“Great.” I forced a smile to match hers.
“I know that’s not your real smile, Gia,” Emily said, a frown replacing hers.
With the two Sentinels and four guards from Couve, there were fifteen of us in the library. Since Edgar knew Esteril the best, he jumped first. We did a library hop, all picking different places to go before ending up at the Saint Petersburg library. By the time the Monitors followed our paths and sent an alarm, we’d be in Esteril.
Once all of us were in the library, Edgar led us around the many display cases crowded by elaborate, cherry wood bookcases. We went by arched beams and more bookcases, passing the one that I knew would take us to Esteril.
“Isn’t that bookcase the entry?” I asked, keeping up with him.
He rounded a corner. “We can’t very well go through the front door.”
Made sense.
He stopped at another bookcase and pushed in one of the wooden carvings of a rose. The bookcase rattled across the floor, exposing an opening in the floorboards. “We’ll take the Talpar tunnel. I’m not sure what state it’s in, so watch your step.” His boot clunked down the rough slope.
I went next, with the others going after me. Jaran and Lei ignited their light globes. The tunnel wall had rocks and roots sticking out of it. I scratched at my hair, feeling a little twitchy at seeing the bugs scurry and slither into the cracks as we passed.
The tunnel inclined, and we went up. It grew steep, and my boots slid over the loose gravel. There was a thick rope with knots for handgrips off to the side, and I grasped it. Hand over hand, I went up after Edgar.
He pushed open the hatch at the top and hoisted himself out. Turning around, he grasped my hand and helped me up. I adjusted my breastplate and sheath, pushing on the hilt to make sure my sword was secured inside.
The flat land with sparse trees was familiar to me. I had come here with Ricardo, a Laniar, who sacrificed his life to save Carrig. Edgar had been there. Sinead, as well. It seemed like ages ago, not almost a year. Thinking of the loss Ricardo and Sinead choked me up, and I cleared my throat.
When the others were up, Edgar kept us to the shadows under the skeletal trees. Our boots crunched through the snow, and I worried about the footprints we were leaving behind. A strong wind swept across the field, sending waves of snow over us, and rattling my teeth and bones. I glanced back to find our prints had been covered.
Demos smiled, lowering his hand, green flashes of light snapping at his palm. He’d used his wind globe to cover our prints.
Esteril’s dark gray castle on top of a rocky hill looked like something out of a horror movie. From a pole on the tallest tower, the black flag with a red flame in the middle waved violently in the wind.
Edgar squatted behind a gardener’s building, and we dropped down around him. “See over there.” He pointed in the distance. “Conemar must have the Tetrad in the basement or the barn.”
“What are those?” I asked, pointing at the horizon across the field.
Edgar looked to where I indicated. “Animals. Conemar most likely had them removed from the barn to keep the Tetrad there.”
Arik scooted up to Edgar’s side. “So what’s the plan? We go to the barn and Royston destroys the Tetrad?”
“You have it wrong,” Uncle Philip’s voice came from behind us, and I almost fell over.
I shot up, rushed over, and pulled him down to the ground. “What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“My mind is good today,” he whispered back. “I still have my magic, and it’s a high wizard’s power. You’ll need it going up against Conemar.”
“What if—?” I couldn’t say it, but he could.
“I lose my mind?” He touched my cheek. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“I’m not,” I said.
“It isn’t your choice.” Uncle Philip smiled. “You have been the best surprise of my life. Let me do this for you. If I die, so be it. Soon, my quality of life will diminish.”
I stared at him for a long moment. It was wrong of me to stop him from fighting for a cause he believed in. Or even fighting an unfathomable beast that could kill us all. History had shown that sometimes it took great sacrifices to ensure that good prevailed over evil. The memory of Bastien zapping my hand so that the Writhe didn’t take me along with him punched my heart with a life-threatening blow. It was Uncle Philip’s choice to make, not mine. I had to let go.
Tears stung the back of my eyes, and I nodded silently to Uncle Philip.
He gave me a knowing nod back, then crouch-walked over to Edgar and Arik. “He’d never leave the Tetrad in such an unsecured place. It would be in the basement. There’s an old torture chamber just off the corridor to the prison cells. It’s large enough to hold the beast.”
Though we left at two in the morning from Barmhilde, the sun would be rising in Esteril soon.
I moved closer to Edgar. “We can’t bring all these people in there. It’ll be a parade. I have to go on my own with Royston. I’ve been to the basement before; I know my way. You have to get the others to a shelter or something. They’ll freeze out here.”
“She’s right,” Arik said and turned to me. “But I’m going with you.”
Edgar surveyed the others. “All right. We go to the barn. Lei?”
“Sounds good to me,” she said.
“A covered passageway leads from the barn to the castle.” Edgar inclined his head in that direction. “You can access the castle from there. We won’t be too far away if needed.”
“Okay, let’s move,” I said.
The wind blew blankets of snow that threatened to bury us. Each step was a struggle, and my exposed skin burned as the frozen air smacked me. Finally, we reached the barn and relief from the torturous storm. There was a large hole there where some of the animals must have escaped. Uncle Philip had made the right call. Conemar would never keep the Tetrad in such an unsecured place.
Our group found warm corners and settled in for the wait. One of the Couve guards, a young guy with big ears, gave Arik a window rod to contact Edgar if we needed help.
Emily removed her scarf and wrapped it around Arik’s neck.
“I shan’t be outside,” he said.
“It’s for luck.”
He glanced down at it and gave her a dimpled smile. “Thanks.”
Royston took Deidre’s hand in his. “You are like the sun in this dark world. Thank you for allowing me a small bit of life.”
“I wish we had more time,” she said softly. “There’s so much I could show you.”
“See it all for me.” He released her hand.
Demos gave me a tight hug. “I thought you should have some sort of emotional parting like the others.”
I laughed and pulled away from him. “I’ll carry your hug with me.”
“You do that.” He winked.
Jaran came in for a hug and Lei joined him. “Keep your head on the goal,” she said at the same time he whispered, “I love you like a sister.”
When we parted, Uncle Philip kissed my cheek. “Don’t worry about us out here. You keep your mind on what you have to do. Think of nothing else.”