Assassin of Truths Read online

  “My face is going to be scarred.”

  “No scar could ever hide your beauty.” His smile returned, and though he’d only smiled a minute ago, it was as though it was my first time seeing it, and my heart lifted in my chest. He pressed his lips against mine. It was a gentle, careful kiss. “You’re so hot.”

  “You probably say that to all the injured girls you know.” I laughed, then winced at the pain stabbing my ribs, reminding me that Veronique had punched me there.

  A worried look crossed his face. “Your fever comes and goes. I’ll have Emily give you something for it.”

  “No. Please stay.” The tears I’d been holding back rushed from my eyes and down my temples. “I’m scared.”

  I wiped my eyes with the tissue he’d tugged out of the box on the nightstand. He slipped off his shoes, and I moved over for him. The bed squeaked as he sat on the mattress and leaned against the pillows.

  He removed a book with a green linen cover from the paper bag.

  “I thought I’d read a familiar book to you,” he said. “Perhaps it’ll free you from your thoughts.”

  I noticed the book before I read the gold lettering: The Secret Garden. By the cover, I could tell it was a first edition. His thoughtfulness made the corners of my mouth lift.

  He grinned, and there was a tilt to his lips. “Come here.”

  I scooted closer and rested my head on his chest. He wrapped an arm around me, his nearness so comforting. I’d missed him. I’d missed his eyes that watched me as if he were memorizing every one of my expressions. Most of all, I missed the tiny moments with Bastien where he’d really listen to me, no matter what silly or bizarre thing I said.

  “You’ll have to help turn the pages,” Bastien said.

  I flipped them over and stopped on the first chapter.

  He began, “When Mary Lennox was…”

  Each word he read was like a soothing lullaby. His fingers continually combed my hair, calming me. I could listen to him read for an eternity. The world fell away, and there was only us getting lost in a story we both loved.

  I’d look up at him now and then, admiring how the lamp by the bed lit up his beautiful face. A piece of his dark hair fell across his forehead, and a crinkle formed between his eyebrows as he read. It was cute how he changed his voice to represent different characters.

  By the end of chapter three, my head kept bobbing as I struggled to stay awake. He closed the book and placed it on the nightstand. “I think it’s time you slept,” he said.

  “I don’t want you to go.”

  He adjusted onto his side, facing me, and took my hand in his. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Our heads rested against each other.

  “Better?” he whispered.

  “Much.” I squeezed his hand with what little energy I had. “I killed them. Veronique. Those Sentinels. They’re all dead.” Tears pooled in my eyes, and my lip shook. He wiped my tears away with his thumb.

  “You were defending yourself,” he reasoned, parroting the words I’d repeated to myself. But no amount of reasoning could make me forget their deaths. The attack replayed in my head like a slasher movie.

  “My globe,” I said. “It’s fragile now. Like glass. When I throw it, the sphere grows and shatters against whatever or whoever it hits. It cuts people.”

  “That’s curious.” His breath brushed my cheek. “It must have happened when you tossed one at the trap door to save Gian and me. When you are well, we could have one of our professors of magical sciences examine your globe.”

  “That doesn’t sound very appealing,” I said. “I don’t want to be someone’s specimen.”

  “We can talk about this later.” He kissed my forehead. “You should rest.”

  His body so close to mine reminded me of the many cold nights we had spent trapped in the Somnium together. He felt safe. The rhythm of his breathing and the hint of his cologne eased me gently into a deep sleep. Nothing played in my mind, no nightmarish images, no replay of Veronique’s death. Nothing.

  …

  Light tickled my eyelashes, and the smell of autumn came in from the window. They lie to you. Seek The Red. He knows… I opened my eyes. Veronique’s voice sounded as if it came from inside the room. I sat up against the pillows.

  It had been five days since the fight in the New York Public Library. Five days since I’d killed Veronique. And two days since Bastien left in the middle of the night while I slept. I almost thought he was an illusion, but Emily had assured me it wasn’t a dream.

