Black blood dripped from the shallow cut, and Dinga covered it with his other arm. Dinga’s eyes widened, filled with so much sorrow. He opened his mouth, closed it.
I dropped to my knees, my hands over my face. What had I done? Anger rippled through me, and my breath came in ragged hitches. I was mad at Dinga for stepping in front of him. Sebastian didn’t deserve this mercy.
Dinga stepped aside, and I saw what he was protecting. Curled in Sebastian’s fist was a glint of metal. From between his fingers poked the corner of a bronze wing.
The key.
How had he taken it?
I touched a finger to my lips. His last words to me.
I’m sorry, Alayna, but this is how it was meant to be.
When he had kissed me, he had reached behind my head, where the key had been tied safely. I figured it had fallen out on the rack in my tremors of pain.
Pain.
Sebastian.
He must have felt all of it, through our mysterious Zespar bond, just as I had when Edwin’s shot tore through his shoulder.
Dinga’s claw was soft on my shoulder. “Mistress,” his whispered, barely audible, “master did not betray us.”
I stood and ripped the bottom hem of my baggy shirt, wrapping it around Dinga’s wound, tying it off. I rounded the corner of the bed. Where my back was scratched from the wood rack, Sebastian had fresh bruises. Black and purple hues covered the raised scars on his back. Mingled with some of the bruises were fresh wounds, dried blood frozen as a reminder they were only a few hours old.
He groaned and rolled over.
I felt the phantom pain rip across my back, and I fell to my knees again. I scrambled around the other side of the bed and retrieved the dagger. I had no way to know if he woke up, what state he would be in.
When at last I fought to stand, I touched my stomach, where the burning pain finally subsided. Looking at Sebastian, I knew where it had some from.
A symbol, akin to a cursive capital “D” with a curled tail encircling his side, had been burned into Sebastian’s lower chest.
Dinga, gripping his wounded arm, inched closer. “The mark of the Keeper,” he whispered. “I heard tales of it in the village. How cruel of a master he is, mistress.”
I nodded, but I couldn’t look away.
Oh, Sebastian, my heart cried, what did you to do to keep our secret safe?
His eyelids fluttered, and I took a step back. But where could we go?
I didn’t take any chances. I pressed the dagger close to his throat, careful not to touch it. If he should wake, he’d know not to make any sudden movements. Knowing that should he make a mistake and it would tear my own skin, I braced for the pain I’d cause us both.
Dinga stepped back as Sebastian’s eyes flew open and he struggled to sit up. His neck almost connected with the dagger, but looking wildly to me, he fell back into the mattress. “Alayna,” he whispered. “What are you doing here?”
His voice, warm like honey, washed over me, and almost made me sheath the dagger. I adjusted my grip and held firm. “I could ask you the same, Sebastian.”
His eyes flitted to me. “Surely you don’t intend on using that.”
“She already has” Dinga lied, surprising even me. “Edwin and Victor were slain in Edwin’s chambers.”
I glanced at Dinga, who took no credit for his efforts, and half smiled. “If you value your life,” I whispered to Sebastian, wiping the smile off my face, “you won’t move. And don’t call out for your precious Keeper’s guards, because it won’t end well for you.” The words tasted like bile in my mouth, and I wanted to spit. This wasn’t me. This wasn’t the scared girl that came to this world. It was as if someone else had taken control of my thoughts, my actions.
Sebastian gulped, his eyes wide with fear, but he remained silent.
He was still a traitor. I couldn’t deny it, not yet.
I nudged Dinga with my hip and nodded to him. With his free hand he reached out and snatched the key from Sebastian’s loose hand and backed up a few feet.
Sebastian struggled again, but my dagger was firm. “Alayna, I—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” I hissed at him, again worried where my harshness had come from. “Get up.”
I held the dagger to him as he threw his legs out the side of the bed. Across the room, Dinga, still clutching the key, was throwing open the door to the wardrobe. He grabbed a shirt and a pair of boots and tossed them across the polished wooden floor.
