Someone came in the room, but I couldn't see who it was with Emily blocking my view. "Oh, I forgot you have a visitor. He's been waiting for you to wake up."
Arik? Great. He was going to be pissed at me. I should have just jumped into the library and grabbed the Chiave. Going after Gian's canister without help was careless.
Emily stood and crossed the room, passing him as she went out the door. He walked over and sat on the chair Emily had just vacated.
Bastien's smile stopped my breath. It was as if I'd been in the dark so long and the sun finally came out. His blue eyes held so much concern. Tears formed on my lashes, the sight of him overwhelming me. I wasn't sure he was real. With great effort, I reached a hand out to him, and he grasped it, his touch speeding up my heart.
"You're here … I thought … Carrig … " My words were as broken as my thoughts. As broken as my body.
"We had left shortly before the attack." His head lowered, and he stared at the folded paper bag in his other hand. "If I'd known you were … Well, I'm here now."
"There was a woman with me, Agata." My chest tightened at the thought of her lying motionless on the library's floor.
The expression on his face was as solemn as his voice sounded. "She's recovering in Mantello. The curers believe she'll make a full recovery."
"She's okay?" A shaky laugh escaped me, relief loosening my chest.
"She is."
"How did you get here? You could've-"
"Nothing could keep me away." Bastien let go of my hand and placed his open palm on my uninjured cheek. "I was so worried."
"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."