The Thief (37 page)

Instinctively, Rhys and I backed onto the
terrace, even as I knew there was no outlet. The high walls were
insurmountable. Rhys’s hands were on my shoulders as Simon came
through the arch, sword leveled at us.

“
You’re too dangerous,”
Simon said. “You’ll break everything. You’re just not worth the
risk. I should have known when she left,” he said angrily, “that it
was because of you.”

Vines curled out from the wall and Simon
leapt aside, slashing them away. They withered where the sword
sheared them. Hemlock stepped onto the terrace as well, a bright
green ring now sparkling on his finger.

“
This is becoming vastly
overcrowded,” he said. “Goodness, Simon, you’ve seen better
days.”

“
Who are you?” Simon
snapped.

“
But then I suppose it’s
been a rough night for many of us.” Hemlock went on, ignoring him.
“Myself, I’m doing quite well, actually. Best I’ve felt in a
hundred years.” With a wicked grin, his hand wearing the ring
clenched, and the entire wall seemed to come alive, vines whipping
to lash Simon against it, sword and all. He groaned as his back hit
the stone, hard.

“
Jul, I need you to turn it
off,” Rhys said in my ear. “Whatever it is that you do, that Tailor
thing - I need you to turn it off!”

But I didn’t know how. I had tried the
focus, the concentration, nothing had ever come of it. Our backs
were literally to the wall, and Rhys was counting on me.

Hemlock let out a long breath. “Now, where
was I...?” His gaze slid to me, and Rhys pushed me behind him. “You
do inspire the most loyal friends,” Hemlock commented. “Boyfriends,
I should say. You know they only like you because you’re pretty,
right? If you had any personality, you’d have garnered some female
friends.”

As if he’d forgotten Camille. Anger burned.
“Bea and Tailor were right about you,” I snapped. “All you do is
lie and steal.”

Hemlock spread his arms, quirking an
eyebrow. “Uh, Thief? It’s my nature. I have no more control over it
than you do your little...void thingie.” He held up his hand,
showing the ring. “Which this counteracts, by the way. Now are you
going to come along, or am I going to have to harm the young
prince’s pretty face?”

“
Jul...” Rhys said, under
his breath.

I scrambled for focus. Behind Hemlock, the
vines around the Tailor’s sword in Simon’s grip were withering.

“
There’s no way out,” I
said. “No other way out of the mirror.” I came out from behind
Rhys, and Hemlock smirked, pleased.

My hand slid into Rhys’s, and the warmth was
steadying. “Not unless you make one,” I say, looking into his eyes.
The pale blue is almost clear as they widen. I imagine a switch in
my mind, like I’d done with the door downstairs. I don’t feel the
barrier fall, but he does.

Hemlock barely has time to look confused
before we rise into the air, hoisted aloft by a pillar of glass. He
screams in fury, vines twisting up after us. As I look down at him,
I see no trace of the man I’d thought he was, and I can’t help
wondering: what will happen to Camille now?

Chapter 20

Camille

He had to be here. He just had to be.
Everything he’d warned me about was coming true - Gabriel would
know what to do. He always did, even if he didn’t explain, even if
he wouldn’t share his reasons, he always knew how to fix whatever
had gone wrong.

We were well past wrong.

“
Gabriel!” I shouted,
pushing through the front doors of the cafe. “Gabriel, where are
you?” The place was empty, the lights out. I streaked up the
stairs, taking them two at a time, could have done three if my legs
weren’t so damned short. My blood ran hot and I’d never been this
fast in my life. “Gabriel!” I cried, throwing open the door to his
room. It was his usual mess - bed unmade, clothes in heaps on the
floor, stacks of books half-read. His laptop’s screensaver cycled
through images of dense forests, throwing a sickly green light
around the dark room. But no sign of the man himself.

I cursed loudly, and tore into his closet.
There had to be something here, something I could use, something
he’d kept hidden for emergencies. I threw aside shoes, boxes of
photographs, stacks of magazines. I needed a weapon. He wouldn’t
leave me with nothing, not at a time like this. I thought of the
bracer - the sword - lost so carelessly.

