Music Box (The Dollhouse Books, #4) (35 page)

“Prudence...” I hugged her. “We don’t have much time. I’ll explain it to you, but first we need to tend to your injuries.” I motioned toward Nabaasa as she knelt down beside us and opened her medical kit. “This is Nabaasa. She’s going to help you and give you medicine.”

Nabaasa gave her a trembling smile. “Your sister prepared me for what I’d see here in this tower, but nothing could prepare me for this. These monsters, keeping you here like this.” She cleaned Prudence’s wounds and wrapped bandages around her wrists. “I’ve lost many loved ones in cruel ways—but they’ve passed on, into whatever comes next. But you—what they’ve done to you—is not only cruel but unnatural.” She gave Prudence antibiotics and fluids.

“I’m sorry you’ve lost family, Nabaasa,” said Prudence, her eyes glistening. “I lost a sister once, and it broke my heart.” She turned her dark head to me. “I thank you both for helping me, though I’ll stay bound to the serpent and her crystal eye.”

“I promised I’d come back and get you away from here, Prudence. That’s why we’re here,” I told her.

Prudence shook her head. “There’s no way of getting me away from here. Once bound to the empress, you can never leave. You can’t take me from the tower.”

“We can if she’s dead,” I said fiercely.

Prudence stared at me. “That’s impossible.” Her eyelashes drifted down. “Even if you do such a thing, a new empress would rise. One of the other serpents would take her place.”

I stilled my breathing. “We mean to kill them all.”

Her lips parted, her blue eyes widening. “All? On the whole of your earth?”

“Yes.”  My throat constricted with the thought of it. “Prudence, we held the second book of the
Speculum Nemus
in our hands. It told of a way.”

She inhaled sharply. “You found the second book?”

“It’s gone now—destroyed—but yes, we found it. We couldn’t read it, but there were messages in the illustrations.”

Her eyes widened. “Henry has said that before. He’s been in here, talking with Francoeur about how the drawings in those books contain clues. They don’t know I can hear them in my trance, but I can hear everything.” An expression of anxiety and contained hope stole across her face. “What did you find out?”

“There’s a planet,” I said, “with mountains composed of the kind of crystal most highly-valued of the serpents. Prudence, remember how you told me the serpents are desperate to leave—that they need healing and rest? This planet can be that for them.”

Her eyes darkened. “But they can come back here. Once they’ve been to a planet, they can always find their way back to it.”

“Not if they go to
this
planet. It’s searing hot.”

“They die instantly if they contact heat. They wouldn’t go there.”

“What if they couldn’t tell that it’s hot?”

She chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Are there volcanoes? Hot springs? Gases?”

Nabaasa shook her head. “From what the scientists could tell—no. The planet has lakes and trees, and no steam coming from the water. There are fissures in the ground that spew out ash, but no volcanoes—and the ash looks like ice.”

Frowning, she toyed with the bandages Nabaasa had placed on her wrists. “I haven’t seen such a planet before. But I’m afraid the empress will know if it’s hot. She detects temperature and atmosphere through me, through droplets of my blood that absorb into the crystal eye.” Her lips parted. “But if I look to a cold planet first, the readings won’t have time to readjust. It can possibly be done. Risky, but possible.”

Desperation entered her eyes. “But how would I find this crystal planet, Cassie? In a universe of billions of planets, there’s no way I can.”

I pulled out the folded map that Dr. Sharma had given me. “I’m hoping that this will be enough.”

Taking it from me, Prudence carefully unfolded it. “This mark is where the crystal planet lies?”

“Yes. One of the scientists marked it.” My heart scudded as she took the chart over to her desk and placed it next to the other charts. She pushed her hair over her shoulder as she bent to examine the galaxies.

Raising her eyes to me, she nodded. “I see it.” She pointed to a tiny dot on one of her charts. “I haven’t looked in this area of the universe before. The empress avoids it. The crystal planet lies just outside an area where there are beings that hunt the serpents. But this is it—your crystal planet. If it is where your map says it is, I’ll find it.”

I exhaled softly, relieved and worried. “My heart aches at asking you to do this. If something were to go wrong, I know you’ll be punished.”

Her eyes were sad and weary. “They couldn’t punish me more than what they already are.”

