"See you on the flipside," I said.
"What was that?" Lei glanced over, her mouth a straight line, her eyes unfocused.
"It's just an old saying." When that didn't seem to register with her, I sighed. "Never mind. I'll be back soon." I spoke the key, "Aprire la porta," jumped into the book, and tapped the page with my hand to turn it before fully entering the gateway.
It was a dangerous move, but they didn't need to know where I was going. If I was attacked in the library, I'd be spared because I could find the Chiavi. Lei and Jaran would be killed.
The coolness of the gateway welcomed me. I plunged into the darkness, not bothering to ignite a light globe. With my feet under me, it was like surfing in the nothingness. The wind howled in my ears, and my mind was as blank as the void in front of me.
I flew out of the book, and my boots smacked against the marble floor, the sound echoing off the frescoes on the arched ceiling. The book rose from the ground and returned to its place on the shelf. Leather straps instantly wrapped around its spine, securing it.
Good thing Lei was right. Missing the exit and being stuck in the gateway was certain death. By luck or an act of God, Afton, Nick, and I had made it through that first time when we accidentally jumped into the book.
Since the library was empty, I removed my trench coat and draped it over my arm.
Twisted wooden columns between the bookcases supported the gilded, wrought iron railing around the upper gallery. I hated galleries. If I was going to attack someone, that's where I'd hide.
I passed a row of various sized globes displayed on wooden stands. Something buzzed behind me. I'd heard the noise before. I spun around. Aetnae, a book faery, hovered in front of my face like a humming bird.
"Hello, Gianna," I could barely hear her say.
"How are you?" I asked. Every time I'd see Aetnae, her praying mantis form and green skin always threw me off for a second.
"I am well."
Another faery flew up to Aetnae's side. It was a boy about her age. Maybe. How could a person tell with such a small, insect-like person? He had cropped brown hair and olive colored skin and was a little larger than Aetnae, with a wider wingspan.
"So what are we doing here?" he asked.
"We?" Aetnae snapped at him. "Why are you always following me? Don't you have something better to do?"
A worried expression crossed his tiny face. "I thought we could, you know, go together."
"Go away," she said, the exertion of hovering in one place causing her to sound breathless. "I'm working."
"All right," he said. "I'll see you at dinner. I'll save you a seat." He flew off.
"Goodbye, um … " I didn't know his name.
"Sen," he said from somewhere in the library.
Aetnae landed on my shoulder, grabbing my ponytail, draped over my collarbone, to keep from falling off. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm losing the energy to keep going."
She was practically weightless, and I could barely feel the pull on my hair.
"No problem," I said. "I think that boy likes you."
She groaned. "He's such a bug. Always at my side. And he prefers the modern libraries and all those graphic novels. Doesn't appreciate the architecture of the older ones. Or the classics."
"Well, he's definitely smitten."
She glanced in the direction he'd disappeared, a tiny smile tugging at her lips. "You think so?"
"Anyway, you needed to talk to me?" I wanted to hurry her along. If I let her, she'd talk endlessly, and I had a mission to do.
"I must get a message to Sinead. A travesty has happened in the realm of the Fey." Her words were so soft I had to strain to hear them. "Not a single Changeling hatched in the Garden of Life, so the Fey couldn't retrieve the newest batch of Sentinels. They're lost somewhere out there in the human world. Unless … "
She didn't need to finish her sentence. I knew what she would have said. The new Sentinels could be dead or might have never been born.
My neck was starting to ache from craning it to look at her. "Do they know what caused it?"
She let go of my hair, her fists landing on her hips. "The elders believe it's because of what you did."
What I did?
"I've never been to the Garden," I said. "How could it be because of me?"
Losing her balance, she grasped my hair again. "It's because of your battle globe. When you threw it at that trapdoor, it destroyed the charms securing the Somniums and messed with the enchantments surrounding the Fey realm. Everything is connected in the Mystik world, you know. The elders think it did something to the magic in the Garden. The Changeling pods withered away. I've never seen such a thing, not in all my hundreds of years."
