TWENTY-SIX
THE SEARCHERS KEPT US moving at a quick pace. Logan’s
hands were bound, his every move scrutinized by the four Strikers
who escorted him to the Academy. I would have been relieved by
their stern treatment of the Keeper if they hadn’t treated Ansel
the same way.
Though Logan walked
with an undisguised smirk fixed on his mouth, my brother hung his
head, stumbling between armed Strikers.
“We have to stop
this,” I whispered to Shay.
“I know,” he said.
“Once we’re back at the Academy, I’ll talk to Anika. I don’t think
they’ll hurt him in the meantime.”
I glowered at him.
“He doesn’t deserve this. You’ve seen how broken he is. He just
didn’t realize—”
“I know, Calla.”
Shay took my arm, his eyes telling me to lower my voice. “I know.
I’m on your side, but we have to figure out what happened before we
can convince them Ansel isn’t a threat.”
I jerked away from
him, darting forward to where Connor walked beside
Adne.
“Connor, can’t you
do something?” I hissed. “This isn’t Ansel’s fault.”
“Not now,” Connor
said. “Even if I could do something, we don’t have time to sort it
out.”
Adne’s face was like
stone.
“Adne,” I began.
“Please—”
“He’s right.” She
didn’t look at me. “We don’t have time. We have to deal with
that.”
She pointed to the
massive structure that towered above the cornfields. Outside, the
Academy was even more impressive than it was within. The immense
structure curved away from us, its marble surface gleaming as the
winter sun split through the heavy cloud cover. Four slender spires
stretched toward the sky, interrupting the smooth curve of the
building at equal intervals. All four stories of the Academy were
lined with windows, giving it the appearance of being filled with
light.
I stared at the
imposing structure, which loomed larger with every step we took.
How could they possibly move it?
More Searchers were
waiting for us as we entered the building. The bottom floor opened
into the same structure of a hallway circling the central
courtyard, but here the doors lining the walls were spaced at much
wider intervals.
“The Haldis team?” a
woman whom I recognized as one of the other Guides asked
Anika.
She nodded, her face
grim. “It’s still unclear what happened. But we lost Monroe, and
the Denver site was infiltrated. Declare an emergency
relocation.”
“You’re not
serious?” The other woman gasped.
“I am,” Anika
replied. “Go now.”
“But the Eydis Links
haven’t finalized—”
“Now.”
The Guide ran into
the Academy.
Anika began barking
orders. “Alert the Pyralis and Tordis wings! The move begins in
fifteen minutes. Everyone to their designated posts!”
Searchers darted in
multiple directions.
Anika turned to face
the two sets of Strikers escorting Logan and Ansel. “Take them to
the stockade. We’ll deal with them later.”
“No!” Several
Strikers raised their weapons when I grabbed Anika’s arm. She shook
her head and they backed off.
“Calla, I understand
that the boy is your brother, but until we know the truth of this
matter, he must be treated with the utmost caution.”
“Even if he told
them about the hideout, I’m sure he was tricked,” I said. “You
don’t know what they did to him.”
She pulled her arm
free. “I will know in time. But I can’t address your concern now.
I’m sorry.”
She nodded to the
Strikers and they led Ansel away.
“Ansel!” I began to
follow them, but Shay held me back.
“Wait.”
“They’re treating
him like a prisoner!” I shouted, writhing in his grasp. “This isn’t
his fault. He’s been tortured. We need to help him!”
“We’ll figure it
out,” he said. “I swear. We need Anika to know she can trust your
pack. That has to come first, and then we can bring her around on
Ansel.”
For her own part,
Anika had turned to Connor. “Can you explain to me what happened
back there?”
“Not exactly,” he
muttered, pulling an envelope from inside his duster. “But Monroe
asked me to give you this if he didn’t make it back.”
“He went into a
mission with the idea that he wouldn’t come back?” Anika snatched
the envelope. “And how did you find the young Guardians? I was
under the impression that we couldn’t locate them.”
Connor spoke without
meeting the Arrow’s penetrating gaze. “It was an urgent situation,
Anika.”
Anika’s eyes had
narrowed. “Are you telling me that Monroe led a strike into Vail
without authorization?”
“Yes.”
“And now he’s dead?”
She shook her head. “And we lost Denver.”
“But we got the
wolves,” Ethan said, glancing at Sabine’s unmoving form. “Some of
them, at least.”
“Let’s hope that
makes a difference.” Before she turned away, I saw a tear slide
down her cheek. “We needed Monroe.”
“I know,” Connor
said, his own voice thick.
“The Guides will be
waiting for me,” she said. “We’ll discuss this after the move. If
we make it.”
With that she strode
away.
“If we make it?” I
asked.
Connor didn’t
answer.
“Calla.” I turned to
see Ethan with Sabine still resting in his arms. “I’m worried she
might have internal injuries. I need to take her to the
Elixirs.”
“The who?” Shay
asked.
“Our healers,” Adne
said. “They’re in the Eydis Sanctuary.”
“She might need pack
blood,” I said, peering at Sabine. She wasn’t bleeding or bruised,
but sometimes the wounds you couldn’t see were the most deadly
kind.
Nev was hovering
nearby. “I’ll go with them. She can have my blood if she needs
it.”
“Okay.”
Bryn and Mason
approached cautiously. At last convinced I wouldn’t chase after
Ansel, Shay loosened his grasp and I pulled away from him. I knew
he was being reasonable, but I hated feeling helpless about Ansel’s
situation.
“What now?” Mason
asked.
“You come with us,”
Connor said.
The air was suddenly
filled with a chorus of bell tones. The Academy pulsed with energy,
the sound growing ever louder. Though piercing, the crystalline
chimes had a hypnotic melody—the walls reverberated with their
music. I watched as the hall began to shudder with the sound. The
maze of colors threading through the marble hallways undulated with
each ringing note.