Holding the dagger firmly and not taking my eyes from him, I fumbled for the clothes. I tossed them to him.
Dinga jumped on the bed, his tiny knife out, pressed lightly to Sebastian’s back.
“Put these on,” I said. “Do you feel that?”
Sebastian nodded.
“Dinga will make sure you don’t make a mistake.”
I watched as Sebastian pulled the shirt over his head, nearly as baggy as my own, and pulled on the boots. Wisely, he waited.
“Now,” I demonstrated for him to stand, “Dinga is going to open the door,” I nodded to Dinga, “and you’re going to blast the knight with a ball of light. Got it?”
Sebastian just nodded. He stood, and I followed him with the dagger at the small of his back. Dinga hopped down to the door, his claw closed around the handle. Sebastian swirled his palms together, the light erupting from between them. The familiar crackle filled the room.
“Now, Dinga!” I hissed.
He flung the door open, and the knight’s silver back stood against it. The knight tried to turn, his hand on the hilt of his sword, but Sebastian was too fast as he released his electricity. The knight fell to the ground, convulsing for a minute before falling unconscious.
Before I could prod Sebastian forward, he swiveled and wrenched the dagger from my hand. It fell to the floor, and Dinga dove for it, narrowly missing as Sebastian kicked it toward the bed.
I dove for it, but Sebastian’s grip on my arm stopped me.
“I asked you once if you trusted me,” he offered. “I have no right to ask again, but yet I must.”
“I don’t trust you,” I nearly screamed in his face. “Let go of me!”
“I promise I will explain everything, but first we need to get this body out of sight.”
“Mistress!” Dinga hissed at us, “he’s right, we cannot move such a heavy biggie!”
I nodded slowly, still wary, but at least he was unarmed, since his light attack took a few seconds to build. Dinga, Sebastian, and I hauled the knight into the room, and Dinga shut the door.
“On the bed,” I motioned.
Dinga and I had the heavy feet and Sebastian gripped his unconscious shoulders we hoisted him onto the bed and shut the bed curtains, hiding him from view.
Sebastian backed up a few steps, his hands in front of him, palm out.
“I never meant to hurt you, Alayna. Please, I’m on your side.”
My fist balled at my side, and I backed up where I had seen the dagger fly. “That’s not what you said to me!”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You left me there to die!”
Sebastian came toward me, his hands lightly gripping my upper arms, causing me to lower the dagger. “Did you feel it? Did you feel the pain when the Keeper marked me?”
I shook my head. I had, but I wouldn’t admit it to him.
“I know you felt it, Alayna! When he burned this into me!” He dropped his hand, circling the hidden scars under his shirt. “I did this for you, for Elestra! I had to make him think I was one of his!”
“You did what?”
“I took this brand on my chest, I swore my allegiance to him, all to make him think I was on his side!”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do I know that’s the truth?”
“Mistress, I think he’s telling the truth,” Dinga was beside the door now, keeping watch over the hallway. “Why else would he possess this?” He flashed the key my direction and then tucked it away in his fist.<
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Sebastian waved his hand at Dinga. “See? I knew if he tortured you, he’d find the key, and I saw you hide it in your hair back at Bailia’s. I couldn’t let both fall into the Keeper’s hands!”
I sighed, still brandishing my dagger. “Why should I trust you?”
“It’s me, it’s Sebastian.”
“I barely know you!”
He thought about that. “I know you like sweet tea and playing rock, paper, scissors, and you love kids and when you’re nervous you crane your neck to one side then the other. And sometimes you play with the hem of your shirt, just picking at it, like there are invisible threads. And – this one is very important – you love math, and the color purple, even though you won’t admit it.”
I gaped at him. I didn’t know what to say. Purple? He’d noticed in my apartment, I figured. But the other things? He was right about all of them.
“I know another thing, too.”
“What’s that?” I asked cautiously.
“You love your mother.”
“I don’t—”
“And what to rescue her,” he interrupted. “Plus, you need me.”
I scoffed. I didn’t want to admit he was right about my mother. “How? I got this far after all.”
