The Keeper's Curse (31 page)

“
Who’s that?” Emmy asked, pointing to the girl with blue eyes
Clara had an arm wrapped around.

“
That’s Evelyn Circlet, our governor,” Noah said. “Impressive
that you recognized her.”

“
Huh,” Breckin said. “I didn’t know Mom was friends with
Circlet.”

“
I thought my mom was the one who was friends with Circlet,”
Emmy said.

Noah
nodded. “Annalise and she were on decent terms, but of course it
faded when Annalise left. Clara and Evelyn on the other hand were
best friends.”

Breckin
looked unconvinced. “Mom never mentioned her before.”

“
Why do you think Circlet’s always watching out for you?” Noah
asked. “It’s her responsibility to some extent, but she does it for
Clara. They were friends throughout high school and university, and
only split ways when she married Rhoan.”

Emmy felt
her mind begin to race. “So they were close?”

“
Quite close, yes. Enough so that Ministrial had Circlet
investigated quite thoroughly after she killed Rhoan to see if she
knew Clara’s whereabouts. Why?”

Breckin’s
thoughts flooded into her head and they locked eyes.

Do you think your mom might’ve given the Book to
Circlet?

She might’ve! She’s a governor; she could protect it better
than anybody.

“
What is it?” Noah asked out loud.

Breckin
bounded to his feet, Emmy on his tail. “I’ll be back in time for
supper, there’s something the two of us have to do.”

Noah’s
eye narrowed. “Nothing dangerous, I hope?”

“’
Course not,” Breckin said as if that were absurd.

The two
of them rushed out of the apartment in a few quick seconds, both of
their hearts pounding.

Chapter 20

Mark
of the Moon

They were
in Ministrial in no time. Breckin was too impatient to wait for a
pod, so he picked Emmy up, threw her on his back, and ran to the
Governor’s Living Complex. The doorman recognized Breckin
instantly.

“
Please, is Circlet here?” Breckin asked, every plane of his
body jittering with energy. “It’s urgent.”

Breckin’s
presence was always helpful, Emmy couldn’t help but notice. People
were always polite to him, but more importantly, they seemed to
fear him and tried to appease him as if he would have them killed
when he became Eldoir if they didn’t do what he said. The habit was
both ridiculous and hilarious at the same time.

Still, it
was useful. In a very short amount of time Circlet had let them in
and just like last time, led them to her living room for tea.
Breckin looked like he was about to explode having to go through
the formalities.

“
Circlet, please, this is important –”

“
Crawford, if you’re going to bother me about the Crow boy
again I’ll escort you out.” Her voice was steel. “Unless you’ve
brought me proof.”

“
It’s not that, exactly – look, I’m about to ask you something
you’ll want to lie to me about, but I promise I won’t get you in
trouble if you tell me the truth. I have to know: did my mom give
you the Book of Curses right before she went on the
run?”

Several
expressions flitted through Circlet’s face in a matter of seconds –
shock, fury, defensiveness, fear, and finally acceptance. In an
exaggerated slow manner she put her fingers to her eyelids and
sighed.

“
She gave it to me,” she said. “But I don’t have it anymore.
Someone stole it a few years back.”

The hope
inside Emmy plummeted.

“
Do you know who took it?” Breckin asked.

Circlet
glared at him, insulted. “Yes Crawford, because if I had, I would
have done nothing about it, and would’ve let him keep one of the
powerful books in the world.”

“
You said ‘him’?”

“
He came in the middle of the night. I heard someone creeping
downstairs and came to take a look and sure enough, there he was in
the dark. It was the only thing he stole.”

“
What did the silhouette look like?”

She
shrugged. “Tall, young, medium build. He dropped a pin of some
sort.”

Before
Breckin could even ask to see it, she headed over to a bureau in
the corner of the room, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a
round black object. She placed it in Breckin’s palm. It certainly
looked like a pin, or possibly a badge, and it had an intricate
swirl design that circled a depiction the moon in the
middle.

“
It’s our official symbol of insanity,” Circlet said. “It’s
what we use to mark mental patients in hospitals. Patients who are
so far gone there is no cure for them. So, what, a mental patient
stole the Book? It’s highly unlikely.”

“
You didn’t report this to the authorities, did you?” Breckin
said, already knowing the answer.

“
Those books don’t belong to anyone,” Circlet hissed. I
would’ve lost my position and imprisoned for keeping it for myself.
Not that there’s any proof,” she added with a warning.

“
I’m not going to say anything,” Breckin assured her. “But
whoever has it is still in Methelwood and we think we know what
he’s doing with it.”

Circlet
paled to the color of her hair before burying her face in her
hands. “I’m so sorry, Crawford. I took an oath to protect this
orb.”

Breckin
had that look boys always got when they grew terrified of a woman’s
tears. “It’s not your fault. All we need to do is find the
Book.”

“
It’s been lost for years.”

“
We’ll find it,” Breckin said fiercely. “First thing tomorrow
I’m going to the hospital and looking around the mental
ward.”

She
looked up, revealing her face to them, looking several years older.
“You won’t do this alone. I’ll have investigators all over that
place, and we will find the Book.”

Breckin
nodded, thanking her and telling her they needed to head back. They
were half way out the door when Circlet decided to say one more
thing.

“
Clara didn’t trust me completely, you know. I remember
sifting through that book a thousand times trying to decipher it,
and I couldn’t help but notice that there was a page torn out.” She
chuckled. “I don’t need to be able to read the language to know it
was the Keeper’s Curse. She’s either burned the page she or still
has it with her, my bet on the former. She wouldn’t even risk me
trying to reverse what she did to you two. You really are in this
together.”