  Bastien had risked his safety to visit me, and I wished he could’ve stayed, but his haven, the wizard realm of Couve, needed him. He would’ve accessed the haven through an entry within the Senate Library of France in Paris. There’d been several attacks in that library lately, and I worried about his safety.

  The door opened, and Emily came in. “Good morning. I came for your breakfast order. What do you feel like having today?”

  “I’ll come down and eat.” I flung my legs over the side. My scabs and bruises were healing fast due to Nana’s magical gunk, and the puncture wound in my shoulder only ached when I raised my arm.

  Emily picked up my robe and handed it to me. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She dug into the front pocket of her jeans and handed me Carrig’s watch. “I managed to get all the blood off it.”

  “Thank you,” I said, putting it on, relieved to have it back.

  “You talk in your sleep, you know that?”

  I shot her a startled look. “What did you hear?”

  “Everything. How Veronique died. What she said. That you have to find The Red.” Her almost black hair was longer than I’d remembered it. With her pronounced widow’s peak, her pasty white face still looked like a heart. One of her dark eyebrows shot up. “You don’t remember any of this, do you?”

  Do I? No. I shook my head.

  She sat on the bed beside me. “I think we have to go find that Red person.”

  “The Red? We? Oh, hell no, you’re not going with me.” What was I saying? I wasn’t going, either. Maybe if I hid out at Nana’s house, the apocalypse would blow over without me. Besides, I had all the Chiavi.

  The Chiavi. I sprang to my feet and plopped right back down, my ribs screaming at me. “Where’s my bag?”

  “Right there,” she said, pointing at my messenger bag on the high-back chair in the corner.

  “Not that. The velvet one.”

  She grinned and crossed the area rug to the closet. “You don’t think I’d leave the Chiavi just lying around the room, do you? I hid it.” She reached inside, pushed against the wooden panel lining the back wall, and a section popped open. She dragged the velvet bag out and brought it over to me.

  I undid the tie and placed the Chiavi and the ancient spell book onto the comforter, then lined them up. My fingers brushed over the crown and continued over the sword, telescope, cross, and scroll.

  Emily sat on the foot of the bed, facing me. “They’re beautiful. Nana said they have individual powers.”

  “Yeah, they do. I just have to figure out how to use them.” I slipped out of the bed.

  “Where are you going?” Emily bounced to her feet. “Nana said you have to rest.”

  “I’m fine. I just need my bag.” I shuffled over to the chair, grabbed it, and rejoined her on the bed. My trench coat was balled up on top and I took it out. I retrieved the hourglass, badge, Gian’s journal, and the leather canister and placed them on the mattress beside the other Chiavi. Before I touched the ancient spell book, I stopped, as though touching it would give me a curse.

  Emily flipped through the ancient spell book. “This is in Latin. And look how old these pages are. I’m surprised they’re not crumbling in my hand.”

  A strange scent, like licorice, escaped the leather case as I tugged the cap off. I tipped the cylinder over and two vials landed on the comforter. One was empty, and the other had a thick black liquid in it.

  “That’s a strange smell,” Emily said
.

  “Yeah, I think it’s from the stuff inside that one.” I carefully removed the slip of parchment stuck inside the cylinder and unrolled it. The handwriting was familiar—the script matched the one in Gian’s journal. The paper crinkled as I flattened it on the comforter.

  Emily turned another page in the spell book and studied it. “I can’t read any of this.” She waved her hand above the book and chanted, “Ad mutare anglicus.” She then ran her finger across the sentences as she skimmed the page. “That’s better.”

  “What did you do?” I asked.

  “I’m using a spell to transcribe the words to English,” she said. “So, what does the note say?”

  I read it aloud.

  To my heir,

  On a page a bit past the halfway mark within a book bearing my name, within the house of books in the city of my birth, you shall find the entry into a mountainous, frozen land. The Four sleeps under the tallest peak, but be careful, for traps will deter your journey to finding the creature you seek.

