sharp-looking swords. She prayed that her remembering to fight with Symon wasn’t a fluke.
The closest one attacked. She met his sword with her own. She ducked and spun to fend off another attack behind her. A third attacker came from her side. Even as her sword flashed like lightning through the air, she was only barely shielding herself. There were too many of them.
She tried to steady her thoughts and kicked out at an attacker behind her, sending him flying back as she lashed at the two in front.
“Alyx, come closer to me,” Israel called as he fought off his own attackers. One of them had fallen and was struggling to get back up.
She grit her teeth as her sword continued to sing. “I can take care of myself, you know.”
“I know you can but…” Israel kicked up and off the man he was fighting, knocking him backwards, then twisted in the air landing back to back with her. “…we’re better together.” He shot her a grin over his shoulder before facing forward. The six attackers circled them, swords swirling, mouths snarling as they closed in.
There was a blur of movement and the glinting of steel. The void within the spiral staircase exploded with furious cries of metal on metal and grunts of exertion. Alyx should have been terrified at their odds. Six against two. But Israel at her back was a warm, solidifying presence. She wasn’t alone in this.
“Duck,” she cried, swinging her sword around and over Israel’s head, slicing one of his attackers.
“Jump,” Israel shouted and swept his sword around as she flipped over him in the air. She landed where he had been and Israel stood facing out where she had been, their swords like twin flashes of lighting around them.
Finally the last of the attackers slid off the end of Alyx’s sword. She let out a huff as she stared at the six bodies around them staining the marble floor with bright red blood. She stared at the sword in her hand. Had that really happened? Had she really fought like that? It had felt like someone else had taken over her body.
She turned to Israel, who was wiping his sword, gleaming with blood, on the shirt of one of the fallen. “Thanks,” she said. “That was quick thinking on your part, getting us back to back.”
He grinned at her. “You weren’t so bad yourself.” He sheathed his sword. “You know, we make a good team.”
“A great team.”
“We should call ourselves…Team Awesome.”
She snorted. “What?”
“Alright. Team Badass it is.”
She shook her head, repressing a smile as she wiped her own sword and sheathed it too.
“Now to take this troublesome globe back to the Mapmaker and get our damn map.”
* * *
Back at the Mapmaker’s shop, Israel didn’t knock before he entered, Alyx close behind him. They found the Mapmaker standing near the back of the store. It didn’t look like he had tidied up anything while they were gone. What the hell had he been doing while they had been out there risking their lives?
“Have you gotten what I asked for?” the Mapmaker demanded, his voice booming throughout the store.
“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Israel said.
The Mapmaker held out his hand. “Give it to me.”
“You could have helped. We took several wrong turns and wasted time at the wrong places.”
“That’s not my fault if you weren’t smart enough to figure out the riddle on the first go.”
“Israel, we don’t have time to argue,” said Alyx, standing by his side. She pulled the canvas bag off her back. “Let’s just make the trade and go.” To the Mapmaker she said, “Have you got the map we need?”
“I do.” The Mapmaker turned to the desk beside him and picked up a rolled sheet of parchment. “Where’s the globe?”
Alyx pulled it out from the bag before tossing the empty canvas onto one of the tables.
“Excellent.”
“What do you want with it anyway?” Israel said. “It’s just a snow globe.”
“That’s none of your business.” The Mapmaker snatched the globe. “At last.”
Alyx grabbed the rolled-up p
archment from him.
At that moment there was a hissing from behind the counter. Israel hadn’t noticed it before but there looked to be a back room there. A cat was at the partly open doorway, his back arched and fur on end, and he was hissing…at the Mapmaker.
Israel frowned and squinted at the cloaked man. If only Israel could see his face. “Drop your hood.”
At the same time, Alyx unrolled the map. She let out a distressed cry and lifted up her ink-stained thumb. “This map,” she hissed. “The ink is coming off. It’s a fake.”
Israel unsheathed his weapon. “You cheater. You’re not even the Mapmaker, are you?”
The cat lunged for the fake Mapmaker, causing him to stumble aside and swipe at the feline with a cry. Amid hissing and scratching of claws, the animal leaped off the Mapmaker to land at a safe distance on the counter. His hood fell back, exposing his face.
