The Nightmare Dilemma (Arkwell Academy) (33 page)

A chill went through me at the connection. “Why?”

Eli turned it over in his hands, drawing a breath. “It was a handful of rods like this that sunk the island of Atlantis.”

*   *   *

Back in Eli’s dorm room, I slowly shook off the lingering effects of emerging from the dream and slid off a still slumbering Eli. I stood, then shook him awake. He blinked dazedly at me a couple of times before sitting up.

“So do you really think that Magistrate Kirkwood is going to try to sink Lyonshold?” I said, continuing our conversation from within the dream.

Eli shook his head as he clambered to his feet. “No, I don’t think he’s going to sink all of it, but a
part
of it, yeah. Assuming that the pyres we saw are the only ones with rods in them, and that makes sense.”

“It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Eli strode past me to his desk and
The
Atlantean Chronicle
. “That’s because you didn’t do as much reading in this as I did.”

I decided not to comment on the fact that it wasn’t like I’d had
time
to study the darn thing with so much going on. Instead I waited until he’d flipped to one of the pages in the back and waved me over.

“See, here it is.”

I examined the page, my eyes drawn immediately to a sketch labeled “Telluric Rod.” It looked almost exactly like the one we’d seen.

“That’s how they sunk Atlantis,” Eli was saying. “A bunch of merkind and naiads swam underneath all three rings of the island and planted these rods. Then they set them off with some kind of triggering spell and sunk each one. It’s all described in this section. Except, of course, how to make a Telluric Rod. According to this book, the knowledge was outlawed and lost forever.”

I folded my arms. “Gee, think I’ve heard that before.”

Eli grimaced. “No kidding.”

“But why would Magistrate Kirkwood want to sink part of Lyonshold?”

“Lots of reasons. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than a couple of senators and even Consul Vanholt are supposed to be present when those things are set off. They could easily die in the destruction or be assassinated during the chaos while no one is watching. All Kirkwood has to do is stay out of the way and somewhere safe.”

I shuddered. “But what about all the people present? They’ll be caught, too.”

Eli scoffed. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone in a position of power was willing to let innocents die to achieve their goal.”

I swallowed, knowing firsthand it was true. No wonder Titus Kirkwood was one of Marrow’s followers—they were a match made in hell.

“And there’s something even worse we haven’t considered yet,” said Eli.

“What could be worse than hundreds of innocent people dying?”

He ran a hand over his face, alarm in his eyes. “The Terra Tribe. Don’t you see? We know, or at least we think we know, that Britney tried to attack me because Kirkwood made her do it. So let’s assume that he knows what the Terra Tribe has been planning all along. That means he also knows that they’re all
naturekinds
.”

I thought about it a moment, my head spinning with details from our history class. “Naturekinds are the ones who sank Atlantis and started the first War of the Kinds.”

“Uh-huh. And I bet the trigger for the Telluric Rods is
fire
. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Which means tomorrow it’s going to look like a group of naturekinds sunk Lyonshold. And with the current state of things you know what will happen next when the witchkinds and darkkinds start pointing fingers.”

“Another war.” I swallowed as the sound of rushing blood filled my ears. “But why would he want to start a war?”

Eli rolled his shoulders. “Beats me, but I’m sure he sees some advantage in it.”

I didn’t reply as my eyes fell to the page once more. For a second, all I saw was the Telluric Rod, but then my eyes slid lower and I spotted another symbol that struck a chord of recognition inside me. I gasped.

“What is it?” Eli put a hand on my back as if he feared I might faint.

I bent closer to the book, examining the inscription beneath a three-ringed symbol I knew I’d seen somewhere before. I pointed my finger to it and read the inscription aloud: “‘Always from twelve is the circle undone.’”

Eli repeated the words after me, reading it for himself. “What do you think it means?”

I turned toward him. “No idea, but I’ve seen this symbol before
and
these words. Not exactly as they’re written here but close enough there’s no doubt of the connection.”

Excitement lit Eli’s face. “Where?”

