Shock of Fate: A Young Adult Fantasy Adventure (Anchoress Series Book 1)

by D. L. Armillei

  Paley grimaced. “Huh?”

  “Like a lock and key!” Van said. Thanks to her cellular biology and physics classes at Canterbury Bells, she understood the concept.

  “Exactly,” Miss Nutting said. She pulled a wide-toothed comb from the salon cart and began detangling Paley’s hair. “Both of you will have to carry a Gemstone. Keep it on you at all times. Although I’m not sure how you plan to get around Uxa and Fynn.”

  “I’ve already worked it out,” Paley said, wincing at the detangling. “I’m an expert at skirting authority. It’s my training from being at the Gables. Will I be able to stay for a month?”

  “Possibly,” Miss Nutting said. “Depends on how strong Van’s energy draw is. She’d be channeling the energy of nature through her connection to the Gemstones. That’s what would keep you there.”

  “I have to tell Ken all this,” Van said, forgetting she was still mad at him.

  Miss Nutting’s eyes widened. “Oh, no! You can’t tell anyone, or I’ll get banished from the island!” She picked up the dryer and began styling Paley’s hair.

  “Van’s energy is strong,” Paley said, over the whirr of the hairdryer. “Let’s do it.”

  Van appreciated Paley’s vote of confidence. But according to Pernilla and Genie, she wasn’t strong at all.

  “I told you this to discourage you. Even if you did manage to get through the portal, the Grigori would notice within the hour that an unauthorized transport had occurred. You would never get away with it.”

  Van prickled over being told she couldn’t do something. “Paley’s proved herself to be a contributor with her job here at the salon. I can talk Uxa into letting her stay in the Living World and help with the project. That way, Paley would earn a higher placement.” And get the naysayers off her friend’s back, once and for all.

  “It’ll be fine,” Paley said lightly. “Van can grease some palms to get me on board. Money grows on trees—”

  She glanced at Van, grinning, and they finished the old joke in unison: “Family trees.” Both of them chuckled.

  “This isn’t funny,” Miss Nutting said, bobbing her brush at them. “There is a serious risk to Van’s health using the Gemstones and a danger to your life, Paley. The Gemstones might not be able to get you safely through the portal. If they do, Van might be too compromised to complete her project.”

  Ugh. Adults always tried to make things more difficult, thought Van. Aloud, she asked, “Where are these Twin Gemstones?”

  “They’re impossible to get. I don’t even know where they are.”

  Van scowled at Miss Nutting, who put the finishing touches on Paley’s hair. “You sure?”

  Miss Nutting twitched. “Well, as far I know, only three sets of Twin Gemstones existed. Two were destroyed. The third . . . well, the third is rumored to be here, on the island.”

  Paley yelped in delight.

  “If they’re anywhere, they’d be on the reservation,” Miss Nutting said. “Stored in one of the buildings in the Complex, I expect.”

  “That place is super protected,” Van said, her sudden hope deflating. “It’s where I go for my special classes.” She wondered whether Miss Nutting had told them about the Twin Gemstones only because she thought they’d never be able to get them.

  Miss Nutting had been an orphan, like Paley. Most of the Gable’s kids had a tendency to challenge authority. Van could tell Miss Nutting felt conflicted about helping but respected them enough to answer their questions honestly. However, Van also knew Miss Nutting had used the information to convince Van and Paley that their idea was misguided, ensuring that they wouldn’t do anything reckless that would never work.

  Miss Nutting frowned. “Even if you could get into the Complex, expensive pieces of equipment like that . . . they’d be vaulted away in a secure place, same as any valuable set of jewels.”

  “Jewels?” Van said, perking up. “Do they look like jewels?”

  “Like two sparkling gems, about the size of eggs, like the essence of the ocean captured in a prism, or a fiery dawn . . . a brush of clouds gathering before a storm . . . ” Miss Nutting drifted away into her own world.

  Paley stared blankly.

