A Book of Spirits and Thieves (23 page)

Denying that Jackie got the book or saying she didn’t know what he was talking about would be a waste of her breath, but at least she could answer with the absolute truth. “I have no idea where it is right now.”

He pressed the tips of his fingers together. “The Codex was stolen from me a long time ago, but it is mine and I need it back, now more than ever before. It is filled with the magic I need to help protect this world from evil.”

“You want to protect this world . . . with magic.” Her father had left this part of Markus’s mission out of their previous conversation.

“Yes.” He paused, allowing his previous words to sink in. “If you really want to join my society, then you will do what I ask. Locate that Codex and return it to me.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but, like I said, I don’t know where it is.”

“Perhaps. But I believe that you—and possibly only you—can find it for me. I see in your eyes that you have the capacity and intelligence to understand how grave this matter is. You are very special, Ms. Hatcher. And I would be honored to welcome you into Hawkspear. If you agree to help me, if you stand by my side along with your father, you could make such a difference to the future of this world.”

She bit her bottom lip and searched for a suitable response. Markus made her tongue-tied like no one else ever had.

He’d confirmed that the book was made of magic, just as Dr. Vega had theorized.

It was the Codex’s otherworldly magic that had sent Becca into her strange coma. She’d known this deep down the whole time, but to have it confirmed by an immortal god himself . . .

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Markus said gently. “I do. But promise me you’ll try.”

What could she say?
Let me think about it for a few days and I’ll e-mail you?

No.

“I’ll try,” she said quietly. “I promise I’ll try.”

She stood up, more than ready to leave this place, to escape into the fresh air where she could breathe and think.

“Thank you.” Again, that smile managed to captivate her, leaving her head foggy and unclear, just as it had on the university grounds. He drew closer to her, taking both her hands in his. “I’ll be in touch again very soon, Ms. Hatcher.”

Chapter 20

MADDOX

M
addox, Barnabas, and Becca continued their journey to the witch’s house. Maddox had been keeping a close eye on Becca ever since the events of the previous night, but she appeared to have fully recovered from the hungry spirit who’d nearly devoured her before his eyes.

“You keep looking at me,” Becca said as they trudged across a wide, overgrown field covered in daisies. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Maddox said.

“Positive.”

“You were so brave.”

“Yeah, right.”

“You were,” he insisted. “If something was to happen to you . . .”

“Maddox,” Barnabas interrupted. “Leave the girl alone. You’ve inquired about her well-being at least a dozen times since breakfast.”

Maddox glared at him. “You can’t possibly understand our conversations from only hearing my side of them.”

“I understand them well enough to wish for cotton to stuff in my ears.”

“I’ll find you something to stuff in your ears.”

“What did you say?” Barnabas glanced over his shoulder with a conspiratorial grin.

“Nothing,” he grumbled. “Are we nearly there?” They’d crossed through the field and now found themselves at the edges of a small village.

“We are indeed. Camilla lives somewhere around here.”

“You don’t know where?”

“No, not exactly.” He paused and stroked his beard, turning around in a circle to survey the area. Cottages dotted the landscape before them, which led up a grassy hill. Two hundred paces ahead was the village center, where they could see a tavern and a busy market.

Becca and Maddox shared a look and continued to follow Barnabas as he randomly weaved through the village, peering in windows and knocking on doors.

Finally, a helpful passerby pointed him in the right direction.

Just in time, too. Maddox’s feet were getting unbearably sore, and he was more than ready to rest. “So which cottage is hers?”

“We will know when we get there.”

“What do you mean, we’ll know when we get—” Maddox felt something tighten around his leg. A fierce yank pulled him up off his feet, and suddenly he was swinging from his ankles, viewing the world from upside down.

Barnabas, now also upside down, glanced up at the rope that had ensnared him. “We’ll know because she’s sure to have set traps for intruders. We’re here!”

Becca regarded them both with lighthearted concern. “Wish I could help.”

“Me too,” Maddox replied as he swung on the rope.

A ring of fire then snaked around both Maddox and Barnabas, trapping them inside its ten-foot radius.

“Camilla, my darling!” Barnabas shouted. “It’s just me, your devoted compatriot Barnabas, and a friend! Greetings to you! Please don’t kill us!”

