“The door teleported when you shut it. Just in time too. Good-looking and handy in a tight spot.” He smiled down at her with laughter dancing in his eyes.
“What are you talking about, teleported?” she asked.
“The door moves locations each time this room is entered. It takes awhile to pop back up, and they still need to figure out where in the Hovel it landed. So we should be safe while we search.” She looked at him dumbfounded. “What? The girl’s dorm doesn’t have one of these?” he asked her.
“No, the girl’s dormitory doesn’t have one of these. And what are we searching for?” she asked.
“Some time ago an Ancient harnessed the energy of Scars and put it in this room for study. It is a small point of energy that takes people to places like a Scar takes you to a memory. Just touch it and you are elsewhere. Where you come out is different every time, Africa, Ireland, don’t know until you’re there. That’s why the room is this way. They didn’t know it at the time, but that little pin prick of energy affected this lab. Now it moves with each entrance just as a Scar does,” Madgie answered.
Amanda huffed. Just when she thought she had a firm grasp on everything, they slap her with something new to wrap her mind around.
“Okay, so where does this energy ball thing like to hang out?” she asked.
Cole glanced around the room. “I don’t know. It’s hard to find. It moves every time like the room, and Madgie wasn’t joking when she referred to it as a pinpoint of energy. Just make like a raccoon and look for something small and shiny, got it?”
Amanda smiled at his undeniable cuteness and began to search. She wasn’t used to having her walls down, and the last few days had pretty well blown them down completely. Lying naked on a lab table, crying and screaming in pain, being sentenced to death with no one objecting — yeah, that’ll do it. They fanned out in opposite directions, scanning every inch of the room. There were thick books stacked high along the walls and large tables with numerous drawers down the front of them. She doubted they could find a pinprick in all of the mess.
As time passed, she grew more and more nervous and found herself glancing at the door every few seconds. She knew she wasn’t the only one. She felt Madgie’s anxiety and saw that Cole’s demeanor had lost all lightness. As Amanda was looking at Cole, she noticed a jacket lying crumpled on a chair. She went to it, not sure why it had caught her eye. Amanda picked the jacket up slowly and looked it over. It was an unremarkable thing, dark grey like so many others in the Hovel and made of wool so scratchy that she felt sorry for its owner.
It was an ugly jacket and nothing more. She was frustrated with herself for wasting time and went to throw it back down when something caught her eye. Amanda brought the jacket in close and saw the bright light in its front pocket. “Here, it’s here! I found it.”
Cole and Madgie’s heads both shot up, and Amanda smiled brightly at them. She was confused when they didn’t return her smile, but understood as the metal click of a doorknob reached her ears. She quickly turned to see the little round door burst open.
6
There are so many, Amanda thought.
Grey-clad figures poured into the room like water from a sieve. They moved as one unit, step for step like toy soldiers wound at the same time. Their uniforms bore no gold tassels or honoring medals. The only thing sparkling was their calf-high, spit-shined boots. Monochromatic from neck to toe, they blended into the grey-colored walls and each other. The sharp points of the heavily starched pleats in their uniforms were the only tell of where one began and the other ended.
She stood frozen with fear, directly between her friends and her pursuers. The room was still, neither side making a move. Amanda looked at the sea of grey-cloaked Healers. She spotted Frey and his larger-than-life sidekick Carter standing among them, looking pleased. Hate radiated from him. If anyone would make the first move, it would be him. They didn’t know what she had in her hands. They couldn’t know that her escape was in reach. She looked back at Cole. He nodded his head toward the jacket. She tried to slip her hand into the pocket without appearing suspicious.
“Amanda, we understand how hard this must be.” The only man not in grey spoke quickly. “But this is the best path for you. If that weren’t true, the Ancients wouldn’t have made it so.” His soft gentle voice was full of concern for her well-being, and she knew it wasn’t just for show.
He really thought capturing her would be doing her a favor. Her hand inched closer to the pocket. She needed to distract them, so she spoke. “The Ancients are not omnipotent. They make mistakes just like we do, and this is a mistake. If they just give me time, I know I can fight off this poison. You don’t have to do this. See for yourselves,” she said.
Hoping her skin had improved, she rolled back the light fabric of the sleeve. To her relief, the blackness that traced her veins had faded, if not just slightly. It was enough to see that the Ancients were wrong.
As her pursuers stood unbelieving, she managed to slide her hand into the pocket undetected. Her fingers were so close to the portal that she felt the heat of it warming her hand. Just as she was about to touch it, Frey began to speak to his comrades heatedly.
“We have our orders, we are to capture them.”
She let out a breath. Them? Now Madgie and Cole were in this with her she realized, the idea turning her stomach. Amanda looked back at Cole, his eyes pleading her to go, but she couldn’t. Not without them.
Frey was still rallying his ranks of followers with Carter towering behind him in an intimidating show of support. “Will you be swayed by her when we have the word of the Ancients? She’s not to be trusted.” He thrust his hand in her direction.
She glanced back at Cole and lightly shook her head. His eyes grew wide in understanding. She wouldn’t leave without him. Her would-be captors had shrugged off any uncertainty, their bloodthirsty eyes trained on her. Cole threw up a protective wall just as the mob began launching an attack. She turned and sprinted toward Cole and Madgie. His wall didn’t last long against so many attacks, and she felt a ball of energy whiz by her ear. She had never seen anything like it in all of her lessons and in an instant realized why. In its wake was a murky cloud of hate and pain.
It was dark magic. They were trying to kill them.
Amanda looked back and saw the scowl on Frey’s pale face. She almost ran into Cole, who scooped her under his arm and started them toward Madgie while blocking spells as fast as they were coming at them. Amanda tried to help, but she couldn’t throw up a shield, she was too weak. There was smoke filling the air, and she saw a number of fires quickly devouring the feast of paper that was scattered about the room. She sidestepped an energy ball, unable to block it, realizing she had less energy than she’d thought and just how vulnerable she was.
She hated herself for not being able to help Cole block the tirade of attacks flying at them. A wall of thick smoke had formed, and she lost sight of Madgie. She searched desperately, squinting into the grey-black haze.
“Cole I can’t find Madgie! Where is she?” she yelled.
“Don’t worry,” he said quickly.
Amanda realized she was using the wrong senses and began searching for Madgie’s well-known spiritual signature. The kindhearted one in the group was calling out over the sound of the fight.
“Stop the attack! Stop the attack! The Ancients care about you; they want the best for you. Amanda, if you have anything good left in you, please come with us. We’ll make sure you’re saved,” he begged.