The Ruby Circle
Page 64
“Fiona?” asked Master Angeletti, tilting his head at me. Although stern-faced, there was an indulgence to his voice, as though he thought I might be intimidated by their presence. “What do you see?”
I swallowed, again paralyzed by fear of my past. As my silence persisted, the other Warriors began looking at me curiously. It’s an act, Sydney! I frantically told myself. You did it then, you can do it now. This isn’t re-education. You aren’t trapped, and Jill’s life is on the line.
Jill.
It was the thought of her name, the memory of her clear and innocent face that drew me back to life. I blinked and focused back on the screen.
“Evil, sir,” I said. “I see evil things that have no part of the natural order.”
And so it began. I answered in the ways Sabrina had prompted me, not that I needed much coaching. I just had to answer like I would have in re-education. I recited a cover story we’d come up with, about how my brother Fred and I had been attacked by a Strigoi one night and barely gotten away with our lives. I explained how we’d tried telling the authorities, but no one would believe us. We’d known the truth of the evil we’d seen and spent the next few years searching for help, until finally we’d met Sabrina and learned of the Warriors’ quest.
When the interview finished, the Warriors were smiling reassuringly, pleased with my answers. I smiled back, but on the inside, I was a mess. I could barely stop myself from shaking or losing myself to the memories of that terrible time. I gave Eddie an encouraging nod when I was released back to the waiting room with the others, and then I sank into a chair, grateful that no one seemed interested in talking to me. I was able to sit and space for a while, steadying my breathing and shaking off the memories. He returned a little while later, irritated by their line of questioning but overall relaxed.
“Psychos,” he muttered to me, keeping a smile on his face for the sake of the others in the room. “I stuck to the story, and they took it well.”
“Same here,” I said, envious of how easy it had been for him. He didn’t have the baggage I had.
Once everyone had been interviewed, it was time for dinner and another banquet back in the mess hall. As we ate, Master Ortega recited a psalm and gave a long sermon about the glory of humanity and the light and how we were all doing such a great job in fighting the good fight. It was a variation of what I’d heard with the Alchemists, even before re-education, and I wondered if I’d ever be free of groups of people trying to impose their beliefs on me. Fortunately, we were given some personal time afterward, and Sabrina came over to talk to us in a corner of the room. Other sponsors were meeting with their recruits, so nobody took it amiss.
“Hanging in there?” she asked quietly. We nodded, and she gave me a wry smile. “Ballsy move, going after Caleb.”
“I thought they’d appreciate the moxie,” I replied.
“Yes and no,” she said. “Taking on a challenge like that does score you some points, but there are those who just don’t like anyone breaking the rules.”
“Sounds familiar,” I said, thinking of the Alchemists.
“What’ll happen now?” asked Eddie.
Sabrina glanced around and shrugged. “Not much tonight. There are separate dorms for men and women, so everyone’ll go to bed soon. That’ll be your chance to look around, Sydney. I checked out the facilities earlier today, and there aren’t a lot of locked doors to deal with. You said those were a problem, right?”
“Right,” I agreed. Invisibility spells could hide me but wouldn’t do any good if someone saw a door opening by itself. “And security cameras.”
She shook her head. “There are none of those. Most security’s on the perimeter of the compound. They want to keep others out and all of us in. Moving around—if they can’t see you—shouldn’t be too difficult for you. The areas they want protected have armed guards, which hopefully you can slip past.”
“Hopefully.” It was amazing that we could discuss armed guards as minor obstacles. “Except I’m just not sure where I’m going.”
“I am,” she said. “I found out while scouting around. If you look out the window behind me, you’ll see a big gray building. That’s the women’s dorm. To its right is the men’s dorm, and to the right again is the building where the masters have their headquarters. That’s where you’ll find your answers.”
Eddie and I both glanced at the window indicated. He frowned. “I hate that this is all on you. I feel useless.”
I touched his arm reassuringly. “You’re my backup,” I said. “I feel better having you here.”
“And we may need your help when it’s time to get out,” added Sabrina.
I noted her use of “we.” “You’ll be coming with us?” I asked.
“When you guys disappear, I’ll get in trouble for bringing false recruits—even if they don’t think I’m part of a conspiracy, they’ll accuse me of being sloppy. I don’t want to deal with that. And honestly?” She sighed. “I’m ready to be done with this job. I’ll help Marcus some other way.”
Our free time wrapped up, and everyone was sent off to their dorms. Chris advised us recruits in particular to get some sleep because we had a “big day” tomorrow. I tried not to grimace. I was already sore and scraped up from today, and my work wasn’t even over.
As I entered the girls’ dorm, I found that Sabrina had been right. There were a lot of open doorways connecting halls and rooms. Because there was no air conditioning, many windows were left open as well. Curtains were hung in the room doorways to provide privacy, and those didn’t even touch the floor. It was almost a dream come true for someone needing to sneak around invisibly, especially since there were so few women around to begin with, meaning most of the dorm wasn’t in use.
Unfortunately, my room wasn’t empty. Someone had had the brilliant idea to put Tara and me together. She glowered at me as we got ready for bed and made a few seemingly idle threats about how she’d prove to everyone that she was the superior candidate. She didn’t seem like she’d attack me in my sleep, though. The problem was that I couldn’t risk her waking and seeing my bed empty—then reporting me. That meant I had to cast a sleeping spell on her, something I’d never done before.