They
didn’t say anything more, leaving the room with her words ringing
in Emmy’s brain.

***

That
night, while Emmy and Cyrus were hunting for the possessed
crafters, Emmy became noticeably irritable. Noah’s and Circlet’s
words floated back into her head and the urge to run away
overwhelmed her. She took it out on the people trying to attack her
rather violently, and Cyrus eventually caught on.

“
What’s got your knickers in a knot?” he said.

Emmy
sighed, lowering her knife. “I don’t want to die.”

“
Well, that’s a rather broad statement. Care to be more
specific?”

“
What do you care?” she snapped, throwing her knife on the
ground.

“
It’s affecting your performance. Don’t get tetchy with
me.”

She
glowered at him. He wasn’t being fair – if she asked questions
about him he would be rude to her, but he expected her to answer
his questions. It made her very uncomfortable thinking about
spilling her problems to Cyrus, but ...

“
I just feel trapped. Like I have to stay here for Mom and for
Breckin” –
and you
, she thought – “and it’s just not fair ... I didn’t do
anything wrong.” A second later she realized how insensitive she
sounded, remembering he was just as trapped, if not more so, than
she was. “And of course I can’t tell Jade about this, and
Persephone won’t talk to me.”

At the
mention of Persephone’s name, Cyrus’s eyes came into focus.
“Why?”

Needing to vent, she told him about the guard Breckin had put
on her, and why he did it. “I know Breckin’s being ridiculous, but
what am I supposed to do? I need him to trust me. It’s the only way
I can get him to change his mind. I’m doing it for
her
.
”

“
She’s innocent,” he said emphatically. “You have to know
that.”

“
Of course I do! But she won’t let me explain. I wait outside
the school every day after classes for her, and when she sees me
she goes back inside until I leave.”

Like she
caught him doing so often, he stared at her for a moment, but
instead of saying something sarcastic this time, he turned to the
crafter she had been fighting.

“
You,” he said to it. “Stand still.” Its body straightened
like a toothpick. “Go ahead – hit him. It’ll make you feel
better.”

Her mouth
ached trying to suppress a smile. “I can’t hit him. He’s possessed.
It would be wrong.”

“
Come on, Rathers, he looks like he’s been put through a
shredder anyway. I doubt a punch from you will make him much
worse.”

Emmy eyed
him mischievously. “Can I hit you? That’ll make me feel
better.”

“
You most certainly cannot! I’m not letting you anywhere near
my face.”

“
You’re so vain. I mean, okay, you’re sort of pretty, but
–”

He began choking like an invisible bone was caught in his
throat. “Pretty? Did you just call me
pretty
? Woman, I have had it up to
here with you and your –”

“
Okay, okay, I’m sorry: you’re
distinguished
. You’re beautiful.
Your body resembles that of a Greek god, carved by the great
sculptors of our time.” She was laughing now. “And your face is so
bright any human being would melt if they looked at it too
long.”

For once
his face flashed something other than annoyance. He was pleased
with this answer and for some reason, Emmy was proud of that. She
felt better.

They
continued on for another hour or so, not running into any more
possession victims. With their very short line of five they made
their usual trek back to the mansion to lock them up. Emmy noticed
Cyrus staring at her again, but she didn’t comment. It seemed to
suit him better when she waited for him to talk first, which
eventually he did.

“
May I ask you something?”

“
You may.”

“
Are you ever going to tell Crawford how you feel about
him?”

She
nearly tripped over a tree root.

“
What?
”

“
Since I’ve had to spy on you for so long I’ve seen you two
together enough times to know the dynamic. I’m just saying, if you
don’t tell him soon your opportunity will pass and he’ll never be
able to think about you any other way than his friend.”

She
didn’t know why this upset her so much. Partly because nobody had
ever brought up the fact she actually did have feelings for
Breckin, but it was something else as well. It seemed wrong to
bring up Breckin now. This was her time with Cyrus.

“
He doesn’t think of me that way.” Saying it made her skin
prickle, like miniature razor disks digging into her.

“
He’s very fond of you.”

She found
herself squirming in discomfort. Of all the people on earth, he was
the last person she wanted to talk to about this, besides Breckin
himself. “It’s not like that for him. I remember seeing his little
sister in his memories, and how he thinks of her is how he thinks
of me.”

“
So you’re saying you’re like a sister to him?”

Her good
humour just a few minutes earlier had been swallowed up completely.
“Pretty much, yes. If I said something now, he’d get weird around
me.”

“
But ... he’s in your head all the time. It’s so obvious on
your face I can’t really grasp the idea of him never noticing, or
at least feeling it in your head.”

“
I have more control over the connection than he does. I sort
of ... put up a wall, I guess. It’s hard, because I have to block
that part of me so subtly he can’t even know I’m doing
it.”

She had
hoped, in vain, for some sort of comforting words from Cyrus, but
none came. If anything, there was satisfaction in his eyes. This
hurt her even more.

“
Why are you such a
fils de
pute
?”

He
grimaced at her harsh tone. “It’s not that. I just think you’re too
good for him.”

She had
to laugh, and the sound came out rather cruelly. “Oh,
please.”

“
Is that so hard to believe? I know you practically
lick
the ground he walks
on –”

“
Hey!”

“ –
But honestly, why? Because you’re supposed to?
Because everyone else does?”