"Enough," I said, cutting him off. "Emily will go with Arik. Demos, you come with Bastien and me."
Emily perked up at that.
I continued. "Unless you'd lock her up, too."
He stared at Emily for a long moment. The tightness in his jaw loosened as he watched her. "I suppose I wouldn't. She isn't of our world and only aided you. Most likely, she didn't know of the Wizard Council's orders."
"I didn't tell her about anything." I hoped Emily would go along with that story.
"That's right," Emily said. "I just took care of her at the house in Jamaica Plains. When we were attacked, I ended up with her in the Fey realm."
"I don't need a babysitter," Arik argued. "She isn't even able to jump on her own."
Bastien stuffed his hands in his pockets, his eyes going from me to Arik. "I wasn't let in on the plan. But possibly, there's another reason Gia is adamant someone goes with you."
"There is," I said. "To make sure he returns to Asile."
Demos removed some silver cuffs from the pocket of his trench.
Arik eyed them. "Cuff locks? You mean to use them on me?"
I gave him an unsure smile, worried he'd lose it on me. "It's only until you're in Asile."
"You know I can come right back here." He glared at me. "With guards."
"We'll be gone before you return," I said. "And what are you going to do? Arrest all of Greyhill for getting the cure?"
"I see," he said. "And I'm to jump with Emily, hands bound?"
"Pfft." Demos fidgeted with the cuffs. "You could master the gateway blindfolded and with your feet tied."
Arik raised his chin. "All right. I just want out of here."
"And you'll protect Royston?" I added.
"I promised I would." Arik offered his wrists to Demos. "What are we waiting for? Put them on so I can leave already."
Demos clamped the cuffs on Arik's wrists and waved a hand over them. The cuffs glowed blue, securing Arik's wrists in front of him.
I grasped Emily's elbow, led her over to the pastry display case, and whispered, "Give this note to Cadby. Whatever you do, don't let Arik see it. I know you still like him, but please don't cave. Our lives depend on it. Both worlds depend on it."
Emily frowned, took the note, and leaned closer to me. "I may like the guy, but he's completely wrong on this. And I'd never let Nana down. She told me to help you, and I will."
"Thank you," I said. "Stay with Cadby. He'll keep you safe. Okay?"
Arik was staring at us, so she just nodded. Demos placed his trench coat over Arik's shoulders to conceal the fact that he had the magical cuffs on his wrists.
Demos held out a steel ring to Emily. "Put this on your pointer finger. If he tries to run or leave you behind, you only have to pull your finger in to stop him. To move him, point in the direction you want him to go. He won't be able to resist the magic."
She slipped it on her finger and grinned. "I'm going to like this."
"I bet you will," Demos said and laughed.
"Can we go already?" Arik growled.
Bastien opened the door. "By all means. I'll be happy to see you go."
Arik pushed by Bastien. He didn't look back, just stomped out.
After Emily and Arik had exited the café, I felt a sudden rush of regret. He'll never forgive me. How did we get to this place? A place where we were fighting on opposite sides of a battle. A place that broke my heart. And a place from which there was likely no return.
Just then, Bastien glanced at me, a crooked smile on his face that made my heart stutter. "Now, what about that plan?"
Right. Back to business.
"Do you have a window rod?" I asked.
Bastien nodded.
"Great. Have your guards leave Greyhill and meet us in the library."
A round, stout woman with graying hair pulled away from her face stood behind the counter. Flour caked her floral apron, the grin on her face welcoming.
"Have you forgotten the rain?" Bastien removed his window rod from his jacket pocket and pulled the two pieces apart. A screen ignited between them. "I can do this walking. I'd feel much better if we get out of here before a flood hits."
"Yeah. Let's-" I looked over at Bastien and caught a glimpse of someone passing outside. Though the window was made of thick glass and a little distorted, I knew that hair and that walk.
I pushed past Bastien on my way out. The old door stuck a little when I yanked it open, the bell attached jingling angrily. My boots slipped on the last step down, and I righted myself.
