Chapter Fifty-One
FIFTY-ONE
Surprisingly, I didn’t trip or stumble as I weaved my way back through the trees toward the academy.
Especially considering how fast I was moving to meet Tilly and Xavier after getting distracted by the sheer amount of power I could feel rumbling around me.
Opal’s leaders were raising the bloody ocean, stirring the waves, moving the tide with the sway of their bodies as if they were part of the ocean itself.
It wasn’t until sea salt sprayed through the air, flecks landing on my nose and cheeks and startling me with freezing tiny bites, that I remembered what the hell I was meant to be doing. I gave Lillian my excuses and took off.
The lights ahead of me illuminate the rest of my journey back to the Grand Hall. It’s eerie walking back here alone, knowing the colossal building is barren from all its students … well, all but a few of them, as I open the doors and step inside.
Tilly and Xavier are both standing inside the little cove to Agate’s door, and their heads pop around the corner at the sound of my footsteps echoing throughout the empty room.
‘Bloody hell, I was starting to think you weren’t coming!’ Tilly heaves a relieved sigh.
‘Sorry,’ I reply, pushing my hood off my head. ‘I got here as fast as I could.’
‘It’s fine, we’ve only been here a few minutes.’ Xavier waves me over. ‘But let’s hurry up and get inside.’
I pick up my pace and join them at the door. Xavier’s hand shakes as he holds it up to the stone. His fingers are practically trembling as he closes his eyes and focuses on bringing out his element.
My eyes meet Tilly’s from his other side, and she shoots me a small smile before facing ahead, waiting for Xav to let us in.
I know he’s been having trouble in his one-on-one sessions with the headmaster, only having produced a sliver of the power he’d been able to let out with the blue lace agate.
It takes a moment, but soon enough I feel, more than see, the air that flows from him, as if he’s calling it from around his person, not from within.
It only takes a few seconds longer before he juts his chin out, gesturing for us to go ahead of him.
We don’t waste time, pushing ourselves through the gate and emerging on the other side. Xavier follows a breath later. He wipes away the light sheen of sweat on his brow with his palm, then gets straight into it. He pulls out a piece of paper from a pocket of his robe and unfolds it.
‘These are your directions,’ he says. ‘You will need to follow them exactly or you will get lost. There are several tunnels that split off down there.’
My eyes scan the paper as he holds it out for us. There are simple instructions alongside a small, detailed map with a line marking which way to go.
‘If we do get lost? What then?’ Tilly asks with a small amount of concern in her hazel eyes.
‘Stay put and wait for me to come find you. If you’re both not out within forty-five minutes, I’ll presume you’re lost or one of the old librarians has suffocated you to death with their element.’
My mouth drops open. ‘Please tell me you’re joking and they won’t do that.’
Xavier’s lip quirks. ‘They’re scary. Like creepy old lady book gremlins.’
Tilly and I share a fearful look. ‘Death by book gremlin, just the way I wanted to go,’ I mutter, taking the map from Xavier.
‘Be safe,’ he warns us as we start to head toward the thick wooden door in the corner. ‘And do not get separated or speak until you’re in the restricted section. They can hear your voice in the air.’
‘I love that you waited ’til now to tell us how horrifying they sound,’ I quip, almost wishing I’d never thought of this starsdamned idea.
Tilly’s nose scrunches. ‘Agreed. Bring on the nightmares.’
‘Tell me about it, I’m the one who has to sleep in this tower knowing they’re down there.’ Xavier shivers. ‘Now go, hurry.’
I don’t waste a single second more. Yanking the door open, I gesture for Tilly to head in before giving Xavier a reassuring smile that we’ll be fine. Yet there’s still tension lining his eyes as he watches us leave.
There are lanterns fixed to the walls that help us navigate the stairs down and into our first fork in the path.
As per the instructions that I hold beneath the glow of a lantern, we take the left tunnel and pad quietly down it until we are met with three more.
Tilly points to the middle one, mouthing the words, ‘That way,’ before I follow her through.
There’s another set of stairs at the end of it that takes us even deeper beneath the tower. There are fewer lanterns now, but the smell of ink and paper drifts on the gentle breeze I feel wafting by every so often, reassuring me that we must be getting close.
Just as we are about to step out of the final tunnel, there’s a flicker of golden light before a shadow stretches like talons along the stone floor.
Tilly’s hand whips out to push me back against the wall.
I hold my breath as I try to make myself as flat as possible and blend into the shadows beside Tilly.
Slow, dragging footsteps approach. The sound of nails scraping against stone scratches at my ears right before a bare, bony foot steps into the light.
The woman who walks past is ancient looking. Frail and bent over, she carries a satchel that’s laden with fabric -bound books that look like they weigh more than her entire body. Her wispy white hair is tied back into a frizzy ponytail at the nape of her age-spotted neck.
Tilly’s head turns my way, her eyes wide and full of panic when the old lady stops, right at the entrance of our tunnel. If she turned and decided to walk down here, we’d be caught red-handed.
I reach over and take her hand in mine, squeezing it twice, and shake my head.
Just stay quiet, I try to convey to her. It’s going to be all right. Worst comes to worst, my dagger is strapped to my ankle beneath my robe. If this old woman tries to suffocate Tilly, I’ll have no choice but to stab her in the neck.
Luck seems to be on our side though, because after a wheezy breath that sounds like it rattles her bones, she continues walking.
