Haunted
Page 74
Trsiel wheeled as Dantalian's voice glided past. "So you can spit poison in her ear? Try to turn her to your—"
"Evil ways?" Dantalian laughed. "Such melodrama. You do like your stories, don't you, Trsiel? The virtuous angel warrior and the nefarious demon battling for the soul of the innocent. Yet she's not so innocent. And you're not so angelic. Perhaps I'm not so demonic. But that spoils a good story, doesn't it?"
"He's not going to woo me over to the dark side, Trsiel," I said. "No more than you can bring me over to the light. I like it right where I am." I glanced back in Dantalian's direction. "Once a year."
"Every two months."
"Only an hour, then. An hour every two months or a half-day every six."
"A half-day every six, then."
I looked at Kristof. He nodded and I waved for him to begin the binding ceremony that would tie us both to our sides of the bargain.
Chapter 35
"WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW FIRST?" DANTALIAN asked. "Where the amulet is? Or where your Nix thinks it is?" "Back up," Trsiel said. "This amulet. If by some chance she gets it, will it work?"
"Of course it will work. I designed—"
"I meant will it work for her?"
"For anyone with demon blood."
"And if she fails to get it, is there any other way she can achieve her goal and take on human form? Some rite or mystical object she can use? When she first made the leap, she used a witch spell—"
I interjected, "Which will no longer work or she'd have used it long ago. Likely a side effect of her now being a ghost."
"Yes," Dantalian said. "As a ghost, she is restricted to ghost methods of possession. Without the amulet, she could only use full spiritual possession, through a necromancer."
I nodded. "Which any necromancer who's powerful enough to perform is also smart enough not to perform. So she's stuck with the amulet. Good. Well, then we should go after the amulet…" I hesitated.
"No, the Nix is our primary target. If we get her, we don't need to worry about her getting the amulet or finding some other way to dimension-jump. We'll get her, and then…" I steeled myself, knowing what I needed to say, but having to force the words out. "And then Trsiel can retrieve the amulet and put it away for safekeeping. I—we don't need it."
I could feel Kristof's gaze on me. I didn't look, but knew that if I did, I'd see not relief, but skepticism, as he searched my face and tone, trying to figure out whether I was telling the truth or saying what he wanted to hear. I wasn't sure which it was, either.
"Okay," I said, facing the demon—or his direction—again. "So where is she?"
"I sent her to a building, one that once housed half a million scrolls, which later were said to have fed the fires at the public baths; a thousand years of knowledge destroyed to keep bathwater warm. And one wonders why humans—"
"The Great Library of Alexandria."
His laugh boomed through the room like a furnace blast. "You are quick. And that's where you'll find your Nix, in the ghost-world Great Library, searching madly for my amulet among those half-million scrolls."
"And the amulet?" I said.
"Oh, that's closer. Much closer. There's a tunnel under Glamis, connecting it to Castle Huntly. It's—"
"A legend," Trsiel said. "The tunnel doesn't exist."
"Nor does this room, my dear mongrel angel. Your sorcerer has bound me to tell the truth. If I say the amulet is in that tunnel—"
"Then it is," I finished. "But if it leads to another castle, I'm guessing there's a fair bit of tunnel to travel."
"Fifteen miles."
"Uh-huh. Care to be more specific, then?"
"Not really."
"You gave your word," Kristof said.
Dantalian's sigh fluttered around us. "That I did, and I will keep it. But she asked whether I cared to be
—"
" Be more specific," I said. "Please."
"It's in a room, inside a drawer. I cannot be more specific than that. There are many rooms down there.
When I hid it, I had no time for drawing maps. Search and you'll find it."
A soft laugh fluttered from behind us. A feminine laugh.
"Thank you, Dantalian," a lilting voice said. "I intend to."
I wheeled to see the Nix, her face pushed through the wall across the room, where she'd been listening on the other side. Dantalian roared. Trsiel's hands shot up, the sword invocation flying from his lips. The Nix pulled back to the other side. Kristof and I both raced into the hall, Trsiel at our heels, but the Nix was gone.
"Downstairs," I said to Trsiel. "To the tunnel. Kris…"
Our eyes met.
"Go," he said. "And be careful."
"Wait someplace safe."
"I will."
Trsiel and I hurried down the stone steps to the basement, and came out in…
"A cafeteria?" I said. "This is the castle catacombs?"
"You'd prefer a dungeon maybe? A few skeletons chained to the wall?"
"Well, yeah. What's a castle without a dungeon?" As we talked, we walked in opposite directions, each scanning a side of the cafeteria. There was no sign of the Nix.
"Washrooms, kitchen, cloakroom," I said, reading the signs. " 'This way to the tunnel' would be too much to ask for, wouldn't it?"
"There is no tunnel," Trsiel said as he walked through a storage closet door. A second later, he returned, still talking. "It was a hoax. In 1939, the last owner of Huntly, a Colonel Paterson, claimed to have unearthed a tunnel linking Glamis to Huntly while carrying out renovations on his castle. No evidence of it has ever been found to support that claim."
"Which makes it false? What happened to this Paterson guy?"
"Drowned a year later, in a boating accident."
"Aha," I said, as I ducked my head into a closet. "I smell conspiracy. Who owns Castle Huntly now?"
"The state. It's a prison."
"And they claim there's no tunnel leading out of it? Very convenient." I glanced over at Trsiel. "I know you're convinced Dantalian found a way to lie to us, but humor me. Which direction is Huntly?"
