“I wish you could get us out of here, buddy,” I said, nuzzling his face. His purr grew louder, and he bumped against me, making me tip back and land on my butt. Laughing, I continued to scratch his neck. “Guess you’re glad to see me, too.”
When I got up off the floor, he butted his head against my leg, pushing me toward the island.
“I think he’s trying to tell you something,” Brodin said, eating more bread.
It looked awesome. Crusty on the outside and gooey, doughy on the inside.
Kai nudged me toward the island again.
“You think it’s okay to eat?” I asked Kai.
He meowed.
“Is that a yes?” I asked Brodin with lifted eyebrows.
“It all tastes fantastic. I feel fine.”
“Okay. I give. I’ll eat, too.” I moved closer to the tray and studied the possibilities. While I’d been patting Kai, a platter of veggies and dip had appeared.
Kai jumped up onto the counter and continued to purr, watching me benignly while I took a plate and loaded it with food. Why nibble when I could fill myself up?
As I was pouring a cup of cinnamon tea, the kitchen door swung open and Jacey, Rohnan, and Kylie entered the room.
“Awesome,” Rohnan said, moving toward the island. “I’m starved.”
Kylie hung near the door, her hands clenching and releasing at her sides. Her gaze met mine before sweeping away. Her lips tightened and tears shimmered in her eyes, but she said nothing.
Jacey joined Rohnan, loading a plate with food.
We took seats at a nearby table and dropped our plates in front of us.
“I was thinking,” I said around a bite of carrot I dipped in dressing.
The others ate, watching me.
Kai settled on the floor, curling around my feet. His purr rumbled around us.
While Jacey and Rohnan attacked their meals, Kylie stared at her plate but didn’t touch anything.
After swiping a cherry tomato through the dip, I popped it into my mouth and chewed. For magical food, it sure tasted good.
“I’m going to do the tests,” I said.
The others nodded.
“There’s no real choice, right?” Rohnan said. His gaze met Jacey’s. “We want out of here as much as you do.”
I imagined we’d split once—if—we escaped Darkwater Island, with them going to the fae world to challenge the king and me rushing to Crystal Wing Academy to save my sister.
Brodin…He’d go after his father.
I had no idea what Kylie planned, if anything. Perhaps, like me, she’d look for a way to help her sister. We had something in common after all: Love for family.
I didn’t like having anything in common with Kylie.
“I have limited time to complete them, so I’ll start today,” I said.
“I’m in,” Jacey said. She dropped her fork beside her empty plate and sat back in her chair, her gaze stopping at each of us as it swept across the group.
Rohnan and Brodin nodded.
Kylie shrugged. “Do I have a choice?”
I hated how sullen she sounded.
“Maybe you’ll luck out, and Bixby will send you back to the prison to recruit new suckers,” Brodin said. “Then you can jump back into the catacombs and line up a new set of dragons.”
“That’s not fair,” she growled. She rose fast, her chair tipping back and slamming onto the floor.
“Isn’t that your role here?” I said, trying to sound reasonable. Why, I had no clue. I’ll never forgive her for how she’d manipulated us
“If it was, she would’ve sent me back already. That’s how it went last time.” Her pleading gaze met mine. “Something has changed, and I need to figure it out.”
“You can do it on your own time,” Rohnan said, eating his last slice of salami.
“You don’t understand,” she said. Tears trickled down her face. “It’s different this time, and I’m going to use it to break free.”
“Good luck with that,” I said. Truly, I did hope she could do it. It had to burn knowing that while you were manipulating everyone around you, you yourself were the true puppet.
She nodded but her gaze didn’t meet mine. Grabbing a hunk of bread off her plate, she ran for the door. It banged shut behind her, leaving us staring at each other.
“What game is she playing now?” Jacey asked.
I shrugged.
Leaning forward, I dropped my voice to next to nothing. “I’m going to complete the tests, but first…”
Rohnan’s eyebrows lifted, but he waited for me to speak.
