by John Corwin
We'd stopped him and driven him out.
"It seems your keyword of 'secret passage' didn't work entirely as we'd hope." Ambria sighed. "Do you want to try again?"
I shook my head. "Maybe later." I didn't want to admit how much it drained me to push aside existing nightmares only to awaken new ones. The faces of the dead haunted me night and day, no matter what I did to push them away. I wondered how anyone found peace. How does Kanaan do it?
Max scratched his head. "How is it you have memories of Delectra's that happened after you got her soul shard? I thought you were limited to memories from before then."
"Somehow, the soul shards stayed linked to Victus and Delectra," I said. "Some of the visions I used to have before I lost the shards felt as though they were happening in real time."
Ambria shuddered. "I'm so glad they're gone."
Max grimaced. "Agreed." He looked down at my arcphone. "Well, since that didn't work, let's switch to plan B—Gwyneth."
Relieved to let buried memories lie, I dialed the symbols.
Gwyneth's face flickered onto the screen after several rings. "Conrad, you're alive?" The sound of wind nearly drowned out her voice.
The sight of her pretty caramel face and piercing green eyes stole my voice for a moment. Ambria punched me in the shoulder to knock me from my stupor.
"Yes, still alive." I frowned. "Why do you ask?"
"Rumor was you and your friends died in Colombia after a firefight with some hired wands." Her lips spread into a lovely smile. "I'm so glad to see you're alive."
"Where are you?" Max said. "It sounds like you're in a cave."
"Yes, that's right." Gwyneth panned the camera to show a steep rock face above and below her. The light from the phone drowned in a sea of pitch after only a few feet. She turned the camera back toward her. "I'm on the trail of some rare relics."
"Relics of Jura?" Ambria asked.
"Possibly." Gwyneth's forehead pinched. "So, what's up?"
Max turned my hand and phone toward him. "We want to talk to Underborn."
Ambria turned the phone her way. "We need his help."
"Oh, is that all?" Gwyneth tugged on an orange rope that seemed to be the only thing holding her onto the cliff. "Unless your backs are against the wall, I'd avoid asking him for anything. I agreed to help him on a temporary basis, but his contract had a clause I overlooked and now I'm his little errand girl."
"Are you relic hunting for him?" Ambria asked.
Gwyneth's face filled with regret. "Unfortunately, yes. And if you go to him for a favor, he'll just keep dangling carrots in front of you until you're so deep in debt, you'll owe him for the rest of your life."
I turned the phone back toward me. "I think he and I have a mutual interest in keeping Victus out of power."
"Underborn doesn't think that way," she said. "Unless Victus is bad for business, he doesn't care who's in power."
Ambria jerked my hand toward her face. "Look, we just need to borrow the Map and Key of Jura. We have to get into Arcane University without being detected so we can get into the ingredients room."
"And that's exactly how you'll end up owing Underborn." Gwyneth sighed. "If you want my advice, I'd say use any other means to get what you need without asking Underborn. There are bounty notices plastered everywhere on the Overnet. He knows you're on the run and desperate. Don't for a moment think he won't take advantage of that."
"Is he really that okay with Victus taking over?" I couldn't hide the disgust in my voice. "My father won't be good for business. I can guarantee you that."
"You can't guarantee it, Conrad." Gwyneth groaned. "God, now I know how my mom felt when she tried to talk me out of doing something stupid. Look, I wish I could make you believe me, but I guess you'll have to find out for yourself. If you really want to contact him, I'll point you in the right direction, but don't hold me responsible if you sign away your lives."
Deep in my gut, I knew she was right. Unless Victus posed an immediate threat, Underborn wouldn't lift a finger to interfere. In fact, he might offer help to my father just so he could gain favor. It wasn't that Underborn was evil. If anything, he was a chaotic neutral, dealing with direct threats to himself as necessary while taking advantage of everyone else. Given our present situation, we couldn't hope that he'd be generous enough to loan us the map and key without plenty of strings attached. The only reason I'd had a somewhat beneficial arrangement with him the last time was because the Heart of Jura had been in a place only I could safely reach—the Glimmer.
