The Keeper's Curse (8 page)

The one
she pointed to called Babbage looked like a spider with long skinny
limbs and a tuff of gray hair. Flin on the other hand looked like a
bumblebee, round and buzzing with excitement. They came across as
mismatched as Jade and Persephone.

Jade
glared at them as they ran up and whispered, “Where’ve you
been?”

“
Relax,” Persephone snapped. “We didn’t miss anything, did
we?”

Only a
few seconds later Babbage cleared his throat, silencing the
class.

“
Alright, since this is the first class of the semester, we’ll
make this a short one,” he said, wheezing to make his voice loud
enough. “Every man for himself, no weapons, no contact, just
palewraiths. You have the whole forest. Last one standing at the
end gets the first checkmark.”

Emmy felt
the blood freeze in her veins. She had to fend for
herself?

Jade must
have seen her expression. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll have your
back. I’ll make sure you’re not the first one out.”

“
Everyone line up!” Flin called.

The class
obeyed, turning towards the forest and bending their knees as if
they were about to run a marathon. Babbage held up a frail white
hand.

“
Ready! One, two, three – Go!”

Jade had
mentioned earlier that she was a strapper, someone with impossibly
strong physique, and she wasn’t lying. She picked Emmy up, threw
her on her back, and ran into the forest. She had a sense of déjà
vu of Annalise and her running through the forest, and her mother’s
super speed and strength now made sense. The difference was there
were no lampposts guiding them this time, although Jade seemed to
know where she was going.

She
suddenly stopped, throwing Emmy off her back. “Hide up in a tree.
Can you climb a tree?”

“
Yes, I can climb a tree!” Emmy said, insulted.

“
Excellent. I think someone’s coming. Hurry up.”

She began
to climb, seconding Jade’s hearing something rustling in the trees.
She had only climbed a few branches when the prowler came into
view. It was a girl with a scowl on her face, intense with
concentration.

Jade
threw a palewraith her way, and the girl blocked it in a split
second. Emmy watched them, entranced, the two clouds battling
ferociously when another player came into view. This person must
have been a strapper too, moving so fast Emmy couldn’t even see
her. Jade was being ambushed by the two of them but Jade seemed to
be handling herself well, shooting palewraiths at them like
bullets.

Should
she try to help Jade? Hoisting herself up comfortably on the
branch, Emmy unclasped the frenum bracelet and attempted to throw a
blow. Nothing.

An
enormous whirlpool of palewraiths came storming at Jade, who
bounded backwards ten feet.

Emmy
attempted it again, focusing her attention on the first girl,
breathing steadily, trying to find peace within herself and steady
her quivering hand.

And then
she heard it again.

Pivot, left, swing –

“
Sacrement
,” she whispered under her
breath. “There’s no voice in my head, there’s no voice in my
head.”

Block, kick, right – HA! Did you see that, Rozelyn?

A
palewraith blasted from Emmy, almost knocking her out of the tree.
She swung backwards, desperately grabbing onto the branch. Her
palewraith, strong and fast, bounded right passed the girl and
exploded beside her. The girl looked up; this gave Jade the
distraction she needed to knock her over onto her back.

Jade
yelped with joy. “Good job, Emmy!”

The other
strapper took notice of Emmy for the first time, and without so
much as a blink, threw a large cloud at her, knocking her out of
the tree. Emmy would have fallen onto the ground to a broken back
if Jade hadn’t placed a palewraith beneath Emmy, cushioning her
fall.

“
You idiot!” Jade shouted at the strapper. One blow ended the
duel, Jade victorious. She turned to Emmy, apologetic. “Sorry, I
tried.”

“
It’s fine,” Emmy said, secretly relieved she could just sit
and watch the rest of the class. It was very educational, seeing
Jade fight so many students in so many ways. Some students she
could destroy in one move, others took her five to ten minutes to
beat. It was only near the end of the class when she finally failed
to a boy, momentarily distracted by his taunting.

