Chuck waved her off. “Semantics. Besides, it’s not that far away—only a few years.” He looked back at Alexander. “What are we doing this time?”
“Same as usual. We need you to pull power from Nicole to seal an item and hide its magic.”
Chuck’s eyes gleamed. “Exciting!” He studied her again, an obviously interested expression on his face. “If we have time, I’d love to pick your brain.”
Nicole shrugged. “Sure. I’m afraid I won’t be able to tell you much, though. I really don’t have an idea what’s going on most the time.”
“And yet, if I’m not mistaken, you manage the trials thrown at you very nicely.”
Alexander nodded. “Much better than I would have in her situation. But it’s why she becomes who she does.” He paused, waiting to see if anyone had anything to say, then continued. “After we’ve sealed the item, we need you to finish creating an effigy for . . . Lizzie.” He didn’t seem prepared to explain who and what Lizzie was.
“Lizzie?”
“The prophecy is about her—she is in great danger. It is her job to stop or kill the evil Hounds of Tindalos.”
Chuck rubbed his chin. “We can’t have people running around knowing anything about the hounds, if at all possible.”
Alexander nodded. “Yes, I’ll be helping with hiding memories, as you probably have guessed.”
Nicole hated that part of this whole arrangement. She really disliked the fact that her memories would be taken away until some random future date. She was grateful, though, that some of them would be gone. She’d seen some pretty horrible things so far, and her dreams had already been affected by them. She especially loved the fact that hiding memories would keep Lizzie protected for a while.
Chuck turned to Nicole. “All right then, let’s get started. What is it I need to hide, and where am I hiding it?”
Nicole set her backpack on the grass and unzipped it. She pulled out the music box, opened it, jumping when music filled the night air. She clapped her hand over the wind-up section, stopping it from twisting more, and sent an apologetic glance at Alexander. “Sorry about that.”
He shrugged. “Our talking is enough to have alerted the hounds to our presence. They already know where we are—I’m expecting them to show up at some point. We’ll get as much done as we can before they come.”
Nicole pulled the velvet and musical parts from the box, setting them on top of her backpack where they wouldn’t get wet from the moist grass. Then she pried the little metal chip from the corner of the box where she’d hidden it, holding it and the music box out to the magician.
Chuck looked at the items in Nicole’s hands, and looked at her. “Interesting choice for a hiding place, but it should work. Keep them—I can do my part from here.”
He said several things in what sounded like an old Germanic language, but the guard acted like he had no idea what the man was saying.
Nicole felt something tugging her in three places—her stomach, heart, and head. It didn’t really hurt, but her eyes stopped being able to focus on anything.
The magician’s hands hovered over Nicole’s as he continued muttering. He motioned at her to put the chip back inside the music box, which she did. Then he motioned for her to tuck the velvet back in around it, then to shut the top.
Chuck enveloped Nicole’s hands with his own. She felt the tug on her innards increase in pressure as Chuck continued talking. Then the tug started hurting.
After only a couple of seconds, Nicole felt like her intestines were being ripped from her body through her belly button and like her heart had been gripped in a strong pair of forceps while her head pounded painfully against her skull. At first, she bore it, gritting her teeth, and squeezing her eyes shut. But as the magician continued muttering, the pressure increased until she couldn’t tolerate it silently anymore. A groan slipped through her lips.
And then, with a slight pop, the music box started pulsing magically. Nicole opened her eyes, the pain forgotten as it dripped away. She stared in wonder at the box. The pulses emitted were strong, clear, and sweet. She’d never felt anything like them before. They made her long for home, but not her own—one where family loved and appreciated her for who she was and what she could do.
Then Chuck continued muttering, and after several seconds and a quick tug on Nicole, the pulses disappeared. The music box felt slightly heavier, but other than that, it was completely unchanged. The magician dropped his hands, stopped talking, then nodded at Nicole.
She opened the box, the musical strains filling the air. She pulled on the velvet—it wouldn’t move. It seemed to have been fused to the wood and metal that it covered. Even though she pushed and prodded, she couldn’t even feel the data chip through the velvet. She looked at Chuck. “Is it enough?”
He nodded. “Nobody will be able to find it until you—as your guardian self—unlock it.”
He drew a box with his finger as tall as himself in the air, putting a circle near the center of it. He grabbed the circle and twisted, and a door appeared, then opened as Chuck pulled the handle that was now in his hand. Nicole gasped, shocked to see her mother’s office on the other side, with Tiffany sitting at her desk.
Tiffany looked up, a surprised expression crossing her face, followed by irritation. “What do you want?” she asked.
Nicole blinked. Tiffany didn’t even appear surprised to see a completely different world on the other side of her door.
The magician took the box from Nicole. “Your great-grandmother owes me a favor, Tiffany. I’m calling that favor in now.” He stepped into Tiffany’s office and handed the music box to her. “Protect this until Nicole is able to unlock it and Lizzie requires the knowledge contained within.”
Tiffany glared at him. “And if I refuse?”
Chuck gave a half smile. “Then I’ll take back the favor I gave your great-grandmother.”
Tiffany’s face paled, and she clutched the box to her chest. “I’ll protect it.”