He was a ways down the passageway, looking from side to side as if he were searching for someone. It was only his back, but I knew him almost as well as I knew myself. We'd spent nearly fifty thousand hours together since he was born. A perfect image of him was burned in my memory.
Nick?
Chapter Eleven
Three Greyhillians, fine feathers covering their faces and thin plumes falling around their shoulders like hair, blocked the passageway. The slight curve of their bodies told me they were girls. Except for all the feathers and beak-shaped noses, they looked and acted like teens from the human world.
"Did you see how he was staring at you?" one of the girls with blue and yellow feathers said.
"He wasn't looking at me. Stop teasing," the girl with yellow feathers and black plumes answered.
"Excuse me," I said to a girl with red-tipped white feathers.
Her black, marble eyes studied me as she stepped aside to let me pass. "You should get to higher ground," she called after me. "The rains are coming."
My boots pounded against the bricks as I flew down the passageway. Nick was getting farther away from me. He disappeared into the blackness of a tunnel cutting through one of the tall buildings surrounding us.
"Nick!" I slowed down before stopping outside the tunnel, my eyes stuck on the entrance. "Nick!"
I could barely make out his white shirt in the darkness. He turned and sprinted for me.
My lips tugged into a smile.
He's okay. We found him.
He was getting closer.
Nick was free.
I wanted to cry. Why was I just standing there? I started to take off, but someone caught my wrist, stopping me.
"Wait," Bastien said. "Look at his eyes." He moved in front of me and ignited an electric ball between his hands.
My gaze went to Nick's fierce glare. His black pupils were so large I could hardly see any white in his eyes.
No, no, no, no, no. He's compelled.
A loud crack sounded over our heads, and rain dumped down so hard that it stung my skin. My hair and clothes were instantly drenched.
Nick was almost to us. Like a charging bull, there was no stopping him. He was coming fast. Bastien pointed his hands in Nick's direction.
I grabbed his arm. "Don't. You could kill him."
"He could kill us," he shouted over the clapping of rain. A bright flash and another rumble of thunder shook the buildings.
"I won't hurt him." Bastien shrugged my hand away and let go of the charge. It exploded by Nick's foot. He stumbled to a stop. Another charge left Bastien's hand and hit Nick's shoulder. He slipped and landed on one knee. His glare rattled me. I'd never seen such evil.
"Hey," Demos yelled from the bakery's steps.
I glanced back at him.
He pounded down the steps. "Do you see it?" He pointed up the passageway. Water trickled down the cobblestones. "Get inside. The flood's coming."
Just as he said his last word, a river rushed him and came fast at Bastien and me, knocking us off our feet. Demos collided into me and grasped my waist.
"Hold on," Demos cried.
The debris-filled water stung my eyes, went up my nose, and scratched my throat. We were going to drown. I caught a glimpse of Nick climbing a wire trellis on the side of a building.
Bastien.
Where was he?
Think, Gia. What did Pop always say? Keep your feet pointed downstream in a flood. I struggled against the water until my boots were aiming in the direction it was going. Demos, still clinging to me, did the same. We rushed by Bastien; he'd made it to some steps and was climbing up them.
Demos's hand slipped from mine. My head went under, and I choked on the rush of water. I pushed up, my head breaking out of the waves. Heavy coughs tore from my chest.
"Gia," Demos yelled. "See that wrought iron on the side of the tunnel?"
I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me and shouted, "I see it!"
"When we get closer, I'll grab it."
"Okay." The muscles in my arms burned as I pushed them through the raging water and wrapped them around Demos's neck. He reached out his arm, readying to grab what looked like an open gate pushed up against the brick wall.
Angry water slapped my face, blurring my vision. I could barely make out the tunnel as we came up to it. Demos grabbed the gate at the same time a wooden chair crashed into me. I lost hold of his neck, the flood taking me into the tunnel. The darkness was terrifying. I reached out, hoping to find something to grab on to, but there was nothing.
I couldn't form a globe. It took both arms and all my strength to keep from going under the water. And what good would it do, anyway? I had no control.
All I could do was keep my feet pointed downstream.