Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4) (11 page)

“I still think I
need to be inside the castle on this one,” Cyrus argued again the next day.
“I’m the only one who can call light to help us on the fly.”

“Not much help in a
castle with no windows, man,” Jack pointed out.

Valerie, Gideon, and
Henry were still strapping on their weapons as Dulcea passed out pastries. Thai
was stuffing two in his mouth at once, which would have made Valerie smile if
she wasn’t so tense about the mission.

“Cy’s right,” Thai
agreed, his words a little muffled. “Take us all. Juniper and Claremont, too,
maybe.”

“All of this is my
fault. If anyone should be risking their life, it should be me,” Henry said,
and from his mind, Valerie could hear the part he left unspoken. He believed
his life had the least value, as well.

“It would not be
wise for you to return to that place,” Gideon said. “The castle affects some
more than others, and it has worn away the light within you.”

“We talked about
this,” Valerie said, her patience wearing thin. “Minimal force. Gideon and I
are the best fighters, and Dulcea is the only one who Reaper won’t recognize,
so she’ll have to drive the cart in.”

“Did I mention I
hate that part of the plan?” Jack said, his usual smile completely absent as he
gripped Dulcea’s hand in his.

Valerie agreed with
Jack, but there was no way around it.

“There’s no one else
he won’t recognize,” Valerie reminded him.

“You should send me
and my boys in,” Jack offered, not for the first time. “We know the castle
best.”

“You’ll be thrown
into the dungeons, best case scenario,” Valerie said. “No way do we want you
all to be forced to re-enlist into Reaper’s army.”

“Fine, boss,” Jack
grumbled, but Valerie knew that his gang never wanted to see the inside of the
Black Castle again, and Jack didn’t really want to put them there. He just
didn’t want to send Dulcea by herself, and Valerie didn’t blame him.

The air shimmered,
and Sanguina appeared in the kitchen.

“There’s still no
way to get into Dunsinane except by foot,” Sanguina said. “I tried projecting
there again this morning with a tuft of weeds that I have from the hills near
the castle, but it didn’t work. Reaper doesn’t want anyone sneaking up on him.”

“We’ll
do it the hard way, like we thought we’d have to,” Valerie said. “Time to split
up.”

Half a day later,
Valerie, Gideon, and Sanguina had traveled through the cities to the border
closest to Dunsinane. It had been a grueling trip, since they had to carry an
enormous callbox with them.

They stopped, and
Valerie pulled out some squished sandwiches from her pack that she gave to
Sanguina and Gideon.

“We are ready for
this,” Gideon said, and Valerie saw that he was watching her as she put her uneaten
sandwich back in her pack.

“Don’t forget,
you’ve got me ready and waiting if something goes wrong,” Sanguina added.

“Thank you both,”
Valerie said.

“There’s something
else,” Sanguina said, and she looked away. “If you do need me, you have to
promise not to protect me. Get yourself and your friends out of there.”

“You’re my friend
now, too,” Valerie said. “We leave together or not at all.”

“If what you say is
true, and I am your friend, then respect my wish. I could die today if it is in
service to you and Henry, and be happy. But if you die with me, then there is
no redemption for what I’ve done,” Sanguina said.

Valerie wanted to
argue, but she couldn’t. She knew what it was to live with immense guilt.
Sanguina was asking not to be buried alive by hers. Valerie nodded once, and
Sanguina’s face relaxed.

A flash of light
darted through the leaves and coalesced into words before their eyes. Cyrus’s
message was clear.

Dulcea’s on her way.
Get ready.

Gideon, Valerie, and
Sanguina all climbed awkwardly into the callbox. They were uncomfortably close,
standing toe-to-toe. It would have been easier to travel from a callbox in
Silva, but Valerie wanted to be close to Dunsinane in case the magic didn’t
work. If she and Gideon ran, they could still make it to the Black Castle in
time to extract Dulcea.