"Evil ways?" Dantalian laughed. "Such melodrama. You do like your stories, don't you, Trsiel? The virtuous angel warrior and the nefarious demon battling for the soul of the innocent. Yet she's not so innocent. And you're not so angelic. Perhaps I'm not so demonic. But that spoils a good story, doesn't it?"
"He's not going to woo me over to the dark side, Trsiel," I said. "No more than you can bring me over to the light. I like it right where I am." I glanced back in Dantalian's direction. "Once a year."
"Every two months."
"Only an hour, then. An hour every two months or a half-day every six."
"A half-day every six, then."
I looked at Kristof. He nodded and I waved for him to begin the binding ceremony that would tie us both to our sides of the bargain.
Chapter 35
"WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW FIRST?" DANTALIAN asked. "Where the amulet is? Or where your Nix thinks it is?" "Back up," Trsiel said. "This amulet. If by some chance she gets it, will it work?"
"Of course it will work. I designed—"
"I meant will it work for her?"
"For anyone with demon blood."
"And if she fails to get it, is there any other way she can achieve her goal and take on human form? Some rite or mystical object she can use? When she first made the leap, she used a witch spell—"
I interjected, "Which will no longer work or she'd have used it long ago. Likely a side effect of her now being a ghost."
"Yes," Dantalian said. "As a ghost, she is restricted to ghost methods of possession. Without the amulet, she could only use full spiritual possession, through a necromancer."
I nodded. "Which any necromancer who's powerful enough to perform is also smart enough not to perform. So she's stuck with the amulet. Good. Well, then we should go after the amulet…" I hesitated.
"No, the Nix is our primary target. If we get her, we don't need to worry about her getting the amulet or finding some other way to dimension-jump. We'll get her, and then…" I steeled myself, knowing what I needed to say, but having to force the words out. "And then Trsiel can retrieve the amulet and put it away for safekeeping. I—we don't need it."
I could feel Kristof's gaze on me. I didn't look, but knew that if I did, I'd see not relief, but skepticism, as he searched my face and tone, trying to figure out whether I was telling the truth or saying what he wanted to hear. I wasn't sure which it was, either.
"Okay," I said, facing the demon—or his direction—again. "So where is she?"
"I sent her to a building, one that once housed half a million scrolls, which later were said to have fed the fires at the public baths; a thousand years of knowledge destroyed to keep bathwater warm. And one wonders why humans—"
"The Great Library of Alexandria."
His laugh boomed through the room like a furnace blast. "You are quick. And that's where you'll find your Nix, in the ghost-world Great Library, searching madly for my amulet among those half-million scrolls."
"And the amulet?" I said.
"Oh, that's closer. Much closer. There's a tunnel under Glamis, connecting it to Castle Huntly. It's—"
"A legend," Trsiel said. "The tunnel doesn't exist."
"Nor does this room, my dear mongrel angel. Your sorcerer has bound me to tell the truth. If I say the amulet is in that tunnel—"
"Then it is," I finished. "But if it leads to another castle, I'm guessing there's a fair bit of tunnel to travel."
"Fifteen miles."
"Uh-huh. Care to be more specific, then?"
"Not really."
"You gave your word," Kristof said.
Dantalian's sigh fluttered around us. "That I did, and I will keep it. But she asked whether I cared to be
—"
" Be more specific," I said. "Please."
"It's in a room, inside a drawer. I cannot be more specific than that. There are many rooms down there.
When I hid it, I had no time for drawing maps. Search and you'll find it."
A soft laugh fluttered from behind us. A feminine laugh.
"Thank you, Dantalian," a lilting voice said. "I intend to."
I wheeled to see the Nix, her face pushed through the wall across the room, where she'd been listening on the other side. Dantalian roared. Trsiel's hands shot up, the sword invocation flying from his lips. The Nix pulled back to the other side. Kristof and I both raced into the hall, Trsiel at our heels, but the Nix was gone.
"Downstairs," I said to Trsiel. "To the tunnel. Kris…"
Our eyes met.
"Go," he said. "And be careful."
"Wait someplace safe."
"I will."
Trsiel and I hurried down the stone steps to the basement, and came out in…
"A cafeteria?" I said. "This is the castle catacombs?"
"You'd prefer a dungeon maybe? A few skeletons chained to the wall?"
"Well, yeah. What's a castle without a dungeon?" As we talked, we walked in opposite directions, each scanning a side of the cafeteria. There was no sign of the Nix.
"Washrooms, kitchen, cloakroom," I said, reading the signs. " 'This way to the tunnel' would be too much to ask for, wouldn't it?"
"There is no tunnel," Trsiel said as he walked through a storage closet door. A second later, he returned, still talking. "It was a hoax. In 1939, the last owner of Huntly, a Colonel Paterson, claimed to have unearthed a tunnel linking Glamis to Huntly while carrying out renovations on his castle. No evidence of it has ever been found to support that claim."
"Which makes it false? What happened to this Paterson guy?"
"Drowned a year later, in a boating accident."
"Aha," I said, as I ducked my head into a closet. "I smell conspiracy. Who owns Castle Huntly now?"
"The state. It's a prison."
"And they claim there's no tunnel leading out of it? Very convenient." I glanced over at Trsiel. "I know you're convinced Dantalian found a way to lie to us, but humor me. Which direction is Huntly?"
