by E. Latimer
Then who…?
She glanced down at the picture, at her mother’s face, at the queen’s. The Noise seemed to grow impossibly loud in her ears.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
The poster on the other side of the picture caught Emma’s eye, and she froze.
The picture was different.
Instead of sitting up straight on her throne, the photo version of Alexandria was leaning forward slightly. Her smile had changed too, her lips now parted to bare her teeth in a snarl. And her eyes…that’s what really froze Emma’s blood. The queen’s black-eyed gaze was now focused.
The Noise seemed to echo around the room, filling Emma’s ears, taking over her thoughts. She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from the poster.
The queen was staring right out of the picture, directly at Emma.
“Emma? What is it?” Maddie was saying. “You look—”
The queen in the picture blinked.
Emma shrieked, reacting instinctively by chucking the picture away from her. The pocketbook hit the ground with a thump and lay spread open, picture facing the ceiling. A stream of black smoke snaked up from the queen’s photo, and Emma stumbled back.
The smoke didn’t evaporate. Instead it grew, so rapidly the children barely had time to move. They scrambled away as the shadowy column shot up, towering over them.
Maddie shrieked, and Edgar’s strangled cry of “It’s her!” sent a stab of paralyzing fear through Emma. She opened her mouth to scream, and a hand shot out of the cloud, long, pale fingers covered in silver rings. The hand seized her throat and dragged her into the heavy smoke. She coughed, lungs burning, her throat stinging. She could hear Edgar’s voice from somewhere in front of her, high and panicked, and Eliza and Maddie’s screams.
Her head was spinning. The smoke and the hand around her throat were choking the life out of her, and darkness crowded in, thick and impenetrable, until it was all she could see.
Emma! Emma!”
Someone grabbed her elbow, yanking her out of the black cloud, though she couldn’t see who it was through her streaming eyes. Her throat felt tight and coated with dust, and she doubled over, coughing hard, light bursting in front of her eyes.
“Emma, are you alright?”
“It was her,” Eliza said. “You fell, and when Maddie and I went to help you, the queen took him!”
“What?” Emma stood up straight, so fast the room swayed alarmingly, and she coughed again, bracing a hand on the back of the armchair. She blinked rapidly, trying desperately to clear her head. “I don’t…I don’t understand. How…?” She didn’t seem to be able to string words together properly. Her heart was beating so fast, in her throat and her wrists, her blood rushing in her ears. The room kept spinning in circles.
“Are you okay? I think you inhaled a lot of smoke.” Maddie edged forward, grabbing her arm, and then hesitated, waiting for her. “We’ve got to tell Lenore, okay? Can you walk?”
“What happened?” Emma looked around. One of the shelves had been knocked over, and crystals sparkled between chunks of shattered glass spread across the floorboards.
The picture frame lay in the center of everything. The poster had shriveled into ashes, and there were scorch marks on the floor.
“She came through that.” Eliza’s voice shook. “It was magic. Emma, she took Edgar.”
Emma looked around the room, heart sinking. Eliza was right; there was no Edgar. Only more shelves full of boxes and crystals, aisles of charms.
Heart in her throat, she crept forward, unsure if it was safe to touch the picture frame. She wrapped the end of her sleeve around her hand, using it to press the frame flat onto the ground. There was only a blackened, empty silhouette where the queen had been.
“You say she came through this.” Her voice was hollow in her own ears, and very shaky. “How did she do that, unless…”
The words seemed to die on her tongue as it occurred to her—the posters in London, mandatory, hanging on every doorway, in every shop window.
Semper Vigilo.
She’s always watching.
Horror twisted in Emma’s stomach, and she looked down at the burnt poster. This is why she’d felt watched every step of the journey. This is why she kept hearing the heartbeat. “I thought it was McCraw, but it was her this whole time. She’s been using the posters, and she was with us the entire way. She used us to get here…”
“That dratted nursemaid,” Eliza said, her voice tight with anger. “Edgar’s Georgie—she slipped him the poster.”
“I can’t believe the queen’s a witch.” Maddie shook her head. “She’s been hunting us down, and she’s actively a witch. What an absolute hypocrite.”
“We have to take this to Lenore,” Emma said. “Lenore will know what to do, how to get Edgar back.”
There was another beat of silence, and Emma realized they were both waiting for her. She shook herself and took a breath, turning for the exit. Her hands were shaking, but she clenched her teeth and marched for the door.
They had to get Edgar back.
They moved out onto the porch and were immediately met by the distant, brassy clanging of bells and a great thumping of footsteps as Gerty charged up the stairs toward them, her face red.
“Good…yes,” she gasped, clearly winded. “Your aunt sent me to get you. The queen…she just showed up in the center of the square, as open as you please!”
“We know!” Emma barreled past her, and Gerty straightened up with a surprised squawk.
“Wait, where are you going?”
Emma was halfway down the stairs already, with Maddie and Eliza following close on her heels. “I’ve got to tell Lenore. She’s got Edgar.”
“Wait, what?” Gerty stumbled down the stairs after them, still red-faced and puffing. Her hat had been knocked back off her forehead and was barely hanging on. “Wait! You can’t! Lenore’s already gone.”
