Nicole blinked. “Are you serious? What about Coolidge? And why would you want me to go? You’ve made it obvious you can’t stand me.”
“I don’t need to explain my reasons.”
“At least tell us why Lizzie is being included,” Nicole said. “She’s so inexperienced in these sorts of things. I really, really don’t want anything to happen to her.”
Azuriah looked heavenward, but answered her question. “Renforth loves fire, and even though Lizzie is unable to do much with her powers, we’ll need everything on our side.” He turned as if to leave, then said to Jacob, “He’s changed the entrance to his world. Too many people knew about the last one.” He glanced at Nicole. “And I feel the need to warn you—Renforth likes embarrassing his visitors when they come. Don’t wear anything . . . prissy.”
Nicole growled—she couldn’t believe what he was insinuating. “I’m not prissy!”
“Prove it.”
Nicole jumped to her feet. “What’s with you? What did I ever do to you?”
Azuriah leveled a glare at her, but didn’t respond. He finally spun and left the room.
Austin pulled Nicole back into her chair. “Hey, it’s okay,” he whispered.
“Yeah, thanks for standing up for me.” She scowled at Coolidge. “And you too. Above anyone, you two know I’m not some little princess girl.”
“Of course we do,” Coolidge said. “But we know better than to argue with a Shiengol.”
“Are you scared of him? You could take him, Coolidge.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps. But why? We’re on the same side.”
“It definitely didn’t feel like it.” She took a deep breath, pushing it out as hard as she could, then glanced at the others in the room. “I’m sorry. I’ve never had someone rub me that way before.”
Austin smiled at her. “Not even Judith Ann?”
She tilted her head, thinking about the girl who’d competed with her to go on the university-led expedition to Arches National Park. “I don’t know. It might be a tie between them.” She apologized again. “I promise, no more outbursts from me. But can someone explain why he wants just students with him? And why not Jacob?”
“Renforth doesn’t exactly like him,” Arien said. “And Azuriah doesn’t want Mr. Coolidge to go because Mr. Coolidge usually is the leader on expeditions. Azuriah doesn’t want you questioning his authority when someone you already respect and view as a leader is there.”
“I don’t understand why that’s even an issue,” Nicole said. “Azuriah obviously knows his way around this place.”
Arien continued. “It’s also because Renforth will view Mr. Coolidge as a threat, but won’t be able to tell that the three of you are nearly as powerful as your professor. Between you three, all of the elements are represented. If Renforth is game, he may require some sort of elemental demonstration as payment.”
Coolidge nodded. “I wondered if it was something along those lines.”
“But that’s only if he’s in a good mood and willing,” Arien said.
Austin leaned forward, looking at Jacob. “So, what happened last time you guys went through the link to Renforth’s world?”
Jacob grunted. “It was horrible. We had to go into a deep pit, then dive into a mud puddle at the bottom of it. The puddle ended up being a link. When we arrived, we weren’t allowed to clean ourselves off.”
Nicole scoffed. “That’s disgusting.”
“Tell me about it.” Jacob glanced at her. “That’s not the only thing, though. He threw us into prison almost immediately. I nearly died while waiting for him to release us.”
Nicole gasped. “He didn’t feed you? Barbaric!”
“Oh, we had food. I’d exerted myself too much magically, and he didn’t let me do anything to fix it.”
“Ridiculous.” Nicole looked at Dmitri. “So, when do we go?”
“Saturday morning. We’re hoping you’ll be back that evening or the following morning.”
“Do we know what we’ll be expected to do to get to Renforth’s world?” Austin asked.
Dmitri shook his head. “Renforth hasn’t told Azuriah yet. You’ll find out as soon as we know something, though.”
The meeting ended and Jacob took everyone home. Nicole went straight to the living room, where Lizzie was sitting on the couch, feet tucked under her, giggling on the phone. Nicole sat next to her, glad to see her best friend in such good spirits. She hoped she’d still feel that way when she learned she had to go to Renforth’s world.
Lizzie ended the call and looked at Nicole expectantly.
