“We don’t believe you,” I snapped. “You’re a liar!”
“I am not someone who gets played,” Gisak announced, circling around the car and forcing Simone to move toward the side of the road. “I don’t know what happened between the three of you, and I honestly don’t care. Asher … do you want to leave her here?”
“Yes!” we both answered.
“Cassie, please. PLEASE,” Simone begged. “No one knows I’m here. I came because I want to help. Because I know how badly I messed up. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
I glared at her. “But you already did. You lied and stole …” I paused, realizing that Gisak was listening to everything we were saying. “You know what you did.”
“I thought it was the right thing to do.” She inched closer to me. “My mother said it was the best way to protect you. That she’d make sure you were safe.” Simone took a deep breath. “But that was a lie … I know that now. I should’ve talked to you. We’re a team, and I should’ve trusted that.”
“What kind of trouble have you gotten into, Asher?” Gisak asked. “Maybe I can help.”
“No, that’s okay. I got this,” Asher answered, pulling Simone and me a little farther away from the car so Gisak would be less likely to hear us. “Just give us a minute!” he shouted as Gisak got into the car. “Listen, Simone,” Asher whispered. “What do you want? For things to go back like they were? Well, they can’t.”
Simone ignored him. “Cassie, you know me better than anyone in the world. You and your dad are the closest I’ve ever been to having a real family. The way we shared secrets, how I felt when I got to spend the holidays with you, when you borrowed my clothes … it was like we were sisters. I only wanted to protect you. You have to believe me.”
Her words were slicing through my rage. Those things had all been real. I knew Simone cared about me. But …
“Why are you even listening to her?” Asher scanned the area. “She’s a deceitful, conniving, little menace, and she’s put us in danger again.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Simone glanced back at Gisak and lowered her voice. “The danger is my mother. She’s … she’s coming after you. I came here to warn you.”
“Okay, you did that,” Asher said. “Now you can go.”
“Cassie, please. I know that you have every right not to trust me, but I swear I only want to help. I’ll do whatever you say.” She reached into her cross-body purse and pulled something out. “Here.”
“What could you possibly have that Cassie wants?” Asher asked.
“Unless it’s the spear,” I said, “it won’t make a difference.”
“I couldn’t get the spear, but I got this. It’s the journal,” Simone explained. “The one that you left back at my house when we ran out.” She paused. “The Guardian’s Journal. My mother had it. I took it … to give to you.”
Asher and I exchanged a look, and Asher quickly reached for it. He flipped through the book, barely seeing the pages in the glow of the moonlight. He took out his flashlight and inspected it further. “It is the Guardian’s Journal,” he said in awe.
I couldn’t believe we had it back. When I’d left it at Simone’s house during the shooting, I thought for sure the Hastati had taken it. I eyed Simone. There was still a chance that this was some sort of mind game or trap. I couldn’t let my guard down. “Why the sudden turnaround?”
“I overheard my mother talking,” Simone said bitterly. “She’s not who I thought she was.”
“Neither are you,” I answered.
“But I betrayed you because I thought I was helping you.” Simone shook her head. “My mother … she … she doesn’t care about anything or anyone. She only wants more power and control. She even has that crazy guy, Tobias, with her. They’ve teamed up, but when she realized that he couldn’t use the spear anymore, she went ballistic. Cassie … she figured out that you must have touched the spear and become bound to it.”
Asher’s head snapped up from reading the journal.
“No, she’s wrong,” I said quickly, my heart beating a little faster. “I didn’t—”
“She knows, Cassie,” Simone interrupted. “I know. Don’t even bother denying it.” Simone shook her head. “I wish you would’ve trusted me enough to tell me, but, in retrospect, I guess it was a good thing I didn’t know.”
I stayed quiet, only taking a moment to look at Asher. I couldn’t believe that my secret was out. Dame Elisabeth, the Hastati, Sarah Bimington, Tobias … even Simone … they all knew I was bound.
“The important thing is that I heard her say that she should’ve had Dante take care of you at the hospital. She told Tobias not to worry because she’d fix it so he could control destiny again. That’s why I know she’ll stop at nothing to find you.”
“So you think she wants me dead?” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Your mother really wants to kill me?” Simone’s mother was always travelling, so I’d never met her until this week, but I’d been in her house a bunch of times. Simone and I had had sleepovers there and baked brownies in the kitchen. I couldn’t believe this woman would be willing to kill me.
Simone nodded, tears streaming down her face. “All she cares about is power, and Tobias will give that to her. She never cared about me or protecting you. I wish I’d never given her the spear. That I could take it all back. Maybe if the Hastati had gotten it, everything would’ve worked out. I don’t know.” She wiped her cheeks. I’d never seen Simone cry before. “Haven’t you ever done something wrong but, at the time, you thought it was for the right reason?”
I thought of how I had used the spear to save my father—only I’d saved the wrong father. And by doing that, I’d brought Tobias back to life and put the entire world in jeopardy.
Yeah, I understood what she meant.
“Do you know where the spear is?” I asked, my voice not as harsh.