Stepping over to the center of the room, Prudence tilted her face back to the crystal eye. She rose up into her position below the crystal eye for what I prayed was her very last time. As her eyes glazed over, I had no way of knowing what she was seeing.

Nabaasa and I stared at each other in the stillness of the tower room. From far, far below came the terrifying sounds of my friends and the castle in a lethal battle—shouts and cries—and the vibrations of the shadows, and the loud, electrical crackle of the power the spirits were sending forth.

Drawing my hood over my face, I stole closer to the window. Our group of impromptu resistance fighters looked so fragile against the castle people. They were losing, weakening. My breath caught in my chest as I watched.

Ethan ran out in front of the group, his hair blowing across his face, and sent a swirling vortex of shadow toward Balthazar. Balthazar deflected the shadow to the castle gardens—felling two of the trees there. On his walking stick, Ethan’s grandfather stepped out to stand alongside Ethan.

Balthazar raised his arms, creating a reddish, luminous ball of electricity. His face glowed red as he lifted the ball—casting it toward Ethan and Seth.

“No....” Desperately, I stared back at Nabaasa.

Nabaasa reached for my hand, squeezing it tightly as the ball flew across the castle square, hissing and sparking.

“Run... run,” I breathed. “Please... run....”

Seth held out his walking stick. The ball stretched out into a single line of electricity, striking the metal-capped end of the cane. His body jolted and collapsed to the ground.

Nabaasa gasped.

He was dead. Ethan’s grandfather was dead.

Ethan dropped to his knees beside his fallen grandfather. Ben grabbed Ethan, pulling him back. Our group began sending their shadows into a twisting circular whirl around the outside of the group. It was the gesture of defense that we’d agreed upon before we’d faced the serpents back at the museum. Ethan’s grandfather had been the strongest of the group, and now he was gone. Our group was too weak to continue. Doing this meant our group would have to leave their shadows behind. They would be unprotected.

From my vantage point in the tower, I watched the group vanish. Zach was the only one of the group still standing there. The shadows continued to swirl in a circle, shielding our group’s disappearance from the castle.  The swirling tornado of shadows would deflect the blows of the castle. It would buy them some time, but only a little, before the castle discovered they were gone.

My heart rattled like a wild, caged thing.

A young girl and a bent, elderly man stepped out on the castle grounds—the man’s wrists held in chains. Air caught fast in my chest as I recognized them—Jessamine and Tobias. Jessamine had her grandfather back at long last. But why were they here? My mind blackened. With Tobias captured, all hope was gone. The castle would learn the contents of the second book.

I spun around at a sudden noise behind me.

Prudence stood on the floor, breathing deeply. “I saw it—the planet,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”

I ran to her. “You found it?”

She gave a single nod. “My vision is now held in the eye.” She held her arms straight up. The crystal eye streamed downward through the air, coming to rest in her hands. “The empress will know that the eye is gone from its place, and she’ll be expecting it soon.”

In a flash of faces and bodies, our resistance group appeared in the room. Anxiously, they stared about.

With a cry, I went to Ethan, holding him close. His body felt rigid beneath his sweat-soaked shirt. His eyes were distant as he moved back and gazed at me. I wanted to speak some words of comfort to him, to take him away from this place, but the clock was ticking. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

With shaking arms, Molly embraced Prudence, her eyes filled with pain and wonder.

“We need to leave here, and help Cassandra get to where she needs to go,” said Nabaasa.

Prudence smiled at Molly with tears in her eyes. Then she gazed around at everyone. “Nabaasa’s right. And once the castle discovers you all gone, they’ll be able to follow the refraction you left behind and follow you straight here.”

Stepping forward, Prudence placed the crystal eye in my hands. It was heavy, in the flattened, convex shape of an eye—the length of my arm,
the size of a serpent’s eye
. Sophronia took the eye from me, carefully placing it into the back compartment of my jacket. Immediately, I felt its weight dragging on me.

It was time.

We turned to leave.

A loud crack punctuated the air. Sliding, scraping noises sounded from the castle.

“It’s a
désorienter
,” I gasped. “Every wall and floor in the castle is going to move.”

“Oh God!” Prudence’s eyes grew large. “The castle’s going to try to trap you all—or kill you. Hurry!”

