by Amanda Ashby
“Well, maybe this can help.” Loni held up the leather-bound book that she was still clutching. “This is the book that Emma gave me before she fought the darkhel. It’s actually written by Sir Francis and there’s a whole section on our invisible friend. Which means we might be able to finally find out something about the darkhel.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
So, what’s the verdict? How are they?” Loni asked Tyler twenty minutes later as they all sat in Emma’s room. She knew she should be grateful that Loni had finally agreed not to drag both her and Curtis to the infirmary, but right now all she really wanted to do was look at the book her dad had brought her. Unfortunately, Loni refused to even open it until she was sure there were no serious injuries. Tyler, who had been in charge of bandaging, looked up and nodded.
“Curtis has some bruising,” he observed, “and Emma’s leg will live to see another long, hot summer wearing those cutoff jeans of hers.”
“In other words we’re fine,” Emma translated as she flexed her leg and sore wrist. “So now can you please tell us what you found out?”
“Besides the fact that for a fairy slayer you’re very stubborn?” Loni arched an eyebrow before relenting and flipping open the book. Then she pointed to an ancient wood-block sketch at the bottom of the page. “So is this your guy?”
Emma and Curtis both leaned over and studied it before they nodded simultaneously.
“That’s him.” Emma shuddered at the blurred image, which still managed to perfectly capture the appearance of the vile creature, from the strong hooked talons to the shimmering narrow eyes. “I can’t believe we’ve finally found a book that even mentions darkhels.”
“Well, you’d better believe it,” Loni assured her as she started to read the text. “‘Darkhels are related to the common fairy but are taller, stronger, and filled with raging evil. Their preferred method of killing is to slash at their victims with their lethal talons, injecting them with a deadly poison.’”
Loni wrinkled her nose as she continued to scan the page. “Okay, so that doesn’t make sense. It says here that when Sir Francis finally shut the Gate of Linaria, the darkhels on our side of the gate died off. Apparently the air on Earth was too wholesome for their corrupted lungs and they could only survive while the gate was open and letting through all their bad, evil air.”
“Well, obviously our guy never got that memo,” Emma said. “Because it was definitely alive and getting bad, evil air from somewhere.” Then she froze and stared at them all. “You don’t think this means that the Gate of Linaria has been opened?”
“No way.” Loni instantly shook her head. “Even though the gate moves around a lot, some science guy from one of the Academies in Europe put a sensor on it so we would instantly know if the gate had been permanently opened. I read an article on how he built the sensor and it was truly remarkable the way he linked up the—”
“Er, Lon.” Tyler coughed as he tapped his watch. “Not that we’re not all interested in how he did it but we’re up against the clock here since we still don’t have any idea how a thing that shouldn’t be here is here.”
“Well, Mr. We’re-Up-Against-the-Clock, I was going to add that from time to time the gate has been temporarily opened but never for more than three seconds,” Loni said. “So even if Emma’s darkhel did manage to temporarily open the Gate of Linaria and get out within three seconds, we still don’t how it is staying alive, or—oh.” Loni’s face turned a pale shade of white as she squinted and moved the book closer to her face. Finally, she pulled it away and looked back up to them. “Well, that can’t be a good thing,” she mumbled.
“What?” Emma demanded. “What does it say?”
“It’s talking about the kill spot,” Loni said in a reluctant voice before she let out a big sigh. “Apparently it doesn’t have one.”
“But that’s impossible.” Curtis shook his head. “All elementals have a kill spot.”
“Not fairies,” Emma amended.
“And especially not this fairy,” Loni said in a hoarse voice. “According to this, the darkhel isn’t just a regular run-of-the-mill garden-variety elemental. It’s the first elemental. It’s also the strongest, rarest, and completely impossible to kill.”
Emma felt her throat tighten as Loni handed her the book so that she could study the page. The blood pounded in her temples and her ears began to throb, and for one terrible moment she thought she was going to faint. It took all of her concentration to push the dark, tingling feeling aside. She had fought some bad elementals before, but nothing like the darkhel, and now to find out that there was no way to kill it?