I should have listened more
closely,
I berated myself. All his stories
I’d thought were fiction, the bracer I’d resented him for. And then
lost. My fingers curled in the fallen magazines. I should have
trusted him more. I’d take it all back, everything I’d said, I’d
ignore everything Bea and Tailor had ever told me - trade
everything to have Gabriel here now. I punched the frame of the
closet and the wood split.

I heard the latch on the door downstairs
click open as if it were right next to me. My hearing had never
been sharper. I jumped to my feet, heart in my throat. “Gabriel, I
need you!” I shouted, vaulting over the stairs as I’d done against
Hyde -

And skidded to a halt.

Meredith stood in the doorway. “Such abject
desperation in your voice,” she commented, letting the door gently
shut on its own behind her. “Not terribly attractive, kiddo.”

I almost cringed, hearing Gabriel’s pet name
come out of her mouth.

“
You’re fast,” she said.
“Not all of them are, you know. Every Wolf is different. But every
Wolf is also the same - agents of destruction, all.” She grinned at
me. “You’re not 16 yet, so I can stop you before it gets out of
hand. Pre-emptive strike,” she hit the ‘k’ sound hard, almost
biting it off.

“
I don’t hurt people,” I
shot back.

“
You will. I’m doing you a
favor, kiddo - ”

“
Don’t call me
that!”
I roared, slamming my hand down on
the counter. It shattered, spraying bits of glass across the stone
floor.

Meredith quirked an eyebrow. “There’s that
famous temper. Answer me this riddle before I dispatch you, though
- what makes a man hunt six Wolves and hide the seventh?”

“
What?” I
snapped.

“
I don’t know what Gabriel
did before he started helping me with this endeavor,” Meredith
said, sauntering closer. “In fact, I don’t remember the others at
all. I don’t really care about them. Past is past. What I don’t
understand is why he hid
you
. Why lie now? You’re not even his
real child, that’s clear.” She tilted her head, regarding me.
“You’re not doing him, are you?”

I stared at her, aghast. “Gross!”

“
I never can tell with kids
these days,” Meredith shrugged. “All these rubbish vampire stories
in the cinema. But I’m with you, I think it’s creepy for a teenager
to date a bloke who’s older than the London Bridge. Now,” she said,
holding up a hand. A fireball smoldered in her palm, throwing
grisly shadows around the tables and chairs. “Before I start to
like you, let’s put you out of your misery.”

She hurled it and I dove behind the busted
counter. Flames bloomed through the display case, and I shied away
from the sudden heat. My fingers curled around a large, jagged
shard of glass from the floor. Meredith advanced on me and I struck
out, slicing her cheek. A spray of glowing blood arced out,
splattering burning holes in the wall. I pushed past her, back into
the dining room. An enormous fireball barely missed my shoulder and
collided with the front door, transforming it into a wall of flame.
I skidded to a halt, turning to see Meredith advance on me. My
blood pounded through my veins. I hefted up a table, barely
registering the weight, and hurled it at her, snarling. She fell,
and I dashed up the stairs. Fire was swirling around her like a
storm, melting the debris as she rose from it. The flames from the
display case were eating their way through the kitchen, and it was
only a matter of time before they found the gas line.

I froze at the top of the stairs, out of
escape paths.

Meredith climbed the stairs slowly, the
vortex around her igniting the stairs, climbing up the walls to the
ceiling. She’d blocked me off.

“
There’s a good Wolfie,” she
purred, dark eyes reflecting the firelight. “Now hold still.” She
reached out for me with a smoking hand.

My life was burning down
around me, but I was
not
losing to this psycho. I leapt to the top of the
railing and launched myself into the upper air of the atrium. I
caught one of the hanging lamps, swung, and crashed through the
stained glass window by the front door.

I heard the Ender scream in frustration as I
hit the gravel in the parking lot, rolling several feet in tiny
stones and shards of glass. I groaned - this was way worse than
being beaten up by Hyde. I reached out a trembling hand, trying to
push myself up. I had to run before she could get out of the
building. All that had saved me so far was the fact that being a
human volcano hadn’t made her strong or fast.