“I must admit, I
don’t think even Reaper would have imagined this method of entry into his
land,” Sanguina said. “How long do you think we’ll—”

Before Sanguina
could finish her sentence, Valerie had the sensation of being yanked by the
back of her neck. Her entire body was like elastic, bending in ways she didn’t
know it could. Then there was a jumble of colors and light, and she toppled
onto the ground inside the Black Castle.

A relieved Dulcea
helped Valerie and Gideon stand.

“They sent me around
back. We’re in a storeroom underground, I think,” Dulcea said.

Next to her was a
cart that was filled with a black substance that seemed less like something
solid and more like a vacuum that absorbed the light near it. Valerie shuddered
at the sight of it.

“Was anyone
suspicious of you?” Gideon asked.

Before Dulcea could
answer, the door to the storeroom opened, and Tan stormed in.

“Seize them!” he
said, and five Fractus poured into the room.

Two had eyes that
were entirely black, like the warriors from Elsinore, and the other three were
wielding staffs that shot lightning.

“Dulcea, down!”
Valerie commanded, and Dulcea dropped to the ground without hesitating.

Valerie’s blade
connected with a dark weapon wielded by a stout woman in armor from Elsinore.
The woman was creepy, her eyes black slits as she directed her power at
Valerie. But with Pathos in front of her, Valerie’s magic continued to blaze
within her, untouched by the darkness pouring from her attacker. Cyrus’s light spell
was working.

Without the
advantage of ripping away Valerie’s power, the woman was still a match for her.
It took all of Valerie’s concentration to ward off the woman’s increasingly
frantic blows, but at last, Valerie saw her opening.

In a deft move, she
flicked Pathos across the woman’s wrist, making her drop her weapon. Valerie
followed up with a kick to her chest, and then an elbow to her head, and she
dropped to the ground.

Next to her, two of
the Fractus wielding staffs had been disarmed and dispatched by Gideon. But in
the melee, the other Fractus with darkness in his eyes had the presence of mind
to yank Dulcea off the ground and lay his weapon against her throat.

“Drop your weapons
or she’s dead,” the man said.

Gideon and Valerie
obeyed without hesitation, and the other conscious Fractus yanked Gideon’s
hands behind him. The Fractus holding Dulcea loosened his grasp on her by a
hair, and Dulcea turned and head-butted him.

The man staggered
back, and Valerie leapt on top of him, jamming the heel of her hand into a
pressure point on his neck. At the same time, Gideon had thrown the Fractus who
was tying him up over his back and onto the ground.

Tan had hung back in
the shadows, but Valerie grabbed him before he could squirm away.

“Is this who you really
want to be?” she asked him.

“Let me go or knock
me out, but don’t make me listen to your preaching,” he spat at her.

Valerie granted him
his wish and knocked him unconscious with a blow that she knew would leave him
with a nasty headache.

It was quiet.
Dulcea, Gideon, and Valerie looked at each other, breathing heavily. Dulcea was
scratching a nick on her neck that was bleeding lightly.

“Everyone okay?”
Valerie asked, and Gideon and Dulcea nodded.

“Do you think anyone
else knows we’re here?” Dulcea asked.

“Tan must have
recognized you when you drove up. But something tells me if he’d told Reaper we
were here that more than six Fractus would have come to take us down,” Valerie
said, and Gideon nodded at her words.

“It does not matter.
The plan doesn’t change,” Gideon said.

“We don’t leave
without Kanti,” Dulcea agreed.

Valerie wished they
could send Dulcea back to the callbox, but only the objects that came from the
box could return to it. So they’d all have to find another exit together.

Quietly, they left
the storeroom and made their way through the dark, cold hallway beyond. There
were several turns, and Valerie hoped that she was remembering Sanguina’s
blueprint correctly, since she didn’t want to take the time to read the map
unless she had to.

She sighed with
quiet relief when they reached the entryway to the castle. The giant door was
sealed shut, except for a sliver of light that fought its way through a chink
in the corner of the door.

“The throne room
isn’t far,” Valerie whispered.