Chuck smiled and shut the door.
“She won’t do it,” Nicole said.
“She will. She is bound, even without my threat.”
Nicole stared at Chuck, her mouth open, trying to figure out what to say in response to that. How was it possible that he knew any of this? That he even knew who her mother was? And what favor had Nicole’s great-great-grandmother needed from a magician? She rubbed her forehead, recognizing that by the time this night was over, she wouldn’t remember anything that had happened anyway.
Alexander stepped forward and put his hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “The prophecy is safe. Now we just have to finish the effigy, and Lizzie will be protected from the hounds for as long as possible—until she is ready for it.”
Chuck clucked his tongue. “You realize doing this will alert them to her existence?”
Alexander shrugged. “Can’t be helped. They’ll find out eventually—I prefer it to be on my terms. Or rather, on her terms, when she is best able to defend and protect herself.”
“Very well. You have the materials?”
Nicole picked up the box that she’d shipped to herself, and using keys, cut it open. She pulled the burlap bag out, removing the effigy from the multiple layers she’d put it in. She turned to hand the effigy to Chuck, but he backed away. “I can’t touch it until the magic has been performed on it.”
“Okay.” Instead, she handed it to Alexander.
She was about to open the first container when the guard gasped, pointing his flashlight toward the castle entrance. “Several huge dogs just entered. Are they the hounds you’ve been talking about?”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Nicole, Chuck, and Alexander whirled, staring toward the entrance. Sure enough, three huge dogs were there, their postures stiff and threatening.
A growl came from the other side of the castle, and Nicole looked that way. Two more hounds were there. She and Alexander met eyes.
“How long have they been here?” Nicole asked.
“Long enough for them to enter the courtyard and walk around unnoticed,” Alexander said.
Nicole glanced at Chuck. “Is the music box safe?” she asked in a whisper the hounds wouldn’t be able to hear.
Chuck closed his eyes. He was silent for several moments as the hounds continued quietly spreading out, surrounding Nicole and the others.
“Yes, it is safe. They didn’t arrive in time to see or hear us work with it.”
Nicole breathed a sigh of relief.
“They’re here to stop us, aren’t they?” the guard asked. He glanced at Nicole and Alexander. “I thought you promised no harm would come to the castle.”
Nicole shifted her weight, unsure how to answer the guard.
Chuck looked at his companions and said, “We must finish the effigy. The hounds will never stop fighting until we do it.” He pointed at Nicole and Alexander. “You two must protect me while I work.” He nodded at the guard. “You’ll hold the effigy until I complete the spell.”
The guard raised his hands. “Hey, I’m not a part of this. I’m not touching anything.” He stepped away until his back was against the stone wall, then he fumbled at his waist, producing a large stick. “I’ll help fight the dogs, thank you very much.”
Nicole stared at him, surprised. He would rather face huge, vicious dogs over touching the effigy? Props to him for bravery, but what a weak stomach!
Chuck growl in frustration. “Fine. Nicole, you have to hold it.” He glanced at Alexander. “Can you fight them with only his help?”
Alexander hesitated, his eyes slicing to Nicole, then back to Chuck. “Probably not.”
Chuck threw his hands in the air. “Are you getting soft? You used to be able to take on fifty-five demons at once!”
Alexander didn’t respond, and Chuck didn’t wait for him to. He turned to Nicole. “I’ll need to borrow more of your future abilities. Two of those hounds are Aretes. We need reinforcements.”
The guard nearly dropped his stick in shock. “Aretes? But they’re dogs!”
Chuck laughed mirthlessly. “Dogs that shift into humans. And two of those humans are Aretes.”
He whistled, and Nicole felt a slight tug on her heart. The stones from the wall nearest them dropped to the ground, making it shake, and rolled, collapsing in a pile in front of the group. Then they started organizing themselves, stacking on top of each other until a stone golem at least twenty feet tall had formed, a huge club in one hand. The creature turned and stared at Nicole.
She felt her knees shake. Why was he staring at her? Was he going to attack?
Chuck touched her arm. “I can’t command it. First, I’m not the highest-ranking person here—you are. And second, I used your magic to summon it.”
“What do I have to do?” Part of Nicole was freaking out over her responsibility right then, while another part was freaking out over what she would do in the future to earn these roles. How was she the highest-ranking person there? Above Alexander and Chuck?
“Just tell it what you want it to do.” Chuck lowered his voice. “I’d do it fast—the hounds are approaching.”
Nicole tore her eyes away from the monstrosity that stood before her, watching as the hounds took several steps nearer. What were they waiting for? She looked back at the stone golem. “Stop the dogs—don’t let them reach us. Do everything you have to do to protect us.”
The golem turned. Swinging its club, it stepped between Nicole and the others. It leaped toward the advancing dogs, the ground trembling when it landed.
With a massive sweep of its giant club, the golem took out four of the hounds. They flew through the air, slamming against the stone wall of the castle. The fifth hound, though, shifted into a man, and jumped out of reach of the golem at the last moment.
It was Conor. Nicole glared at him. She was tempted to scream obscenities, but refrained from doing so as it would only distract her from helping Chuck.