“Well, for starters, I know a few secrets about this place. And Edwin took me to the clock face.”
I lowered the dagger, wincing as he said that traitor’s name. “You’ve—you’ve seen it? Is it alive, as he insisted?”
“Aye, it is, he was telling the truth about that, at least. It’s sealed shut. We have to get to it, Alayna, we have to figure out what’s behind it.”
I nodded, but I was still wary. “Why did you just leave me to die, Sebastian? How could you?”
“Okay, I admit I panicked, and the deepest regret has filled me, leaving you there. Victor told us if we ever got caught, we had to pretend to side with the enemy, it was the only way to escape,” his voice was strained. “I meant to escape and rescue you, which I see you obviously don’t need at this point.”
“Well, you’re lucky I got free,” I smirked.
Sebastian reached out and took my hand. “I felt every moment of pain, Alayna. The last two days have been torture for me as well. Edwin thought I was ill, but I didn’t want him to know the truth. I couldn’t eat nor sleep, feeling all the pain you felt. At times, I wanted to die. I felt like I was drowning, and my limbs were being ripped from my body. I can’t imagine what they did to you.”
I could feel my eyes brimming with tears. I wiped a hand across my face. Visions of Edwin, his tongue burned out, suffering at the end of his father’s blade, filled my mind. Did he die innocent? “So, Edwin, was he pretending too?”
“Oh, I’m afraid he was actually a traitor to the cause.”
“How do you know?”
Sebastian shrugged. “He seemed very zealous. He hung on the Keeper’s every word, as if his words dripped gold.” Sebastian’s hand went to his chest, and I felt the burn there, as he did. “He bragged about the branding, a great honor, he said.”
“The Keeper cut his tongue out.”
Sebastian gasped. “No, what would have possessed him to do such a thing?”
“Dead men tell no tales,” Dinga whispered from the doorway.
Sebastian turned to him. “Come again?”
I chewed my bottom lip. How could I tell him? “He’s dead, by Victor’s hand.” I studied my hands as I said it.
“What?” Sebastian froze in front of me. I finally looked up at him. “Victor, he just—” He trailed off, just shaking his head. His face grew paler than normal. Then he blinked at me, his eyes wide. “Wait, did you say Victor? He’s here?” Sebastian rushed to the door and looked both ways as much as he dared. “He can help us—”
“He was, but Dinga – he took care of Victor. You should have seen him.”
“Dinga?” Sebastian looked between us.
“That’s right, Master, don’t mess with the Zespar,” Dinga beamed at him. “Dinga just sliced and dice that knight and he fell by my blade. I’m sorry, Master Sebastian, but he was trying to hurt the Mistress. What was Dinga to do?”
I tried to smile, Dinga’s fierce loyalty was so welcome, yet I felt so undeserved.
At first, Sebastian’s eyes narrowed, his mouth gaped open. His look of pure horror was back. He sighed and turned to Dinga. “I don’t know how you did it, but you kept her safe. And that’s all that matters. The time for mourning my uncle will come later.” He patted Dinga on the head. “You’re a good fellow, Dinga.”
Dinga pushed his hand away. “Why do you Biggies insist on doing that? It’s very—” He fell silent, as we heard the clank in the hallway. Slinking to the wall as only the little demon could, he peeked into the hallway. “Mistress,” he hissed, “we have trouble a-coming our way.”
Sebastian looked at me. “Toss me the dagger.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “No way! You’ll use it against me and I don’t—”
“Alayna, there’s—”
Voices sounded from the hallway: “Hey! That door is open, and I hear something!”
Sebastian pleaded with me, beckoning with his hands. “There’s no time!”
I looked at Dinga, holding his blade in his uninjured arm, and then to Sebastian. I tossed Sebastian the dagger.
He caught it deftly, and reached over Dinga, slamming the door shut. He drew the sliding lock on the inside and picked up Dinga from around the waist. “Follow me.”