Great. Now I was responsible for the destruction of an entire generation of Sentinels.
Way to live up to the Doomsday Child rep, Gia.
"Message received. You can go now." I continued down the row of stands holding the variety of globes. Aetnae took flight and flitted along with me, and she actually pointed her toes when she flew. She was like a graceful bug.
She harrumphed. "Your face isn't as pretty when you scowl like that."
"I'm not scowling. Just busy."
Seriously. It was as if an annoying gnat were following me.
Her wings worked double time to keep up as she tossed a bunch of questions at me. "Are you seeking a Chiave? How many do you possess? Is there one in this library? Want me to help? I'm good at finding things. Found a spool once for Laila."
Aetnae had helped me several times with searching for the Chiavi and finding the Shelter when I needed it. We'd become good friends. I could count on her.
"I am. We've found five." A lump formed in my throat. We found. Nick and me. Thinking of him was like an ice pick to the heart. "There's one somewhere in this library," I said, shaking off the thought of him.
"And what are we searching for exactly?" she asked.
I stopped. "That."
By the subject's white wig and the uniform he wore, the portrait had to be from around the eighteenth century. One of his hands rested on a parchment unrolled across on a tabletop, and the other was placed on his hip. Pinned to his military jacket was a gold badge of honor with a cross on top of a starburst, and a large ruby in the center.
I grasped my locket with Pip's feather inside and chanted the spell to release the Chiavi. "Libero il Tesoro." Release the treasure.
A gust of wind swirled around me, blowing Aetnae away.
Gasping, I turned away from the painting. "Aetnae?"
She was gone.
"Why have you called me only to ignore my entrance?" A man's voice came from behind me.
I faced him. "I'm sorry. It's just that my friend-"
He held up his hand to stop me. "I am the spirit of the Chiave you seek. Go on now. Remove my badge, but carefully, you understand. You aren't to ruin the material." He pushed out his chest and lifted his chin.
Oh gosh, someone thinks he's special. I dropped my trench coat and worked to free the clasp with nervous fingers.
"Hurry. I haven't all day, simple girl."
Simple? Better than being a royal jerk like you. Of course, I would never say that to him. The dude was full-on scary.
The clasp finally opened, and I removed the badge.
He snapped around and pulled himself back into the portrait.
"Wait," I said.
His eyes went to me as he placed his hand back on the table. When I didn't continue right away, he snapped, "Out with it."
"Aren't you supposed to tell me what the Chiave does? The other spirits had an entire spiel about what theirs did. You know, other than actually being one of the keys."
"Must you annoy me?" A frown deepened the lines around his mouth as he settled back into his pose. "But since you asked, I'm obliged to tell you. It's a shield, but don't dally with it. The spell won't last but a few minutes."
I glanced down at the metal in my hand. It was a heavy badge. The arms of the cross were thin and widened at the ends, and the ruby was dull with age. "A shield? Will people be able to see me?" I glanced up. He had already frozen in the portrait. "You must've been a rude man when you were alive."
A squeak came from behind me. If the library hadn't been so quiet, I wouldn't have heard it.
"Aetnae?" Rushing around the globes, I shoved the badge into the main pocket of my messenger bag. "Where are you?" I called.
Another squeak.
I stopped. My boot was just inches from Aetnae's tiny body sprawled on the marble floor. Gingerly, I picked her up. She was unmoving in the palms of my hands. I sucked in a breath and tensed as if any movement would make her crumble.
Oh my God, she's dead.
I gently poked her shoulder. "Aetnae?"
She groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position. My muscles relaxed, and I expelled a breath. "Are you hurt?"
She brushed her tangled red hair from her face and stood. "No, but that was quite a ride."
"Listen, I have to go to New York," I said, placing her on top of one of the globes. "Will you be okay here?"
"Of course." She inspected her wings. "Who do you suppose took care of me for the few hundred years I've been alive? I'll give you a hint-me. But I should go with you. I'm tiny and make a good watch out."