Assassin of Truths Read online

  “Why are you here? What aren’t you telling me?” I pushed myself away from the counter and walked over to him. “You’re keeping something from me.”

  He lowered his head. “While I was gone, our hideout was attacked.”

  It felt like everything collapsed around me. “What? Where is everyone?”

  Arik’s hesitation scared me.

  “Was anyone hurt?” Tears burned the back of my eyes as I searched his eyes for answers.

  He bit his bottom lip and lowered his head.

  Oh no.

  “Are they dead?”

  Chapter Seven

  The suspense was killing me. “Arik, please, what happened?”

  Nana startled me when she came up to my side and wrapped her arm around my back. She was preparing me for what Arik said next.

  “The night Veronique attacked you,” he said, “Lei and Jaran went missing. I searched, but there wasn’t any sign of them. It was as if they’d vanished. There was nothing for me to do, so I returned to the hideout.” He grabbed the back of his neck, his pause warning that he was about to hit me with more bad news.

  “Deidre and Demos were unharmed,” he continued. “Cadby had escaped with Royston. They’re all in Asile.” He dropped his hand, his eyes finding Nana’s as if to ask permission to continue.

  “And Carrig? Sinead?” I pressed.

  “Those who attacked us took Carrig,” he finally said. “I’m not sure who they were. They wore cloaks, and it was night. Sinead must’ve gotten hurt during the fight. She’s in the infirmary here.”

  After catching Emily’s gaze, I shifted my eyes to my messenger bag, indicating that she should watch over it.

  She nodded slightly.

  “Take me to Sinead.” I spotted a nearby door and marched over to it.

  He followed me. “Gia, you need to let her rest.”

  “I have to see her.” I opened the first door I came to. It was a supply closet. “Arik, please.”

  “All right,” he said. “Follow me.”

  I shut the closet door. If she died, or if they killed Carrig, I wasn’t sure I could survive the blow of losing them.

  Arik opened a door in the back and held it for me to pass. I had expected a small room, but instead it was an enormous area with three galleries surrounding the main floor. There were about twenty rows of beds filled with patients on the first floor and several more on the balconies above. There had to be more than a hundred Fey and other Mystiks in them.

  “What’s wrong with them?” I slowed my steps, glancing from one bed to the next, searching for Sinead.

  Arik put on a surgical mask and handed me one. “Here. Don’t touch anything. It’s a disease that’s spreading through the Mystik world.”

  I took it from him and secured it over my mouth and nose. “Where is Sinead?”

  “Third floor. Isolated from those with the illness.”

  I slid a glance at him. His worried face scared me. The fear in his beautiful brown eyes mirrored my own.

  “She’s that bad?”

  “She’s in a faery sleep,” he said, darting looks at me. “She’ll be all right. I’m worried about Carrig. And, of course, not knowing Lei’s or Jaran’s whereabouts is maddening. There is all manner of evil out there. The human news channels are full of reports. Attacks on humans. Creatures roaming their streets. We must end it.”

  His words strangled the hope out of me. I couldn’t bear it if something horrible had happened to Carrig, to Lei, to Jaran.

  “Are you all right?” Arik’s voice seemed like it was miles away.

  “I’m fine. Where’s Sinead?”

  He nodded in the direction of the main row. “That way.”

  I kept pace with Arik down the aisle, my eyes roaming over the row of beds.

  The faces of the sick struck me as I passed each one. A faery with sores around her mouth, blanket pulled up to her chin, stared at the towering ceiling. A bird person, breathing heavily, missing feathers to the point that he was balding, mumbled what sounded like a prayer to himself. A curer pulled a sheet over the face of a Laniar. I only caught a glimpse of him, but blood from his sores had streaked his chin, and his dark eyes were glazed over, lifeless.

  Each face took a bite out of my soul. The linen mask sucked in and out with my stuttering breath. I staggered alongside Arik, walking on numb legs.

  Someone had to do something to save them all.

  Down the row, Afton sat on a stool beside one of the beds. She blocked the face of the child under the covers. I detoured down the row toward her.