“Mr. Corvus.” I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down so I could explain it correctly—I hadn’t thought about the book with the strange pictograms I’d decoded during my detention since the moment it had ended, but everything came rushing back to me now. By the time I finished telling him the details, Eli’s excitement had given way to that dangerous, thrilling focus I’d come to expect from him whenever we found a hot lead.

“We need to see that book,” he said.

“Do you think Corvus is working with Kirkwood?”

“Maybe.” Eli traced the three-ringed symbol with his finger. “Either way this is the first physical clue we’ve had connecting Corvus to this. Looks like the crows might’ve symbolized him after all.”

“Right.”

Eli rubbed his chin. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that book contains instructions on how to make the Telluric Rods.”

I started to nod my agreement then stopped cold. “But that doesn’t make sense. If the book contains dark, secret magic why would he be having students decode it for detention? Seems pretty stupid and risky.”

Eli smirked. “We’re talking about a guy who might be helping plan the murder of a bunch of people. I don’t think rational figures into the picture much.”

I frowned, unconvinced.

Eli saw the look and sighed. “Regardless of Corvus’s reasons, there’s no denying the connection between the two symbols, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that alone means it’s worth checking out. Make that double when you throw the crows into it.” Eli put his hands on his hips. “Why are you so reluctant? I thought you wanted to find proof that could save Paul from his uncle.”

“I do.”

“Well, we might find that proof through Corvus.”

“That’s just it.” I bit my lip, surprised that the problem hadn’t occurred to him already. “How are we going to get
into
his office to find the proof?”

I could tell at once that Eli
had
forgotten this little detail. “Shit.” He kicked the desk’s leg, raking his hands through his hair. “I forgot. If we only had more time. I could get a pass and sneak in my dad’s tension wrench from home.”

I sighed, my excitement deflated. Once again we were going to be defeated by lack of time. It was so frustrating I wanted to hit something or blow something up just to vent.

Blow something up …

An outrageous idea sprouted in my mind. I poked it a couple of times, testing it for viability. It was insane, it really was—but it just might work.

“Eli,” I said, drawing his attention. “Mr. Culpepper.”

“What about him?”

“He’s the maintenance man. He’ll have a master key to Corvus’s office.”

Eli frowned. “But we don’t know where he keeps the keys at night. If it’s the maintenance office we can break in there, sure, but he might take them home with him, and that would be a much more dangerous mission.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant. Why don’t we just ask him?”

Eli raised his eyebrows, looking at me as if I’d gone insane. “Just ask him if he’ll help us break into a teacher’s office? In the middle of the night?”

I nodded. “He and I have sorta become friends these last few months. And I know that if we tell him why we need to go in there he’ll do it. Especially if he finds out that Titus Kirkwood purchased the garrote that killed Rosemary from him. He cared a lot about her.” I paused then added, “Not that I want to tell him that unless we absolutely have to. It would crush him.”

“But how would we even get ahold of him this late at night?”

“Easy. I have his cell number.”

Eli didn’t say anything for several long seconds, just stared at me, his expression oddly blank. Then a huge smile seemed to split his face in half. “Dusty,” he said, stepping toward me, “you are a genius.”

Without warning, he took hold of my shoulders, leaned down, and kissed me.

The ground seemed to shift beneath my feet the moment his lips touched mine. Desire as hot and sudden as a lightning strike rose up and consumed us both.

30

The Curse

It was so unexpected that for a full second I just stood there, frozen by shock. Then all thought and reason gave way to physical impulse. I raised my hands to his head, sliding my fingers through his hair as I pulled him farther down, deepening the kiss. Eli responded at once. He leaned into me, opening his mouth against mine. He tasted like he smelled—something dark and musky and male.

His hands slipped down my arms to my hips. He took hold of my waist and pulled me into him, his large body seeming to swallow mine. No space existed between us, and still it wasn’t close enough. I pushed him with my whole body, forcing him backward across the room until he hit the sofa with the back of his legs.

