The Keeper's Curse (3 page)

“
I live here,” Annalise said tersely. “Now please, there’s
someone I have to see, so if we could skip the interrogation
–”

“
Sorry, Ma’am, rules are rules,” the other one said, trying to
appear apologetic. “This should only take a minute. Do you have
some identification with you?”

“
Look, I’m really in a hurry.”

By this
time the men had reached them. Emmy noticed they both had what
appeared to be a bow and a quiver of arrows slung over each of
their shoulders.

One of
them turned to Emmy, scanning her up and down, his eyes falling on
her suitcase. Their faces were even more severe up
close.

“
You live here, huh?” he said. “Ma’am, please, some
identification.”

Her
mother sighed. “All right, fine,” she said, stuffing her hand in
her pocket. The men didn’t know her, but Emmy recognized that look
in her mother’s eye and prepared herself to run.

“
Emmy, honey, I need to check in your suitcase,” she said in
deadpan voice. Annalise didn’t wait for a reply, kneeling over to
unzip it. Without warning, her mom flipped around and held out her
hand, palm open. A black cloud materialized in front of her, light
as bright as fire burning inside it like the one in the living
room.

Emmy
backed away as her mother jerked her hand forward, and the cloud
slammed right into the two men, knocking them over like bowling
pins. Annalise grabbed her daughter’s hand and began to run towards
the oak doors. Emmy looked over her shoulder, seeing the two men
already up. And, just like her mother had done, they held out their
hands and shot the strange glowing clouds towards her mother and
her.

Were her mother and the men
controlling
the clouds?

Annalise
came to a halt, her eyes blazing, and focused on the roof where a
chandelier filled with candles hung. Without even raising her arm
this time, another cloud enfolded the chandelier, breaking it off
from its hook, and it flew directly towards the men. Not bothering
to look back to see if they were okay, Annalise clamped her hand
onto Emmy’s and ran.

The two
of them pushed the doors open together, and Emmy gasped when the
sharp air cut into her lungs. It was much colder than Montréal,
wherever they were.

Without
so much as a blink, Annalise picked Emmy up, placed her on her
back, and told her to hang on. Emmy wrapped her arms around her
mother’s neck and when she did, Annalise began to run again, as
fast as ever. Emmy’s weight should have slowed her down, but it was
like she wasn’t even there.

They
definitely weren’t in Montréal any more. The building they had been
in, from what Emmy could tell, was surrounded by nothing but
forest. Annalise didn’t seem surprised at all by this, like she was
expecting it. She took the small flagstone path in front of them,
either side lined with glowing lampposts. They ran through an
endless slew of trees, deeper and deeper into the forest, away from
the only visible building. The trees were a blur as they shot by,
tall and roofed with snow.

After a
few minutes her mother stopped, barely out of breath.

“
You can get off now,” she said, and Emmy obeyed. She had to
pry her hands loose. Her entire body was frozen, still clad only in
her pyjamas.

They were
standing in front of another structure that, once again, seemed to
be the only one in the vast forest. Unlike the grandiosity of the
last building, it appeared to be built by amateur hands. It had a
quaint look to it with a thatched roof and decorated with bells,
ribbons, and lights of the brightest colours. Painted across the
front were the words, “The Noir Beanery”. Emmy could smell coffee
and chocolate and hear rowdy laughter inside.

She
followed her mother, who headed inside. Annalise opened the door,
causing a bell to ring, although no one could hear it. It was
packed. There weren’t nearly enough tables or chairs, with
customers sitting in the decrepit corners, socializing with their
friends with coffee and pastries in hand. Orange lanterns lined the
roof. The walls were covered in dark pretty shades of gossamer,
interrupted only by the two arched fireplaces on either side of the
room. The weirdest music Emmy had ever heard was playing in the
background.

