Chapter Twenty-Two
Guard your thoughts, for they pilot your heart and decide your life.
I didn’t recall walking away from Briar Rose or falling asleep, and yet, the next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to find myself in bed with Cyrus. We lay side by side, facing each other and still dressed in our formal wear.
Cyrus’s eyes were closed. He remained so still.
His agreement is already assured.
Anger sparked and swiftly escalated into fury. On top of everything else, Briar Rose was a liar. But what was that prickling sensation on my cheek? I craned my head.
A scowling Domino stood beside the bed, his ghostly hand tapping my face. He dropped his arm to his side. “There’s a problem.”
Instant sobriety achieved. Heart racing, I jolted upright. “What happened? How’d I get here?” The bedroom I shared with Cyrus.
“Use the rift inside this castle and be at the Rock in nine minutes,” the librarian commanded, speeding past my questions. “Both of you. It’s a matter of life and death.”
His harsh demeanor and stark warning sent my nervous system into a tizzy. “How are we supposed to get past the—” I pressed my lips together, going quiet. The librarian was already gone.
Argh! Did the matter involve the plot against Cyrus? I patted his cheek, frantic. He reacted not at all. “Cyrus. Sugar bear. Focus on me.” The words “a matter of life and death” echoed inside my head.
When he failed to respond, I patted with more force. “Cyrus.”
Nothing.
I bent my head to press my lips to his once, twice. I mean, it worked in fairy tales.
Well, well, it worked in real life too. As he blinked open his eyes, I did it again and again. Kiss, kiss, kiss. “Wake up faster,” I commanded. “We’re on the clock.”
“Arden?” he rasped, and relief washed over me. He eased upright and looked around. “We’re in our room.” Confusion drenched his words. “The last thing I remember, I was speaking with Lolli.”
“And I’d like to hear all about the chat while we’re walking. I’m not sure how we got here either, but we’ve got to be at the Rock in roughly eight minutes. Domino said it’s a matter of life and death.”
Cyrus’s eyelids narrowed, but he nodded. “All right.” He kicked his legs over the side of the bed and stood.
I did the same, my skirt falling around my ankles.
My knees quaked, the reality of our situation growing heavier as a chime sounded from somewhere in the palace.
Anyone could have done anything to us, and we wouldn’t have known.
At least we hadn’t lost much time, night’s darkness evident through the windows.
We exited the suite. Still no guards in the hall, not ours or anyone else’s, but the meta dogs were back, patrolling in pairs.
My heart nearly stopped when one looked directly at us. It gave no reaction, however, and moved on. Oookay. Had Domino hidden us from cameras?
As Cyrus and I made our way through the winding walkways, avoiding the dogs, I kept time, counting the seconds.
“Circling back to your visit with Lolli,” I muttered, tracing the curve of the voice scrambler I might not ever remove.
He breathed deep as we turned a corner. “Lolli claims she isn’t the one who shot you. That it was a royal behind you. A high prince.”
That . . . no. I’d seen her. “She lied.” Right?
Sure, I’d felt pain in my back as well as my belly, but that was only because the bullet had gone all the way through me.
“Let me guess. She blamed Mallow. Whose death was announced just before the shot rang out, by the way. But it’s not like he can swoop in and defend himself. ”
“She says she didn’t see the prince’s face, only the emblem on his clothing.”
“Do you believe her?”
“In this, I don’t not believe her,” he muttered, and I stiffened. “She said the emperor tasked her with freezing as many glowers as possible. That every gun she carried contained the green bullets you noticed, and if she’d shot you, you would’ve been unable to move until an antidote was injected.”
“She lied,” I repeated. Down a flight of steps we went. And yet . . . “That would mean Summit or Felix did the deed.” Not unfathomable, honestly.
“It could’ve been a civilian who picked up Mallow’s vest.”
Fair point. “It could be anyone, then.”
“There’s more. Lolli has heard whispers about the shooter finishing what he started.”
That, too, could explain Domino’s “life and death” urgency. But no. Just no. “She’s sending us on a wild goose chase, knowing she’s responsible. Why tell you this, helping me, her competition?” And I was her competition, more so than I’d ever realized. “She doesn’t want me accepting Briar Rose.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Lolli claimed she’s Soalian. We left the temple last night so she could prove it. She let me see her glow.”