“This can wait,” Nicole said. “Spill. Who was that?”
Lizzie giggled. “His name is Chet. He’s totally awesome.”
“And totally hot too, right?”
“Of course!” Lizzie leaned back against the couch, a content smile on her face. Then she glanced at Nicole. “How’d it go?”
“I met my first Shiengol.”
Lizzie’s eyebrows drew together. “What’s that again?”
“They’re magical human-like creatures. They shoot light beams from their eyes.”
“Totally sci-fi.” Lizzie tilted her head. “You have that look.”
“What look?”
“You’re irritated about something.”
Nicole sighed. She couldn’t hide anything from her best friend. “Yeah, I am. I couldn’t stand him.”
“Him who?”
“Azuriah. The Shiengol. He was a complete jerk. And he singled me out for some reason. I have no idea why.” She pulled her legs up underneath herself, turning to face Lizzie. “But that’s not all. He only wants you, me, and Austin to go with him on this next expedition.”
Lizzie blanched. “Me? Why? Doesn’t he know I hardly do magic at all?”
Nicole shrugged. “He didn’t seem to think it would matter. And Arien, the queen, says it’s because the three of us represent all of the elements. In case Renforth wants a demonstration or something.”
“This isn’t good. I’m really not all that magical!”
“Weren’t you saying you wanted to practice your abilities? Get better?”
“Well, yeah, but not like this—I need a resume first before I have to go do dangerous and difficult tasks!”
Nicole smiled at her. “I haven’t even told you what we’d be doing.”
“You don’t need to for me to know it’ll be dangerous. All of these things are.”
She had a point.
“But sure—tell me where we’re going.”
“We have to find Keitus’s dead body. And apparently, it’s going to be humiliating and embarrassing.”
“And dangerous too, right?”
“I’m not sure about that, actually. Renforth, the guy we’ll be talking to, doesn’t sound dangerous. Just cranky and rude, like Azuriah.”
“You really don’t like this Azuriah guy, do you?”
“Definitely not.”
Lizzie’s phone beeped and she checked her text messages. “Oh, cute. Look what Chet sent me.” She showed Nicole a picture of some hearts Chet had drawn on a piece of paper.
Nicole laughed at Lizzie’s infatuation, then remembered the pictures she herself had taken. She pulled out her phone and navigated to the images of the book from Shonlin, unable to believe she’d forgotten. Once she had them up, she sent them to herself in an email so she could look at them more closely.
“I really should send these to Jacob,” she murmured, looking them over. She couldn’t read the writing and assumed it was the Shiengol language Jacob mentioned.
“Speaking of Jacob, didn’t you say he has the ability to see into the past?”
Nicole nodded, scrolling through the photographs.
“So, doesn’t that mean he’d be able to figure out who our visitor was?”
Nicole looked up at Lizzie. “That’s a fantastic idea. You’re a genius.”
“Oh, I know. Do you have a way to contact him?”
“No—but Austin does.�
�
Twenty minutes later, Nicole, Jacob, Austin, and Lizzie were sitting in the girls’ living room. Nicole smiled—Austin had insisted on being there when Jacob arrived. Nicole wasn’t sure why he was threatened by Jacob, but it was kind of cute.
Jacob’s eyes went out of focus, and he stared at the wall in front of him.
Nicole finished emailing Jacob the images from her phone. “Done.” She shut her laptop and grabbed Austin’s hand.
“Don’t we need to be quiet or something while he’s doing this?” Lizzie asked.
“No,” Austin said, his thumb rubbing circles on Nicole’s hand. “He goes into a sort of daze and can’t hear us.”
While waiting, the three of them speculated about the entrance to Renforth’s world, and fifteen minutes later, Jacob gave a start.
“Okay, got him.” He turned to Lizzie and Nicole. “He’s short, bald. A little portly.”
Nicole frowned. “How did he get into our apartment?”
“He had a key.”
The girls’ eyes met. “Sam?” Lizzie said. “There’s no way he’d lie.”
Nicole glanced at Jacob. “Did you follow him? Find out where he came from?”