She
followed her mother through the crowd, occasionally bumping into
people who didn’t seem to notice. Emmy kept her head down, not
wanting to look at their faces, which were just as pointy and
overly bright and colourful as the men who fought her mother. They
made it to the front registers which didn’t have nearly enough
cashiers. Annalise rested her arm on the counter and shouted,
“Jade!”

One of
the cashiers, a tall, redheaded girl around Emmy’s age, jumped up
and turned around. She looked at Annalise and furrowed her brows
for half a second before recognition dawned.

“
Mrs. Rathers!” she shouted. “What are you doing
here?”

“
I need to find him, you need to get him now,” Annalise
panted. “Is he here?”

Jade
nodded, picking up on Annalise’s urgency. “Yes, yes. Come on.” She
ran around the counter to them, leading the way to the side of the
registers and through a back door. A narrow staircase hid behind
it. Annalise seemed to have no problem keeping up with Jade’s
bounding steps, but Emmy was becoming exhausted from the night’s
events. When they reached the top, they were in a living
area.

“
Alex!” Jade called. “You here? You’ll never guess who’s here
to see you!”

Emmy’s
heart skipped a beat. Did Jade say what she thought she
said?

She heard
footsteps coming their way, growing louder and louder.

“
Jade, I’m practicing,” came a low voice muffled by a wall’s
distance. “This better be important or I’ll –”

A door
opened, and what came through was a young man. Despite the popular
hypothesis, he had turned out to look nothing like their father.
The stocky build and dark hair was all Annalise, while Emmy turned
out to be the blonde and skinny one like her dad. But his eyes –
the dark navy-blue eyes were identical to her own. Emmy covered her
mouth with her hands. Her voice was still lost, but she mouthed his
name. Alex.

He had a
look of dazed amazement on his face. His gaze on Annalise was brief
before turning to his sister. She didn’t think he would recognize
her.

“
Emmy?
Is that really you?” He didn’t
wait for a reply, but instead strode across the room and threw his
arms around her. He was shaking with incredulous laughter. “I can’t
believe this. I can’t believe you’re really here, that it finally
happened.” He drew himself back to look at her. “Holy
crap
you’ve gotten tall.
And your face ... I wouldn’t recognize you on the street! And your
hair –”

“
Listen Alex,” Annalise spoke over him. Her harsh voice made
Emmy wince. “We can talk later – I need you to get your things.
We’re getting out of here.”

Alex tore
his eyes off from Emmy’s. “What? Leave where? Mom, the new semester
starts next week. I can’t just leave in the middle of the
year.”

“
Yes you can. I assaulted two security guards at the complex.
They can’t find me, you know that, or I’m done.”

Just then
another woman who looked like an older version of Jade came into
the room. With the loose dress she was wearing, accessorized with
bangles, necklaces and a shawl draped around her shoulders, she had
to be, without a doubt, the owner of the coffee shop
below.

Her
stunned expression matched Alex’s. She put a hand over her heart.
“Annie! Oh my goodness!”

“
Vera please, I need some food, clothes, and weapons if you
have any.”

The woman
named Vera laughed and shook her head, not taking the command very
seriously. “You just got here. What, I’ve taken in your son for
five years and not so much as a ‘thanks’? So, is this your
daughter?”

Alex
beamed and wrapped an arm around her. “Yes, this is Evangeline. But
everyone calls her Emmy. So come on, tell us how it
happened.”

“
She hasn’t spoken since we got here,” Annalise said. “I think
she’s in shock. Now Vera, please, I need some supplies before
someone comes to arrest me. They know I’ll have to come here first
to get Alex. I’ll have to relocate to another orb.”

Vera
calmly went over to Annalise and put her hands on her shoulders.
“Annie, relax. Just spend the night and we’ll work it out tomorrow.
You must be tired.”

“
We need to leave now!” she shouted in a horribly high pitched
voice. The whole room froze in an awkward silence. “They’re coming
to arrest me! I don’t have time –”

But she
was cut off by the sharp sound of the wind, like an arrow whizzing
by. Again, Emmy saw a cloud appear in front of them. It circled
around and around, and when it dissipated, standing in the middle
was a person. Her greyish-blonde hair was pulled tightly away from
her face, making her appear stern, which made sense; she looked
very angry.