  The Chiavi, I have transformed into items, magical ones. Use them to get through the traps blocking your way. Find the etched clues to know which to use. Once through, change the Chiavi to their original forms by commanding, modificare. You will be left with seven rods. There are seven matching holes in the door holding the beast. Before inserting each rod into the door, recite, accendere, and the rods will glow. Once all rods are in the prison door, use the charm, rilascio, to open the door. Whoever opens the door will then control the beast.

  The moment the door opens, the chosen one must drink the spell. Mix the blood from the heirs of the seven original wizards with the potion I have included in the canister. The mixture was concocted by Mykyl to create the beast. If mixed correctly with the blood of the heirs, the liquid will turn golden. The donors must be the closest living heir. Consuming the spell will change the chosen one to match the Four. For only the purest heir can consume them all and defeat the Tetrad. Make haste for the spell will end quickly, and the Seventh Heir will be lost.

  Heir to heir, blood to blood, lies the cure.

  Trust your wit. Trust the inner voice. For it was all determined before your birth.

  May Saint Agnes guide you on your journey.

  Gian

  Mykyl. He was Athela’s father and the High Wizard of Esteril. The creator of the Tetrad. Conemar had used his recipe and Mystik creatures to create a new species, the Writhes. They were now deformed and scary creatures with sharp teeth, able to contort their bodies. I shuddered at the thought of them. Conemar had them attack me in the Mafra library, and I barely survived it.

  Emily’s eyes shifted from the page in the ancient book she was staring at to the parchment. “Chosen one? Purest heir? Who’s that?”

  Her questions made me wonder if I should have read that out loud. Nana’s elixir was fogging my judgment.

  I glanced at her, not completely sure if telling her about Royston was a good idea. After all, Conemar once controlled Emily. But Nana trusted her, and Emily had come to my rescue after Veronique tried to kill me.

  “It’s the one who will destroy the Tetrad.”

  “The what?”

  “It’s a monster created centuries ago as a weapon. It can control all the elements and destroy both worlds.” I decided she didn’t need to know that Royston was the chosen one. My fingers felt foreign as I carefully rolled up the parchment.

  “That’s creepy.” Her attention returned to the ancient spell book. “This is so cool. There are so many spells I haven’t seen in Nana’s books.” She looked over at me. “A page was ripped out.”

  “Yeah, it had a shielding spell on it.” I lowered the collar of my pajama top, revealing the crescent scar on my chest. “Nana used it to brand the spell into my skin. It prevents the Monitors from seeing me jump through the gateway books.”

  Something banged against the window, startling us and causing Emily to drop the book to the floor.

  Neither Emily nor I moved from our places on the bed. Another bang came from the window.

  Emily started. “What is that?”

  “I don’t know.” After grasping the Chiave sword, I pushed myself up from the bed. “Put everything in the bag and get in the closet.”

  Chapter Five

  Emily scrambled around retrieving all the Chiavi and books, and she’d barely finished when I reached the other side of the room. I waited for her to close the closet door behind her before peering through the opening between the curtains.

  “Afton?” I pushed open the curtains at the same time she was about to bang on the glass again.

  She jumped back, tripping over a garden stone and landing on some purple aster flowers. Her big eyes found mine, and she pointed to the front door.

  “Why didn’t you ring the doorbell?” I asked, as if she could hear me through the thick glass.

  Emily pushed open the closet. “Because it’s broken.”

  I dropped the Chiave on the bed and headed for the hallway.

  “Oh no,” Emily said. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

  “I feel fine.”

  “Nope,” she bit back. “I’m not getting in trouble for letting you walk around. I don’t want to cross Nana. She can be scary.”

  “Her? She’s easy.”

  Emily frowned. “I doubt that. Now get back in bed.” She nodded toward the bed before leaving me.

  Not too long after, the front door opened and shut. Afton’s excited words were muffled against the walls, but I knew that tone. Something was wrong. Like, way wrong. I slipped out of bed and struggled to change into my gear.

  The bedroom door flew open, and Afton rushed in with Emily on her heels.

