Beau strode to the table. "What happened?"
"That's what I'd like to know!" Mom shouted. "Everyone get out of my way!"
Mom stepped to the table and began examining Crystal. She blanched as she probed the wound, and her face went whiter and whiter as the exam continued.
"We ran into Harrow Wights at the bowling alley," said Sky, his voice hollow.
Beau nodded as if he had expected as much. "Bedlam's army is nearly here."
"Where's Edward?" Mom cut in. "Crystal could use her father, and I'm sure Cass could use her husband. Did you find anything at her house?"
Mom gently turned Crystal onto her side. T-Bone and Hands stepped forward to hold her in place while Mom started pouring a thick substance down Crystal's throat.
"I'm afraid Crystal's father won't be coming," Beau said hesitantly.
Mom scowled. "And why not?"
Beau was quiet for a moment. "Because Edward died over two years ago."
Everyone stopped what they were doing. Silence filled the room.
"But then ... who's been taking care of Crystal?" Mom asked.
"No one," Beau replied.
"That's not possible," said Andrew, emerging from his stupor. "You're telling us that Crystal's been living on her own for over two years and nobody has noticed?"
Beau nodded. "Has anyone actually seen Edward in the past two years?" Nobody spoke.
"Wait," said T-Bone. "What about the phone number at her house? She said she'd called his hotel today and left a message." Beau shook his head. ''I'm sorry. There is no phone number
I looked. It's not there. Edward Bittlesworth died over two years ago on an overseas assignment from his paper. Crystal had a letter of condolence tucked under her mattress, and little else of value in the empty house."
Sky glared at him; it couldn't be true. "You're lying."
''I'm sorry, Sky," said Beau.
Sky didn't say anything. He just stared at the thick layer of coppery metal stretching from Crystal's mid back to the base of her neck, where the skin was charred and pockmarked like the moon. Sky remembered Em's cryptic words at the bowling alley about keeping secrets and Crystal's evasions when they had offered to retrieve the phone number at her house. He thought of her baggy secondhand clothes and all the times he had seen her leave the lair early in the morning, never realizing that she had probably slept there.
She was the glue that held them together, and yet she was the most broken of all.
"Can you fix this?" Sky asked Mom, tears streaming from his eyes.
"''ll do what I can," Mom promised, her tone carrying a hopeless weight. "I can make her comfortable."
"How long does she have?" Sky croaked.
"It's hard to say," Mom replied. She carefully applied a thick gel to the metal on Crystal's back, which started to steam. "A few hours, perhaps."
"A few hours . . . ,"Sky muttered in shock.
Mom flipped on the small blowtorch and started moving the flame back and forth across the gel.
Sky looked at Crystal, and then his eyes drifted to Cass. If she was really Bedlam and if what Hazzleweed had said was true...
He wiped the tears from his eyes. "Mom, do you know why someone would shoot Cass with Harksplitter?"
Mom dipped several sheets of what looked like orange paper into a blue liquid and placed them on Crystal. Even though Crystal was unconscious, Sky saw her body relax, and the worry lines on her forehead slipped away.
"We have our suspicions," Mom hedged, glancing at Beau. Sky waited, refusing to speak. He already knew the answer, but he needed confirmation.
Mom sighed and brushed her tears away. "Harksplitter was used against Edgewalkers during the wars. It was one of the few things we found that worked against them. Whoever shot Cass must have known the secrets of Harksplitter and believed that Cass was Bedlam."
"You say it like you were there, but the Edgewalker Wars happened centuries ago," Sky pointed out, catching the familiarity in her tone. "How old are you?"
Mom smiled. "It's impolite to ask a lady's age," she quipped evasively. "What is this about, Sky?"
Sky watched her as if he had never seen her before, and it occurred to him that he might not be the only one keeping secrets. "Is there anything that counteracts Harksplitter?"
Mom frowned. "Counteracts? I don't think that would be a good idea." Mom handed the blowtorch to Beau and showed him where to use it, and then she wiped off her hands and crossed to the refrigerator. Sky joined her as she sorted through various bottles and containers filled with strange botanical substances.
"Humor me," said Sky. "If Bedlam was really in there, and someone-say an Edgewalker- wanted to talk to him without allowing him to escape, and without getting trapped by the Harksplitter themselves, how could they do it?"
Mom stopped sorting and examined him as if he was one of her patients. "That's quite a question. If it was any other Edgewalker, I would say good luck, but with Bedlam ... He's not just an Edgewalker, he's Master of the Edge. It was rumored during the wars that even though Bedlam was trapped in his Chrysalis, his children could still occasionally reach him in the Edge, in what they called Edge Memories."
Sky inhaled sharply.
"Bedlam couldn't escape to another body- he couldn't actually walk the Edge himself," Mom continued. "But his children could call him to these Edge Memories and talk to him. It was quite a bother. I take it this isn't an academic question?"
"Not exactly," Sky replied. "Do you trust me?"
"Not in the slightest," said Mom. "But I love you. That will have to be good enough."
Sky grinned. He started to walk away, but Mom grabbed him and hugged him tightly.