The flames rose higher, the oppressive heat pressing closer and closer.

“She means to cook us alive!” Maddox exclaimed.

But suddenly, the flames were extinguished, leaving a scorched, smoldering black ring around them.

Barnabas nodded. “Yes, that’s much better.”

“You’ve finally arrived!” a lovely, melodious voice called out from behind Maddox.

“Camilla, my beauty,” Barnabas replied. “You are a sight for sore eyes. But, please, if you could release us from your ingenious trap, I’d be so appreciative. I’m afraid I’ve already lost all feeling in my right foot.”

All Maddox could see as he continued to swing gently from the rope was a flash of blond hair, a few shades darker than Becca’s, and then Barnabas, tumbling down from his snare. He got up quickly and brushed off his newly stolen clothes.

Camilla then went to Barnabas for an embrace. From this angle, facing her back, all Maddox could see was that she wore a purple cloak that hugged her curves.

“It’s so wonderful to see you,” she said, and then turned around to look at Maddox. “And who is your new friend?”

Maddox couldn’t hold back a wince as the ugliest woman he’d ever seen swept her gaze over him.

Her hair was patchy and balding in the front, and she had no eyebrows to speak of. One bloodshot eye was set much lower
than the other, and her chin sported a full beard of warts.

“This, Camilla, is Maddox Corso.”

She inhaled sharply. “The witch boy.”

“That’s right,” Barnabas said proudly.

“I’d really prefer a different nickname,” Maddox said.

Camilla patted Maddox’s cheek with her gnarled hand. “Shall we get you down from there, dearie?”

“I would be eternally grateful for that.”

She held up a knife with an alarmingly large blade, but before he could utter a word of protest, she had hacked through the rope in a single swipe.

Maddox dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, then looked up to see Becca gazing down at him, her hands on her hips.

“Very graceful,” she said with a grin.

“I do try.”

“Excellent,” Barnabas said, nodding. “Now, let’s go inside and talk revolution.”

Inside the witch’s cottage, Barnabas placed the copper box on a wooden table.

Camilla shook her head in disbelief. “I can hardly believe you retrieved it.”

“I can hardly believe it, either, to tell you the truth. It was difficult enough getting
into
that dungeon and locating young Maddox here, let alone getting
out
of it with all our limbs intact.”

“I always knew you were a wily one, ever since you were a wee thing, Barnabas.” She rubbed her hands together with glee. “That you stole it right from under her evil nose gives me such joy, so
much I find I cannot express it. Finally, we have the chance to make Valoria pay for all the pain that she’s caused.”

“I hope you’re right,” he replied. “Now, remember, the lock is enchanted.”

“I remember, of course. I was the one who told you!” She wiggled her fingers and leaned closer to the box. “Now let me just test exactly how enchanted this little box is. . . .”

She pressed her fingers against the lock and held them there. There was a sizzling sound, a sharp crack, and then Camilla fell over backward.

Maddox looked down at the witch, who was now unconscious on the floor of her cottage, as she began to snore. “My guess would be . . .
very
enchanted,” he said.

“Yes.” Barnabas crossed his arms. “Well, it seems we have a little time on our hands. I’m going to see if she has any wine.”

After a short while, Camilla began to rouse, groaning as she opened her crooked eyes. “Oh my,” she managed. “That was quite unpleasant. But I do have my answer. As soon as I regain my strength, I will be ready to break the spell that keeps this box and its treasure out of our reach.”

“What do you think?” Becca asked. She sat cross-legged on the floor by the fire. “Are they going to tell you what’s inside or keep you guessing forever?”

She was right—he was tired of being kept in the dark.

“What’s in the box?” Maddox asked aloud to the room. “I believe I have a right to know, since I helped to steal it. Barnabas says it can pull someone from one world to another. Is that true?”

“You think I’d lie to you?” Barnabas pressed a hand to his chest as if stunned by this insult. Then he laughed. “Kidding, of course. I lie to everyone. But that was not a lie.”

“He’s told you nothing else?” Camilla asked, clearly surprised at how tight-lipped Barnabas had been.

“He’s told me lots of things. I don’t exactly know which of them to believe.”

