The Nightmare Dilemma

29 The Circle of Twelve

“Where have you been?”

I paused in the doorway of Eli’s dorm, wary of his tone and the fierce look in his eye. “I told you, I was tired after my meeting with Deverell and wanted to take a nap.” At least, this was the story I sent him when he’d texted me during dinner, wanting to know why I wasn’t in the cafeteria. In truth, I’d just needed to be alone for a while, sorting through my thoughts and feelings. Not that I’d managed to resolve anything.

Eli put his hands on his hips, his expression doubtful. “So you weren’t down in the tunnels with Paul? All alone?”

I frowned. “Were you spying on me?” He of all people would know how to do it without me noticing.

“No, of course not.” He scowled. “Selene told me you’d been to see him.”

My face flushed. I brushed past him, heading for the sofa. I plopped down onto it and folded my arms. “It was nothing. I just needed to talk to him. I thought he deserved a heads-up about us going to the sheriff. And you’ve got nothing to worry about. I can take care of myself.”

Eli held his breath, his eyes hard. Then he exhaled, the anger seeping out of him. “I suppose you’re right.”

I frowned, unsure if he was agreeing with me telling Paul or that I could take care of myself.

“I mean,” Eli went on before I could ask him, “I don’t know why I worry about you so much. You can kick my ass, let alone Paul’s.”

I gaped. Had he really just said that? “You’re kidding, right?”

“Why would I be kidding?” Eli came over and sat down on the sofa beside me.

I glanced sideways at him. “Um, because you’re a guy and really big and stuff.”

He rolled his eyes in my direction. “That hardly matters when magic’s a factor.” Eli slid the ring from his finger and twisted it to the right, expelling the glamour to reveal his wand. “When it is, I might as well be a ninety-pound weakling.”

I cleared my throat. “Still having trouble with it?”

“Oh, you could say that.” Eli tossed the wand onto a nearby table. It skidded, clacking loudly, and stopped just shy of falling over the side.

I swallowed, sympathy making my throat tight. How awful for him. Not only was he getting harassed by witchkinds, but he could hardly use the magic they had tried to keep from him in the first place. I patted his leg. “Just give it some time. I struggled for a long while, too … heh … what am I saying? I still struggle.”

Eli snorted. “Sure, more time.” He popped his neck. “So what happened with Deverell?”

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yeah, that. Still not unblocked.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But I’m close, only one letter to go.” I opened my eyes in time to see Eli’s disappointed expression. Never mind that he banished it with a smile a second later.

“I guess we both need some more time.”

“Sure, which we don’t have. At least, which I don’t have. I don’t suppose you found something helpful in The Atlantean Chronicle.” I turned my gaze to the desk and saw the book lying opened on top of it.

“No,” Eli said. “If there’re any details on an assassination in there, it must be a single sentence only. More likely, the Atlantis in that e-mail was code for something else.”

I exhaled. “You’re probably right.” I stood up and faced him. “We might as well get a move on then. Who knows? Maybe we’ll find something in the dream this time.”

Eli smiled as he shifted sideways, lying down on the sofa. “I’m sure we will.”

I waited for him to fall asleep, refusing to get my hopes up. A few minutes later, I climbed on top of him and entered his dream. To my relief, the world I found myself in a moment later was free of the fog that had plagued his last few dreams.

We were in Senate Hall once more, all the details of the place, defined and visible—the stained glass windows and the magickind statues, the row of knights and the long wooden table. Eli stood at the head of the table, examining the chair where in that earlier dream his father had been sitting. All the chairs were empty at present.

I glanced around looking for some sign of what was coming, but nothing stood out to me. The place had an empty, abandoned look, stark and forlorn like a wintry landscape. Directly opposite the foot of the table, but a good fifty feet in the distance, stood the massive doors of the main entrance.

“I want to go outside,” I said, turning to Eli. “You up for it? I don’t think we’re going to find much more in here.”

Eli looked up. “Yeah, I think you’re right.” He walked over to me and together we headed for the door. Two lions were carved into the highly polished wood in the same pose as the ones guarding the main gates into Lyonshold that Mr. Corvus had showed us in class that day.

“I really hope your memory of this place is good,” I said as Eli pushed the door open. “Because it might be my only chance to see it since we’ve been banned from the festival.”

Eli laughed. “So much pressure. But I’m sure you’ll have reason to visit sooner or later.”