We wait for several seconds before I nod to Tilly to keep going, but when she hesitates, I take the lead.
I keep hold of her hand and poke my head out of the exit to make sure the coast is clear.
Once I’m sure no one else is going to pop out of the shadows, I lead us both around a few corners.
When Xavier said it’s easy to get lost down here, he meant it.
We weave through several more turns, until finally, we find ourselves at a dead end, with a tall wooden door standing proudly in front of us, pulsing with magic.
‘Do you feel that?’ I mouth to Tilly, raising my hand to hover over the door.
Her brows furrow, she shakes her head. I’ve been looking into what Professor Fern mentioned to me about being Magnus Intueri.
There isn’t a lot of documentation on it from what I’ve found, but one passage mentioned that most Magnus Intueri kept their abilities to themselves.
A few hundred years ago, the people who possessed this gift were exploited.
Used basically as hounds to find the most powerful of stones or even used to find the most powerful of people.
As my hand hovers and I feel the pure power within the door, I shiver, wondering if that’s how potential students like Corvin are scouted to be brought into Valmora Academy.
I reach forward to grab the door handle before Tilly’s arm snaps out and stops me. Her eyes look frantic as she mimes for me to stop and wait. I have no idea what she’s doing but suddenly she’s diving into her pocket and pulling out a small vial with deep crimson liquid inside.
I watch in part-fascination, part-horror as she uncaps the vial and proceeds to tip the red substance, which I’m certain is blood, all over her fingers and palm. It drips onto the floor at our feet, but she pays it no mind as she reaches for the door handle and grips it tightly.
The magic within the door flares, like flames being doused in gasoline.
A resounding dull click reaches my ears.
Tilly’s shoulders drop as if she was holding in a breath the entire time.
I feel the thickness of the magic drop, as if it’s thinning out to let us through.
Granting us access. She pushes the door open and we both step inside.
Tilly closes it behind her with another small click.
‘I can’t believe that worked!’ she gasps, wiping her crimson -stained hand on her robe.
‘What was that? Or should I ask, whose blood was that?’
‘Headmaster Zain’s.’ Her words hit me like a cement block.
‘Excuse me?’ I squeak. ‘You just happen to have Bartollo Zain’s blood lying around, did you?’
She looks at me like I’m stupid. I fear I might be, because I’m utterly confused. How did she even think to bring that with us?
‘Of course not. There’s vials upon vials of it beneath the infirmary though.
Anyway, I was reading a book the other day on enchantments and started to think that surely if this place is as secret as Xavier says it is, Bartollo must have placed his own enchantment on it to keep people out.
According to the book, blood is the most common component used to bind enchantments.
So, I stole two vials before the ceremony tonight, just in case. ’
‘I don’t know how I thought I could do this on my own,’ I marvel, ‘because you’re brilliant.’
‘I know.’ She winks. ‘Now, where do we start, because we’re running out of time.’
I spin on my heels and take a look around the room that stretches on for a dozen or more feet.
It’s longer than it is wide, with narrow shelves lining the middle of the room.
The wood looks old, ancient even, with dust settled on every surface I see as I tentatively start to walk deeper into the space.
I can taste the dust in the air, smell the scent of old parchment that’s been sitting here for possibly hundreds of years.
‘I don’t think we should split too far from each other. If you go down the first row, I’ll go down the second. That way we can still see each other through the shelves.’
‘That sounds—’ Tilly’s words are cut off as her entire body goes stiff, her mouth gaping open, her head tipping back to reveal the column of her throat. I watch her eyes roll into the back of her head and hear a deep guttural groan that reverberates in her chest.
‘Tilly!’ I gasp, jumping into motion. My hands grab at her cheeks. I attempt to pull her head back down to face me but it’s like trying to move a statue. She’s so stiff … it’s terrifying.
Another groan rips its way out of her; she sounds like she’s in pain.
‘Tilly?’ I squeeze her arms to see if she’ll react, but she doesn’t. ‘Are you okay? Tilly! What the fuck is happening?’ I cry, scared and afraid. Is it the blood? Oh my god, what if it’s the blood? Or is it one of the crones? Are they doing something to her?
I’m reaching for the hand that she smeared the blood on when a loud gasp tears itself from her lungs jolting her forward into me, and I wrap her in my arms instead.
‘Black … book …’ She breathes heavily by my ear. ‘You’re … looking for a black book.’ Another breath. ‘With the words Mortes Nex Magia on the spine.’
My chest shudders in relief upon hearing her voice, especially when she pulls back and I see her eyes have returned to their usual warm hazel brown. ‘What in the Stars was that? You scared me. I thought you were poisoned!’
‘Not poisoned, just – Stars, that hasn’t happened to me in a long time.
’ She shakes her head as if she’s waking from a bad dream and trying to come back down to reality.
‘I saw something though. You were holding a book. I saw the cover as I watched you open it. But Aria’ – her eyes start to shimmer – ‘whatever you read inside of it, it isn’t good.
I could feel it.’ She taps her chest, right over her heart. ‘Right here.’
I nod. ‘It’s okay,’ I say, steeling my voice as I fist my hands at my sides, forcing them to not shake. ‘I’m prepared for the worst at this point. I’m just glad you’re with me.’
‘So am I.’
With one last emotion-filled look, we head down our separate aisles and begin our hunt.