The Keeper's Curse (33 page)

“
Thoreoux wanted to have eyes in Methelwood, so I stole the
Book of Curses from Circlet and used high security mental patients
to perform the Possession Curse on them. I replaced myself, the
spell caster, as the eyes of the curse for Thoreoux. He told me to
watch the Keeper,” he turned to Emmy with a look of such blinding
hatred Emmy shrank away, “to make absolutely sure who she was
before Cyrus did the job.”

Circlet
shifted, knowing that nobody was supposed to know about Emmy’s
identity, the one now being exposed to all of these people. Breckin
was too concentrated on Milo to notice.

“
Did you hurt her when you treated her?”

“
Not really. I was her doctor – if I poisoned her or injured
her I would be the first one in questioning. I did, however, give
her drugs to try and suppress her bond with you. Whatever she was
feeling should have been twice as powerful.”

“
Would it have affected my dreams?” Emmy asked meekly. “Is
that why the dream downloader didn’t work?”

“
Answer her,” Breckin commanded.

“
Yes. You are a weak little thing, being half human,” he said,
his voice both insulting and wistful. “The last thing Thoreoux
needs is you getting stronger with Crawford’s power.”

Breckin
stepped away from him and turned to Circlet. “Now do you believe
me? Get Cyrus and arrest him now – he might have already found out
about this and is making a run for it.”

Circlet’s
eyes clouded over with something that resembled guilt but not, Emmy
noticed, surprise. A horrible thought crossed her mind – was it
possible Circlet had known about what Cyrus was supposed to
do?

“
As for you,” Breckin snarled, grabbing hold of Milo and
yanking him out of the guards’ grasp. “Where is the Book of
Curses?”

“
Unhand me you disgusting mimic.”

“
I said w
here is
it?
”

“
At my house.”

Breckin
began dragging him by his overcoat over to where they had left the
horses. Emmy’s breath caught in her throat – where was Breckin
going to take him? Certainly not to Cyrus’s?

“
Is there a way for Thoreoux to get into
Methelwood?”

Milo’s
face was no longer red; he paled until he resembled a ghost. “No!
No, don’t ask me that – Yes. Yes, he has a portal to Methelwood
which I helped create and there is one that will lead to Thoreoux’s
living quarters – NO! STOP!”

Breckin’s
eyes were very bright now. “Where? Where is it?”

Milo
began to holler in panic in an attempt to stop himself from
speaking. Breckin’s grip on his coat was so tight now Milo did the
only thing he could do: he slipped out of it in one fluid motion
and bolted towards the gate.

“
Where is it?
” Breckin asked again,
running after him.

He
continued hollering, heading straight towards the gate, Breckin on
his heel. Emmy watched, trying to understand what Milo was trying
to accomplish when she saw it – he was running straight towards a
bronze statue of an armoured knight brandishing a rapier. Emmy saw
it happen both in an instant and in slow motion as Milo rammed his
body straight into the needle point of the rapier. The bronze sword
went right through his chest, through his heart, and out the other
side.

Breckin
didn’t see this coming. He froze for a moment, then panicked, then
went to try and help Milo. He held Milo’s limp body, shouting for a
doctor, but he was already dead. Within seconds Milo’s skin cracked
and burned, dissolving into cloud and light. Breckin’s arms closed
on Milo’s palewraith, which fell through his grasp and disappeared
into the wind.

Emmy’s
hands clapped on her mouth, paralyzed. She had just seen a man die.
Her eyes were drawn to Breckin’s white shirt, a splotch of red
slowly growing wider.

Breckin
must have sensed her distress because he was at her side in a
moment, wrapping his arms around her, blocking her eyes from the
sight.

“
Don’t look at it,” he murmured. “It’s okay, it’s done. I’m
sorry he had to die, but it’s done. We’ll get Cyrus and this will
be over with, you’ll be safe.”

Emmy
began to shake her head. Cyrus. No.