  To Van, the description couldn’t be any clearer. Miss Nutting often overheard insider secrets from her clients at the Naked Ape, but the details of this description made Van wonder if Miss Nutting’s past included a personal experience using the Twin Gemstones. Nevertheless, Van threw back her shoulders and declared, “I know exactly where they are.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Day 1: 12:43 p.m., Earth World

  After Van and Paley promised Miss Nutting not to do anything stupid, they left the salon and headed back to Mt. Hope Manor. To their relief, the house remained empty. If their plan was going to work, they had to move fast. They needed to steal the Twin Gemstones, to stash Paley in the Living World, and for Van to return to the Manor in time to meet Fynn at 6 p.m.

  Van zoomed up to her bedroom and grabbed her backpack. She grinned, knowing she had made the right decision to pack her essentials earlier. She had no time to gather her suitcases. Van had already planned on Luma packing the rest of her clothes and sending them to her.

  With Twinkle Toes crammed into her overstuffed backpack, she could barely zip it closed. Van thought about ditching the stuffed animal but couldn’t bear parting with it. She needed all of her essential items, in case Uxa caught them and made Van stay in the Living World to start her project. She heaved on the overstuffed backpack, did a quick check of her hair and makeup in the mirror, and then ran.

  Although they had never attempted it before, Van and Paley already knew the best way to sneak onto the reservation—through the Manor’s backyard. They shot across the grounds and disappeared into the trees, then jaunted through the woods to the water’s edge. They climbed down the seven-foot storm wall onto slimy beach rocks.

  Van’s feet throbbed, still sore from last night’s walk. “I’m not cut out for this,” Van said, as she and Paley maneuvered across the slippery rocks.

  “And you think I am?” Paley held out her arms, trying to keep her balance.

  They stepped off the rocks onto the squishy sand of low tide. As the cool mush oozed into Van’s white Bottega Veneta sandals, she considered ditching the whole idea and sprinting back to the sanctuary of her bedroom.

  They slogged onward, trapped between the lapping sea and the jagged rocks. Eventually, they passed the boundary markers indicating the restricted reservation area. The reservation wasn’t difficult to sneak onto; only the consequences of getting caught—getting banished from the island—kept unauthorized islanders away.

  The Elders strictly controlled whomever they allowed onto their sacred land. Despite being a tribal descendent, even Van wasn’t allowed to enter the reservation, except to attend her special classes. Paley, a townie, was never allowed onto the reservation. Neither of them worried about this, being too focused on executing their plan. They felt relieved when the wall of rocks ended, and they could walk on the dry beach sand that bordered the woods.

  According to Van’s teachers, three-quarters of the reservation consisted of a nature preserve, which would give them cover as they searched for the Complex. While trekking through the woods, they stopped once to rinse their muddy feet in a puddle.

  They continued on, tensely sneaking through the woods. Although they tried to be quiet, every step crackled with crunching leaves. They expected security guards to come crashing through the woods at them, but the area seemed deserted. Only the occasional bird reacted to their presence, taking flight at the noise of the interlopers. Without incident, they located the Complex.

  Van and Paley crouched in the wild brush overlooking the three interconnected buildings that housed the island’s government. Van knew nothing about the farthest away, a flat rectangular building called the Research Facility. The middle and tallest building, called Marble Hall, was full of offices. The smallest and closest, a domed building called the House of L
acus, accommodated Van’s special classes.

  “We need to get in there,” Van whispered. “But we have to be careful. It’s guarded.”

  “I don’t see any guards,” Paley said in a low voice. “Must be short-staffed for the holiday weekend.”

  “Even so, it has to be locked,” Van said, eyeing the main doorway.

  “Why would it be locked?” Paley asked. “Every day is a workday on the reservation.”

  “What if someone’s in there?” Van had begun to reconsider the whole idea. “If we get caught, we’ll be excommunicated from the island.”

  “We’ll be careful,” Paley said. “We can hide in the shadows.”

  Van remained skeptical.

  “Uxa needs you for her project, so you’ll just get a slap on the wrist,” coaxed Paley. “If anything, I’ll get kicked off the island. I want to leave anyway. What’s a few years earlier? It’s worth the risk to me. I have to find out about my parents.”

  “Me, too,” Van said. They had come this far; they needed to do something. “Let’s go.”