I started to crawl, adrenaline beginning to
mask the pain. I had to find Gabriel. I didn’t know how, but he’d
fix this. The cafe crackled and roared behind me, making the
parking lot bright. Heat rolled off the building in waves.
Everything we had was burning, but we could start over, couldn’t
we? He’d always said we’d survive...that I would survive
this...

I heard sound of Meredith’s boots crunching
in the gravel behind me. I shivered from adrenaline and sweat, on
my knees, a tendril of despair curling around my heart. I pushed
myself up to my feet and stood to face her on unsteady legs. She
brushed debris from her shoulders, looking at me with pitiless
eyes.

“
You’re brave,” she said.
“It’s too bad the Wolf was born in you. I think I would have liked
you.”

She reached for me, but then
her eyes go wide as I’m pulled back.
Gabriel?

Tailor pushed me behind him. Mac and Destin
stood on either side of me.

Meredith groaned. “This just
goes on and on! How many bodyguards do you
have?”

“
I’m not a bodyguard, I’m an
English teacher,” Tailor said, unrolling a small scroll of paper.
Strange symbols were painted in black across its surface. It
reminded me of the holy seals I’d seen in Buddhist
temples.

“
That’s some scary paper,
teach,” Meredith said, deadpan. “You know what paper doesn’t do so
well against?” She flung out her arm and a fireball flew toward
me.

Mac

We jump clear of the fireball, but
Meredith’s goal had been to distract us so she could get to
Camille.

Tailor throws the rectangle of paper, and it
flies with unaccountable rigidity toward the Ender. Meredith is
heading for Camille, and I’m the only one close enough to reach
her.

“
Camille, run!” I shout. I
grab Meredith by the arm just as Tailor’s seal hits her across the
shoulder.

“
Damnit, Mac!” Tailor
snaps.

The paper clings to Meredith’s tattooed skin
like a wet bandage. In a flash, the seal goes up in flames. Smoke
sizzles all the way down her arm and into mine. I bellow at the
sharp pain; she curses, releasing me. Her arm hangs limp and she
cradles it. The paper’s burned away, but the symbols on it have
embedded themselves in her skin over the shoulderblade, twining and
repeating in three rings around her right arm, overlaying the red
flame pattern. I’m inches from passed out on the ground, smoke
rising from my hand.

“
Not again!” Meredith howls,
rounding on Tailor. “That is
it!
”

“
For God’s sake, Dupree,
wake up!” Tailor calls, backing away.

“
Huh?” I stir, the searing
pain in my hand gradually lessening.

“
I’ve changed my mind,”
Meredith seethes. “I think I’ll kill you,” she stabs a finger at
Tailor, “
then
the
Wolf, and then the munchkin brigade, just to be safe.” A ball of
fire materializes in her hand and her lip curls in a malicious
grin.

“
I wish you wouldn’t
kill
anybody
,” I
say groggily, rising with my uninjured hand to my head.

Meredith freezes, eyes wide. The fireball
vanishes as quickly as she’d called it into being. She looks at her
empty hand in confusion. One of the three rings on her arm is
fading.

“
Ha!” Tailor exclaims. “Ha!
Ha ha ha!” He cackles, almost hysterical. “Mac, you idiot, that was
perfect!”

“
It was?” I say, then look
at my smoking hand and gasp. “What the heck is this?” I poke at the
row of three red flames marked into the back of my hand. “Ow!” I
recoil from the tender flesh. As I watch, one of the three flame
marks ghosts to nothing.

“
Minor annoyance,” Meredith
says. “Let’s try that again!” She flings her arm towards Tailor,
but nothing emerges.

Tailor’s grin is wide. “Trouble
performing?”

“
I swear this has never
happened to me before,” Meredith quips.

“
Mac, listen carefully,”
Tailor says urgently, “you can’t ever say the words ‘I wish’ ever
again. Understand? If you never finish your wishes, she’s stuck
like this forever.”

“
Wait, wishes?” Meredith and
I say in unison.

“
You wished for her to not
kill anyone,” Tailor says smugly. “So she can’t, until she
completes the contract.”