“What?” I pulled the journal against my chest. “I know what I saw. I know what—”
He reached his fingers to me and formed a picture in my mind’s eye of what he could see. A jumbled mass of incomprehensible squiggles dotted a parchment page.
“Oh.” I let the journal fall from my chest and looked down at the detailed and beautiful drawings. I pulled a picture of the page into my mind and when Axer opened a gentle mental palm to catch it, I set it inside.
His gaze sharpened along with his magic as he immediately passed the image to Constantine. “You saw this symbol at Crelussa?”
“Yes. It's a powerful warding symbol.”
“Hidden from normal sight,” Axer murmured. “But made by Origin hands.” His gaze drifted to Constantine, who was grimly looking back at him, emotions firm.
“There was a Kinsky in Salietrex,” Constantine said, finally. “We viewed it about fifteen minutes before...”
Axer turned to me, gaze intense. “Tell me about Ganymede Circus. What happened before Verisetti destroyed it?”
“I went to a black magic store, trying to resurrect my brother.” I pulled a hand over the back of my neck. “That didn’t go as planned. There was a layer shift. I went into an art store—the owner sucked. There was a Kin….” My voice trailed off.
“There was a Kinsky there?”
“Yes. But without the symbol.” I traced it with my finger. “The woman had a paper for me, though, same as the others.”
“You hadn’t unlocked your power. The symbol might have been there.”
“Raphael destroyed Ganymede because of a favor. He said that before he did it.” A favor for Godfrey Sr. or Leonach or someone high in a Third Layer terrorist organization.
“But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there for the painting. Did he ask you about it?”
“Yes. He asked me what was inside,” I murmured. “The Library of Alexandria had a Kinsky, too. We escaped in it, and the library expelled all who remained outside. They never figured out what the terrorists were after.”
“But they figured out who did it.”
“Yes,” I whispered. Raphael Verisetti, using my dolls.
“A man whose only goal is to destroy Enton Stavros.”
My lips parted. It had to be right, then. All clues led down the same path as my intuition said.
Axer looked at me. “A pentagram hide. A powerful tool to hide something.” His eyes were fierce. “Or someone.”
“All of those towns Raphael destroyed,” I murmured.
“I bet we will find a Kinsky was in each of them. That’s how Stavros does it. That’s how he hides. Five specific Kinskys are the seals protecting the sixth—or whatever is in the middle. Kinsky was prolific under Mussolgranz. The works are everywhere. It's a perfect camouflage. Verisetti probably figured out that you needed an Origin Mage to see the symbol at some point. He connected a leash to you to gain your power, but after another few strikes yielded nothing, he might have realized he needed you specifically. Someone the paintings—all connected—recognize.” Axer smiled. “She knows. Priyasha. In all the forms she takes. In the memories that Kinsky imbued in her—in all the paintings of her—connected together, they know. They know they are protecting someone untrustworthy. Someone who caused the death of their creator.”
“That’s why Kaine grabbed the painting in Crelussa,” Constantine said, stabbing a knife into the leather he was cutting. “He was protecting his master. One seal of five.”
“And why Stavros was so furious with the destruction of the Basement seal—he's lost another.”
“There are hundreds of Kinsky portraits, all over the layer, as Alexi said.”
“And Verisetti, even imbued with your magic couldn't distinguish them. He needed you, but you were taking too long. He swiftly started looking for other opportunities to destroy Stavros—opportunities still provided by you, since Stavros was hunting you.” Axer sat back, eyes closed, mouth curled. “And this...this gives us the shroud for Plan A.”
I looked at him and nodded slowly.
Axer smiled. “We are going to finish Verisetti's job. We are going to rip all of Stavros's protections away.”
“We can't do it alone,” Constantine said.
“No, we have to get the others involved. And campus still has hold of them. We have to back Marsgrove into a corner that only has one exit.”
“Marsgrove might do it without threat,” Constantine said, looking down suddenly. The books had gathered together, top of their spines bent inward. “And the books are having a moot. No concern there. Rock, what's going on?”
Guard Rock motioned to me like, “One of these days, I'm going to stab him where he can't heal it,” then pointed to the side and crossed his arms.
I cocked my head at a book that was inching closer. Temporal Physics and Interdimensional Travel in the Physical Age was sliding its cover along the tabletop in one-inch scoots.
“Are you...do you know how we can do what we need?” I asked it.
With a crack of displacement, it suddenly appeared right in front of my face and latched eagerly around my head. I squawked and tried to peel it away, but it held tighter and rifled through my thoughts and memories until it had six laid out in a grid in my mind. It let go and hopped back to the desk.
Constantine grabbed it, a spell on his fingertips.
I held out my hand to him. “Wait.” I looked at the book. “You will trade for the knowledge?”
It solemnly nodded, pages vibrating in anticipation.
“What does it want?” Constantine asked brusquely.
“It wants the blueprints for building the inter-layer portal pad.”
“Absolutely not.”
I didn't look away from the book. “In exchange, it has a way for everyone at Excelsine to come here via a book on the Fourth Floor.” It nodded eagerly.
“Do it.”
I blinked at Constantine. “That was quite a change of tune.”
“When the tune is obvious, you change it.”
“How many can come through?” Axer asked, relaxing back in his chair, as if the entire war had just been won.
The book made a gesture, flipping a specific number of its pages.
“Looks like fifty, if I’m interpreting that correctly,” I said.
“How many copies do you have in other libraries?” Axer asked it. “And do you visit them?”
It flipped five pages and dipped its spine.
He tapped his fingers on the table. “The Department is going to get the technology anyway. If they get you, no restriction will matter. Do it.”
We sent the instructions to Olivia, and before the six hours was even up, the book's pages began to glow.
Chapter Twenty-five: Reunions of Papered Proportions
Unsurprisingly, Loudon fell through first. Olivia, Will, Neph, Asafa, Mike, Delia, and the others quickly followed. Patrick fell through last and the pages glowed then dimmed.
There was a mad scramble, then Olivia, Neph, and I were tumbling to the floor, arms and legs bent in awkward, wonderful angles as we dragged each other closer.