On the other hand, I knew of a relic he might be interested in. "What if I offered him the Dagger of Jura?"
Gwyneth's eyebrows rose. "The dagger of invisibility?"
"Yes. Plinth used it to reach the Glimmer." I arched my brow. "It's still there and only I can get it." I didn't mention that the Glimmer was still closed off to me.
Her lips formed a line. "I'd leave it there for now, Conrad."
My mouth dropped open at her disinterest. "Why?"
"Because someone else is aggressively searching for all the relics of Jura." Gwyneth shook her head slowly. "I mean, there's always been competition to retrieve valuable artifacts, but this is unlike anything I've seen."
Ambria crossed her arms. "Explain."
Gwyneth tested her rope and looked down before answering. "You've heard of the Reliquisti Order, right?"
"Heard of them, yes," I said.
"Think of it like an honor organization for great relic hunters." She turned her wrist toward the camera to reveal a tiny, but ornately drawn R tattooed on the skin. The edges seemed to hover slightly off the skin like a three-dimensional image. "I was inducted because I found the Lost Room of Jura."
"Is that an automatic in?" Ambria asked.
"Finding an exceptionally rare artifact in the wild usually is," Gwyneth said. "The rules are simple: Don't steal from other Reliquisti. All bets are off if several hunters are after the same relic."
Max frowned. "Where are you going with this?"
"Three major relic hunting organizations, all of whom are members of the Reliquisti, have been robbed blind of everything relating to Jura." Gwyneth paused as if to let that sink in. "That has never happened before."
"I assume they had good security," Ambria said.
"The best." Gwyneth bit her lower lip. "Whoever is doing this is the best thief I've never heard of. Even Underborn wouldn't dare steal from members of the Reliquisti, and he's not even a member."
Max's eyes brightened. "Hey, do you still have the Lost Room?"
"Not with me, no." Gwyneth shrugged. "Underborn locked away all his relics until we find out who's behind the thefts."
Max groaned. "He didn't even give you the map or key to use?"
Gwyneth shook her head. "No, he's not letting them out of his sight. I'm afraid that no matter what you offer him, he won't let you borrow anything."
"We can't beg, borrow, or steal our way into that ingredients room," Max groaned.
Once again, we were stuck.
Chapter 5
I was about to end the call when Gwyneth's eyes brightened. "Underborn did give me this." She tugged on a silver chain around her neck and pulled a U-shaped ornament from beneath her shirt.
"He certainly doesn't have an eye for art," Ambria said. "I could've made you something nicer out of bottle caps and paper clips."
Gwyneth chuckled. "It's not an ornament, it's a mini arch."
"A mini arch?" Max scratched his head. "You couldn't even fit a mouse through that thing."
"It expands to full size and can take me to any arch with the matching symbol." She turned it to the side to display a tiny Cyrinthian symbol.
I'd seen the same symbol engraved on an arch in the control room at El Dorado and in the one at Queens Gate. "Do all control rooms have arches with the same symbol?"
She nodded. "You have to focus on the symbol for the specific waystation for it to work. I have several memorized."
Ambria tilted her
head slightly. "Are you offering the use of your mini arch?"
Gwyneth tilted her head to the side. "You said you need to get into Arcane University, right?"
Ambria smiled. "Yes."
"I can get you into the control room at Queens Gate." Gwyneth held up a finger as if an idea just occurred to her. "And, I can get you through the secret passage Underborn installed in the control room so you can bypass the main entrance altogether. Once you're in, you can take the mini arch and use it to get back to the control room."
"Great idea!" Max said.
I held up a hand. "Why bother with secret entrances? If we can get into a control room, we'll just use an omniarch to portal wherever we need."
Max slapped his forehead. "Duh, why didn't I think of that?"
Ambria clapped her hands. "We could portal straight into the ingredients room!"
"Do you remember what it looks like inside?" Max said.
She nodded. "Vividly."
I couldn't stop from grinning. "This is going to be a lot easier than I thought."