I swallowed, again paralyzed by fear of my past. As my silence persisted, the other Warriors began looking at me curiously. It’s an act, Sydney! I frantically told myself. You did it then, you can do it now. This isn’t re-education. You aren’t trapped, and Jill’s life is on the line.
Jill.
It was the thought of her name, the memory of her clear and innocent face that drew me back to life. I blinked and focused back on the screen.
“Evil, sir,” I said. “I see evil things that have no part of the natural order.”
And so it began. I answered in the ways Sabrina had prompted me, not that I needed much coaching. I just had to answer like I would have in re-education. I recited a cover story we’d come up with, about how my brother Fred and I had been attacked by a Strigoi one night and barely gotten away with our lives. I explained how we’d tried telling the authorities, but no one would believe us. We’d known the truth of the evil we’d seen and spent the next few years searching for help, until finally we’d met Sabrina and learned of the Warriors’ quest.
When the interview finished, the Warriors were smiling reassuringly, pleased with my answers. I smiled back, but on the inside, I was a mess. I could barely stop myself from shaking or losing myself to the memories of that terrible time. I gave Eddie an encouraging nod when I was released back to the waiting room with the others, and then I sank into a chair, grateful that no one seemed interested in talking to me. I was able to sit and space for a while, steadying my breathing and shaking off the memories. He returned a little while later, irritated by their line of questioning but overall relaxed.
“Psychos,” he muttered to me, keeping a smile on his face for the sake of the others in the room. “I stuck to the story, and they took it well.”
“Same here,” I said, envious of how easy it had been for him. He didn’t have the baggage I had.
Once everyone had been interviewed, it was time for dinner and another banquet back in the mess hall. As we ate, Master Ortega recited a psalm and gave a long sermon about the glory of humanity and the light and how we were all doing such a great job in fighting the good fight. It was a variation of what I’d heard with the Alchemists, even before re-education, and I wondered if I’d ever be free of groups of people trying to impose their beliefs on me. Fortunately, we were given some personal time afterward, and Sabrina came over to talk to us in a corner of the room. Other sponsors were meeting with their recruits, so nobody took it amiss.
“Hanging in there?” she asked quietly. We nodded, and she gave me a wry smile. “Ballsy move, going after Caleb.”
“I thought they’d appreciate the moxie,” I replied.
“Yes and no,” she said. “Taking on a challenge like that does score you some points, but there are those who just don’t like anyone breaking the rules.”
“Sounds familiar,” I said, thinking of the Alchemists.
“What’ll happen now?” asked Eddie.
Sabrina glanced around and shrugged. “Not much tonight. There are separate dorms for men and women, so everyone’ll go to bed soon. That’ll be your chance to look around, Sydney. I checked out the facilities earlier today, and there aren’t a lot of locked doors to deal with. You said those were a problem, right?”
“Right,” I agreed. Invisibility spells could hide me but wouldn’t do any good if someone saw a door opening by itself. “And security cameras.”
She shook her head. “There are none of those. Most security’s on the perimeter of the compound. They want to keep others out and all of us in. Moving around—if they can’t see you—shouldn’t be too difficult for you. The areas they want protected have armed guards, which hopefully you can slip past.”
“Hopefully.” It was amazing that we could discuss armed guards as minor obstacles. “Except I’m just not sure where I’m going.”
“I am,” she said. “I found out while scouting around. If you look out the window behind me, you’ll see a big gray building. That’s the women’s dorm. To its right is the men’s dorm, and to the right again is the building where the masters have their headquarters. That’s where you’ll find your answers.”
Eddie and I both glanced at the window indicated. He frowned. “I hate that this is all on you. I feel useless.”
I touched his arm reassuringly. “You’re my backup,” I said. “I feel better having you here.”
“And we may need your help when it’s time to get out,” added Sabrina.
I noted her use of “we.” “You’ll be coming with us?” I asked.
“When you guys disappear, I’ll get in trouble for bringing false recruits—even if they don’t think I’m part of a conspiracy, they’ll accuse me of being sloppy. I don’t want to deal with that. And honestly?” She sighed. “I’m ready to be done with this job. I’ll help Marcus some other way.”
Our free time wrapped up, and everyone was sent off to their dorms. Chris advised us recruits in particular to get some sleep because we had a “big day” tomorrow. I tried not to grimace. I was already sore and scraped up from today, and my work wasn’t even over.
As I entered the girls’ dorm, I found that Sabrina had been right. There were a lot of open doorways connecting halls and rooms. Because there was no air conditioning, many windows were left open as well. Curtains were hung in the room doorways to provide privacy, and those didn’t even touch the floor. It was almost a dream come true for someone needing to sneak around invisibly, especially since there were so few women around to begin with, meaning most of the dorm wasn’t in use.
Unfortunately, my room wasn’t empty. Someone had had the brilliant idea to put Tara and me together. She glowered at me as we got ready for bed and made a few seemingly idle threats about how she’d prove to everyone that she was the superior candidate. She didn’t seem like she’d attack me in my sleep, though. The problem was that I couldn’t risk her waking and seeing my bed empty—then reporting me. That meant I had to cast a sleeping spell on her, something I’d never done before.
