Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers)

by Brenda Drake

  “Okay.” Nick swallowed hard as he unbuttoned his shirt. “Stick it to me.” He puffed his chest out.

  Nana flipped the switch on the tattoo gun and it buzzed angrily to life. She started inking a black line into Nick’s skin. Again, I looked around, but no one seemed aware of the crude tattoo parlor in the middle of the café.

  “Right, then, where shall I begin,” said Carrig, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “Every eight years a new generation of Sentinels be born to certain humans with mixed blood who be unaware of their Sentinel ancestry. On the rare occasion, one comes from a wizard with less magic in their bloodline. When a Sentinel is conceived, their changelings begin to grow in the Garden of Life within the fey nation. The changeling be an exact twin of the Sentinel. All Sentinels be having one.”

  “Fey nation?” The confusion on Afton’s face mirrored how I felt. “Where is that?”

  “It’s in the Twilight realm. A place just beyond this world.”

  I gave him a confused look. Or maybe it was disbelief. Because this stuff was crazy. It couldn’t be real. I was about to say just that when he put his hand up to stop me.

  “Don’t be saying a word,” he said. “Just listen. About ten days after a Sentinel’s birth, the appointed parent faery switches the baby with his or her changeling. The changeling lives the life of the Sentinel, and the parent faery raises the Sentinel until he or she be old enough to attend one of the academies for training. A human’s changeling never knows what he or she truly be—they simply live the Sentinel’s intended life as their own.”

  “That’s cruel,” I said, unable to stay quiet any longer. “How can you take babies away from their mothers?”

  “It may seem cold-hearted,” Carrig said, “but the Sentinels protect the libraries and keep both worlds safe. The fey created them long ago by crossing the blood of wizards with knights to protect the human world from the Mystiks. It be a small sacrifice, so it is. Most of the families be unaware of the exchange, anyhow.”

  “I bet their mothers know,” I said.

  “Truthfully, they don’t. Every hair, freckle, and birthmark be the same on the babies.”

  “Okay, then what?” I said. “You know, what happens when a Sentinel finishes her education?”

  “When they turn sixteen, they become guards of the libraries, maintaining the safety for all who enter them. They keep the entries into the wizard and Mytik havens secret from the human realm. After eight years of service, they retire, marry their assigned betrothed, and have children.”

  “Assigned betrothed?” I repeated.

  “To prevent the prophecy, the Wizard Council makes marriage matches for the Sentinels.”

  Afton snorted. “That’s pretty archaic, isn’t it?”

  “That it be,” he agreed.

  Nick wrinkled his nose. “It would suck if you had to marry a dog.”

  “Or a dumbass,” Afton added, looking directly at Nick.

  Nick was about to fire off some stupid remark, but I interrupted him. “Sixteen is kind of young to risk your life, isn’t it?”

  “It’s an ancient system,” Carrig said. “Back then, sixteen was considered adulthood.”

  “Then you’re kind of old to be one,” I said.

  “I’m a Master Sentinel,” he said. “I remain in service to educate and lead the many groups in my district.”

  My mind went back to the changelings. If I was a Sentinel, then I had one. There can’t be someone exactly like me in the world. I’d know it. Feel it. Wouldn’t I?

  I swallowed hard and asked the question I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer to. “Do you mean there’s another me walking around somewhere?” It seemed like his response would never come. When he finally nodded, I blinked in disbelief. “So where’s my changeling now?”

  Carrig had a way with dramatics. He had me at the edge of my seat waiting for his answer again. “Your changeling was brought to your home this morning,” he said. “To live your life, while you be trained as a Sentinel. Katy has already tattooed her.”

  I bolted out of my seat, the chair falling back and hitting the floor with a clang. “What the hell are you talking about? No one’s taking over my life.”

  Nana had barely finished inking the black crescent moon charms on Afton’s and Nick’s chests when Mr. Wilson pulled up in front of the café to pick up Afton. Nick hitched a ride home with her, and I was depressed to see them leave. I wasn’t sure when I’d ever see my two best friends again.

