Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2)

by Brenda Drake

  I ducked into the bathroom and put my PJs on the counter, then pulled the two pieces of my window rod apart. The screen blinked on. “Bastien Renard,” I said to it.

  Almost a minute passed before Bastien answered my call. His eyes looked even bluer coming across screen. His hair was messy as if he’d been sleeping. “Hello, there. This is a nice surprise.”

  My lips twitched as I tried not to smile too big at the sight of him. “I just wanted to see how you were doing, and if you made senior wizard.”

  “I’m doing well, and yes, I graduated.” He ran his hand through his dark hair. It was shorter than normal, as if he’d just had it cut. “And you? How are you, Gianna?”

  “It’s Gia, remember?”

  “If you insist.” His lips lifted with a smile. “But I’d rather call you by a name no one else uses. Besides, your full name is lovely.”

  I couldn’t control it, my smile widened. “Well, congratulations.”

  “Thank you.” He adjusted himself on what I could make out was a bed. For some reason, I felt uncomfortable with him lying down.

  “I would have sent a gift, because that’s what friends do in my world, but I didn’t know how to get it to you.” Okay, that totally sounded obvious. But I wanted to make sure he knew I was calling as a friend and not for any other reason.

  “It’s perfectly all right, friend,” he said, mocking me. “We don’t give gifts in my world for such occasions.”

  I glanced over my shoulder as if someone could see me from the other side of the bathroom door. “Well, anyway, I should go.”

  “Thank you for ringing, Gianna,” he said.

  “Um, okay.” A short laugh escaped my lips. “Talk to you later, then.”

  “Good evening,” he said, and I closed the rod.

  Okay, that didn’t go well. Was he flirting with me? I suddenly felt guilty for calling him, but he was a friend. We went to the play together. Fought Conemar together. Why should I worry? But there was something there, and I decided it was better not to call him again, out of respect for Arik.

  After changing into my pajamas, I curled up on the futon in Faith’s attic bedroom, cuddling under her thick cashmere blanket. Faith worked tirelessly to create a whimsical bedroom, using soft blue fabrics, white lacey window coverings, and a magical garden painted on the walls with fairies and butterflies.

  I fingered Arik’s button I’d pinned onto my tee, eyeing one of her fairies with deep red curls and large yellow wings. “That’s a new fairy,” I said. “You’re almost done with all the walls. We should get you an easel and some canvases so you can keep painting. Maybe even sell some.”

  She pushed the netting covering her bed aside. “Really? You think I’m good enough?” She picked up a box from the bed and carried it over to me. Her lanky body moved gracefully across the floor. “Late at night, I’ve been going for walks, collecting leaves. I want to coat them with glitter and glue them on the trees I’ve painted.”

  “I think your work is amazing.” I gazed at the bright yellow brush strokes forming a sun high up on the wall and taking over part of the ceiling. She had created day in her room. Unable to go out in direct sunlight, she existed in the shadows of storms and the darkness of night.

  She sat beside me and smiled. “I painted this, too. It’s my memory box.”

  The purple box had flowers, butterflies, and a fairy with yellow hair riding a unicorn painted on it.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “I keep all my remember items in it.”

  “Remember items?”

  She lifted the lid and placed it on the bed. “Yes. Things I kept from when I was a girl.”

  I ran a gentle finger over the lid, admiring her handiwork, then paused over the crown on the fairy’s head. “The crown.” I shot up.

  “What about it?” She watched me curiously.

  “The Chiave we found. It’s a crown and can shield whoever has it from the Monitors.”

  “But we have the Chiave,” she said.

  “Maybe another one exists or something like it does.”

  Or was found and replaced. Uncle Philip had told me once that there were spies everywhere in Asile. And if the rogues had a way to sneak through the gateway. No one was safe.

  I wasn’t safe.

  Chapter Ten

  Nick sped his motorcycle around turn after turn. My fingers grew numb gripping his waist and holding on with all my might. He slowed the bike when we approached the beach and parked by the curb. I swung my messenger bag to the side and slid off the seat. The slate gray sky blended into the water beneath it. Early morning joggers, diehards, trotted across the damp sand. Nick felt at peace here by the beach, his tense shoulders relaxing as we plodded over to his favorite bench.

