wings, then flew back.
That was proof enough for me. “We need to take the bird with us,” I said.
“Not without me,” said Melina. “If Winnie knows how to find this ymbryne, then I’m coming, too.”
“Not a good idea,” said Horace. “We’re on a dangerous mission, you see—”
Emma cut him off. “Give us the bird. We’ll come back for you, I promise.”
A sudden jolt of pain made me gasp and double over.
Emma rushed to my side. “Jacob! Are you all right?”
I couldn’t speak. Instead I hobbled to the window, forced myself upright, and projected my Feeling out toward the cathedral dome, visible over the rooftops just a few blocks away—then down at the street, where horse-drawn wagons rattled past.
“We have to go,” I said. “Now.”
“Please,” Horace begged the girl. “We
Melina snapped her fingers, and the dresser that had nearly killed me raised up off the floor again. “I can’t allow that,” she said, narrowing her eyes and flicking them toward the dresser just to make sure we understood one another. “But take me along and you get Winnie in the bargain. Otherwise …”
The dresser pirouetted on one wooden leg, then tipped and crashed onto its side.
“Fine then,” Emma said through her teeth. “But if you slow us down, we take the bird and leave you behind.”
Melina grinned, and with a flick of her hand the door banged open.
“Whatever you say.”
* * *
We flew down the stairs so fast that our feet hardly seemed to touch the ground. In twenty seconds we were back in the courtyard, leaping over dead Mr. Crumbley, diving down the dry well. I went first, kicking in the mirrored door at the bottom rather than wasting time sliding it open. It broke from its hinges and fell in pieces. “Look out below!” I called, then lost my grip on the wet stone steps and fell flailing and tumbling into the dark.
A pair of strong arms caught me—Bronwyn’s—and set my feet on the floor. I thanked her, my heart