He looked like a Viking: sledgehammer jaw, cruel, thin mouth and frosty-blue eyes that seemed to pierce Israel’s soul.
“You’re right,” the fake Mapmaker said, glaring at both of them, his voice clipped and sharp as nails. “I’m not the Mapmaker. But it won’t do you any good now.” He slipped the globe into the pocket of his robes. “I am Elder Michael and you two have crossed me for the last time.”
Vix’s voice came back to Israel. “Castle Speranza. We had our community here, at least we did until Elder Michael came and—” Fear shot through him, and for a second the ghost of pain seared his through wrists and across his eyes, making him squint.
He heard Alyx unsheathe her weapon. “There’s only one of you and two of us. Give up and we’ll think about letting you live.”
“Never underestimate me,” Elder Michael said.
Israel’s eyes cleared just as Elder Michael sent a flame-blue pulse of light at him from his open palm. Israel jumped aside, trying to avoid it, but he moved too late. It caught him in the shoulder and the magic soaked into his body. Israel fell to the floor, dropping his sword. His eyelashes fluttered as a wave of sleepiness washed over him. It would be so easy just to close his eyes…
“Israel!” Alyx’s voice cut through the darkness. “You’ll pay for that.”
He clung onto it like a life raft, and he let it bring his consciousness back up to the surface. He wouldn’t leave her alone here.
Israel’s eyes flickered open just in time to see her lunge for Elder Michael. Israel tried to cry out for her to watch out, but it was too late. Elder Michael ducked aside from her sword, his movements like lightning, and the same blue pulse exploded out from his palms, hitting her square in the chest and throwing her back across the store, her sword flying aside with a clatter.
Alyx lay there like a rag doll, her eyes wide open, her body prone. Oh God. Was she dead?
He had to do something. But this wave of sleepiness was so thick, like a woolen blanket.
Elder Michael laughed as he towered over Alyx. “I’ve been waiting so long to get my revenge.” He tilted his head at Alyx. “I thought you might like to remain awake as I kill you.”
Alyx wasn’t dead. She must still be awake. But why wasn’t she moving?
Because she was underneath this magic too.
Israel had to fight this thing…this…“DreamWalker.” It was the same magic that Jordan had used on him at his apartment.
“Look, he’s already fighting it,” Balthazar said.
There was a way to fight it. Israel just had to fight it now and fight hard.
Elder Michael walked over to where her sword had fallen and picked it up. “Pity. Felled by your own sword.”
Israel pushed at the DreamWalker with all the strength of his mind. The sleepiness was falling away. But it wasn’t fast enough.
With sword in hand, Elder Michael walked back to where she was lying among scattered papers. “Seems like your afterlife doesn’t agree with you, Alyx. You should have stayed a warrior and an immortal.”
Israel’s sword was on the floor beside him, inches from his hand. He could almost reach it. Almost.
“And to think you gave it all up for him.” Elder Michael pointed at Israel with her sword, but his eyes remained on her. “Now it’ll be your downfall.”
Israel shoved the magic off him as hard as he could, concentrating his effort on his right arm. The corner of sleepiness fell off his arm. With renewed energy he lifted his arm and reached for the sword. Almost. Almost.
“Goodbye, Alyxandria.” Elder Michael lifted up her sword, its sharp tip pointed directly at her heart.
Israel grabbed his sword. And threw it.
It made a whooshing sound as it cut through the air, immediately followed by the sucking sound of metal embedding into flesh. Elder Michael let out a choking sound, his eyes wide open.
At the same moment, Israel felt the DreamWalker magic lift off him completely. He heard Alyx inhale loudly as if she’d been underwater for too long.
Elder Michael began to fall, his sword still aimed at Alyx’s chest.
“Move!” Israel yelled as he sprang to his feet, his heart jamming up into his throat.
She let out a cry and rolled aside just as Elder Michael crashed onto the ground, the sword stabbing into the wooden floor where she had just been lying.
Israel’s sword was poking out of Elder Michael’s back, right where his heart was. He was dead.
