“Who else would have killed her?” I cried, pounding my fists against my thighs. “Who else had something to gain?”
Malle waved off my outburst. “Don’t get upset with me, child. The spats of paranormals aren’t something I bother to think about.”
“What do you think about?”
She smiled thinly. “Ah, that’s too many questions. I believe I’ve answered enough. Now, it’s your turn. Do you know where the Mirror Arcane is?”
I tried, truly I did, to keep a straight face. This was probably why Trafton thought it was a bad idea for me to see Malle, because there was no way I could hide the fear in my eyes when she looked at me and asked that question. I didn’t have to say a word. She nodded knowingly.
“I thought as much. Don’t worry. Once Vale has her hands on it you won’t even know it’s gone.”
“No!” I cried, unable to keep a handle on my emotions.
Her smile got bigger. I cried out again and again, pounding my fists against my thighs in frustration. My hands started to ache, and then bleed. All the while I stared into her bottomless black eyes.
At first my hands throbbed and I felt blood under my fingernails, but then, all of a sudden, as the black depths of her eyes grew, my hands were hitting something soft. It took me a long time to look down and realize that the blackness I was looking at was my own room at Public and what I was hitting was not my thighs, but the sides of my bed.
Sweat drenched my clothes and my hair was plastered to the side of my face. I threw the covers off, stuffed my feet into a pair of dark blue slippers, grabbed a large cardigan and raced up to the library. Sigil had some questions to answer.
Not bothering with any light, figuring I would just light one of the sconces when I got there, I padded softly up the stairs. Astra was creepy at night. I had asked Lough if there’d been news of Mrs. Swan and he had paled and shook his head.
“No news,” he muttered. “She’s been missing for a long time. Lots of paranormals are missing now and presumed. . . .”
I held my breath.
“Missing,” he finished lamely.
The door to the library gave its now familiar squeak as I pushed it open. I liked the feeling of the rough wood under my hands. Everything else in Astra was of high quality and polished, but for some reason this door into the gates of learning was rough and unfinished, and I liked it that way.
“Who’s there?” a voice cried from the darkness. “I’ll only speak to the elemental. Damn it, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” It was Sigil’s conflicted voice coming from the depths of the stacks.
“Don’t worry,” I called out. “It’s the elemental.”
Sigil lit one of the lanterns for me and came floating out of the darkness. There was always an initial prick of shock when I saw the ghost. He was not solid, he was more like a cloud that, given the right wind conditions, could be blown away. His hat was askew and he had to pause to put his glasses on properly. Even in the dim light I could see that his hands had a slight tremor.
“Proper young ladies are in bed at this time of night,” he scolded me, trying to wipe his not-solid glasses off on his not-solid shirttail. I decided it was simply the motion he found comforting, because his glasses could no longer get more or less dirty.
“When I meet a proper young lady I’ll be sure to tell her,” I said dryly. The library was cold, so I left the door open. The first time I had come to the library I had noticed a piping little stove in one corner, surrounded by plush and sunken chairs that looked so comfortable I’d probably never get up again if I ever sat down in one of them.
“What is it I can help you with?” Sigil said, continuing to scrub maniacally at his glasses.
“Three things,” I explained, ticking each off on a finger. “First, I need a favor. Second, I need to know if you know anything about the death of Grace Lancing. And third, I’m curious to know why you chose to become a ghost instead of passing on. This does not seem fun.” I waved my hand to encompass the dark attic.
“Ah,” he said. “Let’s deal with the favor last. How’s your book supply?” He wandered toward the shelves.
I laughed. My room was now strewn with books. Between that reading and my reading for class I was falling asleep at my desk every night. “Good,” I said curtly.
Sigil bobbed his head several times. “Alright, well just let me know. I’m keeping a pile out for you.” He waved his hand and I saw not one but three piles of books tottering on top of each other. I gave an inward sigh, but out loud I thanked him.
“Grace Lancing murder?” he said. “That’s your mother?”
