Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
BIANCA
I look down the hall, checking to see if anyone is coming. Once I’m sure no one’s there, I turn my attention back to the paper in my hands. A simple map disguised as a crossword puzzle, in case it lands in the wrong hands. Keeping all spy material disguised makes sense, and this is creative. I read the words inside the crosswords for warnings, directions, and reminders. It’s also obvious the Oscuro clan distrusts me enough to keep me out of the loop regarding plans until absolutely necessary, but I don’t take it personally.
I know it shouldn’t be, but this is fun. I trace with my index finger the outline of the Hue’s Royal Library. Unlike the Oscuro family, this library is not inside the castle. It is actually across town, attached to a very well-known school of arts. Thankfully, no students should be on campus at the moment, but just like the Royal Castle, the library is made of glass. Thanks to my gift, we should be able to go in and out with no one knowing.
I touch my chest as a pang of loneliness hits me. This will be my first mission without my companion. Matias and I have gone on separate routes, but I could always count on him at the end of the day. If this all goes to shit, will Alejandra help me? If we get caught, will the crown prince even admit he knows me, or will they leave me at the mercy of the Hue family?
I hear a noise from behind, snapping me back to the present. I scratch my nose in confusion because it can’t be. I recognize that walk, and it doesn’t belong to Alejandra. How I recognize it is something I’m not yet ready to face. Brandon rounds the corner with a cocky grin.
“Hey Fifth, miss me?” He shoves me with his shoulder playfully.
I begin to say something, but the words die on my lips. Shaking my head, I remind myself to focus and remember who I am talking to. “Where is Jesse? Or Alejandra?”
I look behind him to the empty hallway. I expect to see one of them coming, but the halls are dead quiet.
“They aren’t coming.”
I turn back to the crown prince slowly. “Excuse me?”
He scratches his head, looking sheepish. “I guess we forgot that there’s usually at least one guard outside my room at all times. Alejandra had to stay outside my room. Someone would have noticed her missing.”
“And Jesse?” I dare ask.
“My grandfather asked him to cover a shift for one of his guards. The guard has a daughter who lives in the city, and my grandfather wanted to give him the night off.” He shrugs. “I didn’t want to explain why Jesse needed to be elsewhere.”
I nod, of course. I’m stuck with the prince.
“Well.” Brandon gestures to the hall. “Let’s not waste time. I need my beauty sleep, after all.”
Yes, let’s do this as fast as possible. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. As I open my eyes, I pocket the map and lead the way out. Exiting the glass castle is the easy part. We decide to take a side door and prop it open so we can get back in when we return. Unlike the city streets of Fierno, the City of Light has a calm, quiet energy this late at night.
Brandon walks behind me as we move down the streets. I don’t have to look at the map in my pocket to know which street leads to the library. After a block, Brandon touches my arm to get my attention and nods toward a dark alleyway.
“What?” I wait to ask until the shadows fully cover us.
“You should try to take breaks while using your gift.” He looks out the side of the alleyway to see if anyone’s coming. “We can use the shadows to cross the city. There doesn’t seem to be anyone out, anyway.”
“That would take twice as long,” I huff.
The more time it takes to get there and back, the less time we have to find the information we need. I would rather not have to return another day, not if I can help it.
“I insist.” Brandon pushes.
I cross my arms. “I’ve been doing this for years, I will be fine.”
He raises both palms in the air. “If you say so. Headache is the first sign of exhaustion. Just make sure you have enough juice up in there,” he taps my temple, “to return us back inside the glass castle.”
I shove his hand away from my face. He must have done his research on my gift, but I got this. I set the pace back on track to our route. I keep a light jog as we make our way across the city. After the seventh block, I start feeling a burn in my legs and choppy breath. I turn and see that Brandon isn’t even winded. His chest is pushing air as easily as if he were walking. When his eyes land on me, I turn forward and add a bit of speed to my step .
As the Hue’s Royal Library comes into view, I gasp. From where I stand, the building looks like a massive glass lantern. Two floors of the glass building showcase bookshelf after bookshelf. The lights inside the building are low, making the massive structure look even more mysterious and beautiful.
“It’s beautiful,” I say in a near whisper.
“It is,” Brandon agrees.