They ran now that
they were certain of where they were heading. Twice, Gideon yanked Valerie and
Dulcea into side passageways so that they wouldn’t bump into Fractus guards in
the hall. His hearing was so good, Valerie would bet that he could give Chrome
a run for his money.

Finally, they were
inside the room with the blood-red throne. As soon as Pathos crossed the
threshold, a blue glow briefly flashed in the cracks of the stone walls.

“The orb,” Valerie
said.

“Pathos has ensured
that it is still active,” Gideon said.

Valerie saw Kanti’s
statue in a corner, but before she could approach, a fluttering by the throne
caught her eye.

“My wish was
granted,” Kellen said. “I couldn’t come to kill you outside, so you came to
me.”

Valerie dropped and
rolled as the fairy fluttered closer so that he could sprinkle her with dust
from his wings. With Gideon at her side, they could take on Kellen. They’d
still make it out of here.

“I knew you were
here as soon as you arrived,” Reaper’s voice slithered from the shadows, and
Valerie’s stomach clenched. “The callbox was a loophole I hadn’t thought of, I
admit.”

“We’re here for
Kanti,” Valerie said, refusing to show weakness to her father’s and Midnight’s
murderer, even if inside she knew their mission was doomed. “We’ll take her by
force if we have to.”

Reaper moved closer
to her, and the shadows of his face appeared exaggerated in the dim light.

“Henry’s debt has
not yet been paid, so Kanti will remain here. Or dead, if you prefer?” Reaper
made a twisting gesture with his hand, and Kanti’s statue began to shake, bits
of dust crumbling off of her.

“Stop!” Dulcea
screamed, and stood in front of Kanti.

Reaper’s magic hit
her squarely in the chest, tossing her against the wall like a doll.

The room exploded in
motion as Valerie drew her sword and launched herself at Reaper. Oleander burst
into the room, and Valerie heard a clatter behind her and guessed that she had
brought the invisible Fractus as reinforcements.

Before Valerie could
get close to Reaper, her world turned on its axis, and the room seemed to
reorient itself around her.

Valerie gritted her
teeth and didn’t let her frustration stop her. She’d faced this trick of his
before. Shutting her eyes, she let her own well of magic spring within her.

This time, when she struck
at Reaper with Pathos, it connected with his scythe. It was a good blow, and
Pathos was stronger than it had been the last time she’d fought Reaper. His
mouth tightened in a hard line, and she knew that he noticed the difference,
too.

Pain singed her arms
as Reaper tried to dissolve her. But the attack didn’t have the power it might
have had without the orb dampening Reaper’s gifts.

Valerie didn’t let
herself stop moving, and the next time her sword connected with Reaper’s
scythe, it sliced cleanly through. Reaper threw the pieces to the ground,
scowling.

Next to her, Gideon
was fighting the invisible Fractus; Valerie could tell from the crunch as her
mentor’s blows connected with their breakable bodies. He nimbly ducked and
wove, and if the breakables were landing blows on him, Valerie couldn’t tell.

“Pile on, you
idiots!” Oleander barked. “There’s only one of him.”

Reaper opened a
portal in the air, and Kanti’s statue began to move toward it. Valerie tried to
throw herself at Reaper to stop him, but he held out a hand, and she was shoved
back against a wall. It was like his hand was a magnet, and she was the reverse
polarity. She couldn’t move closer, and she watched helplessly as Kanti’s
statue inched closer to the portal.

A small form with a
golden head of curls threw herself onto Kanti’s statue. Dulcea had somehow
gathered enough strength to stand, and with her added weight, Kanti’s statue
tipped over and fell to the ground, unmoving.

“You’re a brave
little Conjuror. But you’re on the wrong side,” Reaper said.

He flicked his hand,
and Dulcea began to scream. Valerie was still paralyzed, but Gideon surged
toward Reaper. He was moving sluggishly, coughing as his fist connected with an
invisible attacker who was in his way. He’d been exposed to Kellen’s dark dust,
and Valerie saw the fairy hovering above him again.