He nodded. “He lives in another building in this place.”
“It is Sam,” Nicole said. “But not him—Lizzie’s right. He wouldn’t lie to us.”
“You’re sure?” Austin said. “Do we need to have someone follow him around?”
Nicole’s mouth popped open as a thought occurred to her. “No, I know what’s going on. It was a Croent. He must have taken on Sam’s shape—he knew we’d figure out someone had been in our apartment.” She looked at Jacob. “It’s a confirmation that Keitus knows you’re working with us. He’s covering his tracks.”
Jacob nodded.
“Did he find what he was looking for?” Nicole asked.
“No—he left empty-handed.”
“I hope Sam is okay,” Lizzie said. “I mean, if the Croent went to his apartment—”
“We don’t know it was his apartment,” Nicole said. “I’m going to call him.” She pulled out her phone and dialed his number.
Sam picked up immediately. “What can I do for you, Nicole?”
“Lizzie asked you if you’d been in our apartment last week, right?”
“Yes, and though I’d visited the building, I didn’t go inside your place. Did you find anything out?”
“Yeah, we did.” Nicole explained to him what they’d learned. She knew Sam wouldn’t be confused about monsters and demons from other dimensions. Not after everything that had happened during the summer.
He hesitated. “Well, I did get a call from my sister that ended up not going anywhere—she said she hadn’t been feeling well, but when I got to her place, she was perfectly fine. Couldn’t remember having called me. I stopped by your building on the way home—that’s when I heard the noise. I had to repair a few leaky sinks in other apartments before going back to my place.”
“Okay, thanks. The monster probably just missed you at your own apartment. We’ll let you know when we have more information.” Nicole ended the call and looked at the others. “Keitus is smooth. He made sure Sam wouldn’t be home, then had the Croent move in. He probably didn’t expect us to call Sam and tell him about Croents.” She bit her lips. “But what was he looking for? We don’t have any talismans here—we’ve never had anything magical in our apartment.”
“Aside from your grandfather’s book,” Austin said. “Didn’t it follow you here several times?”
Nicole nodded. “Yes, but it wouldn’t mean anything to him. I don’t think that’s what he’s after.” She sighed. “Well, we’ve got a guard here around the clock. If Keitus tries to have anyone enter our place again, they’ll be stopped, and we’ll find out about it.”
Chapter Five
Nicole, Lizzie, and Austin waited in the castle for Jacob to bring Azuriah. Nicole was not looking forward to spending time with the Shiengol. Too bad it was necessary.
Azuriah stormed through the doorway ahead of Jacob, and Nicole caught sight of a dark, heavy-stoned interior through the link behind him. Fitting for his personality.
“Renforth has finally contacted me,” Azuriah said. “We must head to an industrial factory in Kansas.”
Nicole raised an eyebrow. “Kansas?”
“Yes,” Azuriah said. “Are you going deaf?”
Nicole really had to work hard to ignore him. It helped that Austin grabbed her hand and squeezed. She tried to calm herself down—they hadn’t even begun their trip, and already, she was fighting with the stupid Shiengol.
“Why can’t we have Jacob take us to Renforth’s planet with his magical key?” Lizzie asked.
“Renforth won’t allow it.” Azuriah said, unfolding a map.
Nicole rolled her eyes. No accusations of stupidity this time. It really was Nicole that Azuriah didn’t like.
Once Azuriah had pointed out the place where Jacob would be taking them, he turned to the others. “Follow my lead.” He glanced at their clothing, eyebrow raised. “You probably won’t want to wear those again after tonight.”
Nicole had figured as much. They’d all worn grubby clothes for that reason. She hated that they’d be going to see cranky and opinionated people while dressed so poorly, but that was all part of the “humiliation game” Renforth was apparently playing.
Jacob opened a link, revealing a dirt road and a huge smokestack next to an industrial compound. He shut the door once they’d gone through, and Nicole and the others surveyed the place in front of them.
She wasn’t sure which dimension of earth they were on, but assumed it was Jacob’s, since she couldn’t feel any magical pulses anywhere, apart from hers, Lizzie’s, and Austin’s. It made sense for Jacob to take them to his own dimension.
