Thief of Lies (28 page)

“What?”

“The wizards recovered the whereabouts of your nana’s ancient charm book from Lorelle’s mind. I want to send you alone to retrieve the book.”

“Did you say alone?”

“You’re shielded. No one can detect you in the libraries. A spell be on the charm book and can’t be removed from Katy’s home. You can release the spell with your globe and bring it back.”

I took a step back. “Are you crazy? I can’t go by myself.”

“I wouldn’t send you if there be another way.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “I’ll be watching through the gateway book. It’s a charm. I’ll teach it to you. Once you’re in the library, you’re home.”

“Can I have a minute to process this?”

He lifted his arm and checked his wristwatch. “Okay, one minute.”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t mean literally one minute. If you’re going to time it, then give me five.”

“Certainly, but remember no one can detect you in the libraries.”

“Ugh.” I kicked at a rock. “I have to do this, don’t I?”

He shrugged. “You got a bit more time to agonize on it, if you want.”

G
etting to the library went smoother than expected. Carrig came with me to the library to show me how to charm the photos in the
Libraries of the World
book into moving pictures, or rather windows, to see if anyone was in the Boston Athenæum’s reading room before I transported. It was morning in France, which meant it was about three in the afternoon in Boston.

Carrig had had the artisans sew me normal clothes. The women made me black pants, a shirt, and a jacket that all totally hugged what little curves I had, which brought back all the insecurities ever to haunt my mind. The low boots were ugly but comfortable. The curers created energy wafers for me to counter the side effects from using my globe. Though the side effects of the truth globe had stopped before Lorelle destroyed it, the pink globe’s aftereffects were sporadic. I shoved the wafers into a pocket in the jacket.

When the coast was clear, I jumped into the book and hid in the farthest staircase in one of the protruding bookcases. A man departed the elevator and sat at one of the large tables. After grabbing a book from a nearby shelf, I crossed the room to the elevators. It was taking the elevator too long to reach the fifth floor, so I took the stairs, ditching the book on a step.

Okay, this is easy.

The reception desk was busy as I hurried down the white marble steps and out the red saloon doors. It was a clear, hot day in Boston. I flagged down a taxi, opened the door, and slid in. The driver let me off about a block from Nana’s house. My heart squeezed at the thought of her. Merl had said he’d keep her safe, but we hadn’t heard word since. I prayed she was still fine.

I knelt behind a lilac bush across the street, making sure the coast was clear, then darted across the street and peered in the front window. A shadow moved across the half-closed sheers. A twentysomething guy, a chubbier version of Bastien, stumbled over to the window, and I ducked down.

“It’s an oven in ’ere,” Veronique said from somewhere in the house. “Odil, open more windows.”

Crap. This is not going to be easy.

The window squealed as Odil opened it. His heavy feet thudded back into the living room. “Where do you want to start searching?”

“Oh please, do I ’ave to babysit you? It’s a
book
. Search in ze bookcase.”

I eased up and peered over the windowsill. Veronique shuffled through a stack of books on the coffee table. Baron came out of the bushes and meowed. I slipped back down as he thumped up onto the sill and went inside.

Veronique gasped. “Oh kitty, you frightened me.” She picked him up. “Poor kitty, I bet you’re ’ungry.”

Wow, the bitch had a heart, even if it was the size of a cherry pit.

The can opener squealed in the kitchen, and then a can clanked onto the floor. “I bet you ’ave been eating ze scrapes out of ze garbage. Go on, eat.”

Duh, it’s scraps…French girl.

I peeked through the window again. Odil was tossing books onto the floor.

“Good little kitty.” Veronique’s heels clicked across the tiles, and she returned to the sitting room.

Odil was waiting for her. He wrapped his arms around her and brought his mouth to her ear. “You know we’re alone in a house with bedrooms.”

“Quit it,” she ordered. “That’s all you think about. We must find ze book.”

“I’ve looked at every book in the bookcase and it’s not there.” He kissed her ear. “Shall we check the bedrooms for it?”

Veronique let out a deep sigh. “All right. But afterward we make a clean sweep of ze place.”

“Whatever you wish,” Odil said, leading her down the hall.

A door slammed somewhere in the back of the house, and I listened to make sure they were preoccupied before I crawled through the window.

Gross.
I so don’t want to know what they’re doing back there.

Lorelle’s scrying lobotomy revealed that the ancient book of charms was hidden behind the jacket cover for
Don’t Knit the Small Stuff
, a book on how to knit big throw blankets. I shuffled through the knitting books on the end table by Nana’s favorite chair and ottoman. The book was close to the bottom of the stack.