Israel ran to Alyx’s side. She was still lying there with a stunned look on her face. “Can I just say, I am so happy you’re not dead.”
Alyx felt across her chest with her hands as if making sure there were no holes in her. “Me too.” Her voice shook slightly.
“Need a hand?”
She slipped her hand into his and he helped pull her up. Israel’s heart gave a little kick as they stood facing each other for a moment. He had almost lost her. But he didn’t. He wanted to take her face in his hands and kiss her.
She tugged her hand back and he let her go, trying to ignore the wave of loss that flowed through him. Why did she keep pulling away?
“Did you do that?” she asked. She was pointing at the sword in Elder Michael’s back.
“I guess I did.”
She raised a perfect dark eyebrow at him. “How the hell did you do that?”
“I just grabbed my sword and threw it.”
“And you just happened to throw it with perfect accuracy.”
He shrugged. “Beginner’s luck?”
She put her hands on her hips. “Have you ever thrown a sword before?”
“No. Well…” he said quietly. “Not in this life.” Perhaps he was beginning to believe all this past life stuff.
“So you just…remembered how to throw a blade?”
He grinned. “Feel free to be impressed.”
Alyx rolled her eyes, but Israel could swear he detected a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
The cat meowed and slid across Israel’s feet, rubbing herself against him and purring loudly.
“I think someone has a crush on you,” she said.
“Jealous?”
“Totally.”
Really? Israel blinked. Did Alyx actually admit to being attracted to him?
“Jealous of you. I love cats.” Alyx reached down to scratch his ears. “Hey, kitty. Where’s your master?”
“Alyx, his paws…”
They were stained red.
Was that blood?
In sync they turned their eyes to the back room, the door still partly open. Israel pulled his sword out of Elder Michael’s back and Alyx pulled hers out of the floor. They crept toward the back room, Israel in the lead, stopping just before the door. He held up three fingers. Two. One. He kicked the door open and lunged inside, sword at the ready. He halted in horror.
There on the floorboards was a man lying on his stomach, blood congealing around him.
“Is he…?” Alyx asked as Israel stepped around the sticky pool and bent over to find a pulse. There was no pulse.
The real Mapmaker was gone.
; So was their hope of getting their map.
* * *
Alyx felt sick. She tore her eyes away from the dead man. She couldn’t look at him anymore.
That’s what her parents would have looked like at their car accident.
She was pulled back to the present when she felt Israel’s hand on her arm. He took her sword from her and led her out of the back room. He closed the door behind him, dropping their weapons.
“You okay?”
“They’re dead,” she heard herself say. Not he. They.
He wrapped his arms around her and his warmth enveloped her. Her hands pushed against him. But he didn’t release her. She shook her head back and forth against his chest as tears rose to her eyes, all those stupid sharp and twisted feelings tumbling up and out, angry and wild from being tucked away for so long. The lid on her box had broken wide open. All because of him. His caring about her was like the sharp tips of knives cutting away the straps she’d used to keep herself closed tight. “Let go of me. Let go of me,” she cried, trying not to let her voice break.
But he didn’t.
He just held her, their bodies flush against each other, one of his hands rubbing gently across her back. Slowly, she felt her breath steady and her body begin to calm. A tiny warmth like a small fire lit up in her chest. She could stay here, like this. Always.
This would be a dangerous thing to get used to.
She inhaled slowly and forced herself to pull away. This time he let her go.
She shot him a smile. She wanted to thank him for how he handled her, but her vocal chords seemed to be tied into knots.
He smiled back and nodded. He knew.
She cleared her throat. “What do we do now?”
“The map must be here somewhere. We just have to find it.”
“But we don’t even know what we’re looking for or what it looks like.”
“You’re not giving up on me now, are you?” Israel teased softly.
“No.”
“Good. I’m sure we’ll know it when we find it.” He began to rummage through the scattered papers on the counter.
Alyx let out a huff and surveyed the mess in the room. It was going to take forever to search this whole place. No, it was going to take the rest of autumn and winter. They didn’t have that much time. There had to be a better way of finding what they needed.
