"Go, go, go," I yelled, and took off down the trail.
I sprinted behind Royston. My lungs burned with the cold air rushing fast and heavy into them. The place we had entered came into view-a floating image of the library. Royston slowed down, seemingly not knowing what to do.
"Keep going," I shouted, passing him and jumping into the image. I dropped into the library and landed on my hands and knees.
Royston flew out and crashed into the bookcase to my right. A Writhe's claw reached out of the book, but I kicked it shut and sat on it. The book bucked with so much force, I could hardly keep it closed. The Writhe's wailing stung my ears.
"Sei zero sette periodo zero due DOR," I spurted out the numbered charm to call the gateway book.
The Writhe kept knocking the book. It was like riding a bronco across the floor. The gateway book flew over and Royston caught it.
"Find the entry into Chetham's Library," I said, grasping the side of the book underneath me.
Royston flipped the page to the photograph. "Give me your hand," he shouted over the siren-like screech coming from the Writhes.
I reached my hand out to him and he grasped it.
"Aprire la porta," he spoke the charm and jumped into the page, pulling me in with him. I stretched to turn the page but Royston's larger body yanked me too fast into the gateway and I missed it, my fingers brushing over the edges.
We flew out of the book, and my side smacked against the floorboards. Royston landed hard on his feet and stumbled forward.
"Gia!" Bastien ran over and helped me to my feet. "What happened?"
Arik, our Sentinels, and the Couve guards stood ready for a fight.
Two Writhes came sailing out of the book. One charged after Demos, and the other knocked me to the floor on my back. Royston backhanded the creature, and it flew off me. Another one jumped out. Bastien shot an electric charge at it, and it thudded to the floor, shaking and wailing on its back.
Demos and Jaran sliced one of the creatures down with their swords.
"How are they transporting through the book?" I shouted to whoever would listen.
Lei blasted a lightning bolt into a Writhe climbing a bookcase, missing by an inch. Books flew off the shelf, and burned paper floated down. "See that silver mark on the back of their hands? It's a charm. Only the council knows how to create one of those." She sent another strike at the beast and hit it this time. It fell back and thumped against the floorboards.
Several more Writhes shot out of the pages. I created an ice globe and threw it at one, freezing the beast. I landed a front kick to its body and it shattered, the pieces thumping to the floor. My stomach roiled at the bloodied flesh and rotting smell.
Arik had one of the Writhes caught in his fiery whip.
Bastien, with an electric charge dancing between his hands, faced off with another one. The gateway book shook on the floor behind him.
"Bastien, the book!" He didn't hear me, so I barreled for it, landing my butt on the cover.
The book bucked. And bucked. On the third one, I flew off, hitting the floor hard on my side. A Writhe shot out and grabbed Bastien's legs, pulling him into the book.
I scrambled for them and caught Bastien's hands before he was pulled fully inside. "Don't let go," I said, tightening my grip. He was half out and half in the gateway.
Bastien cried out.
"Oh my God, what?" Panic fluttered in my stomach.
"Its claws are digging into my legs." He clenched his jaw and groaned.
"Kick it," I said, then yelled over my shoulder. "Help! Someone help me!" I slid forward as the beast tugged Bastien harder into the book.
"Let me go," Bastien pleaded, pain twisting his face. "It'll take you, as well."
"I won't," I said, tears pouring from my eyes. "You didn't let go for me. I won't, either. You go, I go. We'll fight them together."
Bastien smiled before wincing in pain again.
His hand slipped a little inside my right one.
As he was yanked back again, I was yanked forward.
"That won't do this time. The worlds need you." He pulled one of his hands from my grip and formed a charge on his fingertips.
"What are you doing? Stop!" My voice cracked with the panic releasing from my chest.
He touched my hand with the charge, causing me to let go of his other hand.
The Writhe pulled him into the gateway, and just as I started to jump in after him, the pages caught on fire. Strong arms wrapped around me and dragged me back from the flaming book.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I struggled in Arik's arms, pushing my back hard against his chest, trying to break free of his embrace. "Let me go. I have to go. They'll kill him."