I peeled back the jacket. Underneath was a leather-bound book. The title was in a language I didn’t know. After re-covering the book with the jacket, I formed a pink globe and dropped it onto the book, releasing Nana’s charm.

A creak came from the hallway, and I dropped to my knees, hiding behind the loveseat.

“Do you want water?” Veronique called down the hall. She buttoned up her shirt as she walked past me. “
Magnifique
,” she said. “Ze zings I ’ave to do for that man.”

That was fast.

I was thankful she didn’t see me as she passed. A glass clinked, and then the water faucet turned on in the kitchen. Veronique headed back to the bedroom, carrying two glasses.

When she was gone, I grabbed the book and stood.

“What are you doing here?” a startled Odil blurted from the hallway.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

V
eronique came running up behind him.

I skidded across the floor, twisted the doorknob, and pulled. Locked. A fire globe hit the wall just above my head.

I shifted the book to one arm and raised my palm to form my globe. Another ball of fire whizzed by my head and I ducked.
Shit
. I formed my globe and tossed it, hitting Odil in the chest. He rolled to the floor and crawled behind the couch.

Veronique readied another fireball as I fumbled to unbolt the door. The lock slid back, and I jerked open the door. Nick stood there with electric currents dancing on his fingertips, and just behind him was Afton.

“Move,” Nick ordered.

I flung myself against the wall.

Blue currents shot through the open door and hit Veronique before she threw her next fire globe. The globe landed on the floor, and the carpet ignited into flames. Odil crawled to Veronique’s side and dragged her away from the fire.

“Run!” Afton yelled.

Nick grabbed my hand and hauled me down the steps after Afton. We ran down the street, around corners, and through alleys before we stopped and rested behind a large tree.

“Why are you guys here?” I asked between pants. “You got a death wish or something?”

“Are you complaining? I just saved your life,” Nick protested. “If it weren’t for me, you’d have been fried. You should thank me.”

“I know, thanks,” I said. “But seriously, you surprised me. I was supposed to do this alone. Who told you I was coming here?”

Afton held her side. “I overheard you and Carrig in the hall. How could he send you alone? What was he thinking? Anyway, I told Jaran and he told the Sentinels. We decided Nick and I should help you search for the book because we’d go undetected through the gateway with our shields. Plus we know Boston.”

“How did you get by Carrig?”

“That was tough,” Afton said. “Arik distracted him.”

“And you went through the gateway book alone?”

“Yep. I’m a wizard. Remember? The surgery released my suppressed powers the charm on my head blocked. It all came rushing back to me. It was like a bad LSD trip or something.”

“Thanks to our tattoos, we were the only ones who could pass undetected. He practically killed me jumping through that book.” Afton held up her hands. “Look, I have rug burns on my palms.”

I turned to Nick. “Why did you bring Afton? She doesn’t have any powers to protect herself.”

“Right. I’d like to see you try and stop her once she’s made up her mind to go.”

I hugged the book. “How did you know where I was going?”

“When you took off in the direction of Mission Hill, I knew you were going to Nana’s place,” Nick answered.

“We grabbed a taxi and followed you,” Afton said.

“Okay, then let’s get one back to the library.” I headed toward a busy street and flagged the first approaching taxi. It pulled up beside us and Nick opened the door. Afton slid across the seat.

Before entering the cab, I hugged Nick tight.

“What’s that for?”

“Thank you for coming after me.”

“It’s you and me, right?” he said.

“Always.” I pulled away from him and slipped in beside Afton.

Nick ducked into the cab. “We have to call Arik when we get to the library. He’s going to escort us back to Paris.”

Nick’s unkempt hair was brushed to the side to cover the bald spot from the surgery, and he wore rumpled clothes. Old Nick never did rumple.

Under his skin
. Watching Nick made me remember the scene from my globe where Jacalyn held Nick as a baby. She had said the charm on his head was to prevent him from turning evil or from evil finding him. She mentioned he was from the line of two great wizards. Whatever the charm did, removing it released his suppressed powers. I just hoped it hadn’t released something else—something terrifying.

I grabbed his hand, and he smiled at me. There was no way Nick would be like Conemar. I’d known him all my life. We were more like brother and sister than just friends. We had each other’s backs.

The taxi pulled up to the curb and we scrambled out. Nick pulled a window rod out of his pocket and contacted Arik, then hid in the shadows and waited for him to arrive. A few moments later Arik opened the door and we hurried into the library.