Persephone was also mesmerizing, but in a different way. Jade
fought more conventionally, while Persephone was more creative. The
shapes she created with the palewraiths – felines, dragons,
butterflies – were works of art, consuming her rivals whole. She
also used the resources around her, not above ripping a tree right
out of the ground to throw at her opponent, or (her personal
favourite) having an opponent chase her onto a lake with weak ice
blanketed by snow, ending with the opponent falling in the
water.

“
Want a lift back?” Jade asked when the whistle
blew.

They were
back much sooner than most of the class. Jade quivered with
exhilaration. Emmy was so tired her legs nearly buckled beneath
her.

Jade
threw her arm around her. “Wasn’t that great?” Before Emmy opened
her mouth, Jade answered, “I knew you’d like it.”

Chapter 5

Cyrus
Crow

Meanwhile, in another orb, unbeknownst to Emmy, someone was
watching her.

This orb,
unlike most, did not have a name, as very few people knew of its
existence. The select few that did know of it did not dare to
leave, but tonight was different. For the first time in years
someone was going to get out.

Cyrus
Crow stood outside what had been his home for almost four years
now. He knew he should have felt something - relief, sorrow,
nostalgia – anything. Instead he felt nothing at all. It mattered
little how he felt about it. He was leaving, it was a fact, and
that was all there was to it.

Nightfall
had hidden the mansion almost completely, the black marble walls
blending in with the darkness. Several men milled around the
entrance, not knowing exactly what to do, waiting for their master
to show.

“
Can’t we go now, Cyrus?” asked a little voice at his
side.

His
eight-year-old brother Brynn was looking up at him with a crease
between his eyes that no one his age should ever have. Cyrus leaned
down to his level.

“
Yes, any minute now. Thoreoux just wants to say his final
goodbyes, and it wouldn’t be wise to go without his
blessing.”

“
Are we really going to get to see Mother? We’re really
getting out of here?”

“
Of course we are. Thoreoux has never lied to us, has
he?”

Brynn
didn’t look convinced, and Cyrus couldn’t blame him. Intellectually
he knew that he was leaving too, yet he didn’t want to get his
hopes up yet either. Until he landed in Methelwood, he wasn’t going
to let himself feel anything. It was bad enough Brynn had to suffer
the uncertainty.

In his
peripheral vision he saw someone coming swiftly towards them. His
heart contracted in hopes it was his master, but the man came
closer, revealing himself to be only Rathbone coming to say
goodbye. In a composed stride he made his way to Cyrus and embraced
him like his father never had. Cyrus awkwardly put his arms around
the older man, trying to hide his distaste.

“
I wish you the best of luck,” Rathbone whispered in his ear.
He pulled him back to look in Cyrus’s eyes. “You have no idea how
proud I am of you.”

Cyrus
smirked. Rathbone was only half sincere. There was another person –
another Rathbone wished had gotten this task. But she was not
here.

He placed
an arm on Cyrus’s shoulder. “I wish you were my son. It is my
biggest regret.”

“
That’s hardly your fault,” Cyrus said dryly, pulling away
from him.

Rathbone
turned his attention to the little boy beside him. “You have been a
marvellous apprentice, Brynn. Don’t ever forget us. Don’t forget
our ideals.”

Brynn
glared at him and ran behind Cyrus’s legs. He would have apologized
on his brother’s behalf if he hadn’t been so proud of
him.

Finally
Thoreoux walked through the front door. He was in his best clothes
with his arms folded at the sleeves like a frail old man, despite
being only in his thirties. His walk to Cyrus was slow and
deliberate, never taking his eyes off him. Cyrus had lived with
Thoreoux for years now, and still, whenever he saw him, the hair on
his neck stood up as if he were preparing to run.

When
Thoreoux reached him, he embraced him, but far more formally than
Rathbone had. Cyrus respectfully responded.