“We need to do something before we start the first test,” I said.
The dawning realization in Brodin’s eyes warmed me from the inside out. He nodded slowly. “Yup. Definitely.”
“What?” Jacey asked. “I want in on this, too.”
My smile came out grim, but it reflected how I felt inside. “I think we need to visit the dragons.”
Chapter Seven
I placed my finger over my lips. The fact that trays of food kept appearing wherever Brodin and I went proved the walls had ears.
Bixby? Or could we thank some unknown entity for the bounty?
Until we knew who was willing to help us with this—and maybe nothing else—I didn’t want to share anything that could be funneled to the Warden duo.
As for Kylie…I wasn’t sure what to do about her. From what my uncle said, it would take five of us to get through the Reformatory tests. But that didn’t mean I needed to trust her.
I’ll never trust her.
I didn’t feel hate for her. That was a wasted emotion. But I had no further interest in talking with her, working with her, or including her in my plans. Let her tag along with us if she wanted, but we should ditch her the moment she was no longer useful.
“Jacey and I came in through a back door,” Rohnan said. “We saw a maintenance room on our way down the hall.” When he stood, his plate disappeared. Creepy. “I think I’ll head there before I meet you guys upstairs? Just to see what’s available.”
“Brodin and I can finish off this floor and then join you,” I said. I filled them in on what we found so far, which felt like nothing.
“Okay,” Rohnan said. “So, upstairs in fifteen minutes?”
We nodded, and he left with Jacey.
“Let’s see if we can find something to break our friends free,” I said to Brodin, who nodded.
Would a saw or blade work on the bindings holding the dragons down? I might be crazy for thinking we could somehow release the dragons. Where could we hide them? Because Bixby would be on a rampage, furious to track them down and grind up their bones.
We stood, our plates disappearing, going wherever Rohnan’s had. Would a loaded tray appear the next time I was hungry? There were worse ways to find food.
Brodin took my hand as we left the kitchen, meeting up with Kylie outside the room. She popped the last bite of bread in her mouth and brushed her hands together. Saying nothing, she followed us. Kai padded at my side, and I was glad he wanted to stick around. Where did he go when he disappeared?
I want to tell Kylie to get lost or to go ahead to the top floor, but if she stayed in sight, we might be able to keep her out of trouble.
“Which stone did you choose?” I asked her to make conversation as we walked through another run-down sunroom spanning the next side of the building. Outside, a storm brewed. Dark clouds poured in from the ocean, leaden with rain, and a crack of lightning was followed by a boom of thunder that shook the walls.
“The gold one with silver flecks.” She stuffed her hand into her jeans pocket. “Want to see?”
I nodded. Did she see herself as one of the silver stars in the golden sky?
“How about you, Brodin?” she asked. “What does yours look like?”
“Blue, with gold flecks resembling a sun.”
“Your light will burn brightly,” she said, staring forward as if seeing something we didn’t. “No matte
r what happens, hold on to that realization.”
He rolled his eyes at me, but I had to wonder if she truly did see or if this was just another game she played to lead us down the wrong path.
“You?” she asked me. Her smile rose and lit up her face, making her look pleasant and non-threatening. That was a lie.
“I picked one in light brown. No enhancements.”
“Like stirred up water in a pond after a heavy rain. No one can see the bottom.”
“I guess.” I wasn’t going to relax around her. She should give up now. I pulled the timepiece Ramseff had given me from my pocked and glared at it. The arrow pointed to the halfway point between the fifth and fourth slash. Half a day was gone already and I’ve done nothing.
“What’s that?” she asked, leaning close.
Brodin’s gaze pinned it to my palm, and I got the sense he already knew. But then, it came from his father. Brodin would be used to the tricks the Master Seeker played.
“It’s a clock,” I said tightly.
She tapped the four that was perilously close. “Beware of the three.”
“Why?”
Her gaze met mine. “You’ll know.”
