Alex told him what Zain had said, and finished her quick explanation as they reached the Tower building.
“Are you insane?” Jordan grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. “The entire academy staff is out there making sure Aven doesn’t get to you, and you’re actively seeking him out?”
“Jordan, it’s Darrius,” she said, yanking her arm back. “If Aven Claims him, he’ll be forced to open the doorway through to Meya. And we all know just how bad that would be.”
Jordan seemed confused. “What do you mean?”
Alex sent him a frustrated look. “Stop trying to distract me. I know you’re protective and you want to look out for me, but I need to get down there.”
“Think about this for a second,” Bear said, moving to stand beside her. “Are you sure Marselle can open the doorway?”
Alex hesitated. She knew Darrius’s access to the Library’s secrets was more limited than her own, since she was Chosen while he was only granted the privileges of headmaster. But he’d never said that he couldn’t get through to Meya. He’d also mentioned that Aven had tried to capture him in the past, but the Library protected its own—except for in the case of their current dilemma, apparently.
“I don’t know if he can,” Alex admitted. “But Aven seems to think so, and that’s good enough for me. We need to find them.”
Bear gazed at her steadily for a moment before he nodded. “Lead the way.”
Alex didn’t need any further permission. She ran into the building and tore down the staircase, sprinting straight past the absent librarian’s desk and over to the far side of the foyer. Then she and her friends hurtled down the next set of stairs until they came to a dead end and once more entered the doorway that led to the corridor of doors.
The corridor was tangibly different this time. Instead of a brightly lit hallway, the torches were dimmed. The flames flickered angrily as if the Library itself knew what was happening.
At her summons, Sir Camden stepped through a doorway and into view.
“Lady Alexandra,” he said with a bow. “How doth thee?”
“Sir Camden, can you take us to the doorway leading to Meya?” she asked, her voice betraying her sense of urgency.
“Lady Alexandra, perchance I might bring attention to thy companions?” Sir Camden said. “There be an uncanny—”
“Sir Camden,” Alex interrupted, “I’m so sorry, but we really must hurry. It’s an emergency.”
The knight hesitated but then he bowed again. “As the lady doth wish.”
Alex and her friends jogged behind the suit of armour as he hastily led them along corridors and through doorways until they stepped in front of the one they needed.
“Thank you, Sir Camden,” Alex said gratefully, dismissing the knight.
“Thank me not, Lady Alexandra,” he said gravely, “for I fear this here knight hath made a most grievous error in judgement.”
“Alex, you said we’re in a hurry,” Jordan cut in. “You can talk with him later.”
His words pulled her gaze away from the contrite-sounding knight just as the suit of armour disappeared stiffly through another doorway. His motions were so rigid that Alex wondered if he’d forgotten to oil his joints recently. But her Tin-Manlike moment passed when a new thought came to her and she recognised the gravity of the situation.
“Aven’s not here,” she whispered, staring at the closed door while her stomach plummeted with the knowledge of what that meant. He was already through.
“What do we do now?” D.C. asked, just as quietly.
“You said Zain wanted us to go and try to help,” Jordan reminded Alex, despite his earlier argument against confronting Aven. “I think we should follow his orders. Maybe if we stop Aven now, they’ll be able to imprison him or something, and we’ll never have to worry about him again.”
“You don’t understand,” Alex said, with a shake of her head. “Zain wanted us to distract any gifted humans Aven has with him, but the ones we encountered at Sir Oswald’s party had incredible powers, remember? My gift can help protect me from some of them, but I can’t keep you guys safe. We have no way of knowing what kind of danger we’ll be walking into.”
Jordan shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner that was at odds with the seriousness of their situation. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
While Alex was relieved that he was back to his cheerful self, she didn’t appreciate his happy-go-lucky attitude considering the circumstances.
“You could die,” she answered bluntly. “Or worse; you could be Claimed.”
“You know we’re with you, Alex,” D.C. said, with both Bear and Jordan nodding their agreement. “But if we’re going to do this, we should do it now. Who knows what’s happening on the other side of that doorway while we wait?”
Alex nodded and blew out a heavy breath before reaching forward to grasp the handle. She gently pressed it down until, like the last time, the door disappeared in front “NO, ALEX! STOP!”
Alex whipped her head around and gaped at the sight of her headmaster sprinting down the corridor, followed closely by a group of teachers.
“Darrius?” she whispered, her eyes widening with shock.
She moved a step in his direction, only to be stopped when Jordan grabbed her arm and forced her backwards…
… and through the doorway.
She lost her footing when she landed inside the mushroom circle and fell to the ground, Bear and D.C. landing heavily beside her. The doorway disappeared the moment they were through, but not before Alex heard an agonised “NO!” come from the corridor behind them.
“Why the hell did you do that, Jordan?” Alex demanded, getting to her feet and glaring at her friend. But he wasn’t listening to her. He was staring at the mushroom circle, growing paler by the second.
“You know, I thought I’d conquered my fear,” he said shakily, “but I was wrong.”
“What are you talking about?” Bear asked heatedly. “And why did you push us in here? That was Darrius yelling to us back there—and he looked fine to me!”
“Jordan?” Alex pressed, looking at the ghostly face of her trembling friend. Her heart started beating erratically, as if she was trying to solve a puzzle that she subconsciously knew she didn’t want the answer to. “What fear are you talking about?”
Jordan stared back at her with terrified eyes as he whispered tremulously, “Don’t let the Fae take me.”
The air left Alex’s lungs in a whoosh as realisation swept over her and she gasped out, “Skyla?”
Jordan’s body shimmered and transformed into Skyla, who looked even more afraid now that she was in her own skin. But Alex didn’t have any words to soothe her, since she was too shocked by the other girl’s presence.
“If you’re here, then where’s Jordan?” she spluttered.
The sound of someone applauding caused Alex to spin around, but she couldn’t see anyone behind her. She peered into the trees, but there was nobody there. Only when she took a step forward did her world fall apart around her.
“Well done, Alexandra,” Aven said, appearing out of thin air. “I expected you to take much longer to figure it out.”