Knights of Light (The Conjurors Series Book 2) (26 page)

“We’ll gather the Knights,” she said.

Valerie was tempted to skip the long
explanations that she owed Henry, Midnight, Dulcea, Kanti, and Cyrus. She
didn’t have time to waste. But it would be a betrayal to leave them in the dark
now, when her reason for secrecy had ended with Jet’s life.

So she returned home
first and sent Sanguina ahead of her to the Guardians and Knights. Midnight was
already at her Guild, so Valerie brought Henry over to the Imaginary Friends’
dorm and told them everything.

“You have to understand,
I couldn’t have lived with myself if I was the reason that Reaper murdered Jet,”
Valerie choked a little on the words.

“It’s okay,” Henry said
gently.

“You’re sorry and you’ve
suffered more than you should ever have to,” Kanti agreed.

“You all need to keep me
informed on what’s going on. It’s my job to keep you safe,” Dulcea added, her
tone motherly.

“No more lying,” Cyrus
said. It was the first time he had spoken since she began telling her story. “From
now on we fight whatever’s coming as a team.”

“Okay,” Valerie said,
and Kanti and Henry nodded.

Cyrus shook his head,
not satisfied with their responses. “We have to swear it. You especially,
Valerie. No more self-sacrifice without telling us first.”

“I swear.”

“Swear on Pathos,” Cyrus
said.

Valerie couldn’t hide
her surprise at his stubbornness. It wasn’t like him to be serious for long. But
she drew Pathos out of its scabbard and gripped the hilt with the blade facing
down.

“I swear on Pathos that
we are a team and there will be no lies between us,” she said formally.

Cyrus nodded his
approval and placed his hand over hers. “I swear, too.”

Kanti and Henry echoed
his words and put their hands over hers as well. Dulcea smiled at the four
friends indulgently, stepping back to let them make their pact. But her eyes
widened with surprise when an unexpected hum of magic filled the room. It seemed
to radiate from Pathos itself. Tendrils of light weaved out of the sword like
threads, binding their hands together.

“Cy, are you doing this?”
Valerie whispered. He shook his head. “I didn’t think so.”

The hum stopped and Cyrus,
Henry, and Kanti pulled back.

“Look,” Valerie
whispered, examining the blade.

Etched into the surface
were words and symbols that hadn’t been there before, in a language as foreign
as the hieroglyphics she’d seen in the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

“Does anyone know what
this means?” Kanti asked. They all shook their heads.

Dulcea stepped closer
and examined the blade. “It’s an old language—one of the original languages
that has faded away over the centuries since Conjurors came to the Globe.”

“I bet Azra could read
it,” Cyrus said.

Valerie sheathed Pathos.

“We keep hearing that
something big is coming, but this is the first time I’ve really believed it,”
Kanti said.

“A battle. And we’re
going to be in it,” Henry agreed, his eyes a little glassy. His mind was open,
and Valerie could feel his certainty in what he was saying—and his fear. She
saw the face of the girl who had delivered his prophecy, but before she could
make sense of the words tumbling from her lips into Henry’s ear, his mind
abruptly closed to her. No lies, perhaps, but there were still secrets.

“You’re still kids. You
belong in your Guilds, safe. Not on a battlefield,” Dulcea said, but it sounded
more like a wish than a command.

“I don’t think we’re
going to have a choice,” Valerie said.

“She’s right. Clearly the
Globe needs a hero, and I’m ready,” Cyrus deadpanned. “Now that I have my
trusty sidekicks, of course.”

His joke worked,
breaking the tension as they laughed harder than the quip deserved.

“Let’s get to work,” Valerie said as their giggles
subsided. Her battle with Reaper had put something in motion that wasn’t going
to end any time soon.

Valerie stopped by
Midnight’s office at the Guardians’ Guild next and confessed the truth about
the morning. The Grand Master was utterly still as she listened to the story.

“And Reaper—whoever he
truly is—works with Zunya? Then he must be a madman,” Midnight said.

“I’ve no doubt about
that,” Valerie agreed. “But it’s time to fight back. Sanguina has agreed to
take us to the Black Castle. We’re going to finish this. It’s the only way to
stop the Excision anyway, like you always said.”

Midnight nodded slowly. “With
the right group of Knights and a couple of key Grand Masters, this could be a
chance to hit the Fractus hard. I’ll come with you, of course.”

Valerie couldn’t hide
her relief. “Thank you.”

“I wish there was a way
to convince you and your friends to stay behind, but I think my words would be
wasted,” Midnight said, a spark of humor lighting her eyes briefly before
vanishing just as quickly. “You’re too young to put your lives at stake.”

“There isn’t another way
anymore,” Valerie said. Did it made her a coward that part of her wished that
she could be a kid and let the adults handle everything?

But she knew that the time for stepping back had
passed. She needed to accept that she was involved in—and maybe even leading—this
charge. It was the heaviest responsibility she’d ever shouldered.

Valerie hurried to the
Knights of Light, expecting to find the Guild in an uproar, but it was
surprisingly calm when she arrived. She saw a few apprentices training in the
courtyard, but no one seemed to be mobilizing for the mission at hand.

She hurried to Kellen’s
office, keeping an eye out for Gideon and Chrome along the way. At the thought
of Chrome, the box holding her grief and guilt threatened to open and overwhelm
her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to think about
tactics instead.

Kellen’s door was shut,
and she banged loudly on it.

“It’s open!” Kellen
called out, clearly annoyed. She turned the handle and rushed in. “Well, what
is it?”

“Haven’t you heard—didn’t
Sanguina tell you?” Valerie stuttered.