More vagueness that could mean anything or nothing.
Gulping back my fear for my sister, I tightened my spine and shoved the clock back into my pocket.
“Let’s get going,” I said. We turned and entered a large room with mounted animal heads covering almost every speck of the walls.
Kai hissed, and the fur on his back stood at attention. His snarl ripped through the air, and he bounded over and huddled close to my leg. To protect me or for protection was the question.
“This is ghastly,” Kylie said. She walked over and stood beneath one of the heads that looked like an aldakor, a wolf-like creatures with horns, tusks, and hooves. A herd roamed the forest above Crystal Wing Academy.
Brodin and I stood in the middle of the room, cringing. The horror of death surrounded us. I had no interest in approaching the creatures, and I could tell by the flat line of his lips, Brodin felt the same.
Kylie turned toward us. “Do you think Bixby or Duvoe hunted and killed all these creatures?” Did I hear wonder in her tone? How could she find this interesting?
“Doubt it,” Brodin said tightly, his gaze fixed on the snake, hair-covered head of a medusa. “They haven’t had enough time to kill this many…creatures.”
Not all creatures. My attention fixed on the mounted head of tree nymph, and I bet Kylie wouldn’t gaze calmly at something like that. And the one beside it…I could swear it was at—
No. It couldn’t be. I refused to see it.
“Let’s go,” I said, rushing toward the door on the opposite side, hoping I’d be able to sleep tonight after viewing the remnants of torture. How could anyone take pleasure in killing another?
Ramseff did. Although, he didn’t necessarily take pleasure in the death, but in being the one in charge of who lived and who died. He seemed to take grim satisfaction in manipulating others into carrying out his wishes. We were pawns in his game.
But we’d win. Brodin and me. We’d find a way to eliminate his threat.
Brodin held open the door, and Kai leaped through the opening with the rest of us following. We found ourselves in a huge, two-story library with a glass wall along our right.
“Books,” Kylie breathed. She turned wondering eyes our way. “Do you think we could find something here that would help us escape?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Blaine already told us what we have to do to be released.”
She turned to face me, the enthusiasm on her face fading. “And you trust him?”
“Of course not,” I blustered. Inside, I was less sure. Did I? I wanted to, but only because he’d laid out a solution I felt confident following.
“Don’t trust him,” Kylie said, striding toward the opposite side of the library. “You can’t trust anyone here.”
“Especially you,” I whispered to Brodin, who nodded.
Kylie flinched but didn’t turn to confront me, because I’d spoken the truth.
“Should we check out the books?” Brodin asked quietly near my ear. “There might be something useful here.”
I flicked my hand to the room in general as I followed Kylie. “We should, but we don’t need to do it now. It would take too long to go through them.” I leaned nearer and lowered my voice to almost nothing. “Let’s come back another time?”
He nodded, his gaze sweeping the large room as if seeking something in particular. Nothing stood out to me. No books winked light or spontaneously fell off the shelf, and no librarian rushing up to us with just the right book for you in their hands.
The day was ticking away too fast. Did we have time to do something with the dragons and still complete one of the challenges?
The weight of the time clock in my pocket made my steps falter.
“As much as I was eager to finish the Reformatory Challenge, and as much as I hated having to compete, I’m ready to jump back in again.”
“Me, too,” he said grimly.
I squeezed his hand as we walked through a dusty dining room with a long table set for at least fifty guests. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, cobwebs tracing from one crystal dangle to another. A long, dingy red runner outlined the center of the long table, and tarnished candlesticks had been placed evenly along the surface.
Windows on the right wall looked out at overgrown gardens. I didn’t see anyone out there; it appeared as empty of people as the inside of Darkwater Reformatory.
Sideboards stood opposite us, along the wall, equally dusty and cobweb-covered, holding silver platters and bottles of alcohol. Mirrors had been mounted above the sideboards, reflecting the windows with their shredded curtains, the overgrown gardens outside, the flowers choked out with tall grass gone to seed. And…
We were not reflected in the mirror.