Emma halted at the bottom of the stairs, whirling on Gerty, who flinched. “Gone where?”
“The queen’s vanished, so Lenore went into the In-Between to find her.”
“They don’t know where she is?” Maddie demanded.
“No.” Gerty’s round face was pale now, and Emma noticed her hands were trembling as she wound her fingers into the fabric of her dress. “But the queen…she stole one of the keys from the fountain. And now she’s sure to go back through the In-Between, she’s bringing it back to London…” Her voice trailed off, and she flinched, as if she couldn’t quite manage to spit out what came next.
“So…,” Emma said slowly, “if she brings it back to London…”
She realized, with a slowly dawning horror, what came next. “She’ll have access,” she said. And when Eliza and Maddie turned to look at her, she shook her head, dread building in the pit of her stomach. “If she goes back, she’ll expose all of us. Witch City isn’t hidden anymore.”
If she’s leaving the city, then why take Edgar?”
Emma was pacing back and forth over the creaking floorboards of the library. It felt like her insides were itching, like they were too big for her skin. She couldn’t stop moving. She wanted to do something, but Gerty had stationed herself by the front door, after telling them in no uncertain terms that Lenore had requested they stay put and wait for her here.
“Well, Edgar is her son,” Maddie said slowly.
Emma whirled on her, and Maddie blinked, alarmed. “Did she say anything before she took him? Tell me exactly how it happened.”
Maddie hesitated, exchanging a look with Eliza, who shook her head, looking just as worried. “I-I’m not sure exactly. It all happened so fast, and I was running for you because you’d just been dragged into the smoke and you were coughing and choking. I thought you might be really hurt and…I didn’t even look up until she was already dragging him out the door.” She shuddered
. “She doesn’t look that strong—she’s so pale and skinny—but she took him.”
Emma resumed her pacing. “I don’t understand. She obviously got what she wanted. She’s free in Witch City, so why take him with her?”
She was in the midst of turning back to Maddie and Eliza when a flash of black from outside the window caught her eye. She skidded to a halt, boots sliding on the floorboards.
“What was that?”
“What was what?” Gerty poked her head in the doorway, looking nervous as Emma headed for the window. “Where are you going? Your aunt will have my head—”
“There!” Emma leaned forward, nearly pressing her cheek to the windowpane. There was another flurry of movement against the darkening sky, high above the city.
Ravens.
“It’s them.” She whirled around, excitement coursing through her. “It’s his birds!”
Maddie and Eliza both rushed for the window, and Gerty followed. For a moment they stood there gaping as the sky slowly filled with ravens.
“Mercy!” Gerty sounded impressed, and a little frightened. “That Edgar’s a powerful witch.”
“Yes,” Emma said grimly, glancing over at Maddie and Eliza. She could see the realization on their faces too. This wasn’t good. “And you know what this means, don’t you?”
Maddie nodded slowly, still staring out at the birds, eyes wide. “He’s out there.”
“He’s still in the city,” Eliza said in a low voice.
Emma bit her lip. “And so is she.”
“We have to rescue him,” Maddie said urgently, looking over at Gerty. “She’s close. She’s probably in this neighborhood, even.”
“You don’t know that.” Gerty’s eye twitched, and she shook her head wildly, her gaze darting out over the street. “In any case, we’re to stay here, safe in the library. I’m sure Lenore will take care of it.”
“She’s got our friend.” Eliza took a step forward, frowning when Gerty stepped in front of her, hands on her hips.
“I’m afraid Lenore was very clear about you lot staying here.”
“She doesn’t know how close he is though,” Emma protested, frustration making her tone sharp. “He could be right down the street!”
“You honestly think you children are the only people who can see those birds out there? This is a city full of highly trained witches!”
Emma sighed. She knew Gerty was right—if there was ever a city that could take care of itself, it would be a city full of witches, but still…there was simply no way she was going to sit here waiting while Edgar was out there with that horrible woman.
They needed a plan.
Gerty moved back to her position on the porch, in front of the door, hands on her hips, and Emma exchanged a pointed look with Eliza and Maddie. In return, Eliza raised a brow, and Maddie gave a subtle nod. Both were such tiny movements that no one else would have picked up on them, but Emma knew they had all come to the same conclusion. They were simply going to have to go around the obstacle.
“You three just…go back and sit by the fire or something.” Gerty frowned at them. “Don’t think you can slip past me.” Arms folded, she set her back to the door.
Emma made her way toward the back of library, glancing once more out the window in the door to make sure Gerty wasn’t suspicious. The older witch was now staring up at the flocking ravens, her hat tipped back on her head.
“Quick, this way.” Emma slipped into the shelves, heading past the 5 percent category, 10 and then 15, before stopping at the 20 percent section, and finding the Flying category.
Emma opened the box, nodding at the others. “Pick one.”
Eliza’s eyes widened and she quickly snatched up the Jumping crystal. Maddie only hesitated a moment before picking Bouncing and Emma hovered between Wishing and Floating for a bare second, before opening the box and selecting the Floating crystal.
She still had a chain on from earlier, but she pulled another two off the hook for Eliza and Maddie, who both snapped their crystals into place, faces expectant.