  “So your boyfriend still gone?” he asked in an attempt to make small talk.

  Glancing up from digging through my bag, searching for my window rod, I frowned at him. “Yeah, he won’t be back until late tonight. I won’t see him until school tomorrow.”

  “What’s wrong?” His breath formed a cloud in front of him, and he shivered against the cold. “Anytime I bring him up, you get down.”

  I found the window rod and pulled it out. “We just seem off lately. He was really mad at me that night in the Vatican, and we haven’t had any time to talk about it. And it probably didn’t help that I’d pushed him away.”

  He wrapped his arms around himself. “I wouldn’t worry. You two will be back to normal soon.”

  Mine and Arik’s plans for the Thanksgiving break were ruined. We were supposed to do normal teen stuff. Like shop the sales on Black Friday, see a new release at the theater on Saturday, and laze around on Sunday. It should have been a day with Arik, eating popcorn, watching old movies, and making out when no one was looking. Instead, I was with Nick, waiting for our scheduled meeting with Uncle Philip on my window rod.

  Uncle Philip called my name through the rod, and I opened it. His face flashed onto the screen.

  “Good afternoon, Gia. Are you alone?”

  “Nick’s with me. But yeah, it’s just us.”

  “Hey,” Nick said.

  His eyes went to the silver knight pin on my jacket. “I see you have my gift. Did Nick receive his?”

  Touching the pin, I said, “Yes, we got them. What are they for?”

  “So you can pass through the spells locking the gateway books,” he said. “You aren’t to tell anyone about their purpose.”

  “We won’t,” I said.

  “Very well,” he said, tugging at his high collar. “Now then, several of our wizards in the lab investigated your theory about the Chiave. They found that there isn’t a way to duplicate the crown without destroying one of the Monitors’ globes, which is difficult to do. You see, the two are made of the same magical glass and it’s practically unbreakable. Only a brand like yours could shield someone while in the gateways. And the charm to create one was lost when the recipe was ripped out of the ancient spell book found by your nana.”

  “Are they sure? How else could The Red just erase his and his men’s jumps? And how did they use the gateways if they were locked?”

  “I wondered that, as well. I had the Chiave tested. It’s a fake.”

  “Arrrk! No magic,” Pip, the Monitor for Asile, chirped somewhere off screen.

  Uncle Philip looked to his side. “Yes, Pip. You’ve told me.”

  “It can’t be a fake,” I protested. “The spirit of the Chiave gave it to us.”

  “The Chiave we have is a replica. Someone switched it with the real one before it made it to Asile. When whoever stole it used the crown to jump through the gateway, it removed our spells locking it. Was the Chiave in your possession the entire time?”

  “Yes—” I stopped. “It was in Nick’s backpack.”

  “Yeah, I had it the whole time. I even gave it to Carrig myself.”

  Uncle Philip rubbed his chin. “And it wasn’t out of your sight at all?”

  Nick stared off at t
he water. The waves were picking up, and the clouds deepened into a darker gray. “When we all returned to the library in Branford, we went home. We didn’t tell anyone that we had a Chiave, not until later.”

  “That’s right,” I said. “A book faerie told us about Toad, so we went home and snuck out later to go see him in the gallows about the scroll.”

  “What did you do with the pack when you returned home?”

  “I left it on a chair by the front door,” Nick said.

  “Where were your parents?” Uncle Philip said.

  “Watching some show in the living room.” He combed his fingers through his tousled brown hair. “Emily Proctor stopped by to return my textbook she borrowed.”

  “You never told me that.” I stared at Nick’s profile, his jaw tight and his mouth a straight line.

  “It was quick,” he said. “She was only there for a few minutes then she left.”

  “And she was never left alone?”

  “Only for a second. She sneezed and I got her a tissue.” He rubbed his hands together. “You saw how gaudy and big that crown is. She couldn’t have hidden it from me.”