“
May I speak with you a moment before you go?” Thoreoux asked.
He didn’t wait for a response; it wasn’t like Cyrus was going to
provoke him now, not when he was so close to being free. So close
to finally having some peace.

Cyrus
whispered assuring words to Brynn, prying his fingers off of his
trousers as Thoreoux followed him out into the front
yard.

“
This isn’t a holiday,” Thoreoux said, his voice like a knot
drawn taut. “This isn’t your chance to escape.”

“
I know,” Cyrus said, trying not to sound exasperated by this
reiteration. “Don’t get your hopes up too high, all right? We’re
not even sure if it’s her yet.”

“
No, but she’s from the real world,” Thoreoux said, raising
his voice in excitement like he did every time he brought this
subject up. “She’s Annalise Livingston’s daughter, for another. You
should have seen Livingston’s face when Circlet insisted she had to
stay in Methelwood. And Cyrus, she admitted to hearing voices in
her head.”

“
Sounds more like she went mad from shock,” Cyrus
said.

“
This is the best chance we have,” Thoreoux said, ignoring
Cyrus’s tone. “I just want you to find out if she’s what we’re
looking for. If she is, you are free to kill her. I want updates,
however. You make sure to let us into Methelwood the moment you
find out.”

“
We don’t know anything for sure yet,” Cyrus repeated.
“Wouldn’t it just be easier to kill her without going through all
this trouble?”

“
I’m not going to kill a little girl without merit, Cyrus.
What kind of person do you take me for?”

Cyrus
burst out laughing, the cruel sound splitting through the air like
the midnight frost.

“
It’s clear you’re not listening anymore, so I might as well
say goodbye.” He said this with no fondness, just obligation. He
put his arm on his shoulder, which Cyrus had the urge to remove.
“Cyrus, there’s a reason I chose you for this. Not only are you
extraordinarily intelligent, you’re focused, you have keen
self-preservation instincts, and you have a single-minded
determination. Like a rat.”

“
That’s probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,
Sir.”

“
Furthermore, you’re the only one I would trust for something
like this. If you succeed, and we finally terminate this problem, I
swear on my principles –”

“
But not your morals?”

“ –
I will replace Rathbone and make you my right
hand. I have no mind that you’re less than half his age. You are
infuriating at times, but you think for yourself. You don’t do
everything I tell you to, but do what’s in your best interest. It’s
my favourite quality about you.”

Cyrus
bowed his head. “May I go now?”

“
Yes, you may go.”

Cyrus
turned on his heel and made his way back over to his
brother.

“
Oh, and Cyrus?” called Thoreoux from behind him.

Cyrus
didn’t turn around, but he stopped.

“
I can see you everywhere. If you do anything you ought not be
doing, you know what I’ll do.”

Cyrus
didn’t react in any way besides darting his eyes in Brynn’s
direction. He knew Thoreoux well enough to know he was looking at
Brynn at the exact moment he was.

The rest
of the men waiting outside said their “goodbyes” and “good-lucks”
that were at best mechanical, and at worst, taunting.

Taking
Brynn’s hand, the two brothers walked around the mansion to the
back where the portal was, glowing in the dark like a massive
firefly. Usually Thoreoux hid it somewhere in the manor so nobody
would ever be tempted by it; after Cyrus and Brynn left, the portal
would be put back in its secret place. He could feel Brynn’s hand
in his jittering with excitement.

Cyrus had
never said it out loud, but he wondered if Brynn actually
remembered their mother or if he made up some picture of her in his
head from what Cyrus had told him. He prayed seeing her wouldn’t
crush his brother’s expectations.

As they
got closer, Cyrus himself wondered how she would take seeing Brynn.
Because they were isolated from the orb network, they couldn’t even
send letters, so she had no idea they were coming. If anything, she
would be in tears at the sight of Brynn, who had been literally
ripped out of her arms.