“Maybe. But I’d rather see it now.” I winked.

We stepped out into a vast entry hall full of more statues and suits of armor. So far so good on the details, it seemed. Then we headed for the main doors across the way, leading outside. Eli pushed them open, and a bright stream of warm sunshine spilled through. I blinked, letting my eyes adjust, then followed Eli outside onto a grand, stone pavilion, like the kind I’d only seen in movies based on books by Jane Austen. I half-expected a horse and buggy to pull up.

“Wow,” I said, surveying the endless stretch of green lawn beyond the pavilion, marked here and there by giant, ancient trees and rows of flower beds formed into neat little gardens. Far in the distance, I could just make out the sea separating this innermost island from the other two. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Yeah it is.” Eli raised a hand to his brow, shielding his eyes from the sun. “And just how I remembered it.”

I sighed, truly disappointed about not getting to see this in real life. But maybe I could convince my mom to take me to visit the capital city sometime this summer. That is, assuming nothing bad happened tomorrow. I had a feeling if Consul Vanholt was assassinated, Lyonshold wouldn’t be open for visitors again anytime soon. And if Magistrate Kirkwood became the new consul, I doubted it would be very much fun to visit anymore in the first place.

“What’s that?” Eli pointed, and I followed the direction of his finger until I spotted an odd structure in the distance.

“No idea,” I said, even as Eli marched across the pavilion and down the steps straight toward it. I followed after him, trying to look in every direction at once. There were so many things to look at. But as we drew closer to the structure in the distance, it captured my attention completely.

It was a pile of wood, easily as tall as I was, and carefully arranged like an elaborate funeral pyre. The pieces of wood were so varied in color, I had a feeling that several different types of trees had contributed to it. There was even a definite pattern to the colors.

“This must be for one of the Beltane bonfires,” Eli said.

I glanced at him. “How can you be sure?”

“Don’t you remember what Mr. Corvus said? He told us the bonfires have to be built this precisely because they’re supposed to purify all magic when lit during Beltane.”

“Oh, right.” I vaguely remembered Corvus explaining something along those lines to us. “Well, at least you’re dreaming about the festival. That’s a good sign. We should keep looking.”

“Okay. Let’s do a sweep of the area around the hall.”

I stifled a smile at his choice of words—always playing the cop.

Making a wide pass, we circled around Senate Hall, which was far larger than I realized. It stood at least seven stories high, judging by the windows, and I guessed it was about as wide as a football field and maybe twice as long. On top of it stood a single watchtower, not terribly tall, but still high enough I couldn’t make out the top of it.

Eventually we came to another pyre, shaped exactly the same as the first. We moved on and found a third and then a fourth. By the time we came round to the front of Senate Hall again, we had counted twelve of them.

I sat down on the stone steps of the pavilion when we reached it, feeling the weight of defeat pulling me downward. We’d found nothing amiss. This must be a regular dream after all. The reason it was set at Senate Hall with all the pyres must be because Eli’s unconscious mind was still fixated on the Terra Tribe, not realizing that mystery was already solved.

“Are you all right?” Eli frowned down at me.

“Yeah. Just disappointed.” I made a sweeping gesture. “There’s nothing here. I don’t get it.”

Eli clacked his teeth, the sound drawing my attention. “Maybe Paul was wrong.” He hesitated. “I’m not saying he’s been lying, but he could’ve made a mistake about the e-mail he saw. He’s far from perfect.”

I exhaled. “You’re right.” I certainly hoped that was the case, as opposed to it being a lie. I thought about my cell phone lying in my back pocket in the waking world. I hadn’t tried to find the hidden data or enter the pass code he’d given me yet. Somehow, trying it seemed like admitting defeat, and I wasn’t ready to do that. But now I wondered what would happen if I did try to find it.

Eli kicked a pebble with his shoe, his hands shoved into his pockets. The sun, so bright when we first arrived, was starting to slip behind the horizon. I leaned back on the steps. At least the dream had been calm and peaceful for once. That was a change.

Something in the distance caught my eye, a momentary flash. I sat up. “What was that?”

Eli turned and scanned the lawn behind us. “What?”

“I thought I saw a light. There it is again.” I stood, keeping my eyes fixed on the place where it had seemed to emanate—somewhere near the first pyre we’d examined. I started walking slowly toward it, Eli falling into step beside me. But by the time we came within reach of the pyre, I hadn’t seen it again.