I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, Malle said she didn’t kill her. I always thought she had.”
“Right, well, maybe it was just one of the hellhounds.” Sigil paused, his eyes growing wide. “Cynthia Malle? The president of Public? The most impressive darkness mage in generations?”
“Yeah, well, you’re behind the times,” I muttered darkly. “She’s half-demon and all evil.”
“Oh,” said Sigil, fluttering his eyelids. “I knew that. I was a professor here once, you know. You could see that she didn’t have a kind bone in her body from a mile away, but that doesn’t change the fact that she was the kind of student that a professor only sees once in his lifetime.”
It was strange to hear Sigil speak of Cynthia Malle back in her student days, when she was nothing more than an ambitious undergraduate. The murder of her family by a wild band of pixies had changed her into what she became later. Or at least, that’s how the story went. According to Lisabelle it was a tipping point. Malle had a lot of darkness, but maybe if her family hadn’t died she would have kept hold of the light. It was what Sip and I worried about for Lisabelle. If something happened to either of us . . . or even Lough or Risper, who knows what Lisabelle would do.
“What did you teach?”
Sigil’s eyes lit up. “I taught advanced pyrotechnics. Fascinating stuff.”
“I have a friend who would like you,” I said, thinking Lisabelle would love to talk to a professor of fire.
Sigil bobbed his head. “If you introduce me I will talk to any friend of yours.”
“Great, so back to Grace Lancing?”
He shook his head. “It didn’t happen long ago, correct?”
“Correct,” I said. Most of the time I tried hard not to think about my mother, but many times when I closed my eyes I saw her smiling. There were too many memories that just jumbled together and made me want to cry, but being here this semester had forced me to confront some of the questions that had nagged at me for years.
“No,” he said, his tone thoughtful. “I’m afraid I do not. I was already here and the library was already closed off. I saw no one.” He sighed and zipped away from me a little. “Are you sure you don’t want more books?”
“I’m sure,” I said grimly. It looked like I’d just have to do more research to confirm Malle’s claim.
“And you said there was something else?” Sigil asked. Around the edges of the covered windows I could see dawn peeking through. If I stayed up here much longer there’d be no point in trying to sleep again, and I hadn’t even seen Keller.
“There are important artifacts in the ballroom,” I said, starting slowly. I hadn’t been sure if I wanted to tell Sigil exactly what Vale would attempt to steal, but in the end I had decided not to. The less anyone knew the better. Besides, his being in the ballroom would be enough. “I was hoping you’d watch over it while I perform in Tactical tonight.”
Of course, that prompted a question about what Tactical was, and I was forced to give a lengthy explanation. Sigil thought it sounded fabulous and found six books for me on the subject.
“You know,” I said, “some people like to learn by doing, not, like, by reading.”
Sigil shook his head. “Never heard of such nonsense. Anyway, I cannot do it. My apologies.”
“Huh?” I said, dumbfounded. I had expected him to say yes without question.
&
nbsp; “Book?” Sigil had gone to the shelves and was now ruffling through large tomes that, judging by the dust clouds he raised up, hadn’t been touched in years.
“NO,” I cried in frustration, “Sigil, you have to help me! The whole school is going to be down at the woods. I can’t leave Astra without knowing that there’s someone here to protect it.”
“Have one of your friends come through the tunnel and protect Astra,” Sigil suggested, busying himself by pretending to sweep dust off a shelf.
I had thought of that. Lough could come through the stream and keep an eye on things, but if the Baxter brothers or Vale found Lough they would kill him. Sigil, on the other hand, was already dead, damage done.
“Please Sigil,” I begged. “Don’t you want to leave the library?”
Sigil gasped as if I’d offended his mother. “Certainly not. Why do you think I chose this?”
When I continued to look shocked, he nodded sagely. “Yes, that’s right. I chose this. I could have gone beyond, but I didn’t. Instead, I am here. I have something I need to do and I’m waiting to do it. I promised.” He stuck out his lower lip and watched me closely.