"Oh god." Gwyneth sighed. "You just jinxed it, Conrad."
Ambria and Max laughed.
"Um, I hate to ask you this, but when can you help us?" I waved a finger at her background, not that she could tell. "I mean, you're on a mission."
"I'm another hour from the bottom of the crevice," Gwyneth said. "Once I'm there, I have to navigate a few puzzles and traps to reach the relic, provided I'm even in the right place." She took out a palm-sized glowball and lit it. A single loud ping echoed and numbers appeared above the glowing orb. Gwyneth turned the camera to show the darkness below. Her hand released the glowball and it fell, pinging every so often until it vanished.
The camera turned back to Gwyneth. She held a hand to her ear, listening to the pings. "Make that an hour and a half."
"I do hope you don't die," Ambria said, "because we really need your help."
Max grimaced. "What awful phrasing."
I turned the phone back to me. "So, we'll hopefully see you in a few hours? A day?"
"Three hours if this is the wrong place, or tomorrow morning if this is the right place." She flashed a grin. "I'd better get going."
I imagined the traps and pitfalls that might await her. "Please be careful."
"And do let us know if you run into delays," Ambria said.
"Good luck!" Max shouted.
"Thank you." Gwyneth's image flickered off.
"I certainly hope she doesn't die," Ambria said.
Max pursed his lips. "Why don't we use the Dagger of Jura to complete our pantry raid? Invisibility would be perfect."
"We'd have to get into Queens Gate, onto the university campus, and into the Glimmer," I said. "Unless Evadora happens to be visiting the Fairy Gardens, we have no way of getting past the rift guardians." I shrugged. "Besides, from what Plinth told me about the dagger, every second you hold that thing is agonizing." I already felt agonized enough that I couldn't expect help from Evadora or Cora.
"Like you're being stabbed over and over." Ambria shuddered. "I don't think I could walk all the way across campus feeling like someone is murdering me."
"Yeah, but maybe Percival could make some painkillers. Then we wouldn't feel a thing!" Max looked back and forth at us as if waiting for congratulations on his great idea.
"It's a cursed relic, Max." Ambria rolled her eyes. "The pain probably cuts right through painkillers."
"Besides, we won't even need it since we can portal into the ingredients room." I paused as terrible thoughts swirled in my head. "Provided Gwyneth doesn't die on her quest."
"If she doesn't come through, we're gonna need a backup plan." Max stood and brushed off his pants. "Every minute we're stuck here is a minute Ivy could be blowing up our enemies." He turned and stalked back toward the house.
I closed my eyes and let a gentle breeze wash over me, a futile attempt to untie the knots in my gut. A warm body pressed against me, arms wrapped sideways around my shoulders. The vice around my chest loosened and my insides seemed to unwind.
"Are you okay, Conrad?" Ambria asked.
I nodded without opening my eyes. "I'm worried about Gwyneth. I'm worried about Nightliss, Ivy, and the others. I'm worried about Victus's monster army and his evil plans." I opened my eyes and looked up at the stars. "It's not like I can do anything to stop him right now."
"That's true." Her breath against my ear raised the hairs on my neck, but in a good way.
It reminded me of the first hug she'd given me after our escape from the orphanage. How good it felt then and now to have a true friend. "Thank you for always being there for me," I said.
Ambria leaned her head on my shoulder. "It's difficult, but I try."
I chuckled. "True."
She squeezed my hand. "I can tell you're still upset about Cora closing you out of the Glimmer. Would it help to talk about it?"
Evadora had come to me not long after I'd brought Cora back to life and taken back my necklace with the anchor stone. She told me Cora needed to concentrate on restoring her powers and regaining control of the Glimmer. Apparently, my visits were too much of a distraction. I wondered if the immortality aura from the anchor stone had already drained emotion from her and caused her not to care or if it was something else.
My heart hung heavy just from thinking about it. "I loved Cora so much, and she loved me. I just don't understand how she could go from being my mom to being a complete stranger."
"Coming back to life and losing her memories had that effect." Ambria sandwiched my hand between hers. "I just know that any day now she'll remember everything."