  Uncle Philip leaned back in his chair. “And after you snuck out and returned later from the Vatican, where was the bag?”

  “With me,” Nick said.

  “And the crown was with you?”

  “Yes.” Nick tapped his foot nervously. “I didn’t want my parents finding the crown before I could give it to Carrig.”

  I rested my elbows on my knees, my arms aching from holding up the window rod. “When we returned to the library in Branford, Nick went to the restroom.”

  “And the bag?”

  “I don’t remember,” Nick said. “I probably brought it in with me.”

  “Try to think.” Uncle Philip’s jaw tightened, Nick’s lack of answers clearly beginning to wear on him. “What did you do with it?”

  Nick’s shoulders stiffened, and he folded and unfolded his hands before reaching into the front pocket of his pants, no doubt touching the mood crystal, hoping to calm the beast threatening to overtake him.

  “Arik and the others waited with me in the lobby for him,” I said, hoping to divert some of the pressure Uncle Philip was putting on Nick. “Miss Bagley was there, but she was busy turning off lights and doing whatever else she does to lock up the library.”

  “Well, from here on, after you retrieve a Chiave, you are to jump to Asile and bring it to me straightaway. No longer will you take it to Carrig.”

  “You don’t think Carrig switched it, do you?”

  “I suggest you trust no one,” he said. “From here on out, only we three shall know about the Chiavi retrievals. You are to tell no one”—he looked directly at me—“not even Arik, about our findings.”

  “How could someone know we found the Chiave, make a copy, and replace the original without us seeing? If they even knew it was in Nick’s bag, the possibility is unlikely. We didn’t tell anyone we had it.”

  “Wizards can make doppelgangers out of anything, not just people,” he said. “It would have only taken a matter of seconds for a wizard to create an identical crown. You could have been found out, and when no one was looking, a wizard could have snuck in and made the exchange. Nevertheless, there’s a traitor in your midst. From here forward, we keep all matters of the Chiavi to us three. Are we clear?”

  Nick nodded, and I answered, “Yes.”

  Snowflakes tumbled from the sky and vanished when they hit the window rod’s screen. The wind shifted the waves, whitecaps sharply peaked above the ashen water, and buoys dinged their protests. Uncle Philip omitted the fact that if there was a traitor, then we weren’t safe. Or possibly, he chose not to scare us by stating the obvious. Either way, I suddenly felt like every shadow cloaked an unknown threat.

  “You have a storm.” Uncle Philip’s eyes darted around, watching the snow fall. “I will contact you when the search for the remaining Chiavi can commence. May Agnes guide you,” he closed with the blessing from the patron saint of Asile.

  The snow almost buried us on our way home. My bones were still frozen when I cuddled under the throw I shared with Deidre on the couch. She was watching the movies I’d gotten for Arik and me. I couldn’t focus on them as I replayed the events of the night Nick and I found the crown. I ran through every step in the Vatican to Toad’s cell, following Nick’s backpack in my memories.

  Only Carrig, Emily, and possibly Miss Bagley were alone with the bag. There was no way it was Carrig. He knew what had happened to Conemar. If he were with The Red then his men wouldn’t be searching for the evil wizard’s whereabouts. Emily was human and didn’t have any ties to the Mystik world, but she could be in disguise. I couldn’t place Miss Bagley alone with the bag, just in the vicinity.

  Whoever it was had to be working with a wizard to create a doppelganger of the crown.

  I gripped the soft material of the blanket and sat up straighter. Then there was Nick.

  “What’s wrong?” Deidre tugged the throw back over her. “This isn’t even the scary part of the movie.”

  Nick.

  I suddenly felt colder. Could he be responsible for the switch? I shook my head. There was no way. All this crap going on was messing with my good senses. I slid down into the couch pillows, half watching the movie and half running things through my mind.

  ...

  High school lunch rooms were strange places. The nondescript walls, lunch tables, and floor were a bland backdrop for the diversified students within. All shapes, sizes, and races mingled around the tables. Some kids rushed to grab unoccupied tables, others crept through food lines, and several flirted across the mayhem. My gaze kept going to the door as I waited for Arik to join us.