“Sigil,” I said, my hands involuntarily reaching out to take his shoulders before I remembered that I couldn’t actually touch him. “You’re speaking gibberish.”
“I won’t leave,” he muttered. “The idea is nonsense. I can’t leave. I will not.”
I took a deep breath and ordered my heart rate to slow. “This thing you promised,” I said, and Sigil looked up at me from under his lashes. “Is it happening in the library?”
Sigil pursed his lips. “Maybe.”
“Exactly,” I said. “You don’t know where it’s happening. And when it happens, whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll know. The Astra ballroom isn’t far away. Just spend the evening there. If you have to come back to the library I promise I’ll understand.” I actually had no intention of understanding anything. Sigil had to protect the Mirror Arcane.
Sigil took a deep breath while I stood stock still.
“The Astra ballroom is pretty,” said Sigil thoughtfully. “No books, of course.”
“I’ll bring a book down for you,” I told him. “You can read all night.”
“Unless I have to fight,” said Sigil. “What makes you think I’m any good at it?”
“My friend told me about ghosts,” I said. “Because you’re so rare you’re hard to fight. NO one really knows what to do and you’ve been a ghost for a long time. I’m sure you know lots of tricks.”
If Sigil could have blushed, I congratulated myself that he would be doing so now. “Well,” he muttered modestly. “If you put it like that. Oh, no, this is tomorrow?” he cried, his whole demeanor suddenly changing.
“Yes,” I said, my heart sinking. What now?
“You will return for me this evening? When it is time? I don’t think I’ll go down by myself.”
“I’ll return for you before I leave for Tactical,” I confirmed.
Sigil nodded. “Alright. Go away now. I have lots of reading to do.”
I nearly cried with relief. I should’ve known Sigil would want to read.
“Maybe I will take a book then,” I said, and was rewarded by his beaming smile. He grabbed a book off the massive stack and handed it to me. “Until tonight,” he said. As I left the tower I looked at the title.
“The Secrets of Astra Uncovered: Raging Fire, Falling Water.”
I sighed. Now THIS might be useful.
Chapter Eighteen
I spent the day studying. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but there was no choice, since the professors were overloading us with work this semester. Even Sip, who normally accomplished all her own work and some of Lisabelle’s with a flourish, was drowning under the long list of papers, tests, and reading assignments we were being given.
Professor Korba, the pixie professor, was teaching Decorating 101 and would reluctantly give us such homework assignments as arranging rows of candles using nothing but magic. It was surprisingly hard. Lisabelle had explained that large blasts of magical power, not clearly directed, were easy, but controlling small blasts of that much magic was far more difficult.
I also spent the day wishing I could see Sip and Lisabelle. We still knew nothing of the Ultimate Tactical, but we had been ordered to stay in our dorms all day, so seeing my friends was out. Luckily, Lough decided to pay me a visit.
“Can I see the Mirror?” he asked when he showed up. Unsure what he wanted, I nodded and took him over to the glass case.
“This room is incredible,” he murmured. “The thrones look like someone sat in them just yesterday.”
I nodded happily. “I love this room too.”
“It’s brilliant to hide the Mirror in plain view,” said Lough, examining the glass case.
“I don’t trust it anywhere else,” I explained. “The case can only be opened with a key or the touch of an elemental.”
“Where’s the key?” Lough asked.
Keller had had the key during my first semester at Public, then Mrs. Swan had it after I moved in to Astra. I shrugged. “I hate to think.”
He nodded. “Mrs. Swan is missing and you think the Baxters killed her and took the key?”
“I really hope they didn’t kill her,” I murmured, my chest tightening at the thought. “If they have her maybe they think she’ll be useful for something. Or maybe she’s in hiding because she believes that the Mirror Arcane exists and it’s somewhere in Astra.”
