I hoped Emily would be able to follow through with our plan.
Two guards looked up as I came out from the stairwell into the basement, a little breathless and very determined. One of them was a Laniar with a pronounced underbite. The other looked human, with thick eyebrows and hardly any hair. Both didn't look scary enough to stop an attack if there was one.
It took a few seconds to catch my breath before talking. "I need to speak with Arik."
Another guard came off the elevator. She had thicker arms than my thighs and her black hair was pulled back in a tight bun.
"Do you have permission?" the guard with thick eyebrows asked.
I handed him the note from Bastien that I'd spent hours forging.
He studied it while the woman guard watched me curiously.
Does she suspect something? If I avoided eye contact, she'd get suspicious. So I kept my eyes on hers until she conceded to our stare war and crossed over to a chair. "You need a break?" She directed the question to the Laniar.
"Yeah, I could use one." He went over to the elevator and pushed the button.
Eyebrows finished scrutinizing the note. "All right. This way." He led me down a narrow hall to a barred door. Arik lay on a cot, one arm resting above his head and the other on his stomach. "Don't be long."
Whatever they used to clean the hall and rooms made the place smell like basil or some other type of herb.
"Can't I go inside?" I asked.
Arik sat up at hearing my voice.
"Sorry, no one is allowed in with the prisoners. I'll give you your privacy. You have ten minutes." His boots clanked back down in the direction we'd come.
"What are you doing here?" Arik pushed off the cot and came to the door. He looked tired. His hair was a mess, and his face and arms smudged with dirt.
"We don't have much time," I said. "So please listen and try to see things differently."
"Differently than what, precisely?" His tone sounded harsh, but his accent made the words seem soft.
I sighed and grabbed the bars. "You know. How you see things. Stop putting all your faith in the council. You don't always have to follow their orders. Not when they're wrong." I glanced down the hallway to make sure it was still vacant. "Listen, only Uncle Philip knew where I was going that day I went to New York. Veronique said her spy told her I was there."
His eyebrows pushed together. "Are you saying High Wizard Philip arranged to have you murdered?"
"I'm not saying that. I hope it wasn't him … I just don't know. Maybe he told someone on the council, and that someone sent Veronique after me."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Okay," I said. "I know I'm not going to convince you here, but I am breaking you out. You can go back to Asile. Protect Royston and the others."
"Gia." He grabbed my hands, squeezing them tight around the cold bars. "Come with me. You don't belong in the middle of this."
"I was born to be in the middle of this," I said. "Please, promise you won't let anything happen to Royston, and you won't try to escape. You're the only one I can trust to protect him. We're the same, you and me. I know if you promise to do something, you'll do it."
He released my hands. "We're the same, all right. Both stubborn in our beliefs. I can't convince you the right thing is to go with me, and you can't convince me what you're doing is right."
"You're wrong, Arik." I unclutched my hands from the bars. "I wish you could see that. There's too much at stake. Too many lives at risk."
He stared at me for several seconds. His brown eyes were cold. "I won't try to escape, and I will protect Royston at all costs. That's all I can promise you. Now, perhaps you should execute your plan before the guard comes back."
I removed Bastien's keys from my bag.
"Perhaps she should," Bastien said from behind me.
I dropped the keys and spun to face him. He was leaning against the wall, kicked back as if there wasn't anything wrong with this situation. And he probably had been listening to everything I'd said to Arik.
"I … um … " I didn't know how to respond. He'd caught me red-handed. So I settled for, "Don't sneak up like that."
The collar of Bastien's distressed leather jacket was tucked inside, and his shirt was wrinkled. He must've dressed quickly to chase after me. He combed his fingers through his dark brown tufts several times to tame his serious bed-tossed hair.
Bastien pushed from the wall and strolled over to me. "You're not as quiet as you believe yourself to be."
I picked up the keys. "You're not stopping me."
"I don't plan to," he said and took the keys from me. "Did you think I would? Is that why you didn't include me? I thought we trusted each other."