“
We’ll head over to the Crow mansion straight away,” Circlet’s
voice said grimly. “A sixteen-year-old boy, my goodness. This is
going to be a brutal trial. He’ll be locked away
forever.”

“
No,” Emmy said, her voice cracking. “No, you don’t understand
–”

Breckin
pulled her back from him to face her. “It’s okay, you’ve done
enough. I’ll go with Circlet, but you can just stay
here.”

“
With any luck Cyrus will be able to tell us where that portal
is,” Circlet said, trudging passed the two teenagers.

Emmy knew
she had to do it. Now. “He won’t tell you because he doesn’t
know.”

Circlet
snorted. “He was handpicked to murder the most important person in
the world, according to his master. I highly doubt
that.”

Emmy
pushed herself away from Breckin’s chest, untangling herself from
his grip. “He doesn’t. Thoreoux didn’t trust Cyrus, not completely.
And he was right – Cyrus was never going to hurt me.”

She was
aware the attention had shifted to her. Both Circlet’s and
Breckin’s eyes were piercing into her. She had to come clean now –
it was out in the open, and if she didn’t, it would cost Cyrus his
life.

“
Cyrus is innocent,” Emmy said and began to speak very
quickly. “It’s true, he was supposed to kill me but he was never
going to do it. He tried to stop Thoreoux’s attempts the whole
time, protecting me when he was supposed to stay back and let it
happen. He was pretending to be on Thoreoux’s side but he’s not.
He’s not. Please don’t hurt him.”

It was
Circlet who spoke – Breckin seemed to be speechless. “My dear, I
know the idea of him locked away forever is awful, but he is very
dangerous –”

“
He isn’t! He isn’t, he saved my life. I’ve been tracking down
the mental patients with him for over a week now. He helped me.
That’s how I knew they were mental patients, we figured it out
together. And he gave me a note when I was attacked at the school,
and he directed me out of the downloader room the night I was
attacked by the patients.”

“
Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Circlet
demanded.

“
Because of the Possession Curse! They’re watching us all the
time, and if Thoreoux knew Cyrus had betrayed them he would have
killed him. I’m only telling you now because we have all the
patients now and Milo is dead so Thoreoux can’t hurt
him.”

Emmy
couldn’t look at Breckin and unfortunately she didn’t have to. She
could feel his betrayal in her head.

“
I have the note,” she added. “And the mental patients are in
Cyrus’s basement. He’ll tell you everything, Circlet. He just went
along with the whole thing because he didn’t want Thoreoux to kill
him and his family.”

Circlet
knitted her brows. “Why would you two collect the dead
bodies?”

“
They’re not dead – we kept them alive. We just needed a dark
place to keep them in so they couldn’t see or move.”

For the
first time that morning, Circlet’s face released its knots of worry
and unhappiness. She looked relieved, almost hopeful. “Then we can
still save them. If we can find Stockwell’s notes we may be able to
reverse the possession before they die.”

Circlet’s
mouth hung open. Nobody spoke for several minutes while she
thought, the guards confused and waiting for orders on what to do
next. Emmy turned to Breckin, who was staring at the ground. He
refused to look at her, and when she tried to reach him
telepathically, something happened that never had before: he had
put up a wall so she couldn’t get in.

“
You and Cyrus Crow really did all this? By yourselves?”
Circlet asked in awe.

“
Yeah. We did it at night.”

A little
smile of respect pulled at the edges of her mouth. “You really are
something, Miss Rathers. I don’t really know what, but you are.”
She turned to the guards. “Alright, I guess we’re going to Cyrus
Crow’s for possession victims. The five of you, come with me. I
trust Miss Rathers is telling us the truth, but I want backup in
case she isn’t being honest or is misinformed. It looks like we are
going to need to scour every inch of this orb for the portal. You
two – go to Milo Stockwell’s house and search for the Book of
Curses and any translations he might have written. Crawford and
Rathers, what are your plans?”