As with the lecture notes, the magic took a moment to kick in.
Maddie was the first. After a minute her brows shot up. “Oh! Oh, I can feel it! I think I just have to…” Her forehead crinkled, and she bent her knees and jumped. Instead of coming back down, Maddie shot up toward the ceiling with a shriek of delight.
“Hush, Mads.” Emma glanced toward the door, nervous. Thankfully, the flock of ravens overhead had only grown larger, and Gerty was still staring up into the sky.
Eliza had jumped up and down several times on the spot, experimentally, and was now frowning down at her crystal. “I can feel something, but why isn’t it working?”
“Yours is jumping, right?” Emma glanced around. “Maybe you have to jump off something?”
“Oh, right. Hold on.”
While Eliza made her way up one of the sliding ladders, Emma clicked her own charm into place. At first nothing happened, which she’d been expecting, but after a few seconds a feeling of warmth washed over her, and the crystal warmed against her skin. And then she felt it, a feeling of lightness. It was almost like buoyancy, like she was in water, still standing, but able to float if she needed to.
She rose up onto her toes ever so carefully, pushing off a little.
Instantly, she floated a few inches into the air, her feet dangling above the ground. She gave an involuntary cry of delight. Kicking her feet propelled her upward, and when she tipped her torso forward the magic seemed to respond with another wave of warmth before sending her gliding smoothly ahead.
Just behind her, Maddie was slowly floating back to the ground, her face delighted.
“Alright,” Eliza said, and Emma turned just in time to see her leap from the center rung of the ladder, arms outstretched. Emma winced, but Eliza didn’t hit the ground. Just like Maddie when she’d pushed off, Eliza continued on a straight path through the air, one fist thrust out.
She glided forward, moving smoothly between the shelves, her face breaking into a delighted smile.
“I’m doing it! Oh!” Eliza’s other arm shot out as she approached the door, fingers splayed. “Oh. Um, I’m not sure how to stop!”
Thankfully, the door was slightly ajar, so instead of running into it, Eliza went through it. Not so lucky for Gerty, as she was standing very close, and when the door crashed open it struck the back of the poor woman and knocked her forward and off the stoop.
“I’m sorry!” Eliza cried as she shot past.
“Eliza!” Maddie’s eyes were wide, and she hit the ground and lifted off once more, this time angling for the door. “Eliza, wait for us.”
“At least she’s heading the right way.” Emma pushed off again, moving for the open door right behind Maddie. Outside, she breathed in the evening air and the scent of bonfires.
It was the perfect night for flying, and even better for rescuing a friend.
She zipped right overtop of Gerty, several feet above her in the air, just as Gerty was scrambling to her feet, cursing, and snatching her hat off the ground.
“We’re sorry!” she shouted down. “We’re going to find our friend!”
The flight down the street was nerve-wracking, not just because all three of them were still learning to control the path of their flight—though that was certainly a factor—but also because the sky was full of ravens, who often swooped down around them as they went by. Whenever Emma looked up, it was to see black birds arrowing past above her. The sky was full of more ravens than she’d ever seen before.
“This is far more than in the In-Between.” Maddie, currently floating down from another jump, had to raise her voice above the noise in order to be heard.
“Yes, and now we have to follow them.” Eliza didn’t look happy about it, but she at least seemed to be getting the hang of her flying power, steering h
erself in the right direction.
“We don’t have a choice,” Emma said.
The streets were crowded, which turned out to be rather good cover, as the girls blended in with the other witches in the air. Emma was just thinking that they might get away with this when she heard a sharp cry of outrage, and they turned to see Gerty barreling after them, waving her hat in the air. “You lot get back here! And give those crystals back. You don’t even have a library card!” She ducked with a frightened screech as one of the ravens plummeted toward her, nearly flying into the side of her head.
A moment later, Emma and the others were also forced to undertake a mid-air dodge, as another raven swooped down. There was a sharp crack on the stones just to Emma’s left, and several witches still in the air above her shrieked, dodging more ravens as they flew by.
Hands over her head, she glanced up to see one of the large black birds winging away over the buildings. There were still ravens zipping by overhead, but none of them looked as if they were about to dive again, and Emma let out a breath and dipped down carefully, trying to see what had fallen out of the sky and hit the stones. It took a few minutes of experimentation, but eventually she figured out that if she put her legs together and pointed her toes, she could lower her feet to the cobblestones.
There was a statue lying on the ground, and Emma clapped her hand over her mouth, recognizing the smooth stone shape of a cat.
A key. One of the ravens had dropped a key at their feet.
“Oh.” She looked up again, squinting into the dark sky, where she could make out the shadowy shapes of birds flying far overhead. Sure enough, many of them seemed to have something clutched in their talons.
“The keys,” she gasped out. “They’re taking the keys.”
Gerty was staring up into the sky too, her face full of horror. “The keys! Oh my lord, they’ve got the keys.” The next second, Gerty was in motion. Shoving her hat down firmly over her ears, she dashed forward, seizing Emma by the shoulders. “You stay here, do you understand me? I have to go warn the council that they’ve got all the keys.”