  “They have fish sticks today,” Demos said, dropping his tray on the table and shaking the bench as he sat.

  I wrinkled my nose. The smell was horrible. “How can you eat that? Do you realize how processed it is? It can’t even be real fish.”

  He stuffed one into his mouth. “It’s delightful,” he said around the breaded fish parts.

  Lei threw her napkin at him. “Ugh, close your mouth. You’re repulsive.”

  Demos snatched up the chocolate milk carton in front of him and took a long gulp.

  “What’s on your shirt?” Lei asked.

  I inspected where her eyes were fixed, expecting to see a stain in the cotton blend. It was Arik’s button with the lion’s head. I’d pinned it on for luck. “Oh this,” I said. “It’s just a token. Have you seen Arik?” I switched the subject so she wouldn’t ask me where I’d gotten it. “He’s usually here before us.”

  “I saw him,” said Kale, snatching one of Lei’s cookies. “He had to stay after class to complete a project.”

  “Oh.” I unwrapped my sandwich. That wasn’t like Arik. He only did what he had to do to get a passing grade. To him, going to school was a cover and he didn’t exert much effort on it.

  My attention was half on the lunchroom door and half on ripping the crust off the sandwich Faith packed for me. She had torn the bread trying to spread a left-over cheese ball onto it. I smiled at her effort.

  Demos continued stuffing his face with fish sticks. Deidre and Nick sat at a nearby table, their heads together, whispering and arguing about something.

  “Why don’t they just take a break?” Demos said, dipping a stick into ketchup.

  “Because love can be torture sometimes,” Jaran said. “But it’s still love and hard to let go of.”

  Lei bumped his shoulder with hers. “You’re so poetic, ducky.”

  Kale took another cookie from Lei’s pile. The boy had a sweet tooth. “Love may be torture at times, but it shouldn’t be like theirs. There should be give and take, sacrifice from both sides.”

  He had a point. Deidre and Nick’s relationship had become one-sided, and Deidre was getting the short end of the stick. His statement gave me fresh eyes on my situation with Arik. I needed to apologize to him. Maybe that’s why he
’d been so distant lately.

  Arik sauntered into the lunch room. I stood, climbed over the bench, and straightened my shirt. Lei snatched my hand before I could rush to him. I glanced at her, then at him and froze. It took me several minutes to process the image. He had his arm draped over Emily’s shoulders, leaning close to her and whispering something into her ear. Her face beamed. My gaze narrowed in on her hand reaching up and holding his.

  I must’ve looked like a moron standing there staring at them with my mouth gaped open. It was as if they moved in slow motion toward me. Emily’s dark hair bounced on her shoulders, her lips glossed red split into a satisfied smile, and her porcelain skin, luminous under the florescent lights, caused all the guys she passed to stop what they were doing to stare at her beauty. But the only eyes I cared about were the deep brown ones checking out how the mounds of her larger-than-mine breasts jiggled with each of her steps. I thought it was against dress code to wear such a low-cut top.

  What the hell?

  I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. My stomach rolled, threatening to toss the half-eaten cheese ball sandwich onto the floor. All noise in the cafeteria thrummed in my ears.

  Is this a joke?

  I couldn’t make out what Lei said beside me, and turned to her. “Huh?”

  “What are they doing?” Lei said louder.

  “I don’t know,” I muttered, my hands shaking at my sides.

  Arik and Emily stopped in front of us.

  Lei flung her long hair over her shoulders and put her petite body between me and the obvious couple. “What the bloody hell is going on, Arik?”

  “Um…” He looked confused.

  I glanced at the other confused faces surrounding me.

  Jaran hurried to my side. “What are you doing, Arik?”

  Demos dropped his fish stick. “Have you lost your bleeding mind?”

  “I’m not seeing what I’m seeing,” Kale said, giving Lei a confused look. “Am I?”

  “Oh you are,” Lei said. “And it’s not right.”

  Emily angled closer to Arik. “Didn’t you tell her, babe?”

  I fisted my hands to keep them from shaking. “No, he didn’t tell me. Babe?”