The others stared about in shock for a moment—except for Ethan, who grabbed my hand. “Let’s go!”

We rushed down the old stairs and through the gate to the outside of the tower—Ben and Raif helping Prudence and Sophronia. The storm barreled in from the sea, whipping us. Waves thundered far below the cliff face.

We fled into the tunnel—sounds of the
désorienter
booming in our ears.

Lacey and Molly pulled out flashlights. I rushed forward, heading in the direction of the ocean cave.

Two figures walked out of the darkness ahead. Emerson and Parker strode toward us, pistols in their hands.

“I don’t know what you imagine you’re doing.” Emerson’s eyes flashed cruelly. “None of you can leave now. You’re all stuck here.” His expression grew cold as he eyed his brother. “Zachary, Zachary, Zachary—a traitor of the first degree. You don’t even get your prize, yet you’re still with them. She’s used goods brother—she’s the monseigneur’s bride, who ran off to be with
this
lowlife commoner.” He jabbed a finger toward Ethan.

“Don’t you ever speak of Cassie again like that.” Ethan spoke in a low, barely-contained snarl.

Zach shook his head. “You don’t get it, Emerson. You never have. This chateau destroys us year by year. It infects our brains, seeding itself inside us and growing roots. Tobias was the only one of our relatives smart enough to get away. And you know what? Finding out about Tobias was the thing that gave me hope that I could do the same one day.” He stepped forward. “But I’ve been scared—too shit-scared to stand up and do what I know is right. No more. Never again. And she”—he pointed to me—“was a light in this damned dark hole of my life. She gave me back my soul.”

Emerson’s jaw tensed. “You talk rubbish, little brother. You’re weak.” He turned to Aisha. “It’s good you came back to me, wife, so I didn’t have to waste time searching the earth for you.”

“I’m not your wife,” Aisha spat. “I’ve never seen you before today.”

“Why bother keeping up this senseless act?” Emerson asked her.

She didn’t answer.

Above us, the ceiling rattled, dirt dusting down through the air.

Parker walked up to Molly and took her arm. “And you can spend the little time you have left, in my chamber, where you’re meant to be.”

“I was never in your chamber,” said Molly, pulling her arm away.

He snorted. “Here’s another one claiming not to know their own husband. Did I treat you badly? I never forced you to do anything you didn’t want to do, did I? I was angry, at first, that the castle forced me to marry you. I hated you. And when I learned that you had but months to live, I thought I’d been handed the worst deal ever.” His eyes softened. “But you, you changed me. There’s something about you, Molly, that any man would be grateful to have. I missed you. I want you back, and I promise to stand by your side to your last day.”

“If all that is true,” said Molly quickly. “Then help us. Help my friends.”

Emerson made angry strides over to Parker. “She’s trying to trick you, Park.” His eyes grew confused as he glanced at Molly. Moving closer to her, he whipped a flashlight from his pocket and trained it on her face. “This isn’t her.
It’s not her
!” He turned back to Parker. “This one’s hair is a good foot longer. And she has freckles. Your wife didn’t have freckles, Parker. Take a good look, and see if I’m wrong.”

Frowning deeply, Parker studied Molly’s face. “My God—you’re not her. Where’s my wife?”

“She’s safely within me,” Molly answered. “She chose to join herself with me. And I am not going to die.”

Emerson held his gun to her head. “When you die is not your call.”

Parker knocked the gun from Emerson’s hand. Zach rushed forward to grab the weapon.

“Run!” Zach told us.

Parker hesitated for a moment, his expression deeply conflicted, then handed Molly his gun. “Get away from here.”

Zach gave the gun in his hand to me. I took one last desperate look at Zach’s face as I rushed away with the others. Emerson’s angry yells echoed down the corridor.

We made our way further into the tunnels.

Lacey shone her flashlight over a mass ahead. A pile of fallen stone blocks completely blocked our way.

Shouts echoed through the darkness.

“They all know we’re here,” Prudence cried. “They’re coming!”

I turned to everyone. “I have to go a different way now—a way that you can’t follow. I want you all to head back to the museum and stay safe. Please, take the tunnel that leads back to the castle grounds, then head to the chapel. There’s a refraction there, next to the statue of the gargoyle.”