  Dried twigs snapped under their feet until they reached the grassy, manicured lawn surrounding the House of Lacus. Van felt certain security would nab them, but they managed to arrive at the door without being caught. In fact, the entire area seemed clear of people. Despite the warm June day, Van shivered. “Weird,” she murmured.

  Paley shrugged and tried the door. It opened.

  “Even weirder,” Van said.

  “Right? Don’t they believe in security?” Paley smirked, as they slipped inside. “I mean, they’ll let anyone transport these days.”

  “Where are all the Grigori?” Van asked, as they tiptoed down a cool, white-and-gray marble hallway, dimly lit by wall sconces.

  “Who cares?” Paley replied.

  “It’s over here.” Van’s voice came out louder than she had intended, and the hallway’s acoustics amplified her words.

  Paley mouthed, “We’re dead!”

  They stood paralyzed, expecting Island Security to descend on them at any second. Nobody came. Van opened her mouth to comment, when Paley whispered, “I know, weird.”

  Van led Paley into a circular atrium made of granite and marble with a high, domed ceiling. The perimeter was lined with benches carved from the walls and flanked by Dorian pillars. In the center was a fountain with a statue of a toga-clad woman. The expansiveness of the atrium always made Van feel insignificant, and whenever she had passed through for her classes, it bustled with Grigori, Island Security, Elders, and Native Islanders. Now, all was silent, except for the tinkling of the fountain.

  Against the far wall stood a piece of ugly artwork, a dais holding an enormous black disc bordered by a band of granite lined with pictographs. A set of curved stairways protruded from the wall, one on each side of the disc, leading to the dais. Underneath, at floor level, Van saw the elevator she had taken to her classes.

  Van pointed to the elevator. “Miss Nutting said that’s the portal.”

  “Great. So where are the Gemstones?”

  “This way.” Van reached the far archway, when she realized Paley wasn’t behind her. “Paley,” Van hissed. “What’re you doing?”

  “This fountain . . . have you ever looked at the statue?”

  Van and the other students never had time to look at anything. Her teachers always herded them into the elevator, no dilly-dallying allowed. “C’mon,” Van urged. The stress of trespassing on the reservation made her cranky.

  Paley didn’t respond.

  Van stomped back, imagining that she would have to drag her friend away by the hair. But when Van reached Paley, she couldn't help but stare at the amazing statue, too. Water poured into the fountain from an urn held under a beautiful woman’s left arm. In her right hand, she held a torch. A sword lay sheathed in her belt, and around her neck she wore a coin pendant necklace.

  “She kind of looks like you,” Paley said, not taking her eyes off the statue.

  Van grunted, pretending to be unimpressed. But after fighting a deep pit of denial in her stomach, she had to admit the resemblance. “Maybe someday.”

  “I wonder what it says.” Paley pointed to an engraving at the base of the fountain.

  Van had never noticed the writing before, but now her eyes widened. It was the same language she had seen in her father’s study and in the burned text—only this time, the words became clear. She read the inscription out loud: “Queen Amaryl of the Dark War.”

  The text! Had she left it behind? Then she remembered tucking the book into her folded shirts and let out a breath. The text was in the stack of clothes she’d stuffed into her backpack.

  Paley mumbled, “Another cool thing you learned in your classes here, I guess.”

  “No—I didn’t—” She wasn’t sure how she could read the words, and it scared her. “I mean, yeah. We learned some of that language in class,” she lied.

  Van’s eyes wandered to the face of Queen Amaryl, and she found herself unable to look away. The statue exuded a lifelike energy, reaching out to Van across time and space. Van squirmed under the scrutiny of the woman’s gaze. She felt undeserving to be in the presence of such an honored warrior.

  “She looks too young to be a queen,” Paley said, breaking Van’s connection to the statue.

  “C’mon!” Van hurried back toward the archway. “Stop dilly-dallying!”

  This time, Paley followed. Van opened the smooth wooden door, and they entered the control room.

  “I was in here once, by accident,” Van said, distracted by the control panel stretching along the wall, covered with knobs and dials. Tiny lights flashed, but the screens remained dark. Probably set to automatically monitor the portal, Van thought, again feeling the eeriness of the unattended station.

