The Keeper's Curse (38 page)

For a split second Breckin forgot about the goal, his panic
replaced with disgust. “Are you saying you used Lana as
bait
? Do you realize you
put her life in danger? Not to mention mine?”

“
I did it for the good of Methelwood! For the orbs! It would
have saved us all.”

He
grabbed hold of her collar, pulling her up to his face. “You are
going to fix this, do you understand me? You are going to gather up
every guard in this orb and help me save her. I don’t care if I
haven’t been initiated yet: that is an order from your Eldoir. Do
you understand?” He had never, in their entire relationship, spoken
to her this way; he had always been subordinate to her.

“
Of course. I’ll get on it right away. But we don’t even know
where the portal to Thoreoux’s orb is –”

“
I’ve got some of his men right outside the clearing. Get it
out of them. Now
go
. If she dies, we’ll both be dead because of you.” He let go
of her collar and made his way out of the clearing again. He was in
the archway when a hand wrapped around his shoulder. Breckin jumped
and turned around to see Jade and Persephone, their eyes wide in
their faces.

“
Hey, is everything okay?” Jade said. “With you and
Emmy?”

“
What?” Breckin snapped.

“
We heard you shouting at Circlet from the other side of the
party,” Persephone said. “And Emmy’s been gone for quite a
while.”

Impatience bubbled up in him, needing to explain what
happened all over again. He recapped a very short summary,
explaining where Lana was and where he was going. Breckin left them
gaping when he went through the fire archway and back to where he
had left Cyrus, Persephone’s guard several paces behind
them.

“
Well, we’re coming with you!” Jade said when he was
finished.

“
Are you mad? I’m going by myself. Circlet will be there later
but I have to go. They’ll kill her any minute now and I don’t have
time to wait for them.”

Cyrus
seemed to have caught the end of the conversation, just as Jade
said, “You can’t do that! That’s what they’ll expect you to
do!”

“
Do you not understand what’s going on?” Breckin thundered at
the three of them. “They will
kill
her. So what if I come barging in? I’ll be dead
if I don’t, anyway.”

Cyrus
sighed, brushing the hair out of his face. “Well then I’m coming
with you. This is my fault, too.” Before Breckin could protest
Cyrus cut him off. “I know the place better than you do, Crawford.
I lived there for four years.”

Breckin
hated to admit that he had a point.

“
I’m coming as well,” Persephone said. “I know them better
than you do.”

“
So am I. I promised I’d protect her.” Jade.

Breckin
wanted to argue with them, but he knew every second he wasted was
just another second he could be using to break Lana out of
Thoreoux’s orb. He thought it over quickly. All three of them –
Jade, Persephone and Cyrus - were exceptional fighters with good
technique. He had no choice but to believe they could hold their
own.

He wished
he could go back and say goodbye to the people he loved as well,
but he had no time. He felt a twist in his gut at the thought of
never seeing Noah, Gabe or Rozelyn again. But it was better this
way, knowing if he told them where he was going, they would want to
come too.

“
Fine.”

“
We weren’t asking your permission,” Cyrus said. “Anyway, they
seem to be immune to my driving,” he nudged towards the six men
still on the ground, “as Thoreoux seemed to have trained them to
prepare themselves against a driver, but they don’t seem immune to
you. It took me a few tries but it sounds like the portal to
Thoreoux’s place is at the bottom of a lake. The one near the
Morrison’s Spot.”

Persephone’s eyes lit up. “I know exactly where that is.” She
began running in the direction of the lake, when she stopped,
whirled her head around and glared. Breckin followed her eyes to
her guard, looking beyond confused. Her stony glare flicked onto
Breckin. “Crawford, would you please –”

“
You services are no longer required,” Breckin said to the
guard, knowing he should have said it weeks ago.

The
guard’s mouth fell open. “But, Sir –”

“
She’s not a threat. Go. Now.” He wasn’t used to being as
domineering as he had been in the last fifteen minutes, but the
guard, like Circlet, listened to him. Persephone stared at him,
disbelieving, not entirely trusting. “Persephone, I owe you an
apology.”

“
I forgive you,” she said without smiling. “Now let’s
go.”

After
Breckin commanded the men to stay where they were and tell Circlet
everything she needed to know, the four of them broke into a run
heading into the woods. They knew the area so well finding their
peacekeeping grounds was a fairly easy task, and once they were
there, finding the lake was even easier. Breckin recognized it
instantly.

He leaned
his head over the edge. “I don’t see anything.”

“
It’s probably really deep,” Cyrus said. “That’s kind of the
whole point in hiding it.”

“
Alright well,” Breckin said, crouching down into a diving
position. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

With all
his strength he dove, feeling his blood vessels constricting as he
did so. Even as a strapper, the water was freezing; he could see
bits of ice straddling the surface of the lake. Still, his
adrenaline and determination made swimming easy enough, and he saw
Jade was about at his level. Cyrus and Persephone had a more
difficult time, probably thrice as cold as they were, but they
didn’t slow.

Sure
enough, Breckin finally saw a light at the bottom of the lake. He
swam faster, using all his strength to reach the ball, and finally,
he was able to grab hold of it. Immediately the water around him
disappeared, the world blurring, and eventually landing on dry
ground. He was on the top of some hill, and with his legs stiff
from the cold water, his knees buckled and he tumbled backward into
the woods. A few seconds later the other three did the same,
landing on top of him.

“
Where do we go now?” Breckin said.

Cyrus
didn’t answer, and instead climbed up the hill, poking his head up
just enough to see over it. “There are some sentries,” he
whispered, “guarding the front. I’m sure they’re expecting
you.”