  I kept playing what Nana told me in my head. That this changeling was only borrowing my life. It was mine, and I would be able to have it back. But could she really be like me? And all she had to do was touch my things to get my memories? To know what I know? My secrets. I felt horribly violated.

  My life had been stolen from me in the blink of an eye, and Nana had allowed it to happen. It was as if a dark cloud rolled over my head, suffocating me. I gasped for air. Each breath felt heavy in my lungs. And Pop wouldn’t know a stranger had moved into our home. He’d have Sunday dinners with someone who didn’t know him. Didn’t love him. How cruel was that? I couldn’t let that happen.

  Nana’s hand covered mine. “Calm breaths. I’m right here with you.”

  I nodded and wiped away a few tears that had slipped from my eyes. Though he was across from me, Carrig’s words sounded far away as he told Nana the plan.

  We were to jump from the Athenæum to England. One problem: we needed a membership card to get into the library. Nana went to get one, leaving me alone with this stranger against my wishes. I begged. I even used my best tactics to change her mind—sad eyes, a little whine in the voice, and persistence. She didn’t cave.

  I stared across the table at Carrig.

  He stared back.

  So awkward. Why didn’t Nana tell me about all this? How could she let them take me away? I trusted her. How could she lie to me? Why? I always knew I was different. Not many guys could beat me in fencing and kickboxing matches. There was an energy inside me, burning just under the surface of my skin. I was just like the man sitting across from me; I was a Sentinel.

  “When did my changeling go to my house?” I said, breaking the silence.

  “Early this morning. I first brought her to your grandmother to shield her, and then she went.”

  “Where has she been all this time?”

  “There be nowhere for your changeling to go when you went missing.” He leaned back against the chair. “Merl brought her to me. I took her in and raised her as me own. She’s a good girl, and she doesn’t want to be in your life any more than you want her in it.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. She must be scared, too.”

  He tugged a hanky from a pocket in his trench then wiped the sweat from his brow. Wearing a trench coat in August was epically ridiculous, even if you needed to hide a weapon. No wonder he was sweating. He should’ve just concealed a knife in his boot or something more inconspicuous. “She knows the risks. That you must fulfill what you be born to do. Protect the libraries.” He leaned over the table and patted my hand. “The only t’ing I care about be the safety of me two girls.”

  I barely felt his touch. My entire body was numb. Like my mind went off and left it behind or something.

  I cleared my throat. “Well, apparently she’ll be safe with Pop, and I’ll be in mortal danger.”

  He studied my face with sad eyes. “Gia, you are me flesh and blood. I never wanted me child to face the dangers I had to. Your mother never wanted that, either. That be why she ran. She was a brave woman to run. I love her more for it, though it broke me heart.”

  I couldn’t count how many times I imagined my birth father—who, by the way, never looked like Carrig—telling me things like this.

  He continued. “When Merl handed me the changeling and bid me to raise her, I could not refuse. He knew you were me child and the dangers of anyone discovering you be the presage. So I transferred to Tearmann and hid your changeling in a cottage outside a remote village in
Ireland. Each moment, each hour, and each day I thought about you while I watched the changeling grow.” Sadness hinted in his eyes. “I should be calling her by her name—Deidre.”

  “You raised her alone?” I asked.

  “At first. I wanted to join you and Marietta with Deidre and me. To be a real family. I searched many years for you both. Every lead was futile.” He turned to see the clock on the wall behind the counter. “’Tis getting late.”

  “No one asked me if I wanted to go to…whatever that place is called. You can’t make me.” The café suddenly felt hot. I tugged at my collar. This insanity has to end. It just has to.

  “It’s Asile,” Carrig said. “And you don’t have a choice in the matter.”

  That’s what you think, I wanted to say, but the scowl on his face made me think better of it. Instead, I said, “You mentioned an arrangement you made with Merl earlier, what is it?”

  “I almost forgot…” Carrig’s face went vacant, as if someone had unplugged him. I watched him carefully, scrutinizing every tic and twitch. He looked pretty scary with those large shoulders, strong hands, and intense eyes. Then, like a rebooted computer, his eyes focused on me. “Jaysus, I’m knackered. What was I saying?”

