The Keeper's Curse (40 page)

Hot tears
poured down her cheeks as they dragged Breckin over to her.
Thoreoux pulled out a silver knife in his belt.

This was
it; she had only a few more seconds. She looked at Cyrus, Jade, and
Persephone, knowing it would be for the last time.

“
I don’t care,” she said, her eyes fixed on Persephone. “Your
last name means nothing to me.”

Persephone nodded, powerless to do anything else.

And that
was all the time she got. Breckin was in front of her now, the
guards holding his arms behind his back. There was a sheen of sweat
on his face, his posture straight, his eyes helpless. It hurt
looking at him.

“
If there is anything you want to say to him,” Thoreoux said,
pointing the cold tip of the knife on her chest. “You should say it
now.”

She was
suffocating looking at Breckin. Her throat had closed up. She
couldn’t say it, she couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure if she
did.

Breckin
licked his lips and opened his mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so
sorry.”

More
tears spilled over, blurring her vision of him, which made it
easier. She was going to watch him die, and if the knife didn’t
kill her, that would.

“
Don’t apologize,” she said.

Thoreoux
had run out of patience. He snapped his fingers and the strapper
holding Emmy turned her to face Thoreoux. She shut her eyes,
letting images of her parents, her brother, Jesse, and Breckin fill
her head. It was all she wanted to see.

She felt
the strapper squeeze her tight, and she sucked in breath, knowing
any second now –

BAM

Her eyes
opened just as the entire wall behind Thoreoux exploded, causing
everyone to tumble to the floor. Pieces of marble fell all around
them like hail, and when the dust settled, Circlet and an assembly
of men behind her came into view, all in black and wearing the
Ministrialian crest over the hearts.

Thoreoux
got to his feet, looking more annoyed than surprised.
“Circlet?”

Her
vulture eyes were on him, resembling a mother bear after her cubs
had been threatened. “You must be Thoreoux.”

“
I’m warning you,” he responded, glancing at the expansive
group behind her. “My men are fully equipped to fight you all if
you plan on attacking me.”

“
I’ll have to take that chance,” Circlet said. “You shouldn’t
have threatened my orb.” She raised her hand in a forward gesture.
“Go.”

Like a
battalion they charged, and all of Thoreoux’s men promptly
responded. Within seconds the air was black with palewraiths being
whipped around. Emmy felt herself being pulled upward by a pair of
skinny arms.

“
Get on me,” Breckin said. She didn’t question; she wrapped
her arms around his neck and jumped on his back. Emmy searched
around wildly for Jade, Persephone, and Cyrus, but they were lost
in the fray. Breckin read her mind. “They can handle themselves. We
have to go.”

For some
reason, Emmy believed him. At the current moment it was their lives
that were in the most jeopardy and she knew it would be wisest to
leave.

“
You’re not taking her!” It was Thoreoux, his voice
thunderous.

Breckin
turned on his heel, hunching lower. “You want her? Come get her.”
He bared his teeth.

Thoreoux
took up the offer. He charged at Breckin, who saw this coming and
dashed passed him, throwing a palewraith into his back. Thoreoux
waved his hands at the torches, enlarging their light tenfold, and
began to throw the fire at them like knifes. While Breckin parried
the attacks, his head darted around for an exit. The tumbled wall
was on the far side of them where Thoreoux was, and he didn’t want
to get anywhere near him in case he could grab Emmy. And then he
looked upward at the skylight, stars shining down on them through
the glass.

Cover your face
, Breckin ordered,
just before he raised his arms into a protective shield above them,
and kicked off the ground. Emmy wrapped herself as tightly as she
could around him, feeling her skin pull backward from their speed.
She screamed when they broke through the ceiling, glass shards
falling from the air and into her hair.

Thoreoux
was right on their tail as Breckin flew through the air, trying to
buy time. They didn’t know where the Methelwood portal was, or any
portal for that matter. All they could hope for was Ministrial to
overpower Thoreoux and his allies while they stalled.

Thoreoux
whipped a palewraith outward and wrapped it around Breckin’s waist,
pulling him backward into him. He crashed into him and Thoreoux
took this opportunity to reach for Emmy.

Emmy
looked down below her to see how far up they were and noticed they
were only a few feet above the roof of the mansion. Closing her
eyes, she let her arms loosen from Breckin’s neck, and she
fell.

She
groaned in pain, almost positive she had heard something crack when
she hit the marble. Thoreoux and Breckin hovered above her, holding
each other in a stalemate grip. Summoning all her strength, Emmy
conjured a palewraith and rammed it into Thoreoux’s head. He fell
downwards, but his grip didn’t loosen on Breckin, and they both
fell to the grass below.

Emmy ran to the edge of the surrounding parapet of the roof,
looking down. The two of them were on their feet and battling
again. She felt helpless; she could only hope Breckin’s training
and Thoreoux’s lack of it would help, but she could see Breckin was
losing even from a distance.
What can I
do?
There had to be something. If only she
were more powerful, if only she were stronger.

If only
she had Breckin’s Eldoir abilities.

Her breathing grew rapid, ideas racing; she could see into
his mind, and he could see into hers. If they could bind their
thoughts, could they perhaps do more? She remembered she had
subverted to him completely once – she was sucked into his mind and
she saw through his eyes. She
was
him. Was that why Milo had stifled their
connection? Was that the reason Thoreoux was so intent on breaking
their bond, before she could have thought of it?

Was it
possible?

Breckin! Breckin, try to give me your powers.

Thoreoux threw him against a tree.
What?

Get into my head, and I’ll get into yours. Give yourself to
me.

I don’t know how.

You can do it; I did it once. Give all of yourself to me, and
I’ll give all of myself to you. We need to be one person. We can do
it; we’re exactly the same, remember?