“Are you trying to kill me, Gia?” Arik closed the door.

“I was following Carrig’s orders—” I tried to explain, but he grabbed my arms and kissed me.

He pulled back and gazed into my eyes. “Don’t ever listen to him again without consulting me first. You understand?”

“Don’t tell—”

“Okay, Romeo and Juliet,” Nick said, interrupting my protest. “Let’s go.”

“We must hurry,” Arik said. “Someone may have picked up my jump.”

“Then why did you come?” I adjusted the bulky, ancient book in my arms as we rushed to the stairs.

“Carrig is a great fighter but a terrible time manager. How did he think you were going to get back into the library after it closed?”

When we reached the fifth floor reading room, Bastien soared out of the gateway book and slid across the top of the table. Demos followed. Lei shot out of the book with Kale and Jaran right after her, and two werehounds were behind them.

Bastien hopped off the table. “There’s another gateway book in this library.”

Blue threads of electricity filled the room, hitting everyone near the table. The threads wrapped around Arik and the others. They dropped, immobile, to the floor.

Nick shoved Afton and me behind him. He aimed his outstretched hands in the direction where the strike had come from, and light crackled from his fingertips.

Conemar glided into the room with several of those muscled Sentinels from Russia trailing him. “What a lovely surprise, Gia. We didn’t sense your presence here. I come to kill Arik and I get such wonderful added prizes.”

I formed a globe in my palm and tossed it on top of Arik and the others. The threads snapped and vanished. The Sentinels jumped up, pulled their shields from their backs and their swords from their scabbards, and charged after Conemar’s Sentinels. The werehounds growled before attacking. Metal clanged against metal like many church bells going off at once.

Arik helped Bastien to his feet.

“Bastien, glad to see you weren’t stunned to death,” Conemar said. I could barely hear him over the battle sounds happening around us.

“You murdered my father!” Bastien made for Conemar. “I’ll kill you!”

“That should be fun.” Conemar stretched his fingers.

Arik held Bastien back. “Keep your head straight.”

A Sentinel made for them, and Arik swung his sword, their blades meeting with a loud
clank
. They shuffled around each other, throwing blow after blow, their dance moving them off from us. My eyes darted from Arik to Conemar, not knowing what to do.

Conemar glanced at the book in my arms. “I see someone found my book. I sense shielding charms. Three. Did Katy cloak you with a brand, Gia? Furthermore, why did she cloak your friends?
Puzzles
.
Puzzles
. I do so love to figure them out.”

One of the werehounds sprang from a table and landed in front of me, baring her teeth at Conemar.

Nick pointed his hands at Conemar. “Stand back or I’ll zap you.”

Conemar threw his head back and laughed. “Boy, I can smell you from here. You’re a fledgling wizard. I could destroy you with my pinky.” He wiggled his finger at Nick.

The werehound readied to make a jump for the wizard, but Conemar was quicker and hit her with his magic. She yelped and crashed to the floor.

“No!” I made for the werehound, but Afton grabbed my arm to stop me.

“She’s breathing.” Fear sounded in her voice. “Help Nick. He’s going to get himself killed.”

Nick shot a wave of blue light at Conemar, and the wizard blocked the current with his hand and sent it back. Nick pushed me out of the way and shoved Afton to the side. Afton landed on the floor and slid until she collided with a bookcase. Nick tried to catch the current but he fumbled and it hit the floor, knocking him back.

“Nick!” I screamed, grabbing his arm and trying to keep him from falling to the floor.

He righted himself and gave me a quick look. “I’m fine.”

Bastien hurried over, magic sparking in his hands, blocking us from Conemar.

“Nick? Nice strong name for a wizard,” Conemar yelled over the fight noises. “Bravo. That was an impressive attempt, boy. Too bad it wasn’t good enough. It’s dark in here. I’d like to see your face when I kill you. Let’s put some light on the situation, shall we?” He lifted his palms and the room illuminated.

Bastien stepped in front of Nick.

Conemar gave him a curious look. “Now this is interesting.” He took a heavy step forward. “The next High Wizard of Couve risking his life for a fledgling.”

Demos propelled a green globe at Conemar. The globe spun with great force, and Conemar threw up his hand to block it, not even flinching. The globe busted against an invisible shield, sending a gust of air at a nearby bookcase and knocking the books from the shelves. Loose papers floated in the aftermath.

A female Sentinel tackled Demos and they wrestled on the floor until Lei kicked her off him. The Sentinel whisked to her feet, stopping Lei’s katana with her sword. They scuffled, moving into the fray.