Our eyes meet in the shadows, only illuminated by the moonlight.
“Do you have the map?” He extends his hand for me to hand it over.
I settle closer to him to look at the map together. I watch as his finger traces the outline of the library halls disguised inside the crossword puzzle. He finally looks at me as his fingers land on a center cell. It must be a room.
“What exactly are we looking for?”
“We’re looking for what is not there. The library has a vault full of items the Hue family collects.”
“And we are looking for an item that was taken?”
Brandon pockets the map. “Anything that might give us a clue on what the enemy is planning.”
I try to rationalize his train of thought as we move in silence. Looking for what isn’t there seems too broad if his goal is finding the reason behind taking the cursed book. Lexi Blue comes to mind. The way she can rattle out spells and ingredients. I nearly pause walking when an idea hits me. I look at Brandon next to me.
Brandon isn’t simply looking for who could be a foe. By searching for what items are gone, he’s trying to guess what they’re after, he’s trying to be a step ahead. This mission is a collection of puzzle pieces. He is going to figure out the big picture, one way or another.
Unlike me, he’s extra vigilant of our surroundings. His eyes scan the streets, even though no one passing by could see us.
“Did you figure out what would be the best access point?”
I point at the edge of the map toward the basement floor. Brandon glances at the entire structure over, then nods in agreement.
“No time to waste,” he says before moving toward the back of the building.
A small twitch on my temple aches as we reach the back door. I rub it with my finger, making Brandon give me a knowing look. Thankfully, the back door has a simple lock I’m able to pick up quickly.
The halls inside are dark and incredibly clean. It smells amazing. I realize the glow of light we saw from outside is only on the edges of the shelves that face the outside glass.
Brandon uses a spell to give himself night vision and leads the way for us. I follow his light instead of creating one because I need to save my energy. I’m already tired. The moonlight beacons across the glass walls also help give my surroundings shape.
I let Brandon lead us around the bookshelves but double-check he’s going in the right direction at every turn. I still don’t fully trust he won’t pin all this on me to save his own skin. Getting caught is not part of my plan.
The room in question is behind two wooden doors at the librarian’s kiosk on the second floor. Nothing special about the location would have anyone guess what lies on the other side. Not even a sign warning people away.
“Here.” He gestures to the door in front of him.
“Will we come across traps inside the vault?”
I look at the door with apprehension. I still recall the fear rushing in my veins as Matias dropped to the floor.
Brandon shakes his head. “Not to my knowledge, but always be on alert.” He gestures with his finger to his eyes and then to the room. “I hope you are ready.”
“Wait.”
The word dies on my lips as he throws the door open. I close my eyes as a flashback of the vault inside the black castle hits me. The voices, the creepy screaming voices asking me to do things. My brain shuts down briefly, and all I hear is static. Suddenly, I am feeling nauseous.
“Fifth.”
Brandon’s hand in mine brings me back to the present. The silent present.
“Where did you go?”
I open my eyes and look around. We had only taken one step inside.
“I thought I was back at the vault for a second. I could hear the screaming voices.” Taking a deep breath, I stop talking.
“What voices?” he asks, confused.
I shake my head and gesture for him to go on. Brandon doesn’t push or let go of my hand as we move inside. The room is small, five rows of bookshelves are all that occupy the room. We move around the shelves, careful not to touch anything. When we reach the third row, Brandon stops walking.
I don’t have to ask what he is looking for. My eyes find an empty spot on the shelf. A light sheen of dust coats all the items in the room. All that remains is the unmistakable dusty outline of a pocket watch. He was right, we have found what’s missing.
My lips spread into a smile at the deviousness of it until I wince as pain slides through my temple again.
“I need to take a break,” I say.
I should have dropped my gift when we entered the room. No one is going to see us here. The walls are solid.
“No,” Brandon rushes to say, but it’s too late. I dropped it .
BANG!
We both turn our heads to the door, now shut. A sinister giggle echoes in the room, quickly followed by heavy footsteps approaching.
“What is happening?”
I grip Brandon’s arm like a vise. We hold our breaths as the footsteps approach until they finally stop at the edge of the row we are standing in. A long, skinny, tall creature crocks his head as little black dotted eyes take us in.
“What is the Crown Prince doing, sneaking around like a sewer rat?” A chilling, crisp voice asks.