He fell onto it, taking me with him. He pulled and I climbed until I was on top of him—not in the Nightmare way, but stretched out over him. Our kiss broke but only for a second before Eli captured my mouth with his again. His hands on my waist rose up beneath my shirt. As his rough fingers grazed my bare skin, a violent shiver shot up my back and down my legs. His hands climbed higher, exploring.

Mine did the same, sliding away from his face, down his neck, then across his chest. Eli turned his head, our lips parting, as he began to kiss his way down my cheek to my neck. My entire body convulsed from the sensation of his lips moving against that sensitive skin. But even as he did it to me, I wanted to do it to him. I pushed his head back, making room as I kissed my way down his neck to his collarbone.

A soft groan escaped Eli’s throat. He sat up, lifting me off him. For a second, I thought he was calling an end to things, but then he stood, effortlessly switching our positions as he flipped me onto my back against the sofa. He stretched out on top of me, bracing his weight with one arm as he kissed me again, harder and deeper than before. I struggled to catch my breath, but I didn’t care. I wanted this. I had never wanted anything more in my entire life.

I grabbed the sides of his shirt, and pulled up until I was able to slide my hands around his bare waist, the muscles there flexing against my fingers as he breathed in and out, in something close to a pant. This time Eli hissed when I touched him as if in pain. Only I knew by the way he kissed me that it wasn’t pain. Not at all.

You should stop,
a voice whispered in my head.

I ignored it. I didn’t want to stop. Not ever. And neither did Eli. In this moment, I knew it with absolute certainty.

But then Eli jumped backward off of me. I sucked in a breath, completely taken by surprise. I sat up as across the room, Eli paced back and forth, his chest heaving.

“Oh, God, Dusty.” He clenched and unclenched his fists. “We can’t. Don’t you get it? We can’t do this. Not
ever
.” I flinched at the desperate, agonized tone of his voice. He really believed it, whatever this reason was why we couldn’t be together.

I wrapped my arms around my chest, feeling naked despite my clothes. “Why?”

He stopped pacing and stared over at me, his expression torn. I watched his inner turmoil blaze in his eyes.

“Come on, Eli.”

At last he drew a deep breath then slowly exhaled. I braced for the truth.

“We’re cursed,” Eli said.

I just stared at him, his words nonsensical.

“Dream-seers,” Eli said, his voice strained. “Our ability to predict the future comes with a curse attached to it.”

I sat up straighter, his words now making far too much sense. I’d been living among magickind long enough to recognize the ring of truth in the idea of something so powerful, so useful, also being so costly. “What kind of curse?”

Eli licked his lips. “The star-crossed kind.”

“You mean like Romeo and Juliet?”

“No, more like Angel and Buffy.”

I tilted my head. “Who?”

Eli exhaled. “Never mind. The thing is, Lady Elaine says that if a pair of dream-seers become involved”—he hesitated, and I could tell he was searching for the right word—“romantically, then they are bound to destroy each other.”

I crossed one leg over the other, a shiver traveling over my skin. “Define destroy.”

“Like Marrow and Nimue. Just like them.” Eli looked at me then looked away just as quickly. “You heard Marrow. He said he was in love with Nimue and then he killed her right in front of us. I don’t understand how it works, but the curse turns love into hate.”

I slumped back against the sofa, as the memory of Marrow first confessing his love for Nimue and then killing her played through my mind. Even after she was dead he claimed that he had set her free, shown her mercy. It was all so twisted and perverse.

“There’s a long history of it,” Eli said. “The dream-seers fall in love and then something happens to drive them apart. Most of them end up killing each other.”

“Who told you this?”

Eli walked over to the desk and sat down. “Lady Elaine, a couple of days after we fought Marrow when I was still in the infirmary.”

I desperately searched for some hole in his story. “But if this curse is true why didn’t she tell us about it right from the beginning?”

“I asked her the same thing. She said she’d hoped that given our age and our rocky relationship at the start that she could put it off for a while, but then she saw the way I was after the fight and decided it was time.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I was beside myself crazy,” Eli said, not quite meeting my eyes. “You were hurt so badly, unconscious. I thought you might be dying. And when they came to take you to the infirmary I freaked out. Didn’t want you out of my sight.”