I began to form another globe in my right hand as I held tight to the charm book in my other. The globe rose up to the ceiling, and I scrambled in front of Bastien and Nick, shielding them with it and blocking Conemar’s view of Nick.

“What’s special about this fledgling? Why are you and Bastien worried about protecting him?” He took a few steps to the right and looked at Nick. “It can’t be.” A confused look shadowed Conemar’s face before it lit in awareness. “Well, well, Jacalyn, you minx, you gave me a son.” He grinned at Nick. “You’re the spitting image of me at your age.”

“You murdered Jacalyn, you bastard,” I said. “You stay away from him.”

My accusation actually surprised him. “Jacalyn and I were in love, until she met Phillip Attwood. I do admit I killed her. I couldn’t help myself. After all, she was mine, not his. How can you blame me?”

Born evil.
Sinead’s words replayed in my mind. He believed he was the one who had been wronged and had every right to take her life.

Demos jumped off a table and landed in front of Conemar with his sword extended in front of him. “Come on, fight like a man.”

“Silly boy, I’m not a man. I’m a wizard.” A spark snapped out of Conemar’s hand and hit Demos in the chest, and he flew back onto the table. The table crashed to the floor, sending the gateway book sailing across the room to land at Conemar’s feet.

Arik exchanged blows with an Esteril Sentinel who flanked Conemar on his right. Lei came out of nowhere and swung her foot at Conemar. Her boot connected with his chin and he stumbled back.

Kale shot his stun globe at Conemar, but he threw up a shield to block it. The globe backfired and hit Kale, and he fell motionless to the floor. Jaran tossed his water globe, and the mini tsunami knocked Conemar to the floor.

“Give me the book,” Bastien said.

I handed it to him and he flipped through the pages.

“What are you trying to find?” My arm burned under the strain of holding the globe.

“A spell to contain him,” he answered. “Keep him busy.”

“Trust me. He’s busy,” I said, watching Conemar slip and fall before he got back on his feet. He wiped the water from his face and regained his stance.

Nick put his hand on my shoulder. “Remove the globe and we can hit him back with power.”

“No.”

“You have to release Kale from the stun before he stops breathing,” Bastien said.

Kale’s motionless body lay on the floor. I didn’t want to mess up with him again. I almost killed him the last time. This time, I could save him.

I let the globe recede until it was a small sphere in my hand and pitched it at him. The globe spread across him and he took in several deep breaths. Kale staggered to his feet and dived behind a table that was teetering on its side.

Swaying on my weak legs, I yanked out a wafer and shoved it into my mouth. It tasted like earth, but the result was like drinking three energy drinks. I instantly felt better.

Both Nick and Bastien shot a stream of energy at Conemar.

An electric ball swirled between Conemar’s hands. Bright blue and red light reflected in his evil obsidian eyes. I threw up another shield around Nick, Bastien, and myself at the same time Conemar shot the electric ball. The charge bounced off my globe and blew up a nearby bookcase. Splinters and books showered the pink sphere.

Conemar spotted Afton struggling to get to her feet, and in an instant, he was beside her, pulling her up by her arm. Afton screamed. He wrapped his arms around her, removed a dagger from his belt, and placed the point to her throat.
No!

She froze in his grasp, her eyes wide.

“Here now, see what I’ve caught,” Conemar said, eyeing me. “Tell your Sentinels to back away.”

Nick pushed against my globe.

“Get me out of this thing.” Nick shoved the globe harder. “Let her go!”

Conemar looked at the book of libraries on the table.

“Get him!” I screamed. “He’s going to jump with her!”

I dropped the globe and Nick sprinted toward Conemar and Afton.

Arik tackled Conemar just as he was saying the key to jump through the book with Afton. The three of them fell into the book and disappeared into the open pages. The book flew up, landed on the floor, and slammed shut.

“Afton!” I yelled, sloshing through water to the book. I flipped through the dampened pages. “Help me! We have to find them.”

Bastien, who was clinging to the ancient charm book, slid to my side. We searched each picture in the gateway book. We didn’t find Afton, Arik, or Conemar within the photographs. With each flip of the page, my heart sank. Finally, at the back of the book, we spotted Conemar dragging Afton across the great hall of the library in Mafra, Portugal.
But where is Arik?

Without thinking, I spoke the key and jumped into the photo. Bastien grabbed my leg and was towed in with me. We flew fast through the dark hole until it deposited us onto a marble floor. He landed on top of me and we tumbled across the floor together. We lay in a heap—legs and arms tangled. The book of charms Bastien held dug into my back.