Emmy
needed to be there when they went to the Crow mansion. She needed
to explain to Cyrus why she did what she did.

“
I’m going with you.”

“
Crawford?”

His head
jerked up, dazed. “I’m going with you too,” he said. “If Cyrus is
innocent I need to see it for myself.”

They all
went their separate ways, making their way back to their
horses.

Chapter 22

An
Unforeseen Proposal

Circlet
had to knock seven times before Cyrus finally opened the door. It
was a good thing he did; if he had stalled anymore, Circlet
probably would have broken the front door down.

He must
have seen their group coming from the window because he didn’t look
surprised to see them.

“
Governor,” he greeted her.

“
Good morning, Mr. Crow,” Circlet said pleasantly. Emmy didn’t
know how she did that, staying so level-headed after everything
that had happened that morning. “We request to search your house
and ask your family a few questions, including
yourself.”

He looked
both bewildered and angry. “Do what you want with me,” he said.
“But don’t you dare involve my family. Let’s do this
outside.”

“
The chances of us arresting you are miniscule,” she said. “In
fact, if you cooperate, and everything Emmy Rathers has said about
you is true, then you will gain only my utmost protection and
respect.”

The
inquiring look he always cast on Emmy was now being thrown
Circlet’s way. Emmy hid behind the guards out of his
sight.

“
Emmy? Emmy told you? No, she would never do that.”

“
Don’t be alarmed, Mr Crow,” she said, and gave a brief
explanation as to what had happened that morning. Cyrus’s shock was
almost comical – Emmy had never seen him show so much expression
before.

“
Stockwell? I remember Stockwell when he was transferred,”
Cyrus said, opening the door for the visitors. “If I had seen him I
would have told you. I would have recognized him
instantly.”

Breckin
and Emmy trailed in last, and Cyrus’s eyes widened when he saw
them. His glance at Breckin was very short before his attention
turned to Emmy. He stepped towards her as if he were about to hug
her, but backed off at the last second.

“
Are you alright?”

She
smiled shyly. At least Cyrus wasn’t angry with her.

Breckin
stood between them, shifting his eyes between the pair of them, in
the end letting out a low hissing noise before he stomped off with
Circlet. Cyrus didn’t seem to care at all.

“
Come, I’ll take you into the parlour. Are you hungry? I’ll
have the cook make something for you, anything you
like.”

She
declined the offer but she did want to sit down, so he led her into
the parlour.

This is so weird
, Emmy thought. Last
night they had been fighting and he was now being nicer to her than
he ever had been before. Not that she was complaining.

The next
hour was filled with interrogation, and a lot of it. Emmy was
properly introduced to Brynn and Cyrus’s mother Brenna for the
first time, who told them everything they knew, which was virtually
nothing.

Breckin
offered to ask Cyrus questions under driver command, and Cyrus
accepted it. Since he couldn’t lie, this removed the last bit of
doubt from Circlet and Breckin that Cyrus was guilty.

“
So, I suppose that’s all, then,” Circlet said at
last.

Fevered
red spots flushed Breckin’s cheeks. “What do you mean that’s all?
You’re not going to arrest him? Nothing?”

“
He’s on our side,” Circlet said. “I mean, we’ll have to do an
official report, but I think that’s enough for today. The fact you
have a Keeper is out in the open, and that there is a portal to
Thoreoux’s living quarters in Methelwood. Not to mention his ally
was living here under our noses for four years. Do you have any
idea how much damage control I have to do? The press is going to be
all over this –”

Breckin
stood up, knocking the chair he was sitting in over. “But he’s
still a horrible prat!”

“
I saved your life you ungrateful bastard!” Cyrus
thundered.

For the
first time since the hospital, Breckin looked at Emmy. “I can’t
believe you’re friends with him.”

Before
she could defend herself he stomped out of the room.