The creature begins to smile, and a chill runs down my spine. I’ve never seen anything so terrifying in my life. It’s something out of a nightmare, with skinny, white, long, pointy teeth.
“Are you planning to steal from me?” The creature growls.
“We are not here to steal anything,” Brandon denies.
“I do not believe you,” the creature snarls. “No one comes in without me knowing. Your trick faltered this time. What magic do you possess to bypass me?”
It takes a step forward, and we take one back.
Brandon leans closer to me. “When I say run, you run toward the door. Got it?”
I tighten my grip on his forearm.
“Thief, thief, thief,” the creature chants, moving his head from side to side after each word. “Tell me where you left my stolen treasure!”
“Run!” Brandon shouts as he moves toward the creature.
I turn back without hesitation. Rounding the corner to the next row, I sprint down the next shelf. The door comes into view as a bright white light blinds me momentarily. A loud, agonizing scream comes from the creature at the same time. Since I can’t see, I don’t stop in time and run headfirst into the closed door. I bounce back with a huff and land on my bottom.
“You didn’t hesitate when I said to run,” Brandon chuckles behind me.
I look up with squinted eyes. Everything looks blurry. “What was that, and where did it go?”
“Come on.”
Brandon helps me up and rushes me through the door, quickly shutting it behind us. I watch as the light under the door slowly winces out. As soon as the last snip of it dies, the door begins to bang and shake. The sinister voice raging behind it.
“Oh, hell no,” I say.
I push away from the door and run back the way we entered the building. I’m still a little dizzy and partly blind, but I find my way.
Brandon calls after me, but I’m on a mission to put as much space as possible between me and whatever that thing was. Brandon calls after me again, closing the distance between us. I make it out the back door into a grass area before he finally reaches me.
“Won’t it follow us?” I pant, looking behind me to see if it’s closing on us.
“No.”
Brandon lifts me by the waist. My feet keep running for a second before I realize they’re in the air.
“Did it let us go?” I ask as I’m placed back on the ground. I pull my shirt down and push my hair out of my face.
“We took nothing.” He pats my hair, helping me smooth it out. “It was a guarding creature. They stick to the premises they guard.”
“Did it know the watch was stolen?” I ask, reflecting on the interaction. The sound of its voice makes my skin crawl, even now. Just thinking about it, it’s enough to make me shudder. “Do you know what the watch does?”
“Tells time?” Brandon smirks at my scowl.
“Be serious,” I chastise him.
“Okay.” He clears his throat. “Let’s assess.”
“A watch is missing,” I say.
“Yes, which provides a clue. But that watch can do many things. And I don’t think the creature knew the watch was missing.”
He sits on the grass. We’re hidden away from the moonlight by the shadows of a big tree. I kneel next to him. Since my heart rate is finally slowing down, I can finally feel my hands again.
“The creature wasn’t able to see whoever stole it,” I say.
“He only saw us when you dropped your gift.” He fills in. “Whoever stole that watch has a similar gift to yours.”
His side glance tells me it’s somehow my fault. I would normally be ready to defend and deflect, but the adrenaline rush ending has me too tired to say anything. I mutter something under my breath, intending it to be a grunt, but honestly, I don't even know what I'm saying. The slight ache in my head is coming back full on.
“Would it be possible that it was the same person who hired me?” I ask, trying to move the conversation along.
He seems to ponder on that. “The creature would have remembered seeing someone, just not who.”
“You’re right,” I say.
“However, gifts can work in more than one way. Let's think about that.”
I have no thinking left in me.
As we make our way back to the castle, we take a shortcut through a garden. The moon is high in the sky, illuminating the way. I have started to count my footsteps to keep my mind from feeling the pain of using my gift for this long.
“Let’s take a seat.” He gestures to a bench under a tree.
I look around, hesitating. Shouldn’t we hurry back? My breath is heavy, and using my gift for this long is proving to be more difficult than I would like to admit. I don’t want to be a liability. So far, this gift has earned Matias and me the deal of a lifetime. I can’t mess it up.
I need a break, though, so I sit with Brandon, saying nothing. No one seems to be walking about, which is a blessing. I lower my gift and breathe in the fresh air.
