Beautiful Chaos
Page 64
“So Wate’s Landing must have been a safe house. It would have been easy enough to sneak food into that tunnel right from the pantry.” Liv was looking at me, but I could tell she was a thousand miles away.
“Then at night, when it was safe, you ended up out here.” I let myself fall back down to the ground, pulling the trapdoor back into place. “I wonder if Ethan Carter Wate knew. If he was part of it.” After seeing him in the visions, it felt like something he would do.
“I wonder if Genevieve knew,” Liv said.
“How much do you know about Genevieve?”
“I read the files.” Of course she did.
“Maybe they did it together.”
“Maybe it had something to do with that.” Liv was looking past me.
“What?”
She pointed behind me. There were planks hammered into an awkward X. But the boards were rotting, and you could see a doorway behind them.
“Ethan. Am I imagining—”
I shook my head. “No. I see it, too.”
It wasn’t a Mortal doorway. I recognized the symbols carved into the old wood, even if I couldn’t read them. Across from the trapdoor that led into the Mortal world was a second doorway, which led into the Caster one.
“We’d better go,” Liv said.
“You mean go in there.” I set the lantern down on the ground.
Liv already had her red notebook out and was sketching, but she still sounded worried. “I mean go back to your house.” She sounded annoyed, but I could tell she was as interested in what lay beyond the doorway as I was.
“You know you want to go in there.” Some things never changed.
The first board splintered, coming off in my hands as soon as I pulled it loose.
“What I want is for you to stay out of the Tunnels, before this somehow manages to get us both into trouble.”
The last of the boards fell away. In front of me was a carved wooden doorway that framed massive double doors. The bottom seemed to disappear into the dirt floor. I bent down to take a closer look. There were actual roots connecting the doors to the earth. I ran my hands along the length of them. They were rough and solid, but I didn’t recognize the wood.
“It’s ash. And rowan, I think,” Liv said. I could hear her scribbling in her notebook. “There isn’t a single ash or rowan tree within miles of Gatlin. They’re supernatural trees. They protect creatures of Light.”
“Which means?”
“Which means these doors are probably from somewhere far away. And they could lead to somewhere equally far away.”
I nodded. “Where?”
She pressed her hand into a design along the carved lintel. “I haven’t a clue. Madrid. Prague. London. We have rowan trees in the U.K.” She started copying the symbols from the doors onto a page.
I pulled on the handle with both hands. The iron latch groaned, but the doors didn’t open. “That’s not the question.”
“Oh, really?”
“The question is, what are we doing here? What are we supposed to see?” I pulled on the handle again. “And how do we get on the other side?”
“That’s three questions.” Liv studied the doors. “I think it’s like the lintel at Ravenwood. The carvings are a kind of access code to get inside.”
“Figure it out. We have to find a way in.”
“I’m afraid it may not be that easy. Wait. Is that a word up there?” She brushed the dust off the doorway. Some kind of inscription was carved into the frame.
“If it’s a Caster doorway, I wouldn’t be surprised.” I rubbed the wood with my hand, and it splintered beneath my fingers. Whatever it was, it was ancient.
“ ‘Temporis Porta.’ Time Door? What does that mean?” Liv asked.
“It means we don’t have time for this.” I leaned my forehead against the doors. I could feel a surge of heat and energy where the ancient wood touched my face. It was vibrating.
“Ethan?”
“Shh.”
Come on. Open. I know there’s something I’m supposed to see.
I focused my mind on the doors in front of me, the way I had on the Arclight the last time we were trying to find our way through the Tunnels.
I’m the Wayward. I know I am. Show me the way.
I heard the distinct sound of wood beginning to crack and splinter.
The wood shook as if the doors were going to collapse.
Come on. Show me.
I stood back as they swung open, split by light. Dust fell from their seal as if this entrance hadn’t been opened in a thousand years.
“How did you do that?” Liv was staring at me.
“I don’t know, but it’s open. Let’s go.”
We stepped inside, and the dust and the light dissolved around us. Liv reached out her hand, and before I could take it, I disappeared—
I was standing alone in the center of a huge hall. It looked the way I imagined Europe, maybe England or France or Spain—somewhere old and timeless. But I couldn’t be sure. The farthest the Tunnels had ever taken me was the Great Barrier. The room was as big as the inside of a ship, tall and rectangular, made entirely of stone. I don’t think it was a church, but something like a church or a monastery—vast and holy and full of mystery.