I stopped. “Never mind, I guess I imagined it.”

Eli didn’t respond as he stared at the pyre, his eyes glazed over as he did that inward thinking thing of his. He came out of it a second later, and he walked up the pyre, seizing hold of one of the pieces of wood. “I have an idea.” He yanked the wood from the top and tossed it over his shoulder, grabbing another one at once.

“What are you doing?” I asked, stepping sideways to avoid one of the flying pieces.

“I have a hunch. Help me tear this thing apart.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, not that he could see it with his back to me. Then I shrugged and started helping. Several moments later, we’d dismantled the whole thing. At the very center, sticking out of the earth like a broken cemetery cross, stood a wooden rod. It was roughly the length of a baseball bat although not as thick in circumference. At first, I thought it must’ve been used to support the pyre, only it was too small to do that effectively.

“I can’t believe it,” Eli whispered, his eyes fixed on the rod.

“Believe what?”

He didn’t reply as he stepped forward, seized the rod with one hand, and yanked it out. He ran his gaze over its surface. I moved closer, examining it myself. Intricate symbols and markings covered its entire surface. So it wasn’t an ordinary stick at all, but a magical instrument.

“What is it?” I said, wishing this wasn’t a dream so that I could give Eli a poke to get his attention. He was completely absorbed in studying it. “Eli,” I said when he still didn’t respond.

He finally looked up. “It’s a Telluric Rod.”

“Say again?”

“A Telluric Rod, also known as an Atlantean Rod.”

A chill went through me at the connection. “Why?”

Eli turned it over in his hands, drawing a breath. “It was a handful of rods like this that sunk the island of Atlantis.”

Back in Eli’s dorm room, I slowly shook off the lingering effects of emerging from the dream and slid off a still slumbering Eli. I stood, then shook him awake. He blinked dazedly at me a couple of times before sitting up.

“So do you really think that Magistrate Kirkwood is going to try to sink Lyonshold?” I said, continuing our conversation from within the dream.

Eli shook his head as he clambered to his feet. “No, I don’t think he’s going to sink all of it, but a part of it, yeah. Assuming that the pyres we saw are the only ones with rods in them, and that makes sense.”

“It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Eli strode past me to his desk and The Atlantean Chronicle. “That’s because you didn’t do as much reading in this as I did.”

I decided not to comment on the fact that it wasn’t like I’d had time to study the darn thing with so much going on. Instead I waited until he’d flipped to one of the pages in the back and waved me over.

“See, here it is.”

I examined the page, my eyes drawn immediately to a sketch labeled “Telluric Rod.” It looked almost exactly like the one we’d seen.

“That’s how they sunk Atlantis,” Eli was saying. “A bunch of merkind and naiads swam underneath all three rings of the island and planted these rods. Then they set them off with some kind of triggering spell and sunk each one. It’s all described in this section. Except, of course, how to make a Telluric Rod. According to this book, the knowledge was outlawed and lost forever.”

I folded my arms. “Gee, think I’ve heard that before.”

Eli grimaced. “No kidding.”

“But why would Magistrate Kirkwood want to sink part of Lyonshold?”

“Lots of reasons. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than a couple of senators and even Consul Vanholt are supposed to be present when those things are set off. They could easily die in the destruction or be assassinated during the chaos while no one is watching. All Kirkwood has to do is stay out of the way and somewhere safe.”

I shuddered. “But what about all the people present? They’ll be caught, too.”

Eli scoffed. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone in a position of power was willing to let innocents die to achieve their goal.”

I swallowed, knowing firsthand it was true. No wonder Titus Kirkwood was one of Marrow’s followers—they were a match made in hell.

“And there’s something even worse we haven’t considered yet,” said Eli.

“What could be worse than hundreds of innocent people dying?”

He ran a hand over his face, alarm in his eyes. “The Terra Tribe. Don’t you see? We know, or at least we think we know, that Britney tried to attack me because Kirkwood made her do it. So let’s assume that he knows what the Terra Tribe has been planning all along. That means he also knows that they’re all naturekinds.”

I thought about it a moment, my head spinning with details from our history class. “Naturekinds are the ones who sank Atlantis and started the first War of the Kinds.”

“Uh-huh. And I bet the trigger for the Telluric Rods is fire. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Which means tomorrow it’s going to look like a group of naturekinds sunk Lyonshold. And with the current state of things you know what will happen next when the witchkinds and darkkinds start pointing fingers.”