Breckin,
Jade, and Persephone followed his lead, raising their heads above
the top of the hill so they could see what was going on.

There was
a horrible black marble mansion standing in front of them, and
Breckin almost felt sorry for Cyrus he had had to live there. Sure
enough, there were four sentries – two on either side of the arched
entryway – each with a bow and arrow, waiting for him.

“
If we attack,” Cyrus said, “we have to make sure not one of
them gets away, or they’ll go straight to Thoreoux, and they’ll
know we’re here.”

“
Maybe you should attack,” Breckin said. “And I’ll go inside
and get Lana.”

Cyrus
glared at him. “I’m the one who lived here, doesn’t it make more
sense I go inside? I know this place. Plus, you’re the best
fighter. You attack them.”

“
He’s right,” Persephone put in. “It sounds
smarter.”

All three
of them seemed to be in agreement. If this were any other time,
Breckin would have argued, but he had to keep reminding himself
they were in a hurry. So, without another word, he got to his
feet.

“
No, wait! Crawford –!” Cyrus called but he ignored
him.

Breckin
skidded down the hill and up to the main grounds. “Hey!”

Like
robots, the four sentries, in synchronized motion, turned to him at
the same time before they began to shoot at him. He glamoured
himself invisible and charged. Now that he was prepared, these men
were a lot easier to fight than the last batch. Although all four
of them were strappers, and they were strong, they hesitated, and
Breckin took advantage of it. He had been an obsession with this
clan for ages, and they knew he couldn’t die, which was probably
what made their movements more hasty and insecure. His speed had
always been twice the asset to him his strength was – he thought
and acted so quickly a lot of people thought it was instantaneous –
and used every second for attack he could.

While he
fought, he saw the trio out of the corner of his eye sneaking in
through the front unnoticed. A tiny plume of hope burst in his
chest.

Chapter 26

Meld

“
Do we kill her now, Master?”

The voice
came from the right of Thoreoux. It was a dark skinned man
significantly older than Thoreoux, and Emmy knew the only person it
could be was Rathbone, the right hand man.

“
Not yet,” Thoreoux replied, not even looking at him. “I want
to do this as respectfully as I can. I don’t like killing little
girls.”

“
I’m not who you think I am,” Emmy said, knowing how feeble
this was. But she was too scared, too tired, too cold. Her brain
was fuzzy from the alcohol and numb from the ice water.

Thoreoux
smiled at her, and she wished he hadn’t. “Sweetheart, I already
know who you are. I am really sorry I have to do this, but I
promise it won’t hurt.”

It was
the finality in his voice that did it. She understood, the black
knowledge starting to spread; she was going to die, never going to
see her mother again, or her brother, and her father would get the
message in a letter from Alex.

“
Cynarra?” Thoreoux called loudly, his voice echoing in the
ballroom.

A very
tall muscular woman with a dark bob stepped forward from the line.
Through the tears beginning to well up, Emmy could see something
wrong with the woman’s eyes – they were a milky, pale
blue.

“
Evangeline, this is Cynarra Moulange,” Thoreoux said, waving
at the woman. “She is probably the most talented strapper in the
orbs. She is also blind, but I wouldn’t try anything with her – she
is more perceptive than any of us are. Cynarra, please take our
guest to Cyrus’s old room and prepare her.

“
Montesquieu?” Another person stepped forward, this time it
was a short, skinny man. “Keeper, I would also like you to meet
Quincey Montesquieu. He is my philologist; he was the one that
helped me translate the Book of Curses. He is simply a genius with
languages. Now, since Clara Crawford has the Keeper’s Curse,
wherever she may be, we have no way of reversing it. But
Montesquieu has gotten about halfway with the words he was given
and can break your bond with the Eldoir.”

Emmy
didn’t understand. “W – what?”

“
He cannot put the Eldoir’s soul back in his body, but he can
at least break your telepathic connection, and any other side
effects from the transfer. I can’t have Crawford making you
stronger. Not now.

“
Both of you go with her. Immediately.”

Cynarra
zoomed over to Emmy’s side, gripped her arm, and walked with her
out the back entrance. Montesquieu trailed behind. Emmy’s eyes
couldn’t help but be drawn to the paper Montesquieu held in his
hand, weird symbols on the top half and a phonetic translation on
the bottom. She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been; it hadn’t
even occurred to her to contact Breckin until then.

Breckin? Where are you?

It took him a moment to answer.
I’m
fighting guards at the moment. I’m at the mansion. Did they hurt
you? Are they about to kill you?

Not yet – they’re preparing me.
Emmy
shivered.
You’ve got maybe an hour. Please
hurry.

Cyrus, Jade, and Persephone are on their way. Just hang on a
little bit longer. Circlet is also going to be coming soon with
backup.

Breckin, I have to warn you ... I’m not going to be able to
respond to you soon. Thoreoux has some kind of specialist –
Montesquieu – and he’s going to break our bond.

Emmy felt
the dread in him. It made her feel twice as heavy.

I’ll be there as soon as I can,
he
promised.
I swear we’re not going to
die.

Emmy felt
even worse when he slipped away from her, back to concentrating on
what he was doing. That might have been the last time they ever
talked to each other that way, or possibly talked at
all.

While
talking to Breckin, they had made their way to Cyrus’s room. As she
had been doing a lot lately, she felt a sudden pity for Cyrus.
There wasn’t one window; he would have been enclosed by these
black, cold, marble walls every night of his life.

They did
not stop there; they pushed her into a bathroom connected to the
bedroom to a pure silver bathtub.

“
Run yourself a bath and get warm,” Cynarra commanded her.
“And put on this when you are finished.”

A dress
hung by the bathtub – soft, cotton, and pure white.