Massive beams crossed the ceiling, surrounded by smaller wood squares. Inside each square was a gold rose, a circle with petals.
Caster circles?
That didn’t seem right.
“Then at night, when it was safe, you ended up out here.” I let myself fall back down to the ground, pulling the trapdoor back into place. “I wonder if Ethan Carter Wate knew. If he was part of it.” After seeing him in the visions, it felt like something he would do.
“I wonder if Genevieve knew,” Liv said.
“How much do you know about Genevieve?”
“I read the files.” Of course she did.
“Maybe they did it together.”
“Maybe it had something to do with that.” Liv was looking past me.
“What?”
She pointed behind me. There were planks hammered into an awkward X. But the boards were rotting, and you could see a doorway behind them.
“Ethan. Am I imagining—”
I shook my head. “No. I see it, too.”
It wasn’t a Mortal doorway. I recognized the symbols carved into the old wood, even if I couldn’t read them. Across from the trapdoor that led into the Mortal world was a second doorway, which led into the Caster one.
“We’d better go,” Liv said.
“You mean go in there.” I set the lantern down on the ground.
Liv already had her red notebook out and was sketching, but she still sounded worried. “I mean go back to your house.” She sounded annoyed, but I could tell she was as interested in what lay beyond the doorway as I was.
“You know you want to go in there.” Some things never changed.
The first board splintered, coming off in my hands as soon as I pulled it loose.
“What I want is for you to stay out of the Tunnels, before this somehow manages to get us both into trouble.”
The last of the boards fell away. In front of me was a carved wooden doorway that framed massive double doors. The bottom seemed to disappear into the dirt floor. I bent down to take a closer look. There were actual roots connecting the doors to the earth. I ran my hands along the length of them. They were rough and solid, but I didn’t recognize the wood.
“It’s ash. And rowan, I think,” Liv said. I could hear her scribbling in her notebook. “There isn’t a single ash or rowan tree within miles of Gatlin. They’re supernatural trees. They protect creatures of Light.”
“Which means?”
“Which means these doors are probably from somewhere far away. And they could lead to somewhere equally far away.”
I nodded. “Where?”
She pressed her hand into a design along the carved lintel. “I haven’t a clue. Madrid. Prague. London. We have rowan trees in the U.K.” She started copying the symbols from the doors onto a page.
I pulled on the handle with both hands. The iron latch groaned, but the doors didn’t open. “That’s not the question.”
“Oh, really?”
“The question is, what are we doing here? What are we supposed to see?” I pulled on the handle again. “And how do we get on the other side?”
“That’s three questions.” Liv studied the doors. “I think it’s like the lintel at Ravenwood. The carvings are a kind of access code to get inside.”
“Figure it out. We have to find a way in.”
“I’m afraid it may not be that easy. Wait. Is that a word up there?” She brushed the dust off the doorway. Some kind of inscription was carved into the frame.
“If it’s a Caster doorway, I wouldn’t be surprised.” I rubbed the wood with my hand, and it splintered beneath my fingers. Whatever it was, it was ancient.
“ ‘Temporis Porta.’ Time Door? What does that mean?” Liv asked.
“It means we don’t have time for this.” I leaned my forehead against the doors. I could feel a surge of heat and energy where the ancient wood touched my face. It was vibrating.
“Ethan?”
“Shh.”
Come on. Open. I know there’s something I’m supposed to see.
I focused my mind on the doors in front of me, the way I had on the Arclight the last time we were trying to find our way through the Tunnels.
I’m the Wayward. I know I am. Show me the way.
I heard the distinct sound of wood beginning to crack and splinter.
The wood shook as if the doors were going to collapse.
Come on. Show me.
I stood back as they swung open, split by light. Dust fell from their seal as if this entrance hadn’t been opened in a thousand years.
“How did you do that?” Liv was staring at me.
“I don’t know, but it’s open. Let’s go.”
We stepped inside, and the dust and the light dissolved around us. Liv reached out her hand, and before I could take it, I disappeared—
I was standing alone in the center of a huge hall. It looked the way I imagined Europe, maybe England or France or Spain—somewhere old and timeless. But I couldn’t be sure. The farthest the Tunnels had ever taken me was the Great Barrier. The room was as big as the inside of a ship, tall and rectangular, made entirely of stone. I don’t think it was a church, but something like a church or a monastery—vast and holy and full of mystery.
Massive beams crossed the ceiling, surrounded by smaller wood squares. Inside each square was a gold rose, a circle with petals.
Caster circles?
That didn’t seem right.