I came to a shuddering stop, and turned fully toward the glass, needing to see what was going on but really not wanting to look.
Reaching out, I grabbed the back of the wooden chair in front of me. My fingers clutched the wood hard enough I should leave dents, but they were not reflected in the glass. I tipped the chair toward me. It moved in the mirror as if a ghost manipulated the object.
Chills rippled across my skin, and my teeth chattered. What was going on here?
Brodin stopped a few paces ahead of me and turned back, his eyebrows lifting. Kylie kept walking toward the door on the opposite side of the room, unaware we stopped. She opened the door and walked into the next room, leaving the panel to swing shut behind her with a dull thump.
“You’re not going to believe this,” I said, pointing to the mirrors.
He shook his head and mouthed, what about them, but he didn’t glance in that direction.
“Look!” I said, nudging my head toward the glass. “You’re not going to believe this.”
I watched as his jaw dropped. “Did we become vampires recently?” Turning back to the glass, he pawed at his shirt and arms. “It’s like I’m not here.” He reached across the table and lifted a candlestick. It rose in the air as if lifted by invisible strings.
My hands shook. I couldn’t believe it. What did this mean?
“What’s going on?” he asked. “We’re here; I know we are.” He pinched his arm. “Last I knew, I wasn’t running around in a parallel world.” Hand flicking toward the glass, he growled. “Is it the glass? Maybe it’s some sort of one-way thing without a reflection.”
“Except we see everything else except us.” I pointed. “See? The windows are there, the wallpaper, the shredded…Wait. The curtains aren’t shredded in the reflection.” I spun around, convinced I’d imagined it but no, the curtains were torn and hanging in bits. In this reality. “This doesn’t make any sense.” Turning, I stared at the curtains that now appeared in perfect shape, as if they’d been hung today. The wallpaper that I was convinced had been faded was now brightly colored and pris
tine; no curls dangling from the upper part of the ceiling. “What’s going on here?”
Brodin made his own assessment. “The mirror is showing us a parallel world.”
“Which world is real, and why?”
“I know I’m real. You are, too.”
If nothing else, I was certain of my own existence. “Why are we seeing this? Nothing on Darkwater happens without a purpose.”
He shrugged. “No idea but I hope this means something. That we can use it. And that it’s not something left here to play with our minds.”
Both had an equal chance of being true.
As I stared at the other image, making comparisons to what I remembered when I entered the room, someone walked past the window, outside on the lawn. A gardener? This was the first “real” person I’ve seen other than Duvoe, Bixby, and my uncle since we arrived.
I spun around, but the gardener was gone. Hurrying over to the window, I pushed aside the dingy curtains, my fingers getting coated with ages of grime.
As I shook off the clingy spider webs, I peered outside. No gardener. There wasn’t anyone outside.
Turning back to Brodin, I scowled. “That makes no sense. I mean…” My gaze was drawn to the mirrors again. “Holy shit,” I hissed.
The gardener stood outside the window again, pruning the hedges near the window.
“What do you see?” Brodin moved closer and took my hand. He peered into the mirrors, where neither of us was reflected back.
As I watched, the gray-haired guy dressed in jeans and a worn flannel shirt in a mixture of browns, shifted sideways. He dropped the shears and picked up a rake then started dragging sticks and leaves into a pile. Around him, beautiful beds overflowed with well-pruned flowers in every color of the rainbow.
“Try something for me,” I whispered.
“Shoot.”
I released his hand. “Shift into your Eerie.”
Hunkering forward, his skin rippled. His body shook.
And he disappeared from view.
Brodin was gone, but…
When I looked into the mirrors, he stood beside me in his ghost-shifter saber-toothed tiger form. I watched in the mirror as I reached out toward where he stood—in the mirror—beside me, but my hand didn’t connect with anything.
Wicked Rebellion (Darkwater Reformatory Book 3) Page 6