She glanced at Barnabas, who gave her a nod. “Feel free to educate the boy,” he said. “Within reason.”

Within reason?
What was that supposed to mean?

Camilla gave the copper box a wary look and then placed her hand on the top of it. “The contents of this box once belonged to a sorceress named Eva. She was an immortal from a world apart from ours, the first immortal whose job it was to watch over this mortal realm. She possessed several specific tools to aid her in this task, and what rests in here is one of them. When Eva was murdered by fellow immortals, ones whom she once trusted but who betrayed her, these tools were scattered, and then stolen by thieves who wished to use their powers for their own gain. This box has remained locked away in Valoria’s secret armarium ever since she seized the throne from King Thaddeus. She wishes to use it to gain access to another of Eva’s tools, a golden dagger that she believes has fallen into yet another world. Sadly for Valoria, she doesn’t possess the right kind of magic to achieve this goal, so for all these years, she has been searching for other solutions.”

“The young witch Valoria believes is dead,” Maddox said aloud, as the pieces of this puzzle, scattered up until now, began clicking together for him. He glanced at Barnabas. “She possesses the magic Valoria requires to get the dagger back.”

Barnabas gave a shallow nod. “That is what the goddess believes.”

“Come with me, young man. I have something to show you.” Camilla directed Maddox out of her cottage to a garden surrounded
by a tall stone fence. Barnabas and Becca followed closely behind.

In the garden was a tangle of weeds and wildflowers, a rickety wooden shed, and, dead center, a stone wheel as tall as Maddox.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A stone wheel,” Camilla replied.

“I can see that. But what does it do? Why is it here?”

“Eva used wheels just like this, which she placed in strategic locations around Mytica. They are vessels that hold gateway magic. This magic can remain in the wheels for centuries because of the high density of the stone.” She gave the wheel a hard knock as if to prove this. “We mean to use this wheel in the same way and create a gateway to send Valoria out of this world forever.”

“Truth be told,” Barnabas said, eyeing the wheel, “I thought it would be much bigger.”

Maddox shook his head. “Wait. Even if you’re able to create this gateway, how do you plan to get Valoria here, to your home? And then, on the off chance that you
could
get her here, how would you manage to then push her, a
goddess
, through a gateway to a . . . another world? It would be next to impossible.”

“One thing at a time, my young friend,” Barnabas said. “First we need to access the proper magic, and then . . . we’ll figure out the rest.”

A solid plan, Maddox thought, if an early and very painful death was the end goal.

Still, he considered everything he’d been told so far. If Barnabas and Camilla were right, if they could get the wheel magic to work without any help from the girl Valoria sought . . .

He turned to find Becca standing behind him, wringing her hands. Their eyes met and hers now shone with hope.

“Could this magic retrieve a spirit who has been displaced from
her world?” Maddox asked Camilla, without turning his attention fully from Becca.

“What a strange question,” Camilla replied, scratching her lower eye. “But I don’t see why not.”

“This is it,” Becca whispered. “This is how you can help me get home again.”

“It could be,” he agreed.

“Now,” Camilla said, “come back inside and let’s have some soup. I made it fresh just before you arrived.”

They went back inside for some soup that tasted like potatoes and dirt. Camilla cleared the dishes when they were done.

“I feel much better,” she announced. “Let’s try again.”

Maddox watched tensely as Camilla focused again on the copper box. She posed with her hands on either side of it, as if trying to sense and harness its energy.

“I’d suggest she doesn’t touch the lock this time,” Becca said.

Maddox fought a smile.

“Ah, yes,” Camilla gasped. “I feel it now. I must concentrate. Oh, here it goes. Here it is . . . yes, almost there. And”—she inhaled sharply—“and
done
.”

The locked popped open.

Maddox’s eyes widened. “You
are
a witch.”

“And proud of it, young man.” Camilla grinned. “Now, stand back. There could be another trap inside.”

They backed away as Camilla slowly . . . very slowly . . . opened the lid. Maddox didn’t know what to expect, but when nothing happened, and no one started to scream or run away, he let out a long sigh of relief.

“Oh, it’s incredible,” Camilla breathed. “I already feel its power, waiting to be unlocked next.”