“Okay.” Tyler started to tick points off his fingers. “So the darkhel is the first of all elementals. We can’t kill it and apparently it is managing to survive on Earth despite the fact that the Gate of Linaria is shut. But the one big question that we still don’t know the answer to is what is it doing here?”
Curtis suddenly looked up. “Actually, yes, we do. Well, I don’t know how it got out or how it’s staying alive, but I do know what it’s doing here. It’s looking for the Pure One.”
“What?” Loni and Tyler both spluttered, but Curtis ignored their disbelief.
“When Emma and I were at the mall the other day, the fairies said that the darkhel was looking for the Pure One,” he explained. “And if you think about it, it makes sense. If it can find the Pure One, it can use his blood to open the Gate of Linaria and let in all the other darkhels.”
“And then it can go looking for Santa Claus to get some free presents.” Loni rolled her eyes. “I mean, please, the Pure One? That’s crazy. It’s a story. I guess I can believe that Sir Francis used five drops of blood from a nameless male child to help seal the gate shut. But the idea that the nameless male child’s descendant still has some magical blood that will reopen the gate is just ridiculous. For a start, the chance of the same blood being passed down from one male to another makes it, well . . . improbable. Not only does it not take into account the fact that there might not be a male heir in any given generation, but what happens to the old Pure One? Does he suddenly lose his Pure One blood once it’s been passed on? I mean, as far as theories go, it’s just a big old mess.”
“Actually,” Emma croaked as she held up her mom’s book and gulped, “I think I can answer that. Listen to this: “ ‘The spell I did to close the Gate of Linaria ensured that the sacred blood of the Pure One shall be passed from the oldest son to the oldest son. If there are no male descendants, it jumps to the oldest son of the second oldest child so that the line is always continued. As long as the Pure One’s blood is safe, the Gate will stay shut.’ ”
“Wow.” Loni blinked. “But even if it’s true that the Pure One is still around, how on earth would the darkhel find him? And more importantly what would it do with him?”
Emma looked grim as she once again held the book up. “I’m afraid I’ve got an answer for that as well. It says here that to reopen the Gate of Linaria, not only does an elemental need the blood of the Pure One, but it also needs a special spell. And, oh—”
“What?” Curtis demanded, his voice tight.
“Sir Francis might’ve only needed five drops of the Pure One’s blood to close the gate, but according to this, the only way to open the gate is to drain the Pure One completely.”
Everyone was silent for a minute before Tyler finally broke the silence.
“Okay, so not only is there some poor, unsuspecting dude walking around with Pure One blood running through his veins, but if the darkhel finds him, he will kill him and open up the Gate of Linaria.”
Emma didn’t want to believe it.
After all, it was bad enough that there was one impossible-to-kill invisible darkhel on the planet—the idea that it could soon be joined by all of its friends made her feel sick to the core.
“Even worse,” Loni added in a subdued voice, “we have no idea how to find the Pure One and stop it from happening.”
“Hang on, I need
to think about this.” Emma shut her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment before finally looking up. “Okay, so when I was fighting the darkhel before, not only did it say that I couldn’t protect ‘him’ forever, but it also said that it knew he was close.” She widened her eyes. “Which would explain why I keep seeing the darkhel here, because it—”
“Because the darkhel thinks the Pure One is here. At Burtonwood.” Curtis finished her sentence, his jaw clenched and his voice soft. For a moment no one spoke as the implications of what was happening started to settle in on them just like the heavy fog was doing on the quad outside.
“Here?” Loni finally croaked, and Emma couldn’t help but notice that her friend’s face was ashen.
“Look,” Curtis eventually coughed, “I know that before you weren’t so eager to tell Principal Kessler about this, but I really think we should. I mean, we have no idea what this thing will do to get the Pure One. Let alone how to stop it.”