Kellen’s eyes narrowed,
and she had a sudden fear that Sanguina had betrayed her after all. “What do
you know about Sanguina?”

“She helped save me from
Reaper, and she’s willing to act as our guide to Dunsinane. We can finally
storm the Black Castle and save Darling and Oberon! He’s there, too.”

Kellen flew close to
her. He was much smaller than she, but he suddenly seemed very threatening. “Lies.
We knew she had to have someone helping her spy on the Grand Masters. I never
would have thought, after everything she did to you and your brother, that it
would be you.”

“What are you saying?”

“Sanguina is under
arrest for treason.”

Valerie stumbled back. “It
can’t be…we need her to help us! We have to get to the Black Castle now, and
she’s the only one who can guide us there.”

“I have reason to
believe that Darling isn’t a captive in the castle at all, and the rest of her
story—and yours—is a lie.”

“That isn’t true!”

“Relinquish your weapon,”
Kellen commanded.

“No,” Valerie said,
backing toward the door. She bumped into something solid. Gideon.

“Do as he says,” Gideon commanded.

Shock made her mind
cloudy. “You don’t believe me?”

“Kellen is our Guild Grand
Master and his word is final. Leave Pathos and come with me.”

“You heard him,” Kellen
said in a superior tone.

Valerie wasn’t sure she
could fight Kellen alone, never mind Kellen and Gideon. Would she have to go to
Dunsinane weaponless with only her friends and no guide? Their mission would be
doomed before it even began.

Her eyes connected with
Gideon’s, and she saw a spark there that gave her hope. She did as he said and laid
her weapon next to Kellen’s tiny desk. Gideon wordlessly escorted her out the
door.

He didn’t speak until
they had walked beneath the arches at the front of the Guild.

“There’s no reasoning
with Kellen, and the Knights have sworn loyalty to him. We will have to amass
what Knights we can to help us in our cause without his knowledge,” Gideon
explained.

Valerie shut her eyes in
relief that her mentor hadn’t abandoned her. “Does Chrome know that Jet is
gone?”

Gideon’s face was still.
“Yes. He felt their connection sever.”

A burst of grief escaped
her box, and she let out a gasp of pain. “Can I see him?”

Gideon laid a hand on
her shoulder, and she saw that he had tears in his eyes. “He doesn’t blame you—only
the Fractus. You will see him soon, but for now he must grieve alone.”

Valerie tightened the
hatches on her box of pain. “What do we do next? Any ideas on how to break
Sanguina out of jail?”

Gideon smiled grimly. “First,
you need to rest. You will need all your resources for the trip ahead.
Preparations will not happen in a day.”

“What are you saying?
Every second we wait could be the one that kills Darling or Oberon!”

“If we go forward with
half a plan, they will die. If we go forward quickly but with all the resources
at our disposal, they may still die. But this way, they have a chance.”

Valerie wanted to argue
with him, but a sudden, bone-deep weariness that she couldn’t deny overcame her.
The emotional, mental, and physical toll of the day was wearing on her.

“Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll meet you at the Guild at
dawn.”

The vow she had made
with her friends was on her mind as she got ready for bed that night. Didn’t
she owe Thai as much? She had to try to see him and tell him everything.

At least, that’s what
she told herself. The truth was that she wanted to see his face, hear his voice.
It had been the worst day of her life, and he was the only person who could
make it a little bit better.

She gripped the charm around
her neck, and it brought her to Thai’s family’s dining table. She had seen it
once before when she had visited Thai during her first time on the Globe. He
had six siblings—seven if you counted Tan.

His eyes flashed with a
strange emotion—dread? He put his finger to his lips, and she knew that he
didn’t want her to reveal herself to his family yet. He probably wanted to introduce
her properly.

Thai excused himself and
stepped outside. Once he was alone, Valerie wished with all her heart that she
could throw her arms around him. It had been too long since they’d talked,
never mind touched.

“I’ve missed you!” she
said, not realizing the depth of her longing until she spoke the words.

Thai cleared his throat
and rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Yeah, me too, of course.”

“Did you tell your
family everything? I see they’ve met Tan.”

A true smile crossed his
face. “Yes, it was a huge relief to tell them what’s happened. They weren’t mad
or even that freaked out about it. Midnight came and talked to them as well,
and they know I’m in good hands.”

“Did you tell them about
me? Can I meet them?”

Thai reddened. “About
that. I’m not sure it’s the best idea.”

She couldn’t ignore the
strange tone in his voice any longer. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m
considering my options. My parents insist that I finish college before I go to
the Globe. It would give me time to decide if that’s what I really want. And a
scholarship like this, to an American college, is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity. I was chosen from a pool of thousands of other students.”

Thai’s words sounded
like gibberish as Valerie struggled to wrap her mind around what he was saying.
It was like her brain was trying to protect her from the truth. The pain robbed
her of her breath, and she struggled to hide it from him.

“Of course. I can
understand why you wouldn’t want to leave your family behind. You should
absolutely make sure that coming to the Globe is the right decision for you.”

“Valerie…”

“I’m surprised, that’s
all. You never talked like you were considering staying, so I didn’t know that
was an option. But all I want for you is to be happy.”

“Nothing’s decided yet,”
Thai said, and his forehead creased as if he were concentrating very hard on
something.

Valerie took a deep
breath and tried to release her pain. It was a little conceited to think that
Thai would want to leave his whole life behind for her. He had a family who
loved him and a bright future. It was good that he was taking the time to make
sure of his decision now, rather than regretting it later when it was too late
to change his mind. He’d only resent her for it.

“Take as long as you
need. I can wait,” she said.

He seemed to be fighting
an inner battle, but tenderness won out. “I don’t deserve you,” he said.