PINELIGHTforkindle (19 page)

I pulled the pearl hairpin from my hair and gently slipped it into the keyhole of the door. It was a long shot, but worth a try. I twisted the pin again and again, wiggling the door handle, until I finally heard a click.
Bull’s-eye.
I was in.

I caught a chill the moment I stepped into the room. The chill reminded me that I was not welcome and that I should turn back, but my curiosity encouraged me to look around. I stood there with my body glued to the back of the door until my eyes adjusted to my new surroundings. After a few moments, I noticed a small beam of moonlight shining through a floor-length window nestled in the left corner of the room. I automatically walked toward the light.

With one step I saw books and other hidden objects scattered across the floor. I shuffled my feet through books and rubble until I was standing in the light from the window. The light beams reflected off a golden mantel. Hanging crooked above its dusty surface was an aged painting. I brushed my fingers over the canvas.

Underneath the mask of dirt was a portrait of a family. At my first glance, I simply saw a proud mother and father sitting in tall chairs with two happy boys leaning against them. But when I dusted the painting a little more, I noticed that the mother and father were sitting in royal chairs and were wearing crowns.

The minutes passed slowly as I studied the painting. It was fascinating; every piece of the canvas was painted in great detail. The mother wore a lovely silk dress that fit tightly around her small waist and then puffed out like a bell around her. The father sat tall in dark blue attire, with the fabric from his shoulders sculpted like small pillows. The boys matched their father in similar clothing. What caught my attention was a small sparkling pendant that hung from their necks and rested on the blue fabric of their vests. I was unable to make out the design of the pendant, but I thought it was interesting that they both had one. I imagined the family in the portrait lived a glamorous life, filled with masquerades and fancy dinners. And I couldn’t help but wonder if this was Edmund’s family.

I quietly began to maneuver my way through the books to the window. The floor-length window opened to an outside balcony that overlooked the crashing waves of the ocean. I pressed my face to the cool glass to get a better view. The bold moon reflected off the waves from beneath and seemed to bounce upward to the balcony and into the room.

I suddenly felt a tingle in my legs, like the magic I had felt before. It was time for me to leave. I frantically turned around to make my way back through my path and to the door. In my frenzy I miscalculated a step, tripped, and fell straight into a mound of broken wood and pages of ripped books. Surprisingly, I did not create much noise from my fall, but I lay terrified that someone might have heard.

When I lifted myself from the floor, I noticed that my palm had landed on a ripped portrait. I carefully flipped the torn flaps of canvas back into place until a partial face of an older boy came into focus. Even with missing pieces, the face was breathtaking. I traced the outline of his broad chin to his beautiful smile and then up to the perfect lines of his nose, until stopping on the tear where his eyes should have been. Something about the painting moved me. I wanted to know who he was. My hands slid over the bottom of the painting, where another piece of the torn canvas hung loosely. I gasped as I moved the piece back into place.

There, around his neck, rested the same pendant that lay against my skin. I hurriedly pulled the necklace off and held the cross medallion against the painting. There was no mistake—it was the same. Immediately, I fastened the necklace back around my neck and then threw my hands into the mound of debris surrounding the painting. I had to find the missing piece.

I shifted books and lifted broken pieces of furniture for several minutes. I didn’t see anything that resembled the missing piece of canvas. I looked at the doorway and back down, frustrated. The small tingle of magic that I had felt before was growing stronger. I told myself that I would only search for a few more minutes, and then I would have to leave. I leaned forward, pushed the bottom of my dress behind me, and then scrambled on my hands and knees until I reached another mound of rubble. Only seconds into this pile, I found exactly what I was looking for—the last piece of the puzzle. Anxiously, I crawled back to the painting and lightly slid the last piece into place.

His eyes were emerald with flakes of luminous gold and amber swirled around the edges. I could have sat there daydreaming about the boy in the picture for the rest of the night, but my cautious instinct told me otherwise. I carefully folded the last piece of the canvas and tucked it into the top of my dress, next to the pendant. The prickling sensation was becoming hard to ignore. I didn’t understand how magic worked, but anytime I was near Edmund or anything that was unearthly beautiful, I could feel it—like a chill that engulfed my whole body.

From outside the door, I heard the familiar clicking of Edmund’s boots against the tile of the hallway. The clicking stopped, and I knew he was standing on the other side of the red door. I stood frozen with terror.

Just before the door cracked opened, I felt a warm hand run across my mouth and a quick tug on my waist. My body was instantly enveloped in a warm embrace. The strong arms pulled me backward, faster than my mind could comprehend. The wall behind us appeared to open and swallow us up.

I tried to control my breathing, but my heart was racing from the surprise. I didn’t know if I should thank the person who held me tight or fight to escape. I squirmed out of response.

“Stay still,” a voice whispered in my ear.

I felt the strong tingle of magic now; I knew Edmund was in the room. I heard another set of footsteps enter and immediately pushed further back into the stranger’s arms.

“Everything is going as planned. The girl doesn’t know what to believe. She will be yours in two days’ time.” It was Victor.

“There must be another way.”

“We had an agreement. If you wish to end your hunger for this ridiculous love—if you wish for her to be your queen—you will honor it!”

“Those are my wishes,” Edmund replied. “But I do not want her to suffer as I have suffered.”

I heard Victor’s boots kicking through the debris on the floor. “You call this suffering?” Victor’s voice was filled with a growing rage. “I have given you power. I have given you a kingdom! You will live an eternal life of beauty!”