  The sound of Arik’s boots hitting the floor followed me. “Where are you going?”

  “Afton?” I approached her.

  She twisted on the stool to look at me. A linen mask covered her nose and mouth, surgical gloves were on her hands, and her hair was pulled back in rows of braids. Just over her shoulder, I could see the boy’s face.

  Dag.

  I stumbled back, and my hand flew to my mouth.

  Afton shot up to her feet, blocking the boy’s view of me. “Don’t frighten him,” she whispered.

  “Will he be okay?” I whispered back.

  She didn’t answer—the tears welling in her eyes told me it all. He might not make it.

  I sucked in my emotions and forced a smile behind my mask before going over to the bed. A sore had formed at the corner of his mouth. His almost-black hair stuck to his sweaty forehead. I reached out to brush it away, but Afton caught my hand with her gloved one.

  “Don’t touch him,” she said. “You could catch it.”

  I dropped my hands and leaned over him. “Hello, Dag,” I said.

  His eyes fluttered open.

  “Why can’t I be with Peyton and Knox?” His voice was scratchy and quiet, his words ripping my heart into pieces like an unwanted note.

  I hesitated, not sure how to answer him, not wanting to lie.

  “Once you’re better, you can see them,” Afton answered for me.

  “I have to go,” I said. “But I’ll be back later, okay? Is there anything you want?”

  “Do they have ice cream here?”

  “I’ll see.” I gave him one last smile before returning to Arik.

  It was as if the world collapsed on me, the weight of it unbearable, suffocating. “Take me to Sinead,” I said, trying to compose myself.

  Arik led me down the aisle, up two flights of stairs, and stopped at a glass partition. A willowy girl with doe eyes and hair so shiny it was like an iridescent oil slick opened the door. The gemstone piercings lining her pointy ears glinted in the light.

  “We’re here to see the patient,” Arik said.

  The girl nodded before opening the door then closing it behind us. We stopped at another partition and waited for her to let us through. Six beds lined the walls in this part of the infirmary, but only one was in use. A cocoon-shaped apparatus made of glass covered Sinead. She looked peaceful in her sleep. My emotions were still so raw from seeing all the sick people, from seeing poor little Dag, that I almost didn’t notice the new set of tears burning my eyes.

  I placed a shaky hand on the barrier, wanting desperately to hold hers. “Has she spoken to anyone?”

  Arik crossed his arms in front of him and shook his head. “No. She was unconscious when we found her in the barn. She’s in a faery sleep. The curers have done all they can for her. It is now up to her to do the rest.”

  I turned away and wiped the tears now falling from my eyelashes. “How do we get her out of it?”

  “We can’t.” He lowered his head as if he feared I would see something in his eyes.

  “What are you hiding from me?”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “I know you better than most. We’re battle partners. Tell me.” I swiped away tears still lingering on my lids. “Tell me, Arik.”

  His face lifted, his eyes capturing mine. “When Sinead married Carrig, their lives became tethered together. She can’t live without him, but he can live wi
thout her. Since she isn’t dead and is in this state, we believe Carrig is still alive.”

  There was a silver thread in the midst of all the sadness. “So there’s hope,” I said, my gaze going to Sinead.

  “By the state Sinead is in, Carrig is barely holding on to life.”

  And the world collapsed again. I rested my forehead against the glass and closed my eyes.

  Carrig is strong. He’ll be okay. He has to be okay.

  I couldn’t fall apart. Carrig and the others needed me. I took several deep breaths, releasing them slowly, then turned to face him. “What are we going to do now?”

  “Return to Asile,” he said. “Not straightaway. You need some rest.”

  I nodded, too tired to speak.

  “We need a break from all this despair,” he said. “Shall we get some air?” The sincerity in his voice softened his accent. It was soothing and held strength, even though I was sure he was hurting inside just as much as I was.