Azuriah strode across the dirt road, heedless of the trucks passing by. Apparently, the drivers weren’t aware of him either.
“We must already be in the link to Renforth’s world,” Austin said.
Nicole nodded.
The three students followed Azuriah to the smokestack. He opened a door on it, then gestured for them to enter ahead of him.
The smokestack was nothing but a tall, cylindrical brick edifice with a ladder on the inside that led all the way to the top.
“Up you go,” Azuriah said.
Small holes cut into the cement walls here and there allowed a bit of light inside, enough to see that the place was filthy—greasy, grimy. Nicole groaned when her hand slipped off the first rung. This wasn’t going to be fun. Too bad they didn’t have leather gloves or something that would grip through the grime better than skin.
She started climbing first, followed by Lizzie, Austin, then Azuriah.
It wasn’t long before Nicole’s nose started itching from the smell of stale smoke. She refused to touch it for as long as possible, but wasn’t able to hold off forever. After about thirty rungs and what looked like an eternity more to go, she gave up and scratched wherever she itched. Her arms and face were especially irritated.
No one spoke as they climbed, and when they got to something like the seventieth rung, Nicole’s arms, hands, and legs were burning. She breathed heavily, refusing to take a break. Azuriah didn’t need anything else to fuel his complaints about her.
At one point, her feet slipped off and she hung from just her hands. She bit her lip, trying not to cry out in pain, and whimpered instead. She finally regained her footing. How was she going to continue? Her hands were blistered so badly, they had started bleeding—she could see the dark liquid in the dimness.
Nicole glanced down, momentarily blinded when Azuriah looked up. She couldn’t tell how far they’d gone—it was too dark.
Austin grunted. “We nearly there, Nicole?”
Nicole glanced toward the top. “I still can’t see far enough.”
“Of course you can’t,” Azuriah said, wheezing. “You’re not a Shiengol.”
She was glad to hear he was
out of breath too. “How about you use your built-in lighting system so we can see where the top is?”
Azuriah grumbled, but directed his gaze to the ceiling. He must’ve been exhausted not to argue or insult her, and Nicole made an internal note about that. Maybe he was nicer when he was tired.
The top was another fifty feet away.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Lizzie said. “I can’t keep going. My entire body won’t stop shaking.”
Nicole looked down and immediately felt a stab of guilt. Lizzie’s arms were wrapped around the ladder and her hands were a bloody mess. Nicole should have gone slower—should have taken breaks. Lizzie was a dancer and wasn’t as into the outdoors as she and Austin were—she hadn’t had as much time to build up calluses. If it weren’t for Nicole wanting to prove to Azuriah that she wasn’t a wimp, her best friend probably wouldn’t be in such bad shape.
“Let’s take a break,” Nicole said.
“Great idea.” Lizzie rested her face against the rung in front of her.
“Do we have any of that healing stuff?” Nicole asked Azuriah.
“I was wondering when you’d be smart enough to ask.” He hung to the ladder with one arm and grabbed a bag from his back with the other. He pulled out a tube and was about to hand up it to Austin when he paused. “There’s only one problem.”
“What?” Nicole snapped.
“It won’t work unless she sleeps.”
Drat. He was right. Nicole took a deep breath. “What do you want to do, Lizzie?”
“Rest for a bit longer. Then continue.”
Nicole’s stomach churned, thinking about Lizzie’s hands, even though hers weren’t far behind. “Are you sure?”
Lizzie only nodded in response.
“Can we use our magic to make it easier?” Austin asked.
“Are you even able to sense your powers right now?” Azuriah asked.
Nicole shook her head—the farther they’d climbed, the more distant her magic had felt.
“Renforth prohibits the use of magic of any kind to grant access to his world. This is why he wouldn’t allow the boy to key to the planet.”
Nicole knew better than to say anything, but that was the stupidest thing she’d ever heard. Renforth would be very lucky if she didn’t punch him when she saw him.
Conceal, Mosaic Chronicles Book Six Page 9