Annalise
grabbed Emmy’s hand, ready to run again, and the woman’s eyes
narrowed.

“
Don’t you
dare
Annie,” she said.

At that
moment the front door burst open, and several men dressed in black
stormed in. Two grabbed a hold of Annalise, one on either side, and
another secured Emmy in his grasp. She struggled for a moment
before realizing it was pointless; her thrashes didn’t even budge
the man.

“
No!” Alex cried, running towards them, which only ended up in
him being tackled to the ground.

Jade
backed into the corner, but Vera stepped forward with a determined
brow. “Circlet please,” she said, keeping her voice calm. “Don’t
hurt them, they’ll go willingly. Please, Alex is still underage and
Evangeline doesn’t know what’s going on.”

The
stern-looking woman snapped her gaze to Vera. “You’re on
dangerously thin ice, Mrs. Woodworker. I would suggest you keep
quiet. You’re lucky I don’t arrest you as well.”

“
For what?”

“
For aiding a fugitive!”

Emmy
started to understand just how bad the situation was. Fugitive.
Arrest. Her mother running from the security guards. She understood
enough. She wriggled in the guard’s grasp, but he seemed to be made
of iron.

“
Circlet,” Annalise said. “I will go with you, I’ll do
anything you want. Just get your cretins off of my
children.”

Circlet
smiled without mirth, giving her a vulpine glare. “If I release
you, you’ll try to run again. I’m not stupid. And I’m terribly
sorry, but I need to interrogate them.”

“
Oh please, like I don’t know that you’ve been harassing Alex
ever since I left him here.”

“
I’ve treated him with nothing but the utmost respect.” She
turned to Alex. “Right, Mr. Rathers?”

“
Yes,” he said through gritted teeth. “But Emmy doesn’t know
anything. Don’t summon the palewraiths again, they’ll scare
her.”

Circlet’s
eyes fell on Emmy, and they softened significantly. “Well, I
wouldn’t want to scare your little sister.”

“
Circlet, I said no!” Annalise spat. “Do what you want with me
but find her another home. Don’t make her live here. Not
Methelwood.”

“
What exactly will you have me do with her then?” Circlet
queried. She strutted over to Annalise until they were only inches
apart. Even with heels on, Circlet was significantly shorter. “You
take her out of the orbs, mate with a human and breed two half
crafters, then you only bothered to inform them they
were
crafters as
teenagers? Do you realize how far behind she’ll be when she goes to
school? How old is she?”

“
Fifteen.”

“
Wonderful – she was supposed to take the admission exam years
ago. There’s no way she’ll be able to survive here, not to mention
you’ve probably coddled her in some safe little neighbourhood
without her ever experiencing fear a day in her life. Escaping to
the real world and breeding with a human – I’m sorry, Annalise, but
I have no choice but to arrest you for the double offence.” She
raised her hand, signalling the men to release Alex and Emmy. “I
don’t want to upset your family any more than you already have
Annie, so Alex can stay with the Woodworkers for as long as he
wants. Until I can find a home for Evangeline, she can live with
me. I’ll take good care of her.”

“
NO!”

The whole
room fell silent. Emmy looked around for who had shouted, and then
realized it had been her. She cleared her throat and tried
again.

“
P – please.” She licked her lips. “Sh – she didn’t keep me
away. I knew all along. She’s been teaching me for years.” Her
brain wasn’t connecting with what her mouth was saying, she had no
idea what was going on, yet she couldn’t stop. “I’ll go to school.
I promise I’ll be good.”

Circlet
gazed at her pitifully, pressing her fingers to her temples. “I
don’t think you quite understand how intensive our program
is.”

Emmy
shook her head. “No, please, I can do it. I can take your exam.
When is it?”