"Every day in the Glimmer erases emotions and humanity." The weight in my chest felt almost unbearable at the thought of losing Cora forever. "Even if she remembers, she won't be able to care or love." I pulled my hand free and stood up, unwilling and unable to keep talking about this. "Let's go inside and eat."
Ambria looked up at me with big eyes. "I'm sorry, Conrad. I didn't mean to—"
My phone rang. I frowned and whipped it out of my pocket. Lily. Why is she calling? I answered and her face appeared on the screen.
"Conrad!" Lily slumped with relief. "I just wanted to make sure you all were okay."
"Yes, we're fine for now." I saw a bookshelf behind her. "Where are you?"
"My dorm room." She turned the camera in a circle to show a room packed with books and parchment, then returned it to her face. "I don't know how much longer I'll be in school, though."
Ambria got up and put her cheek next to mine so she could appear on Lily's screen. "Why's that?"
"Grint and Quiff have totally taken over the curriculum." She threw up a hand. "They've practically thrown out all the normal books and replaced them with ones they call the New Ordinated Standard—that's capitalized, by the way."
"Are the professors okay with that?" Ambria asked.
"Several quit, but they've already been replaced." Lily's shoulder's slumped. "There's no sign of the Overlord, but I have a feeling he's pulling the strings around here."
"So he hasn't publicly declared himself a ruler." I didn't get my hopes up. He could comfortably control his puppets without ever coming out of the dark.
"I believe your father learned that sometimes it's easier to control the government from the shadows than by proclaiming yourself the dictator." Lily's lips pressed together. "Security is heavy everywhere, and the perimeter of the Dark Forest is blocked off. I haven't been back long, but I've seen enough to know that things are changing for the worst."
Ambria scowled. "Victus probably closed off the perimeter to build his monster army."
"A monster army?" Lily's eyes grew wide.
I told her what I'd seen. "The university is too dangerous. You should probably leave."
Her lips pressed together. "Or maybe you need me here more than ever."
I thought about telling her to leave again, but what if she could help? "Did anyone wonder why you and Baxter were gone for so long? Did any
one say anything about Harris?"
"Oh, Baxter didn't stick around. He left school and I haven't heard from him since." Lily sighed. "I faked an excuse note from my parents explaining that I came down with aetheritis and it took me a month to overcome it."
"What's aetheritis?" Ambria asked.
"It's an extreme version of magic poisoning," Lily said. "There's no cure for it except for plenty of rest and no magic." She smiled. "Quiff didn't even seem suspicious."
I frowned. "Why did you give the excuse note to Quiff?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Winona Lutz, the Minister of Education, assigned Quiff as the new headmaster of Arcane University." She rolled her eyes. "It's ridiculous."
Ambria's forehead pinched. "Did they say anything about Harris?"
"No, I haven't heard even a whisper about it." Tears formed in Lily's eyes. "I'm sure Quiff and Grint know Victus killed him, but they're keeping it a secret."
"Without a body, it's not like they could say he accidentally died either." Ambria shivered. "It's so morbid. I can't bear to think about it."
"Quiff put recruitment posters all over campus," Lily said. "They're starting a Young Arcanes League."
"What in the world is that?" Ambria asked.
Lily made a face. "It claims to be self-defense training to protect Arcanes from vampires, lycans, and other undesirables, but it's obviously an indoctrination tool. Xander Tiberius is supposed to give a speech tomorrow about a new adult organization called Arcanes First."
I blew out a breath. "I don't like the sound of that at all."
"It's just the start." Lily looked over her shoulder toward the door. "People are showing their true colors. I don't even trust my roommate anymore."
"What do you mean?" Ambria asked.
"A bunch of students are really happy about the changes. They say it's time to get rid of the undesirables." Lily's forehead pinched. "All sorts of terrible things happened while I was gone. A group of shifter students was attacked by Arcane students a week ago. Most shifter kids have already left the school, and vampires are fleeing Queens Gate."
"It's just going to keep getting worse," Ambria said. "Be careful."