"The gateway is lost," Arik said against the back of my head.
"No, no, no, no." I gulped in several breaths. "Please, let me go. He-he can't be gone."
Arik's arms tightened, and I pushed against them harder.
He held me for a long while as I cried, painful sobs shaking my body. His warm breaths puffed against my hair and the back of my ear.
Oh Bastien.
I prayed for him to be all right. I asked every saint I'd learned about in Sunday school to watch out for him. I begged God to trade me for him. To bring him back. And I doubted any of them would listen. I wasn't even sure I had faith anymore. So why would they care that my heart had been ripped from me? That Bastien was gone?
Jaran sat on his heels in front of me and wiped my eyes with some tissues he must have found in the library. "Come on. We need to go."
I took a deep breath and shook my head hard. "No. I can't leave him."
"He's gone," Jaran said. "We can't help him here. Not if we are caught. Can you stand?"
I nodded.
Arik released me, and I stood on shaky legs. Jaran wrapped an arm behind my back and guided me to the entrance into Barmhilde. My knees buckled as another sob tore from my throat.
Jaran lifted me into his arms, and I wrapped mine around his neck. "I'm here," he said. "You're not alone."
…
Jaran's eyes followed my pacing. The tent felt hot and suffocating. "Why are they making us wait? We have to go after Bastien." I fisted my hands to stop them from shaking. The fear of what Bastien could be going through clenched my stomach and twisted it tight.
Please, let him be okay.
A light tapping came from the outside of my tent. Jaran pushed the flap aside.
Arik ran his hand through his hair, shifting his weight.
Emily smiled, a tray of food in her hands. "I brought you something to eat. You need to get your strength up." She pushed past me.
"We must talk about what happened," Arik said. "I hope you're up for it. I believe it will help Bastien if … "
We all knew what Arik couldn't finish.
If he is alive.
"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I brought a little of everything," Emily said and placed the tray of food beside the pillows on the floor.
I crossed the carpet to the corner of the room and sat on a pillow. Arik dropped down on one opposite me. "Tell me about the events leading up to the Writhes' attack in the library," he said.
Jaran adjusted on a pillow beside me. "She might need more time to recover."
"We haven't the luxury of time," Arik said.
"It's okay. I'm fine." A sense of doom weighed on me when I thought about what had happened in the cave only hours ago. "Conemar ambushed us."
Demos came in balancing a metal box in his arms. "It's all over the Mystik news." He set the box down and pushed some buttons on it. A hologram image snapped on above the box. Screaming came from the speakers. Between the hurricane and cracking earth, the Tetrad moved like a glacier, destroying everything in its path.
Four beasts, each threatening and scary.
The despair on the people's faces matched what was in my heart.
"What coven is that?" I asked.
"Nymhold," Jaran said, ignoring the platter of food beside him.
I covered my face with my hands. "It's my fault. I failed."
"You're alive," Arik said, going into his leader mode. "That's all that matters. We'll have to figure out a way to stop the beast." He must've remembered he was no longer our leader and added, "We must ask Lei what she wants to do."
"We have a way," I said. "Royston."
Arik's eyes were stuck on the hologram. "Then we'll make a plan. This time you'll include us. We would've been better prepared for what happened in the library if we knew what you were doing. Someone needs to get Lei."
The flap opened and Lei came in. "I'm here. Everyone in the camp has a Mystik box on." She slanted a look at me. "How could you have been so careless?"
"I didn't think … " I said. "I don't know how they knew where to find us. Royston and I were both shielded."
Royston came into my tent, his arm raised. Deidre was right behind him, a frown on her face. The silver tracer Aetnae had given me shook on Royston's wrist like it was stuck on a flytrap. "What is this thing doing? It won't leave me alone and has been annoying me for hours."
"It wants free," I said. "Blow on it."
He did as I said, and the tracer lifted off his skin. It swirled in the air around us before hovering in front of me. "Gia," a ghostly voice came from it. "Go to the library."