“Curtis is right.” Loni nodded. “Last time you spoke to Principal Kessler he hadn’t heard of a darkhel, and since you had no proof, there wasn’t much you could do. But now not only has it attacked you twice, but we’ve got your mom’s book and that pendant thing, which means we can show that you’re not making it up. Besides, he might not have heard of the darkhel before, but every slayer knows about the Gate of Linaria and the Pure One.”
“I agree,” Emma said.
“You do?” Loni’s jaw dropped in surprise. “But I hadn’t even got to my next part, which was all about you doing your duty as a responsible slayer. I had it all planned. It was very moving.”
“Sorry.” Emma shot her friend a rueful grin. “But you’re all right. I was so freaked out about possibly getting expelled, but right now it’s not really about me. Plus, the idea of this thing hanging around Burtonwood looking for the Pure One is seriously creeping me out. Especially since there’s one other thing . . .
“What?” Loni looked alarmed. “You are injured, aren’t you? I knew it.”
“No, it’s not that.” Emma quickly shook her head. “It talked about my mom again. It said that she slowed it down but didn’t stop it. What does that mean?”
“Well, we know she didn’t kill it, but if she slowed it down, maybe she injured it?” Tyler wondered aloud.
“But that would have been over five years ago . . .” Loni looked skeptical. “That must’ve been some injury.”
“Or . . . what if she managed to banish it?” Curtis said in a quiet voice. “And it’s only just figured a way to get back through the gate?”
“Which is all the more reason to go and see Kessler about this,” Tyler said in an urgent voice. “Because seriously, this whole thing is turning into the worst homework assignment ever. Plus, I think the induction dinner started an hour ago.”
“We’re in the middle of an invisible-fairy crisis and all you can think about is your stomach?” Loni demanded.
“What? No. Well, yes, but what I meant is, Kessler will be at the dinner. So we go there, grab some food, and tell Kessler about it all at the same time. It’s a win-win,” Tyler said as he got to his feet. Then he realized that Loni was looking at him. “What? I’m telling you it’s a good idea.”
“I know.” Loni reluctantly nodded. “But somehow I can’t see Kessler being pleased if we all burst in wearing our uniforms.”
“So what are you saying? That we need to get dressed up for this thing?” Emma looked at her friend in disgust.
“She’s got a point,” Tyler agreed before Emma could open her mouth. “Especially with all the parents and ex-students around. The last thing Kessler would want is us running in there and freaking everyone out. Besides, it will only take two seconds to get changed and then we can meet down at Sir Francis.”
Emma reluctantly agreed and she waited until everyone had left her room before she hobbled over to her closet. She pulled out a plain black dress that Loni had helped her choose. It was made of some sort of silky stuff and had a dipped neck and jeweled belt that wrapped around her waist. It also had deep pockets buried in the skirt that she could easily slip a handful of nail files into.
She quickly shrugged it on and then grabbed some makeup to cover the worst of her cuts and bruises. She was about to leave her hair pulled back from her head, but then she caught sight of another bruise just on her collarbone and so she reluctantly pulled out her clips and let it fall down around her shoulders, before adding her mom’s crystal necklace around her neck. Finally, she grabbed a small purse and slipped a dagger in it. Now she was ready.
Ten minutes later she and Loni met up with Tyler and Curtis, who were both wearing suits. Emma couldn’t help but admire the way Curtis’s plain charcoal jacket molded to his shoulders. He had even taken the time to run a comb through his blond curls, and they were pushed down into a semblance of order. She also noticed the way his dark eyes widened at the sight of her in a dress, and she smiled to herself. They hastily touched Sir Francis and hurried into the cafeteria.
As part of the celebration, the plain veneer tables had all been covered with white starched cloths and gleaming silver cutlery while the china was all stamped with the golden Burtonwood emblem. However, Emma was more intent on finding Kessler, so she discreetly pushed her way through the crowds of students and their parents—most of whom were alumni and tended to treat induction weekend as an informal reunion.
