“Good. Then bring the weapons there. I don’t know how many guards you might have with you, but if my men see a single one, so much as the smallest pixie, then I will execute your mother right in front of you. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Sinclair?”
“Yes,” Devon ground out. “Very clear.”
“Excellent. Then we have an agreement. So nice doing business with you.” Victor paused. “And Mr. Sinclair?”
“What?” Devon growled.
“Be sure to bring the real weapons this time. I would hate for anything to happen to your mother because you were stupid enough to think you could fool me with more fakes.”
Devon opened his mouth, but Victor ended the call before he could respond. Devon let out a tense breath, and Felix turned his phone off.
“Now what?” Oscar muttered, twitching his wings and hovering in midair.
Devon sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Now we try to get some rest before tonight.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
We hashed out our plan, gathered up our supplies, and made sure that everything was ready. Once that was done, there was nothing else for us to do, so we ate some of the bacon-flavored beef jerky and water I had stored in the basement, then turned off the lights and lay down, trying to get some sleep.
For a while, I lay there in the dark with the others, listening to Devon’s and Felix’s soft, even breaths, mixed in with Oscar’s and Tiny’s deep, rumbling snores. But I couldn’t sleep, so I slid off my cot, crept through the basement, and eased up the steps, careful not to make them creak and wake the others. I opened the door at the top of the steps and went into the storage room, then out into the main part of the library.
It was still early, just after six o’clock, and the summer sun was still shining in the sky, streaming in through the windows and illuminating the shelves of books, magazines, and movies. At my passing, a few dust motes swirled through the air like lazy bumblebees before settling back down; everything was quiet, except for the faint hum of the air conditioning system.
I’d been sneaking in here at night for so long that it was strange seeing the library during the daylight hours, almost as if I’d never been in here before. So I wandered through the aisles, looking at all the books and running my fingers along their creased, well-worn spines. The air smelled faintly musty, like the books, but it was a familiar, comforting scent.
I thought about finding something to read or even getting a DVD out of the movie collection and popping it into the TV in the children’s section, but I was too restless to sit down and watch something. Besides, the last two days had been like I was starring in my own personal action movie. Right now, I just wanted a little peace and quiet.
So I kept wandering around and finally ended up in the children’s section after all, sitting in one of the kid-sized chairs, hunched over a small table, tracing my fingers over a star that had been crudely carved into the wood. Years ago, the very first summer we’d come to Cloudburst Falls, I’d used the sharp point of one of my bloodiron throwing stars to scratch the symbol into the table. I’d been obsessed with stars like the ones engraved in my mom’s sword, and I’d drawn, carved, and scribbled them on everything back then.
My mom had been horrified when she realized what I’d done, and she’d made me go over to the librarians and apologize to every single one of them for scratching up their table, even though other kids had already put plenty of graffiti on the furniture. She’d also made me do chores all summer long to save up enough money from my allowance to buy the library a new table, although the librarians had ended up buying new books instead.
I smiled, tracing my fingers over the star and its grooves in the wood, which had been smoothed out by time. We’d been so happy back then. I wished my mom was still here with me. She would know what to do tonight. How to protect Devon. How to save everyone. How to finally defeat Victor.
But I wasn’t my mom, and I had to figure all that out for myself. The thought made me miss her more than ever before.
“You look so sad,” a voice called out. “What are you thinking about?”
I looked up to find Devon standing at the entrance to the children’s section.
“My mom,” I said. “She used to bring me here every summer when we stayed in Cloudburst Falls. It was one of my favorite places to visit with her.”
Devon nodded, walked over, and sat down in the kid-size seat next to mine. “My mom’s told me stories about Serena. Sounds like she was a really great person.”
“She was,” I whispered.
Devon reached out and put his arm around me. I scooted closer to him and laid my head down on his shoulder. We stayed like that for several minutes, just holding and leaning on each other.
“I know you’re worried about tonight and what’s going to happen,” he finally said. “But I’m not.”
I pulled back and looked at him. “Why not?”