I’d once wondered if she were Soalian, but I had discarded the notion. Discovering she was indeed my ally threw a wrench in my case against her. “She risked her life to confess, which means she suspects you’re Soalian too. The fact that you didn’t turn her in only verifies her suspicions.”
“I did turn her in, right before my grandfather entered the temple,” he said, shocking me to the bone. “There was something off about her glow. A subtle difference that left me uneasy. My suspicion proved true when Emperor Piven congratulated me on passing his test.”
An excellent turn for us. “So you don’t believe Lolli is Soalian, but you do believe she’s innocent of my attempted murder?”
“My grandfather showed me a clip from her body cam. The trajectory of your fall says the shot did in fact come from behind you.”
That shut me up. So murderous, duplicitous Lolli wasn’t the culprit. Then who?
We grew quiet as we turned another corner. Soon, we would reach the proper wing. A development that deserved my full attention. How in the world were we supposed to bypass—
A thick, white cloud rounded the corner before we did, and we stumbled together. Cyrus drew me backward a step. Detecting a note of rain and earth—Domino’s scent—I exhaled, peace washing over me. Help had arrived.
Cyrus placed himself between me and the perceived threat, then backed us up another step. “I don’t know what this is.”
“It’s okay, I do.” As the warmth of the fog collected around us, I clasped Cyrus’s hand, weaving our fingers. “We’re safe. No one can see or hear us. They don’t notice the fog either. Come on.”
I drew him forward, and we turned a couple more corners, finally coming to the hallway where I’d first sensed the Rock.
Guards stood at the entrance, unaware of anything untoward.
Except. I gently rotated the doorknob, but dang it!
Secured. I guess I’d expected Domino to handle this aspect of the mission too.
Onward and upward. An ID pad was adhered to the wall, but if we dared use it, our identities would be flagged immediately. And what if we didn’t qualify to open it?
“Do you have the tools needed to remove the hinges?” I asked, and it was weird, talking to him while standing between two armed guards, knowing without being told Domino would hide the opening of the door as well.
“No need.” Cyrus slid the large gemstone on one of his rings aside to reveal a small cubby. He pressed the tip of his index finger inside and when he withdrew it, a thin, round . . . paper? Whatever it was, he adhered it over his ID chip.
The fog began to break apart, and my heart sped up, urgency becoming a whip at my back. “Hurry.”
Footsteps sounded in the distance. A changing of the guard? Or had we been spotted?
Cyrus twisted to avoid brushing against a guard and pressed the heel of his palm into the right spot. The door opened without a problem.
“A skeleton key that logs nothing,” he muttered as we entered the empty, well-lit room.
The door shut behind us without issue. I would’ve marveled at the rift now before me, but we’d run out of time.
We sailed through the slit of darkness that cut through the air, leaving Theirland behind.
Again, there was no pain or disorientation.
One moment we were in the small chamber, the next we stood in another room, this one large enough to contain an eight-by-eight section of the Rock.
Though the room was enclosed, with no windows or sunshine, lush flowers bloomed from the top, scenting the atmosphere with a soft, floral fragrance. I breathed deep.
Welcome home. Relief shimmered through me, weightless and infinite, as if stardust were dissolving in the first light of dawn. Hand in hand with Cyrus again, I glanced at an engraved symbol, just glanced, yet the wall thinned into mist. The transformation had never occurred so quickly.
Together we entered a small conference room with a polished mahogany floor, a rectangular table, and cushioned chairs. Bookshelves lined the walls. A sense of rightness engulfed me, sparkling with all the love and light Felix had mentioned.
The librarian sat at the head of the table, his forearms resting on the surface, his fingers linked. Seeing him in person proved as monumental as usual. More so. The heaviness of his intensity sucked all the air from the room.
He waved to the shelves. “Pick a book. Both of you. The one that calls.”
I shared a glance with Cyrus. The muscle in his jaw started jumping again.
We strode to the shelves. One side featured volumes of The Book of Arden. The other side featured volumes of The Book of Cyrus. I didn’t fail to notice I had double the number of editions. A fact we would address at the right time.
“Any news about Mykal or Victors?” I asked while perusing the covers.
“Little has changed for either of them.”
Well, that wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst either. I traced my fingertips over the letters etched into a tome, gasping when it zinged me. A call? Must be. In that moment, I wanted to learn what information waited inside its pages more than I wanted to do anything ever.
I lifted it with gentle hands and hugged it close.
“That one?” Domino asked. “You’re sure?”
“Yes. This one.” The same volume I’d read from before.