Antebellum Awakening (The Network Series #2)(50)

Tonight.

I knew it was crazy. I knew it was a spontaneous, poorly thought out idea. But I didn’t care anymore. I had no control over any other part of my life, but at least I could take care of this one thing. Before common sense caught up and told me I wasn’t ready to face Miss Mabel or destroy the binding, I quickly prepared.

The thought that perhaps I shouldn’t have isolated myself for so long today snuck into my mind. I felt like I was going mad. Then again, maybe I was. Maybe insanity was just a slow creep away from reality, so subtle the nightmare wasn’t recognizable until the monsters were too strong. I tied back my hair. What did monsters matter when I only had a few months left to live? The High Priestess would come through on her part and end the Inheritance Curse. But I wouldn’t kill the High Priest for Miss Mabel, so I’d die anyway.

I slipped into a pair of breeches I’d filched from the laundry and bound my hair into a braid that fell between my shoulder blades. My powers bubbled under the surface with such violence that I almost stopped myself from going. Then I caught sight of myself in a stray mirror. The flash of my gray eyes reminded me of Mama. I had to go.

For added protection, I strapped a sheath to my forearm and slipped a small dagger into it, hoping I wouldn’t have to use it. The silent halls of Chatham Castle seemed to echo when I walked the long corridors on bare feet. The quiet shadows snuck up the walls like hands trying to grab me, to keep me in the castle. Reckless fool, they seemed to whisper.

No going back, I thought. Time to free myself.

The shadows shifted. I heard the scuffle of a foot and Leda appeared out of the darkness. She grabbed my arm and shoved me against the wall, the strength of her skinny frame surprising me. The shock of my head slamming into the stone reverberated through my skull.

“Don’t!” she hissed. “Don’t do it.”

“Don’t what?” I muttered, rubbing the offended spot and glaring at her. “Jikes, Leda. Did you have to slam me into the wall?"

“Don’t do it.”

“Do what?"

“Whatever you’re doing.”

“Why? What have you seen?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing except that whatever you’ve decided to do involves Miss Mabel.”

My eyes widened. “You can see her?”

“No. Not really, anyway,” she said taking a step away, as if standing too close caused her pain. “That’s just it. I can’t see anything. Nothing but gray and black, just like last year at school. Just like . . . just like the afternoon your mother died.”

“I can’t explain it,” I said. “I have to go.”

“Please, Bianca!”

“No!” I cried and the torches near us popped into bright flame. Her queer eyes stared at me through the flickering shadows, narrowing in question. We watched each other until she took another step back. I wasn’t sure what emotion hid behind her annoyance, but it looked an awful lot like fear.

“I have a bad feeling about tonight,” she said in a tremulous voice. “It’s bothered me all day.”

“I have to do this, Leda. I don’t expect you to understand.”

Unable to bear it, I turned and left her in the hallway behind me, headed for the cover of darkness in the Forgotten Gardens.

???

A chorus of long, soulful wails welcomed me into the Western Network.

They sent my heart into a wild spin, matching the drums that pounded in the background. Why such loud mourning? Chills skirted my skin.

I’ve had a bad feeling about tonight all day, Leda’s voice rang out in my head.

Life is full of bad feelings, I reassured myself. Let’s just get this over with.

The transportation spell had left me crouched in a long hallway somewhere in the belly of the Arck, folded in red rock and shadows. The floor under my bare feet felt cold and dry. I whispered an invisibility incantation and stepped to the wall to gain my bearings. The hall stretched to my right and left, disappearing in dark twists and turns. A few torches illuminated the area with yellow light. It smelled like cloves and spice.

Right or left?

I didn’t let myself debate long. It would be better to keep moving until I could figure out where the spell put me. I headed to the right, hoping it led outside. My bare feet didn’t make a sound as I padded down the halls at a wary jog. My powers were on alert, but still, my ears picked up nothing except the exaggerated screaming from outside.

The wall eventually gave way to a dead end, with a square window that reached my waist. I ran to it to find a familiar sight: the market I’d seen above Miss Mabel’s chambers. My eyes locked in on her balcony. I was a floor above and just to the right of her personal quarters. But the balcony was too small for me to transport to with my imprecise skill.

This is going to hurt, I thought, surveying my option. There was a subtle slope to the wall, and I thought I could climb down; the side was uneven, with rocks sticking out and divots pressing in. My eyes flittered over the ground six stories away. I’d have to be very careful.

Don’t think. Just do it.

The scuffling of two witches walking in unison helped me find the motivation to climb over the window. West Guards. On patrol, no doubt. I did one more quick assessment of where I would put my feet, lifted my legs over the window, and slowly lowered myself onto the first bump.