“Another war.” I swallowed as the sound of rushing blood filled my ears. “But why would he want to start a war?”

Eli rolled his shoulders. “Beats me, but I’m sure he sees some advantage in it.”

I didn’t reply as my eyes fell to the page once more. For a second, all I saw was the Telluric Rod, but then my eyes slid lower and I spotted another symbol that struck a chord of recognition inside me. I gasped.

“What is it?” Eli put a hand on my back as if he feared I might faint.

I bent closer to the book, examining the inscription beneath a three-ringed symbol I knew I’d seen somewhere before. I pointed my finger to it and read the inscription aloud: “‘Always from twelve is the circle undone.’”

Eli repeated the words after me, reading it for himself. “What do you think it means?”

I turned toward him. “No idea, but I’ve seen this symbol before and these words. Not exactly as they’re written here but close enough there’s no doubt of the connection.”

Excitement lit Eli’s face. “Where?”

“Mr. Corvus.” I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down so I could explain it correctly—I hadn’t thought about the book with the strange pictograms I’d decoded during my detention since the moment it had ended, but everything came rushing back to me now. By the time I finished telling him the details, Eli’s excitement had given way to that dangerous, thrilling focus I’d come to expect from him whenever we found a hot lead.

“We need to see that book,” he said.

“Do you think Corvus is working with Kirkwood?”

“Maybe.” Eli traced the three-ringed symbol with his finger. “Either way this is the first physical clue we’ve had connecting Corvus to this. Looks like the crows might’ve symbolized him after all.”

“Right.”

Eli rubbed his chin. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that book contains instructions on how to make the Telluric Rods.”

I started to nod my agreement then stopped cold. “But that doesn’t make sense. If the book contains dark, secret magic why would he be having students decode it for detention? Seems pretty stupid and risky.”

Eli smirked. “We’re talking about a guy who might be helping plan the murder of a bunch of people. I don’t think rational figures into the picture much.”

I frowned, unconvinced.

Eli saw the look and sighed. “Regardless of Corvus’s reasons, there’s no denying the connection between the two symbols, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that alone means it’s worth checking out. Make that double when you throw the crows into it.” Eli put his hands on his hips. “Why are you so reluctant? I thought you wanted to find proof that could save Paul from his uncle.”

“I do.”

“Well, we might find that proof through Corvus.”

“That’s just it.” I bit my lip, surprised that the problem hadn’t occurred to him already. “How are we going to get into his office to find the proof?”

I could tell at once that Eli had forgotten this little detail. “Shit.” He kicked the desk’s leg, raking his hands through his hair. “I forgot. If we only had more time. I could get a pass and sneak in my dad’s tension wrench from home.”

I sighed, my excitement deflated. Once again we were going to be defeated by lack of time. It was so frustrating I wanted to hit something or blow something up just to vent.

Blow something up …

An outrageous idea sprouted in my mind. I poked it a couple of times, testing it for viability. It was insane, it really was—but it just might work.

“Eli,” I said, drawing his attention. “Mr. Culpepper.”

“What about him?”

“He’s the maintenance man. He’ll have a master key to Corvus’s office.”

Eli frowned. “But we don’t know where he keeps the keys at night. If it’s the maintenance office we can break in there, sure, but he might take them home with him, and that would be a much more dangerous mission.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant. Why don’t we just ask him?”

Eli raised his eyebrows, looking at me as if I’d gone insane. “Just ask him if he’ll help us break into a teacher’s office? In the middle of the night?”

I nodded. “He and I have sorta become friends these last few months. And I know that if we tell him why we need to go in there he’ll do it. Especially if he finds out that Titus Kirkwood purchased the garrote that killed Rosemary from him. He cared a lot about her.” I paused then added, “Not that I want to tell him that unless we absolutely have to. It would crush him.”

“But how would we even get ahold of him this late at night?”

“Easy. I have his cell number.”

Eli didn’t say anything for several long seconds, just stared at me, his expression oddly blank. Then a huge smile seemed to split his face in half. “Dusty,” he said, stepping toward me, “you are a genius.”

Without warning, he took hold of my shoulders, leaned down, and kissed me.

The ground seemed to shift beneath my feet the moment his lips touched mine. Desire as hot and sudden as a lightning strike rose up and consumed us both.