them.”
I clamped down on my sudden rage. I didn’t have time for this. “Fine, but let me warn you that you’re going have to let me inside your mind in order for you to get through Ferde’s shield.”
His face paled, but he nodded and fell into step with me as I hurried to the market. Dax waited there. I left Leif with him and hunted for Fisk. He helped a woman barter for a bolt of cloth, but he finished as soon as he recognized me.
“Lovely Yelena, do you need help?” he asked.
I told him what I needed.
He smiled and said, “Sounds like fun, but—”
“It’s going to cost me,” I finished for him.
He raced off to gather his friends.
Once Fisk had assembled about twenty children, I explained my plan to them. “Make sure you don’t go within a block of the courtyard until you hear the signal. Understand?” I asked. The children nodded. When I felt satisfied they knew what to do, Fisk’s friends scattered and went to get into position. Fisk led Leif and me toward the white jade statue. Dax waited in a side alley far enough away not to touch Ferde’s shield, but within sight of the second- story windows.
I kept my mind open, seeking for the edge of Ferde’s magical barrier. About half a block away from the courtyard, Leif touched my arm, stopping me.
“It’s just ahead,” he whispered.
“How do you know?”
“I feel a wall of fire. Don’t you?”
“No.”
“Then it’s good that I came.”
I glared, but had no reply. Fisk watched us, waiting for our signal.
This was not the time for a fight. I looked at Leif. “You have to open your mind to me,” I told him. “You have to trust me.”
He nodded without hesitating. “Do it.”
I pulled power to me, spinning it around me like a huge curtain. Reaching out, I made contact with Fisk’s mind. “Think of your parents,” I instructed, hoping this would work.
The young boy closed his eyes and imagined his parents. I linked to their minds through Fisk then reached for Leif’s.
Leif’s mind resembled a black labyrinth of pain. Guilt, shame and anger twisted together. I understood why Moon Man wanted to help him, but I felt a mean satisfaction at Leif’s remorse.
Pushing his dark thoughts aside, I replaced them with Fisk’s father’s concerns about finding work and supporting his family. I pulled in Fisk’s mother’s thoughts about her sister’s ailing health into my own mind. Holding their personalities and thoughts in Leif’s and my mind, I gave Fisk the signal.
He barked like a dog. Soon other barks echoed on the marble walls in reply. Fisk’s friends would begin the distraction, playing tag and running in and out of the courtyard and Ferde’s magical shield as many times as they could.
I took Fisk and Leif’s hands and the three of us continued on to the courtyard. As we crossed the barrier, I felt the probing heat of an annoyed and powerful magician. He scanned our thoughts, determined we were one of the local beggar families and dismissed us.
When we reached the statue, I released Fisk’s parents. They would have an unusual story to tell their friends about how they had felt as if they were in two places at once.
“That’s half the battle,” I said to Leif.
He wouldn’t meet my eyes. His face was flushed with shame. Irritated, I snapped, “Now is not the time for this.”
He nodded, but still wouldn’t meet my gaze. Fisk ran off to join his friends in the game, giving us a few more minutes to get into the house.
We approached the house from a side street. The door was locked. I pulled my diamond pick and my tension wrench from my backpack and began working on the lock. Once I had aligned the pins, the lock’s tumbler turned and the door swung inward. I heard a surprised huff from Leif. Then we stepped inside the foyer and closed the door. I shoved my picks into my pocket.
Walking without sound, we entered a living area. The normal furniture and decorations seemed out of place. I guess I had expected something wild and weird; something that reflected a killer’s mind.
Leif held his machete and I gripped my bow, but I knew they would not protect us. Magic filled the house. It pressed against my skin and I started to sweat. The sounds of the children faded and we heard the light tread of feet from the floor above us.
Connecting with Gelsi’s mind, I saw Ferde approach her. He held a brown stone bowl and a long dagger. He wore his red mask and nothing else. She had been fascinated with the tattoos and symbols on his sculpted physique, but now she eyed them with revulsion.
I had to physically hold on to Leif when Gelsi started moaning with pain. Handing him one of Esau’s Theobroma pills, I motioned that he should put it into his mouth. I placed my pack on the floor and quietly removed Perl’s device from my backpack.
With my bow in one hand and the device in the other, I waited at the bottom of the staircase with Leif. Finally, we heard Ferde moving again.
My stomach tightened with apprehension. I pulled power to me to strengthen my mental defenses. A mistake. Ferde felt the draw and I could sense his growing alarm.
“Now,” I whispered to Leif. We rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Ferde waited for us on the landing. We skittered to a stop on the top step. An amused smile quirked Ferde’s lips before he pressed them together with concentration. Revulsion and terror welled up my throat at the sight of him, and I thought I would vomit as Tula’s horrible memories filled my mind.
The wave of his magic crashed against us. I grabbed the railing to keep from plummeting down the stairs. Leif jerked beside me but remained upright. Was that it? I glanced at Ferde. His eyes were closed. Moving toward him, I raised Perl’s device.
“Yelena, stop,” Leif said. His voice sounded odd.
I looked at Leif in time to see him swing his machete. Jumping back, I dropped Perl’s device and blocked Leif’s weapon with my bow.
“What are you—” I tried to ask, but with the pill between my teeth made it hard to talk.
Leif spat his pill out and moved to strike again. “When those men took my perfect baby sister, I thought I would reclaim my parents’ undivided attention.” Leif’s machete sliced toward my neck.
I ducked. Had his shame and guilt all been an act? Was he working with Ferde this whole time? Pushing aside my stunned disbelief, I jabbed him in the stomach with the end of my bow. He hunched over and grunted. Magic pressed on my skin and Leif straightened with renewed vigor. But who’s magic?
“Instead, I had to compete with a perfect ghost,” Leif said and attacked.
Chunks of wood flew through the air as I blocked his wide blade. It was only a matter of time before he would destroy my bow and I was running out of room in the narrow landing. There was a hallway to my left, and an open doorway on my right.
“Mother refused to leave our house, and Father was never home. All because of you.” Leif puffed with effort. “And you stayed away just to spite me. Didn’t you? You’re my strangler fig, and now it’s time to chop you down.”
Ferde had disappeared. I felt Gelsi’s brief cry of alarm as Ferde entered her room. He planned to finish the ritual while Leif kept me occupied. And it was working.
With a loud crack, my bow splintered in two. Leif advanced and I formed a magical shield, but he walked right through. As a last-ditch effort I sent out my mental awareness, entering his dark mind.
Hate and self-loathing filled his thoughts. I felt another presence in Leif’s head. Ferde had Story Weaver