  “We have to leave now—” Afton stopped when she noticed I was slipping on my cargos. “Oh good, you’re getting dressed.”

  “What’s going on?” I pulled my T-shirt over my head, wincing at the pain in my shoulder.

  Afton paced the carpet. “I don’t know. Nana said to head here and get you out. I think the whereabouts of this hideout has been compromised.”

  I struggled to get my foot into my boot. Emily knelt down and pushed the left one on, then the right.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, fumbling with the straps. Every movement caused pain to shoot through my wounds. My muscles felt petrified from being in bed so long.

  Afton’s eyes darted from me to the door. “We’re to meet someone at the Boston Athenæum. I’m not sure who because I lost service, and Nana didn’t answer when I called back.” She crossed over to the window and peeked through the opening of the curtains.

  “Is Nana okay?”

  “She’s fine,” Afton said, keeping her post at the window, rocking from foot to foot and wringing her hands.

  The strap to my boot kept slipping out of the buckle. I heaved a long sigh before asking, “What’s Nana up to? She’s not in Seattle. Do you know where she went?”

  “Okay, I lied,” Emily said. “She told me not to tell you. The Wizard Council has been enforcing more and more restrictions on the covens. Nana went to the Mystik League meeting in Eelsteed.”

  Restrictions? The covens were home to the many different creatures in the Mystik world. I’d thought Nana and I were beyond lies now. She’d promised never to keep secrets from me again.

  “Why would the council do that?” I lost hold of the strap again.

  “She didn’t say.” Emily brushed my hand aside and secured each buckle for me.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  Emily straightened and wiped her hands on her jeans. “No problem. Now let’s get out of here before any uninvited guests show up.” She gathered the ancient spell book, and Gian’s journal and canister, and shoved them into my messenger bag. The sword wouldn’t fit in there with the other Chiavi, and she frowned at it.

  “I’ll wear it.” I fastened my empty scabbard around my waist and slid the Chiave in.

  There was a sound like hoofs hitting the cobblestone sidewalk outside.

>   I put on my trench coat and tightened the belt, tying it in a knot.

  “Too late.” Afton turned from the window, panic shocking her words. “Duck!”

  I dropped down to the floor beside Emily at the same time Afton dove onto the carpet. The window exploded, sending shards of glass shooting through the room and raining down on us. The pain from my wounds almost stopped me, but I clenched my teeth and hobbled up. With a flick of my wrist, I created my battle globe and threw it.

  A flaming ball soared from my hand and grew in size before hitting a creature, half bull and half man, climbing through the window.

  I glanced down at my hand. What the hell?

  My globe had changed again.

  A Laniar, a creature that looked more greyhound than human, leaped into the room, baring her teeth and readying to pounce. Her dark eyes burned like coals against her pallid skin. The look on her face was fierce and determined. I created another globe, and it was cold in my palm. The sight of it caused me to pause. It wasn’t mine. This one was white as snow.

  The Laniar charged, and I hurled the globe at her. It exploded against her body and ice crackled across her skin until she was completely frozen.

  Emily pulled on my arm, my messenger bag slung over her shoulder. “Come on!” she shouted. “This way.”

  Afton followed us into the hall. “How did you create those globes?”

  “I-I don’t know.” My voice didn’t sound like my own. How did I do that? What’s happening to me?

  Emily opened the basement door. “We can’t hide down there,” I said. “We’ll be sitting ducks. Let’s go out the back.”

  “No. This is the way.” Emily pounded down the stairs with me on her heels and Afton on mine. She wove through the moving boxes stacked around the room and over to an old-looking furnace, the kind used as a gateway to hell in scary movies. It dominated most of the back wall and looked as if it hadn’t been used for centuries. She pushed on one of the bricks in the wall beside it. The furnace swung out, revealing an opening into a dark tunnel.

  I created a light globe. “Where does it lead?”

  Emily entered the tunnel. “I don’t know. Nana said to use it in an emergency. We’re to follow it to the end.”