Unfortunately, by the time they got to the other side of the room, there was still no sign of the principal, and Emma felt a stab of panic go racing through her.
“Hey, there’s Barney.” Loni nudged her and they instantly made a beeline for her.
“Mrs. Barnes,” Emma said without preamble. “Is Principal Kessler here? We really need to speak with him. It’s sort of important.”
“Sorry.” Mrs. Barnes shook her head as she headed back the way Emma and the others had just come, so once again they had to battle the crowds. “He’s somewhere else. On business.”
“Okay, so when I say ‘sort of important,’ I mean it’s really, really important,” Emma pleaded as she trailed after the secretary and tried to ignore her aching muscles.
“And yet he’s still not here.”
“So, will he be back tonight?” Emma pressed.
“Emma, I really don’t know,” Mrs. Barnes said in a pleasant voice that was laced with steel and more effective than any sword. “But I’m sure that whatever it is can wait until tomorrow morning.” Then, without another word, she was gone. Emma turned to the others and groaned.
“Well, that was next to useless. Maybe I should try calling him?” she asked in a cautious voice since her last few phone calls to the principal hadn’t exactly worked out that well, but Curtis shook his head.
“Actually, I already did,” he confessed as he shot her a rueful look and waved his cell phone in the air. “I didn’t want you to get into any more trouble over this, so I thought it would be better if he didn’t see your name and number come up on the screen.”
“You did?” Emma paused for a moment, touched by his consideration, before realizing that everyone was looking at her. “Er, so what did he say?”
“He didn’t.” Curtis let out a reluctant sigh. “It went straight to his voice mail, so I just left him a message asking for him to call.”
“Which means until we can talk to him, we’re on our own,” Emma said in a tight voice. “We need to figure out who the Pure One is so that we can stop the darkhel from finding him. Not to mention finding a way to banish it back to the other side of the gate.”
“And what if it comes back before we figure all of that out?” Tyler looked concerned.
“Then I’ll fight it.” Emma shrugged. “I’ll keep patrolling, and if my eye hurts or I hear a static noise, I’ll know that it’s close by.”
“As far as plans go, that’s a pretty bad one,” Loni said in a stubborn voice. “You’ve just fought this thing and you look exhausted. You shouldn’t be out there alone.”
; Emma knew her friend was right. Between the fight and her lack of sleep over the last couple of days she had a feeling she was starting to resemble one of the zombies that had caused so many problems earlier in the week. But she also knew that there was no way she could sleep while that thing was still out there.
“She won’t be alone,” Curtis cut in before turning to Loni. “Jones and I will patrol, and you and Tyler can start trying to figure out who the Pure One is and how we can stop the darkhel. Deal?”
“I guess.” Loni reluctantly nodded, and Emma shot them all a grateful look.
“Thanks,” she said, turning toward the exit. “But I think we’d better hurry because my gut feeling is that we don’t have much time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
By eleven o’clock Emma and Curtis had been around the grounds three times and there had been no sign of the darkhel, which, Emma was forced to admit, was probably a good thing. She was still feeling pretty exhausted from her earlier fight. At least they’d slipped back to her room and changed, so she wasn’t forced to patrol in a dress and heels.
She came to a halt by the same bench where Loni, Tyler, and Curtis had waited when she had talked to her dad earlier that evening. It seemed like a lifetime ago now. She sat down and her throbbing muscles instantly let out a sigh of relief.
“So are you really okay?” Curtis sat down beside her and spoke in a low voice as if not wanting to disturb the night. Above them the moon was partly obscured by clouds.
“I’m fine.” She sighed. “Though I probably wouldn’t have been if you hadn’t come along when you did. Thanks for watching my back.”
“Sure.” He shrugged as he started to play with one of his crutches, which were leaning on the bench next to him, before he peered at her from underneath his blond curls. “It’s been a pretty crazy day.”