“I think so.” Simone dabbed at her nose with the cuff of her sleeve. “I’m almost sure my mother took it to our house just outside Positano. I think it’s in her safe.”
“Cassie!” Asher looked up from the journal. “You can’t be serious. You’re not thinking about trusting her again?” He pulled me closer to him. “This could be a trap.”
“If it were a trap, I would’ve brought my mother here,” Simone argued. “I ran away from her to help you.”
I wanted to trust Simone. She had been my best friend, and I didn’t want to think she’d purposefully put me in danger. Plus, I needed to find the spear, and she might be the best way to get it. “Your place in Positano … does it have a room with curved windows that face the sea?” I asked, wondering if my vision of Tobias had taken place in Simone’s house.
“Yeah. Several.”
“And it’s up high on a mountain or something? Not down on the beach or anything,” I continued.
“It’s up on a cliff. An outcropping that kind of sticks out from the mainland.” Simone scrunched her eyebrows. “What’s going on? Why the questions?”
“I think I may have seen it before.”
“Well, sure, maybe. Back in Rome, there’s a picture of my mom and me taken at that house. It was in a silver frame in the living room. Maybe that’s where you saw it.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered, but that wasn’t what I was talking about.
“Cassie, are you thinking … ?” Asher didn’t finish his question, but I knew he understood. My vision confirmed what Simone said: Tobias and the spear were at Simone’s mother’s house.
I nodded. “It has to be.”
“Has to be what?” Simone looked baffled.
“We need to go there,” I said, ignoring her.
“No, you can’t,” Simone said, panic in her voice. “My mother will kill you if you go there.”
“Getting the spear is the only solution,” I said, turning to Asher to hatch my plan. “And we can catch her by surprise. Go to her before she comes to us.”
“Yeah, I figured you might say that. Let’s
see if we can get a ride there.” Asher walked over to Gisak, with Simone and me following right behind him. “Gisak, I’ve got another favor to ask. Instead of Rome, will you drive us to Positano?”
“To get the spear?” Gisak’s lips curled into a smile. “Absolutely. Get in.”
The three of us froze.
“What?” Asher could barely contain his shock. “No, I don’t know what—”
Gisak scoffed. “Please, Asher … give me a little more credit. I know all about the Hastati and the Spear of Destiny. Did you think that you were the only one using the tunnel between my shop and the monastery?”
Asher’s eyes widened. “You’ve been spying on me?”
“I deal in information,” Gisak explained. “I like to know what’s going on. Don’t worry, your uncle and I arrived at an understanding of sorts … You have nothing to fear from me. I’ll keep your secret.”
I inched closer to Asher. Now I didn’t know if we should trust Gisak and go with him.
Asher was apparently thinking it over as well.
“I don’t think you have many options,” Gisak said. “I’ve known for a while and haven’t betrayed you.” He glanced at Simone. “Unlike some people, apparently.”
We were in the middle of the forest, and our options weren’t very promising. The longer we stayed, the more likely it would be that the Hastati would find us.
“Okay, yeah.” Asher opened the rear door of the car and motioned for me to get in.
Simone hesitated. “What about me?” She looked at each of us. “I’m going, too, right? I can help get you into the house. There’s a lot of security, but I can bypass it.” Getting no response, she added, “Please, Cassie. Let me prove myself to you. I can even try to find out when my mother isn’t home.”
It was true we might need her help, but more important, I wanted to give her a second chance. A second chance to make things right. Just like I was getting.
“Yes, you can come,” I said.
Simone threw out her arms to hug me, but I took a step back. I wasn’t ready to forgive her … only to give her a chance.
“No way.” Asher looked at me like I had completely lost my mind. “We can do this without her.”
“It’ll be better with her,” I argued. “I think she can help us.”
“I can. I really can.” Simone’s voice had an upbeat sound to it.
“This is not a good idea.” Asher took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “All right, get in … but we’re still watching you. And we’ll have Gisak kick you out of the car if anything weird is going on.”
“I’ll prove myself to all of you. You’ll see.” Simone turned around to look at me sitting next to Asher in the backseat. “And I’ll never let you down again, Cassie. Never.”
Gisak quickly got us out of the forest and onto a main highway. As we drove through the night, Asher flicked on the small car light and paged through the Guardian’s Journal. After an hour, I couldn’t wait any longer.
I leaned against Asher. “My turn. Let me see it,” I said in a low voice.
He held up a finger. “In a minute. I’m working on something.”
Simone turned around. “I flipped through it earlier, and most of it looks like gibberish,” she said. “You’re not missing much.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered. I certainly wasn’t going to tell her that my father had made reference to the Guardian’s Journal and something about a fire and an angel’s skull. There were clues in there; Simone just didn’t know it.
The car slowed down as we pulled into a truck stop.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why are we here?”
“Refueling before we head down to Positano. First us, and then the car,” Gisak said, parking the car next to a large pickup filled with old, beaten-up furniture.
Stepping inside the small restaurant, we bypassed the convenience store and headed straight to the counter where hot, ready-made meals were served. My stomach growled as I caught a whiff of garlic and onions. I narrowed down my choices to either the spaghetti Bolognese or the risotto. Truth be told, I was hungry enough to have both.
