I collapsed against his chest, too weak with fear and worry to cry. “Where have you been?”
“After my testimony, the Council sent me back to Hecate. But I…I don’t know, I just felt like something was wrong here, so I used the Itineris to come back. What the hell happened?” he asked.
I looked up at him, his hazel eyes reflecting the inferno in front of us. “It’s the Council. They’re raising demons. They raised Nick and Daisy, and now Nick has killed a bunch of people. They sentenced Archer to death, and—” I broke off on a sob. “L’Occhio di Dio attacked the house because of it, and Lara is using Daisy against them. And…and my dad is still in there. And Archer. And they did something to Jenna, but I don’t know what,” I finished, just as one of Thorne’s many chimneys crumbled in a plume of fire and smoke. It sounds strange, but until I said all of that out loud, the full magnitude of what I’d lost hadn’t really hit me. No more magic. Jenna missing, maybe dead. Archer and Dad trapped inside a burning building.
“Okay,” Cal said softly. Then, more firmly, “Get to the Itineris. I used that chain Cross had to get to Hecate and back, so it’s still there. Use it and get out of here.”
“How?” I asked, trying to focus. “I don’t have my powers anymore.”
Cal shook his head. “You don’t need them. The Itineris has its own magic. It doesn’t need yours.”
“Where am I supposed to go? I have no idea where my mom is.” My throat tightened to the point of pain. Dad had said he was going to call her. What if she was on her way here right now? What if she walked into the middle of this? “You were at Hecate. Is she there?”
Cal shook his head. “No.” There was another crash from inside, and Cal’s eyes darted back to Thorne. “Go to the Itineris and tell it you want to go to Aislinn Brannick. That should be enough to get you there, or at least close enough.”
If he had told me to climb around the back of the mill and go to Narnia, I’m not sure I could have been more shocked. “What?” I shouted over the roar of the flames. “Why would I go there?”
“Because that’s where your mother is,” he said, his gaze boring into mine.
My hands clenched the front of his shirt. “Oh my God, did they capture her or something?”
He shook his head. “No, but I don’t have time to explain. Just trust me. She won’t hurt you, and it’s the only place I can think of where you’d be safe. I’ll see what I can do for your dad. And Cross.”
I clutched his arm. “Cal, that’s suicide,” I said. God knows I wanted Dad and Archer safe, but the thought of Cal plunging back into that madness made my chest constrict with fear.
He gently pried my hand off his arm. “I have to,” he said softly. He went to turn away, and then stopped, like maybe he was reconsidering. But instead of agreeing to come back to the Itineris with me, he reached out, cupped my face, and brought his lips to mine.
I was so shocked that I literally froze in place, one hand hovering in the air next to Cal’s shoulder. The kiss was brief—just a little too long to be considered chaste—but when he pulled away, all I could do was stare at him, my mouth slightly agape. He ran his thumb over my lower lip, sending a tiny flurry of sparks through me. “Good-bye, Sophie.”
Then he jogged toward Thorne, disappearing into the blazing house. One more name I could add to my list of the lost.
I’ve heard people say that when you go through a lot of trauma, your brain just shuts off, goes right into survival mode. That must have been what happened to me, because I felt like I’d been dosed with a giant shot of mind-Novocain.
I turned away from Thorne Abbey and began walking toward the mill. Not running, not sprinting. Just walking. One foot in front of the other.Go to Aislinn Brannick, he’d said. Your mother is there. Okay, then. I’d go to Aislinn Brannick.
Once I reached the mill, I found the chain pretty quickly. Lying just a few feet from it was Archer’s sword. That’s right; he’d left it here that horrible night.
My fingers were as numb as the rest of me when I reached down and picked it up, its weight heavy and solid in my hand. I would take it with me, just in case I ever saw Archer again.
And just then, that feeling washed over me again, the strange psychic impulse I’d been feeling since I left Graymalkin. But this time, it wasn’t dread that washed over me, or fear.
It was happiness. Hope.
Iwould see him again. I can’t tell you how I knew it. I just did.
My magic flared inside me, futile but still there, and I felt the numbness slide away from me, steely determination taking its place. If Archer could live through this night, maybe that meant Dad and Cal could, too. And Jenna, wherever she was.
And together, maybe we had a chance of stopping all this. I clutched the sword tighter with one hand, and used the other to slip the chain around my neck.
“Aislinn Brannick,” I muttered under my breath. “Wherever you are, I really hope Cal is right about you.”
Then I stepped through the doorway.