He went to the wardrobe and set Dinga down. He threw open the left-hand door and reached inside, sliding clothes out of the way. From behind him, I could see a small wooden panel, carefully concealed to blend in with the back. He used the tip of the dagger to pry the panel open, quickly sheathed it and slid it in his pants behind him. He then pushed in three buttons quickly, revealing a pitch-black hole. It had metal paneling, a clearly manmade escape.
“Get in!”
Heavy gauntlets pounded on the door. “Master Sebastian, are you all right, sir?”
“Now!” Sebastian hissed. Louder, he shouted over his shoulder, “One minute, while I don proper attire!”
I glanced at Dinga, who looked from me, to Sebastian.
“Go!” Sebastian whispered even more urgently, “I’ll follow.”
“Could be a trap,” Dinga muttered.
“It’s better than those knights.” I climbed in and Dinga scrambled after me.
I followed reluctantly. Sebastian handed me the dagger. “Trust me,” he whispered, and pulled the wardrobe with all his might. The seamless door slid shut, plunging Dinga and I into darkness.
Sebastian’s voice was faint on the other side. He must have crossed to the door.
A knight’s voice was loud, I assumed from the open door. “Master, our apologies, but we heard voices.”
My breath caught in my throat. What if he gave us away? I heard Dinga slip his blade away and felt him clutch my hand. I squeezed, trying to reassure him it would be okay.
“Aye, I was asleep,” Sebastian offered from the other side of the door. “The Keeper gave me leave to gain my rest before we destroy the rebellion.”
Another voice, then. “Have you seen a girl, Master? The Keeper informed us she has escaped the dungeon. She bears resemblance to the queen.”
“No, I’m sorry, I haven’t,” Sebastian answered.
I heard the clank of their fists hitting breastplates. “Sorry to disturb you, master,” they both announced almost in unison.
“Wait, I inquire once more,” Sebastian said after a moment.
I sucked in another breath. Dinga was trembling next to me.
“What are the Keeper’s orders once she is found?”
Another pause. Then the first spoke up, “We are to take her to the Keeper alive,” his voice lower than earlier, “but after that we know not.”
I bit my lip. Please protect me, Sebastian. You swore you would. Did I make a mistake trusting you?
“Well then, get about
your business and find her. I will prepare to see the Keeper and discover how I may assist with her capture.”
I exhaled, but the danger wasn’t over yet. I reached for the dagger Sebastian had thrown in after us and gripped it with one hand. The blade shook in my head.
Finally, the door to the room shut with a faint click.
I heard Sebastian’s boots on the floor, getting closer to the wardrobe. He paused for a moment, and I feared he would turn and call out for the knight. Oh, please, Sebastian.
The wardrobe door opened, then we could hear him rustling around in there. Footsteps across the room, then approached closer.
“What does he do, mistress?” Dinga whispered.
“Shh,” I whispered.
Then, I could hear the wardrobe moving, scraping across the floor. The door slid open in front of me, and Sebastian’s face appeared.
I scrambled towards him and fell into his arms. “Oh, Sebastian,” was all I could make myself say. “You didn’t betray us.”
“Once was hard enough, I will never let anyone hurt you, ever again.”
He brushed the tangled hair out of my face and captured my mouth with his. We’d kissed before, light pecks here and there, but nothing like this. Oh, nothing like this. Sebastian was sweet, warm, delicate, delivering a kiss that reminded me why I’d left everything behind to come to this world. It was a moment that made me recall even though I wasn’t their hero, I was still part of our little team that would fight until we couldn’t fight anymore, not until the children were free and the Keeper was gone.
In the dim light of the tunnel, I could see Dinga smiling when we parted.
“Not a word from you,” I cautioned him.
“About time,” the demon muttered.
“Dinga!” Sebastian and I exclaimed at the same time. The little demon just grinned at us.
“What? Dinga say nothing!”
I rolled my eyes and I’m sure Sebastian did the same.
“Where will we go?” I asked Sebastian.
He looped his arm around my waist. “Back to my workshop of course.” I couldn’t see his smile in the darkness, but I knew it was there.
I gladly followed him.
Clock City Page 23