  What just happened? Whatever it was, it sort of freaked me out. I glanced around the café and was relieved to find it was still crowded.

  “Right, that be it,” he said.

  I blinked with surprise.

  He wiped his brow again. “We’re not heartless, you know. We won’t take your family and friends away from you entirely. You’ll be training with me for the remainder of the summer while Deidre stays at your home posing as you. During the school year, you’ll attend our academy. You may return home on weekends and holidays.”

  “Great.” My shoulders sank. “Only weekends and holidays, huh?”

  “Sorry. It’s me best offer.”

  The stern look on his face told me he meant it.

  “I can live with that,” I lied. Besides, I probably didn’t have much of a choice. “At least I can still see Pop and my friends, I guess.”

  He grinned. “Good. Now then, do you have any questions?”

  “If my brain wasn’t in overdrive, I’m sure I’d have plenty,” I said. “The only one I can think of is…well…What if I suck?”

  “Do you mean at fighting or magic?”

  “Did you say magic? I can’t do magic.” I fisted my hands, my nails digging into my palms. I debated whether I should mention the magical episodes—or rather, disasters—I’d caused before.

  Carrig looked amused. “Of course you can. You’re a Sentinel. Your magic just needs summoning, is all.

  “Okay. No pressure, right? It’s not like I’m the one and the fate of the universe rests in the palms of my hands or something lame like that.”

  No pressure? Seriously. Pull it together, Gia. Breathe. Breathe.

  “Well, ’tis sort of like that, you know. You might be the one,” he said all serious.

  My stomach flipped as I studied his face. “Are you messing with me?”

  A smile reached his eyes. “Indeed, I’m messing with you. I believe we will be needing many to face what be before us, not just one. The coming be more terrifying than any nightmare you’ve ever imagined. And it won’t stop with the Mystik realm. It will destroy the human one, as well. Everyone you love will be in danger.”

  So I had no choice. “One more thing. Brian Kearns is my father, so I’d prefer you treat me like a student and not a daughter.” I could’ve sworn hurt flashed in his eyes, but the smile stayed on his face.

  “Deal. However, you might regret those boundaries. I’m a harsher teacher than I am a father.”

  The bell jingled and Nana rushed to the table. “Got them.”

  Carrig stood. “Shall we be on our way, then?”

  I faced Nana. “You’re going, too?”

  “I would never let you go alone, dear.” Her eyes did that warming thing when she smiled. “I’m sorry, Gia, I hated lying to you. I believed I was protecting you.”

  I swallowed back the emotions clogging my throat. She had always been there for me. Always there to give me a hug when needed. Always at every match. Always.

  I wasn’t sure I was ready yet to forgive her, but I understood what she’d done.

  “I know you were,” I said, my voice quivery. “I love you, Nana.”

  “I love you, Bug,” she said.

  She hadn’t called me that since I was little. It meant more right now than it had at any time before. I held it in my heart as we headed to the Athenæum. A dark gloom hung over me like a reaper waiting for a corpse, the anticipation of the unknown scratching at my nerves.

  Chapter Eight

  The clouds stuck to the tall brick buildings like gray cotton candy. Rain chased down the gutters and clapped the ground, drenching the red cobblestone sidewalks, making them look glassy. It felt good to stretch my legs after sitting at the café table so long, even though it was hard to keep up with Carrig’s long stride. “So where is Asile?”

  “We go through England to get there,” Carrig said.

  “How?”

  “Through a hidden tunnel behind a bookcase in an Oxford library. The Wizard Council had the tunnel systems constructed to connect all havens to a nearby library.”

  “The havens. Are they in this world?” I asked.

  “No. A different realm connected to this one. Created by wizards, but it broke into pieces by unstable magic and made the havens sort of like islands—isolated from each other.”

  Okay. Mind blown. I decided that maybe asking questions wasn’t such a good idea. Each answer was unbelieveable. And made me question my sanity.