"Don't do anything stupid, Sky." Mom pleaded.
"Of course I won't," said Sky, "I only do smart things." Mom released him with a final squeeze, and then she went back to her bottles, seemingly determined to avoid watching whatever he was about to do.
Sky walked back to Cass and sat next to her- close, but not too close. He pulled the barrow weed out of his nose, sniffing. Just last night Errand had shown him a nearby Edge Memory, one of the manor itself and Solomon's prison. It struck Sky as almost too convenient that Errand had shown him such a place just when he would need it. It made him wonder how much Errand knew about Bedlam and what Errand's role was in all this. Clearly Errand wanted some thing, and clearly he knew more than he had told Sky. But what was he after?
Sky forced the thoughts from his mind and focused, recalling how Errand had pulled him from his personal memory of Skull Valley into the Edge Memory of Exile. Sky studied the details of the event in his mind, remembering how he had felt and what Errand had done; he studied it until he thought he understood how it was done.
"Sky, what are you-" T-Bone started.
But at that moment Sky reached out with his senses. He got a quick impression of Bedlam lurking within Cass, and then Sky grabbed ahold and yanked Bedlam into the Edge Memory with him, doing it the same way Errand had.
Sky tumbled down and crashed in the woods where he had landed with Errand . He rolled to his feet and took in his surroundings, which hadn't changed in the slightest since last night. He saw the wall to Solomon's prison a short distance away, and the manor beyond.
"Sky Weathers," Bedlam hissed, his voice coming from everywhere at once. "How nice of you to visit."
Sky felt his Eye of Legend grow cold. Bedlam was triggering it somehow, releasing Legend's power and will just as Morton had.
"I want to make a deal!" Sky managed through clenched teeth. Pain swelled within him. Black veins started to spread through his hand. Sky fought against it, struggling to push it back. He calmed himself-too much was on the line for him to fail. Crystal had nothing. He had to give her at least this after he had cost her so much.
As he calmed, the Hunter's Mark seemed to warm, and slowly the veins began to recede.
"A deal? You hunters are like a murder of crows plucking one another's eyes until none can see. Why would I
make a deal with a murder?"
"Not with the hunters," said Sky. "Just with me!"
Everything went silent, and then Bedlam fell from the night like a comet and crashed directly in front of Sky. The ground exploded, throwing Sky backward. Before he could regain his feet, Bedlam grabbed his head and lifted him from the ground while Sky clung to Bedlam's arm. Sky could feel Bedlam trying to force his way into his mind, but the effort was weak. Sky pushed him out easily.
Bedlam chuckled. "Why keep me out, Sky? The two of us could make a wonderful team. Aren't you curious about all the lovely things I could teach you?"
"I don't have to keep you out," Sky spat. "You're stuck in Cass. You couldn't get in even if I let you, not until the Harksplitter wears off, or your body is freed. This is as far as you come unless you make a deal with me."
Bedlam growled and dropped Sky. "You are a pawn in this game, Sky, but you could be a king."
"The king's the worst piece on the board," Sky retorted.
"He just sits around until someone traps him. At least the pawn has the chance to reclaim a better piece."
"Only if he survives long enough to reach the far edge," said Bedlam. "And odds are not in your favor."
"Why do you hate us so much?" Sky asked.
"BECAUSE YOU BETRAYED ME!" Bedlam shouted. "I, who helped you overthrow my father. I, the first to join your cause against Legend. I, who taught you my secrets only to have you hunt down my Edgewalkers, my children, and send them to oblivion simply to keep me bound! Your murder of crows is corrupt- betrayers!"
"I don't understand," said Sky. "The stories I read claimed that you were seeking your father's power- that Solomon and Alexander trapped you until your heart was pure and filled with love."
Bedlam growled at him.
Sky held up his hands defensively. ''I'm not saying I believed it!"
"Hunters lie, and Solomon and Alexander lied worst of all," said Bedlam. "They convinced the other hunters that I was in league with my brother to reclaim my father's power, to reforge the darkness in the Eyes. When all along, it was they who were plotting to take it. Solomon and Alexander believed that the Hunter's Mark would allow them to control it. And they call me mad! The First Hunter herself-the greatest of your kind- held my father's power in her hands, and she gave it up. She broke the power into parts and gave half to her chosen thirteen and half to Legend's five remaining children, and she bound the power in the Eyes. She understood. To reforge Legend's power is to reforge Legend! But I saw Solomon and Alexander's plan; I would not give up the Eye willingly and they would not kill me. If they tried to take the Eye by force, dire consequences would follow. So for hundreds of years I slept, until Vulpine, my sister, sent Cassandra to awaken me."
"So when Solomon and Alexander realized they couldn't get the Eye from you, they- " Sky stopped himself, but it was too late.
"They stole my brother's body and his Eye?" Bedlam offered.
"How did you- "
"I know because I taught them how to do such a thing, fool that I am! My Edgewalkers visited me for a time and kept me informed before Solomon exterminated them.