  In the back of the room, stuffed between consoles, they saw a life-size statue of an elderly man with a long beard, dressed in a simple toga. He sat in a cross-legged position with his hands on his knees, palms up. The statue seemed unremarkable, except for the stunning jewels the man held, one in each hand.

  “What a strange place to display a piece of art,” Paley said, eying the statue. “The Elders could use an office decor lesson.”

  Van smiled at the statue, as if she had bumped into an old friend. “Like Genie always says—if you want to hide something, keep it out in the open.”

  Paley lunged for one of the Gemstones. “These must be worth a fortune!” She tugged at it, using both hands, then tried the other. “They won’t come out. They’re stuck!”

  “Get out of the way.” Van grasped one of the Gemstones. She felt her hand almost imperceptibly vibrate, and, with a little effort, out the jewel popped. “Easy peasy.” She handed the Gemstone to Paley, who held it and fell instantly in love. Van removed the second stone. “I’ll keep this one. You keep that one.”

  “They automatically attune us for travel through the portal,” Paley said. “That’s what Miss Nutting told us, right?”

  “I guess so.” Just getting the Gemstones had seemed like such a far-fetched idea, Van hadn’t considered the details. She copied the elderly man in the statue and held the Gemstone in her open palm. Paley held hers the same way and moved her hand next to Van’s. Both of the Gemstones flashed a multitude of vibrant colors until they synchronized with each other. They settled on a brilliant golden yellow and throbbed as if sharing a single pulse.

  Van smiled. “According to the principle of forced vibration, we are attuned!”

  “Showoff,” Paley said teasingly. “I remember nothing from physics class. For someone who is supposed to be slow, you’re kind of smart.”

  Van giggled, tucking her Gemstone into her backpack. “For safekeeping.”

  Paley did the same. “Let’s get to the elevator!”

  Van planned to take Paley over and get her settled in a bed and breakfast; then Van would return to the Manor and meet Fynn. Once the Grigori noticed the unauthorized transports, Van would already be back at the Manor and Paley wou
ld be safely hidden. Van felt sure Miss Nutting would have mentioned whether the transport showed the traveler’s identities. If questioned, Van could deny she had gone anywhere. When Van returned to the Living World with Fynn, she would talk Uxa into letting Paley stay and help with the project. If Uxa made Paley go back to the island, at least her friend would have had the chance to experience her parents’ birthplace. It was a perfect plan.

  As soon as they stepped back into the atrium, the granite stone band with the ancient symbols surrounding the disc began to move clockwise, rotating faster and faster until it became burning yellow-orange. A thin strip of ocean-blue water filled in the layer below the fiery band and rotated counterclockwise.

  Within the blackness of the disc, waves of silver sparkles twinkled; its darkness held an unfathomable depth. The sparkles began to swirl.

  “I guess that’s the portal,” Paley quipped, though she sounded breathy and excited.

  “Wow,” Van said. “The Gemstones remotely activated it. It never did that when I went to my classes. The Grigori must have waited until all the students got on the elevator before turning on the portal.” The elevator had taken a long time to get going, but with Van’s limited elevator experience, she’d never thought twice about it. No wall existed behind the “artwork,” as Van had imagined; in that space, the elevator went straight into the portal.

  “Wow,” Van repeated.

  As they walked up a marble stairway, Van’s legs felt wobbly. She took deep breaths with every step, unsure of herself. Do I have the guts to go through with this?

  They stood side by side in front of the swirling portal. Paley raised one hand and crossed her fingers. With the other, she clasped Van’s hand, squeezing hard.

  Van returned her grasp, and together they stepped into the blackness, into the unknown, into the Living World.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Day 1: 2:43 p.m., Living World

  Coolness washed through every cell in Van’s body. Air rippled over her bare skin, yet her hair and clothes remained still. She wasn’t afraid or uncomfortable. The sensation felt refreshing. It seemed different from transporting through the elevator, where she hadn’t felt anything. Then Van saw light, and she was expelled from the portal onto a platform. Paley landed next to her. Van was surprised they were no longer holding hands.