Chapter 34 Locked In #2
How much time had gone by between when Bones cast his first spell and we disappeared through the wall of Beech’s Britches and Botanicals?
I fought to think, to try and be objective.
It all seemed to happen so fast, yet I could remember every second, every frame, as if time had been slowed down so I could watch it go by in front of me.
I remembered that terrifying but eerily beautiful woman who first appeared in front of the couch. I remembered her just standing there, staring at Bones with an unearthly grin, like he was a meal and she was starving.
I remembered Bones throwing two curses, one after another, then dragging me up only to nearly fall down himself. We’d run, Bones jumped us through that fountain, and we’d run again, dodged two more Dark Cathedral sorcerers, then smashed through that plate glass window.
How long had it all taken?
Four minutes? Five?
Ten?
Had it been a lot longer than I realized?
And how long had I stood in Bones’s closet, staring at the wall, paralyzed as I tried to reach him or Forsooth via Seeing Arts and spells?
How long had it taken me to get through his chimaeras at the bottom of the tower?
It felt like an hour, but had all of that been another five minutes? Ten? Longer?
I fought to push it all aside as I ran towards the Northeast Tower.
I could see it now. The door was open, revealing the torchlit staircase behind.
I was sure Forsooth opened it for me, so I didn’t hesitate but darted through and began vaulting up the stone stairs.
I moved my legs as fast as I could in the long gown, grateful for the flat soles of the knee-high boots I still wore.
I hadn’t fully realized until now that I was bruised, bloodied, and muddy from being tossed off Bones when he landed on the cobblestones after his long leap from the fountain.
My dress was torn and streaked with mud, along with my boots, my arms, and probably my hair.
It was impossible to care, even though my leg hurt, probably from the same fall.
My coat was still in Bonescastle. So was all the gold I’d won from Bones’s fights.
I made it to the top of the tower in record time. When I reached a second open door, I didn’t hesitate that time either, but ran inside.
I brought myself to a loping stop in front of the fireplace.
Forsooth stood there, next to a floor-length mirror I recognized. A tall mage in a black uniform with a gold-lined cape stood with him.
I looked up and met familiar green eyes, a grim expression, and an even more familiar face. I didn’t think, but gasped out words.
“Valor,” I managed, not fully realizing how out of breath I was until I tried to speak. “Where is he? Do you have him?”
Valor’s eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline. He blinked at me, once, then turned to look at Forsooth, whose lips twitched. A faintly knowing look reached his dark eyes as he pushed his glasses up with a long finger.
Then both of them were looking at me.
“Mr. Bones is fine,” Gideon Forsooth said calmly. “He is on his way here now, along with most of your friends from tonight.”
“Most of my friends?” I stared at him, feeling my stomach go cold for a different reason. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Again, Forsooth and Valor exchanged grim looks.
As if by silent agreement, that time it was Valor who answered.
“We have reason to believe that one of the Magicals you were with tonight might have been working for Dark Cathedral,” he said, his voice hard.
“One of the…” My voice trailed off as I stared at him, as his words sank in. “Which one?” Suddenly, without knowing how I knew, I knew. “Dervish. It was Dervish.”
Valor gave Forsooth a faint glance, eyebrows rising again.
Then he turned back to face me.
“We think so. Yes.” He glanced at Forsooth a second time, then back at me.
“So far, it appears the Obeah witch he was with, Elizabeth Chelsea, was unaware of his affiliation. She will need to be questioned more closely, of course, as will everyone who was there. But the initial scans showed her to be truthful. It seems Walker got close to her over a period of weeks, possibly to access her Obeah abilities inside the university.”
“She knows Bones,” I said, remembering what they’d said in the gazebo that afternoon.
“Alaric. Luc. She knows their magic.” At a quizzical look from Forsooth, I explained, “She went to primary school with them. They were all friends before. We were wearing disguises in town, but she recognized Alaric because she knows his magic.” I looked back at Valor.
“Was Dervish one of the Magicals to go missing and then to mysteriously return?”
Valor’s lips pinched. “We don’t know. We’re trying to contact his family now, but we don’t have much information yet, Leda.”
I nodded, my jaw taut. “But they’re okay? All of my friends?”
Valor exhaled and nodded, combing a hand through his black hair.
“Yes,” he said with a frustrated-sounding sigh.
“Walker drew the others, Ms. Minh, Mr. Mocking, Mr. Greythorne, and Ms. Chelsea, out of Academy Square and convinced them to follow him to the main temple, just off Old River Road. He claimed to have access to a mirror inside that would grant them safe passage to his family home.” Valor gave Forsooth another hard look, his strangely perfect lips pressed together.
“Your friend, Mr. Bones, appeared then, and there was a rather heated fight, I’m told. ”
He said that last part in a way that sounded borderline annoyed, a near exasperation in his voice, but I barely noticed.
All the blood had abruptly left my face.
“He’s all right,” Forsooth cautioned, noticing my reaction and raising a hand. “Really, Leda. He is fine. Mr. Bones was able to overpower Mr. Walker… or whoever he is… and to extract your friends. They crossed over onto the Malcroix grounds just a few minutes ago.”
“You’re certain?” I asked.
My hands were clasped together in front of me.
“I am absolutely certain of this, Miss Shadow,” Forsooth assured me firmly.
“As a senior professor of Malcroix, I am able to discern any presence within the school’s protective field by their magical signature.
It is, without a doubt, them. All five Magicals match their auric signatures exactly.
Those shields cannot be fooled by spells or potions. ”
I nodded, forcing myself to breathe, then looked back at Valor.
“What about Dervish?” I asked. “Was he captured?”
Valor was already looking down, his hands on his waist.
“No.” He hesitated, meeting my gaze. “Mr. Bones killed him. It’s unlikely he’ll face charges, as it was pretty clear he was attempting to rescue the others, and that falls very clearly under laws protecting those who are protecting others or themselves.
We also have a number of witnesses, even apart from your friends, who have already testified that Walker cast the first deadly spell.
Obviously, Mr. Bones will need to be questioned, but unless new information comes to light, it will mostly be a formality. ”
I nodded, and stared at the stone floor of Forsooth’s office.
It didn’t seem real, somehow, that Dervish was dead, much less that Bones had killed him.
I hadn’t been what I would consider close to Dervish, but Luc had been, and he’d been part of our circle of friends.
I’d spent pub nights with him, and study nights in Frumpy’s, and eaten with him in the dormitory dining rooms for a year and a half, and walked to classes with him.
I’d thought I’d known him.
Valor exhaled in what sounded like frustration, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry, Leda,” he said. “If it helps, I really don’t think Bones had any choice.”
I nodded. I felt a slight flush of guilt that it hadn’t even occurred to me to judge Bones for killing my friend.
Then again, I was pretty sure my friend, Dervish Walker, had been dead already.