“We can make our way back without your gift,” he tells me.
I shake my head. “No need. I can keep it up.”
I know he’s looking at me, but I don’t dare turn to meet his eyes.
“You can take us all the way to the castle in pain?”
“I’m fine,” I say. I sound fine, at least to my ears.
“You remind me of me,” he says.
The statement is said so softly it sounds like a secret. I can’t help but turn to him. The movement is so quick that I wince at the sharp pain that follows. Brandon doesn’t tell me I told you so, but his eyes focus on my forehead like he can pinpoint the ache. He moves his hands to either side of my temples. I’m about to ask him what he is doing when his hands turn ice cold. Way too cold to be natural. The chill directly on my head makes me sigh in relief.
“Has anyone ever told you about my gift?”
His lips are so close I can feel his breath on my forehead. Despite the warmth, it chills my skin with goosebumps running down my arms.
I can’t dream of a moment where anyone would share any information with me that wasn’t part of the need-to-know basis. Most of all, anything regarding Brandon’s abilities. I think of Sofia and Santiago. They shared much about the brothers, but nothing personal. Their devotion and loyalty are unbreakable. I shake my head.
“I can read auras. They are a mixture of emotion, intention, and core beliefs.”
I’m out of words. I’ve never heard of that gift before, but I almost feel naked. In a way, Brandon has access to all a person is.
“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t go around prying into people’s heads. Out front, they just look like color stains.”
“How do I remind you of you?” The works stumble out hesitantly.
“Your aura looks a lot like mine.”
“How much?” I ask.
“Exactly alike.”
My brain and body pause at the information. How can that be true? What could I have in common with him?
“You’re probably wondering what it means.” He gives me a self-deprecating smile. “I have guesses, but nothing is certain.” He seems to wait for me to nod. “You seem set on earning the space you take in this world. Proving to everyone and anyone that you are worthy.”
His words make the spot in my chest feel tight. I can’t imagine a world where this incredibly confident and strong man feels he needs to earn anything from anyone. The way he walks and demands attention in a room by just existing is something I could never do.
“And you?” I look at him.
“I wake up daily wondering if the Fates choose the right person to lead—if I will live up to my title. After all, what makes me any more worthy of it?”
As his words sink in, so does the truth behind them. Brandon sees how much I want to prove I belong, and he goes to bed every night wondering if he is worth the space carved out for him. We’re different, yet the same. I see it as clearly as if I was looking in a mirror.
I should feel weird that a practical stranger knows something so intimate about me. Did I even know that’s how I felt? At least, I could never put it into words. I can't deny that there is a part inside my chest that feels glad about our connection.
“How’s your head?” His eyes are full of concern. “You aren’t invincible, Fifth, and that’s okay. You know that, right?”
I feel uncomfortable at how comforting his words feel.
“I’m not special?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.
He pats my head in a patronizing way. “I am afraid you are far from it.”
I push his hand off as he chuckles at his own joke.
I stand first. “We should probably stick to shadows until we make it back to the castle.”
Despite how beaten I feel, his eyes show understanding and what looks to be respect. Brandon didn’t gloat that he was right. Instead, he leads the way back to the castle. He stays extra vigilant as we make our way from alleyway to alleyway. He silently points out cameras on corner buildings and shows how to hide our faces. Despite the slow pace, I am out of breath when we get a block away from the glass castle. The small but constant pulsing in my head has turned into a serious pounding.
With no choice but to use my gift, I turn it on once we reach a safe distance from the castle. Brandon doesn’t comment on my slower pace as we enter. He moves me to lean against him and even offers to carry me up the stairs, but I refuse. In my dizzy state, I focus all my energy on keeping my gift active.
The first thing to go is my sense of direction. It’s hard to think about what’s happening. I rely on Brandon to lead the way. I disconnect and simply go through the motions. The second thing to go is my sense of feeling. My face and arms go numb. I know I’m walking, but I can’t feel my legs take steps or the ground underneath.
Stay awake.
Stay awake.
I keep my breaths shallow. I realize we’re outside his quarters when I spot Alejandra in front of the double doors. Brandon tells me something, but I can’t hear him. I turn to face him and watch as his lips mouth the words ‘turn it off,’ but no noise makes it to my ears. The third and last thing to go.