Chuck must’ve followed her train of thought because his eyes dropped to the effigy in her hand. “Get the fingernails.”
Nicole scrambled, searching for the correct container, and opened it. She heard the sound of stone meeting stone and looked up in time to see the golem shedding several parts of its outer layer, then using its own club to bat that stone away from her and the others.
Chuck also noticed what was going on. “The Arete is taking him apart—we can’t even start the effigy until we take care of the hounds.”
Nicole frowned, wondering what he was referring to. Only one hound was conscious. Then she turned and saw that several more had entered the courtyard. The four that had been hit by the club were still lying on the ground, motionless, but there were at least twenty more coming into view.
Alexander gasped. “They recruited! That’s bad. That’s very bad. It means they’re overcoming political differences and finding common ground.” He looked at Nicole. “I guess the threat of death at the hands of the Fire Arete is common enough ground.”
Nicole felt another tug on her stomach, and the magician drew another invisible box, this one about chest high and smaller. He turned to her. “You find something for Alexander to fight with.”
Nicole stepped up to where Chuck had drawn the box and looked inside. Instead of the stone interior she’d been expecting, a huge room full of magical items greeted her. Her eyes landed on a sword near the back. It was magnificent—long, with an elaborate handle and made of gold and silver metal. She looked back at Alexander. “Can you fight with a sword?”
“Yes, of course.”
She reached into the room, surprised to find that it was much smaller on the inside than it appeared—a sort of shrunken room. She was able to grab the sword without actually going inside. As she pulled it out, it elongated and enlarged, glimmering in the moonlight. She tossed it to Alexander.
He gripped the handle, and the sword began to glow. He turned to face the hounds that were approaching, stepping into a fighting stance.
Nicole looked at Chuck. He nodded his approval.
A ton of stone crumbled to the ground near them, and she glanced up, surprised to see that the golem was much, much smaller now.
Conor—the jerk. He was totally pulling her golem apart! She looked at him and watched as he held his hands out and made a pulling motion. More stone crumbled off the golem and fled to Conor. He flipped his hands, and the stones zipped through the air toward Nicole and the others. The stone golem barely whacked them out of the way on time.
She looked at Chuck. “He can’t control the golem, right?”
Chuck shook his head. “No. Aretes don’t have power over living things. He has access to the outer parts of the golem, but the inner section—the part the golem itself controls—he can’t touch.”
The golem continued to shrink, and Nicole was glad to see that even though it was getting smaller, it seemed be doing okay. In fact, it was much faster now. Probably because it didn’t have as much weight on it.
“Our golem is no match for the Arete,” Chuck said. “The man is just playing with him.”
Nicole glared at Conor. He met her eye, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. The slimy, disgusting creep! Oh, she wanted to hurt him so badly. But Chuck was right—why wasn’t Conor striking when he was obviously so much more powerful than the golem?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chuck whistled another tune, and Nicole felt another tug. A shadow covered the entire courtyard for a moment. Nicole looked up, seeing a massive dragon, bigger than a school bus, land on the taller of the two towers. Before she could do or say anything, a masculine voice entered her head.
I’m here to serve you, little human.
Nicole could sense a sort of distaste in the voice, a deep displeasure at being there.
Realizing that, as with the stone golem, Nicole would need to tell the dragon what to do, she said, “Stop the hounds. Focus on the Aretes.”
The dragon flapped its huge wings, making air whoosh past Nicole and the others.
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nbsp; As you wish.
Flames burst from the huge beast’s mouth, rushing toward Conor. But a massive wave of water flew through the wind and drenched the dragon’s flames.
The dragon growled in anger. He flew up high before flipping around, tucking his wings in, and barreling toward Conor. Apparently, Conor felt the golem was nowhere near as fun to fight as the dragon because he turned his back to the stone golem.
The golem still had plenty to do. Several other hounds rushed to attack it, and Nicole turned her attention back to Conor.
He held out his hands, and a great mass of wind rushed through the air, pulling Nicole several feet toward him. He pushed toward the dragon and the beast spun out of control, slamming into the courtyard several yards away. The dragon flipped up and smacked Conor with his tail, flinging him across the courtyard. Conor was rammed against the stone wall, dropping to the ground. He didn’t get up.
The dragon faced two other hounds—obviously lesser Aretes—and began fighting them.
Hoping that the hounds were being taken care of, Nicole turned her attention to the effigy. It was still in her hand, the containers on the ground around her feet.
Chuck motioned to the containers. “Get the one with fingernails. We have to hurry.”
Nicole picked up the appropriate box, opened it, and glanced at Chuck. “What do I do now?”
“Press the fingernails into the upper part of the forearm.”
Nicole got down, doing as he asked, watching as the fingernails dissolved into the skin. She shuddered. Disgusting.
“Get the toenails. Do the same with them, but push them into the lower section of the forearm. Be sure not to touch the fingers—they don’t need to be messed with.”
Nicole did so. She’d barely finished when something barreled into her, knocking her flat on her back. A hound had somehow made it through the defenses and pinned her to the ground, snapping at her, its large fangs only inches from her face. She pushed, struggling to get out from under it, screaming.
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