  “You’ll love Asile,” Nana said as she kept pace with me. “I’ve been to other havens and it’s just like visiting European villages. It’ll be like you’re studying abroad.”

  I smiled. She had a way of always looking on the brighter side of things. Even in the middle of an apocalypse.

  “You know,” I said. “Haven means safe place. And these places you’re talking about don’t sound very safe to me.”

  “It be an old name,” Carrig said. “When created, they be places for the Mystiks and wizards who sought shelter from human persecution. Just like all good t’ings, a few rotten apples spoiled it.”

  The Sentinels waited on the steps of the library. Dressed in street clothes instead of the leather warrior costumes of last Friday, they resembled normal teenagers. Loose black waves tumbled over Lei’s shoulders, and Demos’s sandy hair stuck out in a purposeful way. The other two Sentinels, who had helped kill the hound in the library the first day we transported through the gateway, introduced themselves.

  “I’m Kale,” one said. His messy dark hair framed his face.

  “Jaran,” the other added. His short black dreadlocks looked freshly washed compared to the other day in the library.

  Arik, still in Nick’s clothes, looked like he’d been in a fight. There was a cut on his cheek and his eye was puffy. His shoulders seemed to be holding the weight of both worlds.

  What happened to him? I took a step toward Arik, but Lei shook her head, halting me.

  I was sure it was my fault, and it felt wrong. I didn’t want anyone getting hurt because of me. I tightened my fingers around the handle of my umbrella, thinking I could use it as a weapon if we ran into any of those hounds in the library.

  Nana pushed through the red leather doors of the Athenæum, taking Demos, Kale, and Arik in first with her membership card, and after fifteen minutes, I took Carrig, Jaran, and Lei in with mine. We met Nana and the others in the fifth-floor reading room where I had initially spotted Arik.

  We broke up into groups and sat in different parts of the room. Nana and Lei sat with me at one of the large tables. The others took seats around the room while Carrig and Arik settled into one of the alcoves between the bookcases, their heads close together, seemingly in deep conversation.

  After the room emptied o
f other visitors, we hid under the larger tables.

  I bumped my head against the overhang of the table. “How come we just don’t jump now while the coast is clear?” I asked, rubbing my head.

  “Too dangerous,” said Carrig. “Transporting so many at a time would leave an energy trail.”

  Nana placed an invisibility spell around us, and we waited until the library had closed and all the employees had gone home for the day. Only dimmers lit the floor, and the library became even more silent.

  “Let’s be on our way.” Carrig edged out from our hiding place. “Jaran, get the gateway book. Kale, retrieve our items from the coat check.”

  I crawled out from under the table. “Oh no, our stuff. They know we’re still here.”

  Nana straightened her shirt. “Dear, you underestimate my abilities. Our items magically disappeared after they were checked.” She winked at me.

  Jaran hurried over to a bookcase at the far end of the room, grabbed the familiar leather-bound book, and rushed back. He dropped it onto the table and flipped the pages.

  Arik went to the book and spoke the key. The colors of his body bled together, and he went in with a swirl of rainbow-colored smoke, the book quivering in his wake. After a few seconds, the book stilled.

  I looked to Lei. “What’s wrong with Arik?”

  “A compelled cornered him,” she said leaning close. “They torture their victims with visions of past regrets before they go for the kill.”

  I gasped.

  “It’s a ghastly business,” Lei added. “The life span of the wizard controlling the compelled diminishes during the compulsion. The wizard has to be really desperate or insane to use it.”

  “How awful. Is there some way we can help?”

  Lei patted my back. “Don’t worry about it, ducky. He’ll be back to normal soon enough. We’re taught to overcome their mind games. Some visions take longer than others do. This one had to be bad.”

  “Gia,” Carrig said. “Demos will escort you through the gateway.”

  Kale strode across the reading room, carrying my backpack and Nana’s tote bag. He’d forgotten my weapon—the red umbrella. It was one of the few things I owned that belonged to my mother. With Arik gone and everyone anxious to leave, I didn’t have time to retrieve it. I’d have to get it later. Kale handed my pack to me. I thanked him, slipping my arms through the straps.