“All for what? I eat, but do not taste. I touch, but do not feel. I love, but will never be loved. I can’t bear to look at my own reflection! You took it all from me and replaced it with nothing. That is my suffering!”

“You will have your love as soon as she’s crowned queen. She will be yours throughout eternity.”

“She is not meant to be a dark angel. This is my curse, not hers.”

“Listen to me! You will do as I command. Turn her tonight before the clock strikes midnight, or I will take her soul myself!”

There was a moment of silence, and then I heard Edmund’s voice softly mutter, “It will be done.”

I cringed in the darkness as my mind processed what I had heard. I was experiencing one nightmare after the next. Behind me the stranger began to inch backward, pulling me with him. We slowly and quietly stepped further away from the room, until I realized we were in another secret tunnel.

“It’s time to go,” he said anxiously. This time I recognized his voice. It was the same voice from the stranger who had warned me about Edmund.

“You were at the ball,” I said below my breath. “Who are you?”

“My name is Finn. I’m here to help you,” he said. “Now we must hurry—we need to get outside these walls before he realizes you are missing.”

His fingers wrapped around my wrist, and he began to tug. The stranger had been right about Edmund. I had no choice but to follow him now. I blinked my eyes hard in the darkness, trying to make out the turns, but there was not enough light. He whipped us through the tunnels as if he had them memorized.

He finally stopped when we turned down a tunnel that ended in square stones. I watched as he forced one of the stones loose, and then another, creating an opening just large enough to crawl through. I felt a breeze push through the opening, carrying a salty smell.         

“Keep your head down when you surface,” he muttered.

Outside, darkness had settled in. I knelt to the ground as soon as I pulled my legs from the stone hole and surveyed the surroundings. To my left was rocky land, dropping down into the dark ocean water. To my right was the very place where Edmund had taken me the day before. The passage had led us just outside the castle walls.

“Where are we going? There’s nothing out here,” I questioned as soon as he surfaced.

“To the forest. Take off your shoes,” he said. “We run from here.”

We ran straight for the trees, and I felt every sharp rock along the way.

This forest was not as inviting as the forest of pine light. The moon was hidden, the trees were dark, not a single twinkle of light. I heard wolves crying and saw owls scattering in the trees, but the man I followed didn’t seem to mind. He ran with purpose.

As soon as the castle was out of sight, I stopped to catch my breath. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“I would think it would be quite obvious by now.”

“Well, it’s not,” I growled, but he seemed to be focused on our surroundings.

“We need to keep moving. It’s not far from here,” he said. “Just stay with me.”

Stay with me.
His words reminded me of my dream.

We finally came to the end of the forest, where the land dropped into the ocean. A sticky fog hid the water, but you could still hear it rippling below. Finn leaned over the edge, looking through the cloud, and then let out a low whistle.

Suddenly, a wooden angel appeared out of the fog. His wings were swept back in the air, while his arm held a sword stretched over the ocean water. As the angel neared, I could see the ship to which he belonged. There were no patches in the ship’s sails or holes in its hull. The wood had a dark cherry finish, instead of the rough and faded wood of the ship that had once been my prison. The sails were taller; the body was longer, sleeker. It floated fearlessly in the water, much like the angel.

“Hold your breath.”

“Wh—?” Before I finished the word, his arms were locked around me and we were falling down into the ocean.

I was furious when I surfaced from the water.

“Are…you…crazy?” I asked as I spit the remaining ocean out of my mouth.            

“We had to get to the ship,” he said. I could have sworn he was smirking when he started to swim away. “Come on.”

The closer we were to the hull of the ship, the more magnificent it seemed. Ropes quickly dropped over the sides, lifting us from the water to its deck.

It took my eyes a moment to scan over the faces of the men on board, but then I saw a familiar face pushing through the crowd.
My beloved Fergus.
I had so much to say to him, so much to apologize for, but he got to me so quickly and held me so tightly that I didn’t have a chance to say a thing.

“I know, Clara. I know,” he said as if he could read my thoughts. “Let’s get you into something dry.”

As he helped me to the captain’s quarters, I turned to take one more curious look back. There was a lot of commotion, men laughing and congratulating Finn for his victory, but his eyes were on me.
There’s something about him.
I nervously darted my eyes back to Fergus and stepped into the cabin.

I was able to apologize to Fergus as he bandaged my sore feet. I told him I was sorry for not believing him and that I was even more sorry for getting upset at him.

“You had every right to be upset,” he said. “It’s in the past now.”

As we talked, everything started rushing back.
Erik. Alice. The chase.
While I had been at the castle, something had clouded my memory; something had pushed them out of my thoughts.

“Alice,” I said. “She’s here, isn’t she?”

Fergus slowly raised himself from my bandaged feet and sat next to me on the bed. “Yes, this is where they brought her.”

“Why? What is this world? How are we connected?”

“This world has been here since the beginning of time. It’s the place of good and evil—of light and darkness. And it’s connected to the world you know in every way.” He paused. “Alice was brought here to ensure you would return.”

“Who are these people that are after us?”

“The fallen ones.”

My mind raced to Maytide and her warning about the fallen angels.
The dark ones.
The vampyres. The process.
She had tried to tell me all along.

“Is Erik one of them?”

“I’m afraid so. He once was a great guardian, before he fell from grace—before he was marked. We didn’t know he had fallen until he came after you.”

“A guardian?”

“Yes. Just like you and I, he was a defender for all that is good. A protector of the gateway between worlds.”

“I don’t understand.”