Lana –

Please. You need my help.

She
closed her eyes and drained the barriers inside of her head. She
let him in, and he came in. It was difficult for her at first; she
couldn’t seem to open herself up, but soon she didn’t need to. Emmy
could feel Breckin resisting even more than she did, not wanting to
do this, not wanting her to be so close and have to show her all of
him, but he did it. All of him, his thoughts, his feelings, his
power, flowed through her. It was as easy as falling.

Her pulse
raced, her breathing quickened to a dangerous rate – it was so
much. He was everywhere, he was enveloping her, drowning her. Every
nook and cranny of his mind was exposed to her – his hopes, his
fears, his doubts, what made him angry, what made him cry. She was
drunk on him – his bravery, his kindness, his black-and-white view
of the world, his temper, his anxiety, his impatience, his hatred,
his love.

She fell to the ground, closing her eyes and forgetting where
she was. She had never felt this much, never been so passionate in
her feelings the way Breckin was. She was seeing, feeling,
inside
his heart and she
wanted it all, so much her chest ached. She loved everything she
was seeing, the good and the bad, and the idea of living without it
cut her so keenly it snapped her back to her senses. She was in
danger of losing him now.

Emmy got
back to her feet, overwhelmed at what was in her. Explosions were
going off behind her, beside her and in front of her. She possessed
the powers of an Eldoir. There was only supposed to be one with
that sort of power, and now there were three, all of them in one
place.

She
kicked off the ground, now able to fly. Below her were Thoreoux and
Breckin, still unaware of her. Emmy sent a whirl of fire in
Thoreoux’s direction. He moved out of the way at the very last
second.

“
Get away from him,” Emmy said from above.

Thoreoux
stared at her for a moment, stunned into muteness. Breckin took
that opportunity to throw a palewraith at him, and another to tie
his arms behind his back. Although he was able to get out of it
easily, it gave Breckin the time he needed to ready
himself.

The three
of them battled, and although there may have been three bodies, it
was really one against one. When Emmy’s arms moved, Breckin’s
moved. When Breckin attacked, Emmy attacked. They mirrored each
other’s every movement, twice as powerful as Thoreoux. She had
never felt so strong, she detected every wisp of wind, every clash
from inside the mansion, every blade of grass rustling in the wind.
And she could only do it because Breckin believed in her. She
wanted to fall into him even farther than she already was. The
tingle of her skin, the double vision, and combining of thoughts
made Emmy almost sure no two people had ever been this
close.

She
didn’t even need to keep her eyes open; she could see through
Breckin’s. He guided her through every offence from Thoreoux, and
every defence. Thoreoux was falling apart before their eyes. She
could see the nervousness in his eyes, frantically trying to keep
up with them. With lightning speed, he blasted Breckin backwards
and flipped around to Emmy.

Emmy
bolted away from Thoreoux, swirling several palewraiths into a
tornado and hurling them in his direction, on the other side of
Breckin. She whisked through the sky onto the other side of
Thoreoux; they had him cornered. Now was their chance.

“
Master!” It was Rathbone, bloodied and sweaty, running out
onto the front grounds. “We need to retreat now! Some of your best
are already dead! They killed Olwenn, we need to go!”

Thoreoux’s eyes were wild, going back and forth between
Breckin and Emmy. It was the hesitation on their part he needed.
Before they could attack again, Thoreoux was gone. He disappeared
in a blur, Rathbone with him.

Emmy hung
in the air for a moment, unsure of what to do, when she felt
Breckin slip away from her. Now that Thoreoux was gone, he was
breaking them apart, making them two separate people again, and the
toll on Emmy’s body was anguishing. The power had been too much for
her delicate, half human, non-Eldoir body. She swayed, the world
growing fuzzy in front of her. She couldn’t seem to get a proper
amount of air.

“
Breckin,” she slurred. “I don’t think I can –”

Her body
went limp, and she began to fall out of the air. By the time she
fell into Breckin’s arms, her eyes were already closed.

Chapter 27

The
Reverse Incantation

Emmy
couldn’t seem to move. Her eyes were closed so she couldn’t see
anything, but she was pretty sure she was in the hospital; if the
pungent, medicinal smells didn’t give it away, feeling her body
poked and probed at would have.

“
Your friend will be fine,” she heard a man’s soft voice say.
The bedside manner tone indicated he was a doctor. Was she back at
Methelwood Mercy? She tried to open her mouth to speak, but her
body felt so heavy, and she was so exhausted.

“
I was worried she was dead.” Breckin. “But then I realized if
she was then I’d be ...”

“
Don’t worry Mr. Crawford; her body is just rejuvenating, like
recovering from a sickness. Having your powers – especially on a
half-human – would be overwhelming on the body. Still, it was
clever of you two; it probably saved both your lives.”

Emmy’s
already limp body relaxed even further; she was alive, and was
going to be fine. She slipped back into unconsciousness, letting
herself rest.

Sometime
later she felt herself waking up again, her head clearer than
before, but she still wasn’t quite strong enough to open her eyes
or indicate movement. Before she felt like she was at the bottom of
a lake, and now she was just right underneath the
surface.

“
You should have told me where you were going,” Rozelyn’s
voice said. She sounded too exhausted from fear to be angry.
“Circlet didn’t even tell me where you went, didn’t even
tell
Noah.
I
waited and waited and you never came back, no one knew where you
were, and then I find out Jade’s gone, and Cyrus and Emmy
–”

“
Roz, I’m
sorry
,” Breckin replied, trying to keep his voice calm for the
both of them. “There was no time. Even ask Circlet – if she hadn’t
come when she did I’d be dead now, and so would Lana.”