  Arik had always been strong; I’d rarely seen him weak. It seemed so long ago we’d bumped into each other at the Boston Athenæum. So long ago that we were more than just sparring partners. So long since we’d shared intimate words, and he’d been the only star in my dark universe. I held on to hope that we could be true friends, not just cordial.

  I walked beside Arik in silence down a long hallway. The glass walls and metal fixtures were cold and unwelcoming. When we exited a door and ended up in the lush outdoors of the Fey realm, it was a completely different feeling. It was warm and colorful, with floral smells and the musical humming of life around us—a paradise wasted on two people at odds with each other.

  The path cutting through the thick shrubbery ended at a cliff with a decorative wrought iron barrier blocking it.

  Wrapping my hands around the top of the fence, I arched my back to stretch it. My entire body was tense. “Wait. This isn’t iron,” I said, trying to ignore the weakness in my muscles. “Is it copper? It seems like everything here is made with it.”

  “Yes, it is. You won’t find any iron in Tír na nÓg,” he said, watching me intently. “It burns faeries.”

  “Like their Kryptonite?”

  “Sort of,” he said, pulling his stare from me and turning it to the valley below.

  “It’s so beautiful here. It’s too bad we can’t stay forever.” My thoughts played back what I’d just gone through. Time was running out. For the sick. For our missing. Staying in the Fey realm wasn’t an option.

  “We have to find Carrig and Nick…Lei and Jaran. We can’t waste time here.” I released my grip on the barrier and stepped away from him. If I kept moving, maybe the image of Dag in that infirmary bed wouldn’t catch me.

  But it did chase me. His image blinked in and out of my mind. Dag with shadows under his eyes and a sore at the edge of his lips.

  Arik followed me. “We sent tracers to search for them all, but our efforts were futile.”

  “I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

  Dag’s hopeful eyes.

  I strolled into a meadow full of bluebells just off the side of the pathway, disturbing several sprites sleeping under the foliage. They zoomed around and darted off across the grass.

  Ice cream. Dag wanted ice cream. Such a simple request.

  The grass sighed under Arik’s boots. “You’re as stubborn as guilt, if I’m honest. Will you please just do this one thing that I ask?” he said. “Once there is word, we will go. For now, just take a moment and breathe.”

  Breathe? I was suffocating. “I’m worried.”

  “I share that feeling,” he whispered, his face hidden in the shadows. “Seeing you bloodied and hurt in that bed nearly killed me.”

  Maybe he was beginning to forgive me. Possibly, we could be friends and partners again.

  Dag alone, wanting Peyton and Knox.

  We came into a bloom of light from a crystal lamppost.

  My stomach grumbled.

  His lips twisted at the corners, and his dimples deepened. “You’re hungry. We should find something for you to eat.”

  I wasn’t sure I could hold anything down. I’d rather curl up in a ball somewhere quiet and sleep.

  Fall into nothingness and forget.

  …

  After having a quick meal of roasted chicken and vegetables, Arik and I returned to the lab. Nana and the curers were studying data on a large computer screen. Emily sat on a nearby stool reading the ancient spell book. When Nana heard us enter, she quickly turned off the screen. Emily’s face brightened at the sight of Arik.

  “Hi, Arik,” Emily said, closing the book and hopping off the stool. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “Hullo,” he said without looking at her.

  His rudeness was like a slap across Emily’s face. The smile slipped from her lips, and she stood there like she didn’t know what to do next.

  As I brushed by Arik on my way to Nana, I whispered, “You don’t have to be rude to Emily.”

  “I wasn’t—” He stopped when I’d moved too far away for him to protest without Emily hearing.

  “What have you been up to, dear?” Nana said when I reached her.

  “We visited the infirmary.”

  Her eyes flashed in my direction. “It’s a horrible sight. But you aren’t to worry. I will find a cure.”

  “Are you continuing your research?” Arik’s stare followed Nana as she removed a bottle from within a cabinet and brought it over to me.

  “Now, take a few sips of this before bedtime, and it’ll help you sleep,” Nana said, obviously ignoring Arik’s question. But he was determined to get an answer.

