“The Mystiks following you were not too far behind me,” Doylis said. “Go straight to the gateway book. Don’t stop. Don’t look back.”
Afton slipped her hand into mine. “You’re okay,” she whispered. She knew me well, knew my fears and quirks. I had to get myself together.
The elevator doors slid open. A great commotion resounded up the staircase. Our pursuers must have reached the library.
The fifth-floor reading room was empty.
“Sei zero sette periodo zero due DOR.” I recited the numbered charm for calling the gateway book. I wanted to get as far away from there as possible. But we needed to lead those bad Mystiks away from the Athen?um before they hurt anyone.
Amid the shouts and screams, a loud bang came from somewhere below us, as if a heavy wall-to-wall bookcase had tipped over. The shattering of glass made me flinch, and I glanced at the elevator.
I have to go back. They need help.
Doylis must have noticed my concern. “Don’t worry. My men are there. They’ll protect the humans. We must get you and yours to safety.”
The rustling of pages sounded through the room, and I scurried toward the noise. The others raced behind me. The book was tied to a bookcase. I recited the charm to release it, and fetched it from the shelf. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“Scotland,” he said. “The Central Library in Edinburgh, to meet Aetnae. She’ll lead you to Katy.”
Aetnae. I hadn’t seen the faery in a while, not since the day Veronique attacked me in New York.
Emily twisted her hands. “Are we really going to jump through that book? Nana told me about it, but I never thought I’d go through one.”
I paused flipping the pages of the gateway book and glanced over at her. “Don’t worry. It’s not too bad.”
“Not too bad?” Afton gave me a look that told Emily I wasn’t being that truthful. “It’s like freefalling through a black hole.”
Emily swallowed before clearing her throat. “I’m not afraid. You all have done it. I’m sure I can.”
“That’s the spirit,” Afton said with a dash of sarcasm.
Doylis’s head snapped in the direction of the entrance. “Someone’s on the stairs.”
I stopped at the photograph of the library in Edinburgh. “Got it. How are we doing this?”
“You’re going without me,” he said. “I must stay here and see that no one goes after you. And I must aid my men in protecting this library.”
“Are you with the havens’ guards?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m with the Mystik League. Now go.”
I placed the book on the floor, grasped Afton’s hand then Emily’s, as I slid a look at her. “Whatever you do, don’t let go. I’ll lose you if you do.”
“That’s encouraging.” Emily gripped my hand tighter, and my fingers grew numb.
I turned my head toward Doylis. “Thank you, and be careful.”
He nodded without a word before returning his focus to the entrance.
Afton adjusted on her feet. “Let’s just do this already.”
“Okay. Here we go,” I said and then spoke the spell to launch us. “Aprire la porta.”
Open the door.
A blast of wind hit my face and sped around us like a lasso, squeezing Emily and Afton against me.
“Jump up with me,” I called.
A yelp escaped Emily’s lips as we jumped together and the book sucked us into the page. Without my hands free, I couldn’t form a light globe, and the darkness engulfed us. Emily and Afton were gray silhouettes beside me. Afton had gotten good at transporting, not making a sound, and keeping her legs down.
Emily’s legs flew out from underneath her. “I don’t like this,” she shouted over the wind’s howling. Her free arm and legs flailing, she almost broke my hold on her hand.
“Stop pulling from me!” I shouted. “Try to get your legs down.”
“I don’t like this, I don’t like this, I don’t like this!” Emily screamed, the arm of the hand I held jerking up and down.
“Calm down!” My panicked command tumbled into the void.
Emily’s hand was yanked from my grasp.
Chapter Six
Emily’s ear-piercing scream shattered the darkness. I caught a sleeve, clutching the material in my shaking hand.
The familiar light at the end came into view, and we shot out of the gateway book. Emily landed on her side, tumbled across the mauve carpet, and crashed into a chair at one of the nearby tables.
“Oh crap.” Afton hurried over to Emily and helped her to feet. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I think. Just some carpet burns.” She inspected her shaking palms “I never want to do that again.”
My eyes swept our surroundings. The soaring walls of the room were a warm yellow and accented with white-painted trim. Tall arches led to wide nooks. Narrow, wrought-iron galleries ran the length of the dark wood bookcases.
Aetnae zipped into the room. A boy with cropped dark hair and big brown eyes, and another boy, looking very much like Bastien might have looked when he was young, trailed her. Behind them, a little girl with auburn curls walked with confidence, her chin up and her shoulders back. Their clothes looked like uniforms.
“Who are the kids?” I asked.
“They’re the last of the eight-year-old Sentinels,” she said, landing on the table. “I found them hiding here.”
Afton stepped closer. “The last?”
“As I told Gia before”—Aetnae sounded annoyed—“the new batch of Changelings hadn’t hatched. Well, it’s worse. Something is killing off the eight-year-olds. A disease. It’s been spreading through the Mystik covens.”
I didn’t know what else to say. It sickened and saddened me to think of children dying.
When I didn’t respond, she added, “Katy is working with the curers. Maybe she can help them.”
The little girl stuck out her chin. “Excuse me. We were told to go to Asile.” Though she wasn’t very big, her attitude sure was—strong-willed and a bit on the pushy side.
A warning bell dinged in my head. “Who told you?”
“Our trainer. We were at a training camp in Greyhill.” She lowered her head. “He got sick and died. So did the others. The ones like us.”
Afton’s hands covered her mouth. “How horrible.”
I got down on one knee in front of the girl and grasped her hand. “What’s your name?”
Her head popped up, her eyes a multicolor mix of brown, yellow, and green. “I’m Peyton. That’s Knox”—she pointed with her free hand at the boy with brown eyes, then aimed her finger at the one that resembled Bastien—“and Dag.”
The dark circles under Dag’s eyes concerned me. He looked barely able to hold up his head.
“Well, I’m Gia. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Are we going to die?” The girl bit her bottom lip and stared intensely into my eyes, so seriously I wanted to turn away from her to hide my doubt.
Instead, I answered, “No. Of course not. But we can’t go to Asile. We have to see my nana. She’s a Pure Witch skilled at healing people.”
Aetnae lifted off the table. “Are you ready?”
“We’re ready.” I put on a brave face to hide my worry, even though my insides were swirling in a sea of dread. Dag might’ve caught the illness that had killed most of their generation of Sentinels.