"I do trust you." We locked eyes, and I hoped he could see the sincerity in mine. "I didn't want to risk you getting caught. You could lose your position in Couve."
"I believe my position is already compromised. Arik knows my role in distributing the cure." His steely blue eyes lingered on my face. "I'm in this with you. With Demos and Emily. With the covens and those in the havens who are on our side. I won't let you face the storm without me. If you fall, I fall."
His words caused a fluttering in my chest. I knew he would take a fall with me. He proved it when he couldn't pull me out of that trap into the Somnium and, not wanting me to face the barren wasteland alone, jumped in with me.
"All right," I said.
Bastien found the key he was looking for, inserted it into the lock, and opened the door. "So what are we doing? What's your plan?" He glanced at me before his eyes landed on Arik.
A look passed between Arik and Bastien-one of disdain or distrust.
"We have to get to the outbuilding," I said, pulling their attention from each other. It was a lie. We weren't going to the exit. I couldn't tell him the real plan with Arik there. "Emily and Demos are waiting for us at the bakery."
"Right, then, lead the way." Bastien stepped aside to let me pass, then Arik.
We walked single file through the narrow passageways between the brick buildings, with me at the front, Arik in the middle, and Bastien behind us. The stones were ancient, and the bottom of the structures had mud stains, which made no sense, since there wasn't any dirt to make it. We ended up on a cobbled road not much wider than the passageway.
"See how the doors of the buildings are all higher than the walkways?" Bastien answered the question he knew was playing in my head. "When the river overflows, it rushes through the streets. That's why there are rope bridges overhead."
"Does it flood a lot here?" I glanced back at Bastien. He wore a deep frown on his face.
"Yes, and we should hurry." He pointed up at the sky. "See those dark clouds? It doesn't take long for the rivers to flood with the heavy downpours here."
Arik glanced up. "Surely we have plenty of time. It hasn't even started to rain."
"This coven is unique," Bastien added. "It happens in a flash. You don't see any villagers about, do you? They know."
"Well, we're here." I pounded up the five steps to the entrance of the bakery where Emily had instructed me to meet her and Demos. The rusty bell on the door jingled, announcing our arrival.
Demos and Emily were sipping steaming liquid from chipped mugs. The remains of their breakfasts stained the thick, white plates on the table. Emily paused mid-sip and glanced our way.
"What took you so-" Her gaze landed on Bastien. "What's he doing here?"
"He's helping. We definitely could use a wizard on this quest." I rested my hand on the back of Emily's chair. "Demos, you and Arik better get going before the rain starts."
Arik shook his head. "He can't go with me. I'll arrest him the moment he sets foot in the library."
Demos let out an exasperated breath. "Oh, come on. Really?"
I was about to give Arik a swift kick in the butt.
Bastien must've noticed my frustration. He came up to my side and lightly brushed my hand with his. There was a spark between our fingers, and I wasn't sure if it was from the worn-out carpet I'd just crossed or the strong connection I felt between us. He was going with me on my search for The Red. He didn't know where, but he was going without hesitation, just as he'd done when the trap had pulled me into the barren Somnium. He'd held on, regardless of the outcome for him. And he wouldn't let me do this alone.
"You'd really do that?" The surprise in Demos's voice matched how I felt when Arik had said I'd be an enemy to the Wizard Council for delivering the cure to the Mystiks.
Arik's eyes slid over Bastien's and my hands before darting to Demos. "You went against a direct order and you tied me up. That's imprisonment. Because I'm your leader, it's most certainly mutiny as well. I have agreed to protect Royston, but I go to Asile alone."
"Blimey, you certainly can hold a grudge, can't you?" Demos picked up the linen napkin in front of him and wiped his mouth with it. "Why let insignificant things like my disobeying and binding you ruin our friendship?"
Arik pressed his lips together as if he were trying not to smile at that. "This is quite serious. Don't test me. I won't hesitate-"