  “The Wizard Council sent an order for you to cease your research,” he continued.

  Nana folded her hands on the counter. “The Fey have insisted I continue my work to find a cure. The council doesn’t rule here. Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

  “Are you excusing me from your laboratory?” The firm tone of Arik’s voice startled me.

  “I am,” Nana said. “I’ll let you know when I have what you need ready.”

  “All right, I see how it is.” He turned to Emily. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to be rude.” His eyes found mine again, and he hesitated. “I’ll check on you later.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you then,” I said.

  Something was going on between Nana and the Wizard Council. And I could tell by Nana’s actions that she wasn’t going to tell me with Arik around. She waited until we heard the lab door shut behind him before she clicked on her computer screen.

  “Come here,” she said. “I want to show you something.”

  I shuffled across the floor and leaned over her shoulder to view the screen. She had two windows up. One image looked like a twisted ladder and another resembled a dandelion. “Is that a DNA strand? What’s the other one?”

  “It’s DNA from a Sentinel.” She pushed a few buttons, and three-dimensional versions of the images came out of the screen and floated in front of us. “See this sequence here?” She pointed out a part of the strand. “It’s the Sentinel gene. It’s very rare. Without wizard DNA, it’s useless.” She pulled up another image. “This is your DNA. You have the same wizard gene as others, but your Sentinel one is longer, most likely because both your parents are Sentinels.”

  “Where did you get my DNA?”

  “Morta went to the hideout in Boston,” Nana said. “I had her gather a blood sample from you and bring it here.”

  I glared at her through the 3-D image. “Without my permission?”

  “You were out cold, dear. I couldn’t ask you for it.” Nana gave me one of her how-could-you-not-take-in-that-cute-kitty looks. She used that stare a lot to soften Pop. That was how she got us to give Cleo, my cat, a home.

  “Lives were at stake,” she was saying. “The cure we created from another Sentinel’s blood only lasts a few days, then our subjects go back to being sick. We tried other donors, and had the same results. But what we do have, though temp
orary, is keeping many patients in that infirmary alive a little longer until we can save them.”

  I studied my DNA. “Exactly when did you become a scientist?”

  Nana clicked off the screen. “I did have a normal human job in a medical lab before retiring. Being a Pure Witch isn’t my only skill.”

  That makes sense. “But I don’t remember you working.”

  “When your mother passed away, I decided to stay home to help your pop out with you.” She gave me a warm smile. “Best decision I ever made.”

  “I’m glad you did.” I returned her smile. “Okay, what do you need from me?”

  “She needs more of your blood,” Emily said.

  Nana looked smaller sitting in the chair in front of the computer. She was worn out. Worried.

  I placed my hand on her shoulder. “What is it?”

  “After we make more of the cure, we must test it. Then I need you to sneak out of Tír na nÓg and deliver it to the Greyhill coven. Bastien will meet you. He’ll make sure the sick receive the cure. The entry is in the Abbey Library of Saint Gall.”

  The thought of seeing Bastien quickened my pulse. But going against the Wizard Council’s orders made it thud to a stop for a beat. What would they do if they discovered our plan? I didn’t even know what the punishment was for such an action.

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “Why doesn’t the Wizard Council want to share the cure? And why can’t I tell Arik?”

  Nana rubbed her chin. By the bags under her eyes and the slump in her shoulders, I could tell she’d been pulling late nights working on the cure. “Arik will never go against the Wizard Council’s orders. How many people knew you were going to New York that day Veronique found you?”

  I shot her a puzzled look. “Only Uncle Philip. Why?”

  “Veronique didn’t just happen to be in the neighborhood.”

  “I know. She said her spy told her I was there. That whoever it was had spotted me.”

  “This spy just so happened to spot you? I don’t believe it.” Nana covered my hand with hers. “Someone told her you’d be there.”

  “Uncle Philip?” I didn’t want to believe it. “But he could’ve had me killed many times. Besides, I tested him with my truth globe, and it showed that he was trustworthy.”