I knew of Solomon and Alexander's plans for my brother, though many of the details I have learned since awakening."
"So Solomon and Alexander succeeded-they got your brother's body-but something must've happened because Alexander returned alone, claiming that the Arkhon had killed Solomon."
"Perhaps Alexander finally betrayed Solomon in the hopes of breaking free."
"Breaking free?" Sky queried , feeling confused. "Free from what?"
"Free from being a Changeling with Solomon, of course," said Bedlam, grinning.
Sky's heart stopped. "Solomon and Alexander were Changelings?"
"Yes," Bedlam replied. "Just as you are Changelings with Solomon's apprentice."
"Errand isn't Solomon's apprentice anymore," Sky retorted, wondering how Bedlam knew about Errand.
"We shall see." Bedlam chuckled.
"Why haven't I ever heard about this?" Sky asked. "None of the stories mention that they were Changelings, though that would explain how they both had a Hunter's Mark at the same time."
"They were very good at hiding it. Solomon used Slippery Wick Brew to disguise himself. And Changelings are so very, very rare. The knowledge of how to create one was lost for centuries before Alexander rediscovered it. I only uncovered their secret during training, and I kept it until the end. But tonight Morton will free Solomon if I do not stop him first."
"Your army is coming to stop Morton?" Sky asked hopefully.
"My army is coming to wipe you hunters from the face of the earth. I will burn Exile to the ground and make it my new home, near my sleeping brother, Erachnus, and my future prisoner, Solomon Rose."
"Can you help my friend? Can you help Crystal?" Sky demanded.
Bedlam stared at him for a second, and Sky could feel Bedlam rifling through his mind for images of Crystal. Sky didn't resist.
"I can help," Bedlam finally said. "But not from here."
"But if I let you out, could you?"
Bedlam considered him. "With my body, perhaps."
"You'd have to help her first, no matter what, " said Sky. "And you'd have to stop your army from destroying Exile and go back to Skull Valley."
Bedlam scoffed at the proposal. "And what do I get in return?"
"Your freedom," said Sky.
"A bigger prison, you mean."
"The Caribbean has got to be nicer than a Chrysalis," Sky replied. "Or being trapped in someone's mind."
"And should Solomon escape?"
"Then take him- trap him somewhere if you can; do whatever you want with him," said Sky. "But heal Crystal first." Bedlam examined Sky. A broken smile slipped across his face. "Perhaps the First Hunter has an heir after all. Very well, Sky Weathers. Deliver me and I will deliver your friend." Bedlam touched Sky on the forehead and Sky felt something slip into his mind. He stumbled back. "What was that?"
"A message for the Darkhorn telling her to help you should you need it."
Sky rubbed his forehead. "So, the Darkhorn ... is she really your ... er·... wife?"
Bedlam raised a rusty eyebrow.
"Uh ... never mind," Sky muttered, backpedaling. "On second thought, I don't really want to know."
Bedlam laughed maniacally, darkness swirled around him, the forest fell apart, and Sky tumbled back into his own head and fell to the kitchen floor.
"-ing," T-Bone said, apparently finishing the sentence he had started before Sky slipped into the Edge Memory. Sky knew from experience that time didn't move the same way in the Edge.
"Sky! Are you all right?" Mom asked, rushing over from the fridge to help him up.
''I'm fine," said Sky. He grabbed the package they had retrieved from the bowling alley and started to leave the kitchen. "Where are you going?" Mom asked.
"To fix this," Sky replied.
But before he could leave, he spotted a small piece of paper sticking out of the coffin in the cemetery replica he'd built from utensils the night before. He snatched the paper. The lid closed, the coffin slipped into the grave, and tissue fell on top, covering the coffin like dirt.
Sky opened the note:
Dear Apprentice,
Sorry I missed you earlier. Bedlam’s army appears larger than we anticipated. After careful consideration, we have determined that Exile is a loss and that a hasty retreat is in order to allow us to gather our strength in a more defensible location. As such, we will be leaving for the Academy of Legend tonight after a few remaining matters of business. Please make sure you pack plenty of clean underwear, a sharp knife, and a toothbrush. I can’t wait to introduce you to other Hunters. Once you are packed, attend me at the Grove of the Fallen-I believe you know the place. Please hurry. We have much to do, and I require your assistance with a matter of grave importance. Hope to see you soon. Come alone if you value your friends and family, and make sure to say your good-byes.
Morton
Sky crumpled the note. Morton was running and taking his hunters with him, just as Errand had predicted.
"What is it?" T-Bone asked.
Sky inspected the kitchen and realized that Alexander Drake's coffin was missing. "Mom, did you move the coffin?" Mom looked up from what she was doing, her brow furrowed as she glanced around. "No. Your father must've moved it."
"Ah. That would be it, then," said Sky, grinding his teeth.
Morton had taken the coffin-their one clue to the blade's whereabouts, aside from an insane hunter. Bedlam's army was too close and Morton was out of time. Sky suspected that this was Morton's last-ditch effort to find the blade before freeing Solomon and abandoning Exile entirely.
The Legend Thief Page 20