Adne bolted for the
stairs. “I have to get to my post!”
“What’s happening?”
Bryn asked. She took my hand, trembling.
Connor led us after
Adne, though unlike the Weaver, he didn’t run. “The Weavers have to
move the Academy.”
“How is that
possible?” Shay asked.
“It takes precise
coordination.” Connor glanced back at us. “Every Weaver has to pull
the same threads to open a single door in unison.”
“But how can you get
the building through a door?” Shay frowned as we reached the second
floor, heading to the next flight of stairs.
“The building
doesn’t go through the door,” Connor said. “The Weavers move the
door over the building.”
“They—they what?” I
stammered.
Connor didn’t
answer. He’d brought us back to the fourth floor. We found Adne
standing halfway between the section of the hall that housed our
bedrooms and the Haldis tactical center. With the skeans clasped in
her fingers, she stood perfectly still, eyes closed, drawing slow,
rhythmic breaths.
“Adne—” Shay started
toward her.
“Shhh!” Connor threw
an arm in front of him. “She needs to focus.”
I glanced up and
down the hall, noticing another woman standing twenty feet beyond
Adne. When I looked in the opposite direction, I saw a young man
standing about the same distance apart.
“Those are the other
Weavers,” Connor said, following my gaze. He looked at them and
then at each of us. “You may want to sit down for this. It’s a
little intense if you haven’t been through it before.”
We all stared at
him, but none of us sat.
“Suit yourselves.”
He shrugged, turning back to watch Adne.
A new sound echoed
through the hall. Low, deep like the striking of an enormous bell.
Its note reverberated through the Academy, settling into my bones.
I shivered and Shay took my hand. I threaded my fingers through
his. The bell sounded again and I saw Adne shudder just like I had.
She didn’t open her eyes. The bell rang once more. The echoes
layered one on top of the others. The air was so thick with the
deep tones I thought I could almost feel it pouring over my
skin.
When the bell rang a
fourth time, Adne began to move. She bent forward gracefully,
almost in a bow. Farther along the hall I could see the other
Weaver making an identical motion. Adne’s head lifted, her arms
twisting and curving as her body unfolded. New sounds trickled
through the lingering sound of the bell. Tinkling and bright, notes
rippled through the halls like the music of a wind chime. Along
with this light music came color; the patterns in the walls were
coming to life, their jewel tones glittering, casting rainbows
along the floor and over our bodies.
Adne was moving
faster now, leaping and twisting in the dance I’d come to associate
with her portal weaving. On both sides of her the other Weavers
swirled in perfect imitation of Adne’s lithe body. She was
breathing hard, sweating, but not once did she hesitate or break
her rhythm. The ringing notes around us grew louder, piercing my
sensitive ears so hard that I had to cover them with my hands. The
rainbow patterns on the floors and walls began to spark, exploding
in the air like fireworks. The dazzling colors grew ever brighter,
blinding me. The floor beneath my feet felt like it was shifting. I
dropped to my knees, still covering my ears. I curled over, burying
my head against my thighs. I felt Shay’s body wrap around mine,
shielding me from the deafening cascade of sound and the bursts of
light.
Fur brushed against
me. I heard a whimper, then another as Bryn and Mason, now wolves,
snuggled up against me, shoving their muzzles under my arms to rest
their cold noses against my jaw. The sound was so loud it didn’t
even seem to matter that I was covering my ears. I thought I might
scream.
And suddenly there
was only silence.
I lifted my head,
taking a slow breath. A strong, unfamiliar scent filled my
nostrils: a mixture of salt and lush, green leaves and . . . fish?
I took another breath; it was the same scent, but I couldn’t
recognize it. I thought I might also smell lemons.
“You all right?”
Connor was looking down at us.
Shay stood up,
rolling back his shoulders. “I guess.”
“I told you,” Connor
said, grinning. “Intense.”
“No joke.” Adne
stumbled toward us, moving unsteadily, as if she were
drunk.
Connor caught her as
she ungracefully fell into him.
“Nice job, kid.” He
brushed his lips across her forehead.
“Thanks,” she
mumbled. “I think I’ll sleep for a week now.”
Mason had shifted
back into human form. He walked over to the tall windows of the
outside wall. The light pouring into the hall was a gold-tinged
red. I heard him gasp.
“Is that . . . the
ocean?”
Bryn and I followed
him to the windows. Staring out at the setting sun, I couldn’t
breathe. The Academy rested atop a steep terraced slope, stretching
down for miles. The landscape was filled with carefully manicured
rows of stunted trees with twisting branches, dark green leaves
giving glimpses of sunny yellow. Lemons.
In the distance I
could see a village that jutted out of the rugged terrain. Other
villages speckled the coast, hanging on to cliffs as if they were
suspended over the sea.
The sea. Waves
lapped the shoreline. The sunset washed the rippling surface with
color, rendering it a deep violet with the occasional flash of
rose. I stared at the water that stretched beyond the horizon,
understanding why people once believed the ocean led to the edge of
a finite world.
It wasn’t until Shay
put his arm around my shoulders that I noticed I was
trembling.
“You’ve never seen
it before, have you?” He gazed out the window.
I shook my head,
still numb with the shock of the move and flustered by the way this
new place seemed to reach inside me and squeeze my
heart.
“Yeah, it’s the
ocean,” Adne said. “Unless we landed in the wrong
place.”
The ocean. That was
the scent I couldn’t identify. I’d never smelled anything like
it.
“Where are we?” Bryn
went to the window.
“Cinque Terre,”
Connor answered.
She frowned.
“Where?”
“Italy.”