“Do you think the Globe White is somewhere in Aurum?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. The only reason the Mirror is here is probably because all the elementals are gone. But with all the other paranormal types still strong, the Globe could be anywhere.”
“Right,” said Lough, chewing on his lower lip. “Have I told you lately how much I miss you?”
I grinned and gave my friend a hug around his thick shoulders. “Thanks, Lough. We miss you too.”
“I’ll bet Trafton’s having a field day,” said Lough darkly.
My grin got wider. “Whatever do you mean, Lough?”
“I mean Lisabelle, obviously,” said Lough. “By the way, Keller’s gone.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I tried to fight the feeling, but I couldn’t make it go away. “Wh-what?”
“Sorry,” said Lough, seeing my stricken face. “I shouldn’t’ve said it like that. His parents asked him to go back home for a time, so he did, but he told me to give you this.”
He handed me a piece of folded brown paper. Frowning, I took it, but I didn’t want to open it in front of Lough.
“How’s your family?” I said, turning the paper over and over in my hands.
“Good,” he said. “My sister Kair is trying to rally the government to help Public. She’s using me as a good example, arguing that since Vale wouldn’t let me back on campus I’m missing out on a semester’s education.”
“Which means what?” I asked. Lough rolled his eyes. “Technically nothing. Dacer’s been helping me a lot and thinks that with a little ‘creative’ grading he can get me a couple of credits. The whole real life experience bit.”
My dream giver friend shrugged. “I’m going to find a way to watch tonight,” he said. “What’s the point of knowing paranormals who can fly if you don’t take advantage of it?”
“Just be careful,” I said.
Lough scoffed. “I’ve been sneaking into Public all semester.”
“You’re braver than we give you credit for, but Lough?” I put my hands on his forearms. “None of us could live with ourselves if something happened to you, so . . . be careful.”
He smiled and gave me a hug. “Always,” he murmured. “Thanks for caring.”
Before he left he also gave me something from Dacer. It was a large key.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“He said you’d know,” said Lough. “Don’t forget, Caid should arrive Monday. You shouldn’
t have to hang on much longer,” he reminded me before he disappeared.
I stared at the key, puzzled at first. But Lough was right: I did know. It was the key to the Museum of Masks. The cold and ornate metal felt heavy and comforting in my hands as I tucked it away in my pocket. Now all the masks in the Museum would recognize me as the curator of the place, so it would be easier to bring them to life and to use them. Dacer had given me the best weapon he had. He had given me hundreds of them.
After Lough left I unwrapped the gift from Keller. My heart warmed when I saw a pressed silver rose. A sweet and tangy fragrance wafted from it, enveloping me in comfort and warmth, just as Keller had said. One way or another he’d always be there. Fallen angels grew silver roses specially. No one else could. I knew what it meant, because I had always admired them when I saw them in Aurum. It meant: “Miss you.”
It wasn’t as good as having Keller nearby, but I wasn’t going to complain.
I hurried up to the library to get Sigil, praying that he hadn’t chickened out or disappeared. I went as early as I thought was prudent in case I had to argue with him.
It turned out to be just the opposite.
He was dressed for battle. I don’t know where a ghost finds armor, or a helmet, but he had both. He also had a short sword. He reminded me of a nerdy dwarf. Fighting to contain myself, I stifled a laugh. I didn’t want to offend him.
“How do I look?” he asked. I adjusted the helmet so that it didn’t cover his eyes, then beamed at him. “Wonderful.”
“Thank you,” he said, adjusting his grip on the sword. “Come along. Onward and forward, as they say.” He led me out of the tower and down the stairs. He seemed to know where to go, so I let him lead.
Once we were in the ballroom he went right over to one of the long drapes and wrapped himself up in it, only poking his eyes and nose out to talk to me.
“You may go,” he said. “I’ll be fine here.”
“Um, yeah okay,” I said. “I should be back in a few hours.”
“Unless you die,” he reminded me.
Elemental Fire (Paranormal Public Series) Page 15