“Order what you like,” Gisak said, standing behind me. “I will pay.”
“Why don’t we each order something different and then share?” Simone suggested.
It was something we always used to do, but I didn’t want her to think things could go back to normal so easily.
I shook my head. “Il risotto, per favore,” I said to the girl behind the counter. She served me a plate of food, placed it on an orange tray, and slid it down to make room for the next order. Not waiting for Simone, I picked up my tray and headed to one of the small tables by the window.
I was thinking about my father and wondering how we could contact him, when Simone placed a water bottle in front of me. “Thought you might want this.” She was standing in front of me holding a salad and diet soda. “Um … is it okay if I sit with you?”
I shrugged and took a bite of my risotto.
Simone pulled out a chair and sat down. “Cassie, you know that if I could go back and change things, I would. The whole thing was …” Simone stopped speaking as an old man walked past our table and headed outside.
I didn’t want to talk to her, so I focused on the old man, who went to his pickup truck and rearranged some of the furniture piled up in the flatbed.
“It was a mistake. I thought I was protecting you,” Simone continued. “I didn’t know that it was putting you in more danger.”
“Mm-hm.” I now faked interest in the latest soccer highlights being shown on the large TV in the corner.
Simone took a sip of her soda. “If Asher hadn’t been so hardheaded, then maybe I—”
“Stop right there,” I said. Simone was not going to pawn off any blame. This was all on her. “You are no one to criticize.”
“No, I just meant that …” She pushed the lettuce leaves around with her plastic fork. “I don’t know. Things could’ve been different. You’re my best friend, and if we would’ve talked things out more without him being involved, then maybe I wouldn’t have felt like I needed to—”
“To what?” I challenged her, my voice rising a bit. I leaned across the table and whispered, “To completely betray me and go against what I specifically told you not to do? Asher has been the one by my side in all of this, so don’t think even for a second that what you did has anything to do with him. You made your own choice.”
“I know,” Simone mumbled. “I know.”
Asher put down his plate of pasta. “Everything all right over here?” he asked, sitting down next to Simone. He had a concerned look on his face.
“Fine,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Uh-huh.” Simone nodded without looking up.
A minute later, Gisak strolled over to the table, carrying a small brown bag.
“You’re not eating?” Asher asked him.
“Later. I’m going to get gas while you finish in here,” he answered. “Don’t take long.”
“Not a big talker, that guy,” Simone muttered.
I was about to respond when something on the TV caught my eye.
The risotto I had just eaten suddenly felt like it might come up again. Luckily, all that came out was a barely audible “Oh, no.”
Asher and Simone turned to follow my gaze.
There on the screen blazed the Italian words for “armed and dangerous” beneath a picture of Asher. The report went on to show the monastery cordoned off with yellow police tape and a policeman speaking to the camera. A school picture of me flashed on the screen, labeling me an accomplice to Brother Gregorio’s murder, with the phone number to a tip line.
Had Simone’s mom called in a fake tip? Or was it the Hastati? Either way, now the entire country would be on the hunt for us.
“We need to go. Right now.” Asher kept his head down as he quickly made his way to the door.
I glanced over to the girl behind the counter. She was on the phone and facing
the TV. Had she noticed us? Was she already calling the tip line? I hurried outside and was about to dart across the parking lot toward the gas pumps when Asher stuck his arm out, stopping me midstride.
“Wait. Look.” Asher pointed over to Gisak, who was arguing with a gas station attendant. “Something’s up over there.”
I strained to hear what Gisak and the attendant were saying to each other, but even though the night was relatively quiet, I couldn’t hear them.
What if the attendant was accusing Gisak of helping criminals and he’d already called the police? Or what if Gisak had seen the TV report himself and decided that the reward money was better than helping us? Either way the result would be the same … and we were trapped out here in the middle of nowhere.
“They’re talking about us!” Simone’s panicked tone matched the adrenaline pumping through my veins. “We have to get out of here! The police or worse, my mother, could have this place surrounded in minutes.”
A rumbling noise filled the air. The truck filled with junk was leaving.
“Follow me,” I said, running toward the pickup as it pulled out of the nearby parking space.
Asher shook his head. “But we should—”
The rest of Asher’s comment was lost to me as I scrambled into the flatbed, pushing aside some trash bags to make room for the three of us. Simone scrambled in right after me.
“I go wherever you do,” Simone said to me with a meek smile that was so unlike the Simone I knew.
I ignored her and gestured for Asher to come join us.
The truck was rolling along the dirt road, and thanks to a mattress draped over the rear window and the bumpiness of the road, the driver had no clue that he had just picked up some stowaways.
I waved to Asher to hurry up. He finally moved … racing over and, with one leap, bounding into the back of the truck.
“I don’t know about this,” he muttered as the truck stopped for a moment before turning onto the main highway. “We don’t even know where he’s going.”
“We’ll get off at the first city … wherever that is,” I answered as we all scrunched down to avoid being seen by any passing car. “At least we got out of there. We can take a train or bus whenever he stops.”
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