Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,69
me.
Should I have kept quiet? Only she had the answer.
She unleashed a frustrated sigh. “Do you really think you can make a difference in finding Xanthippe?”
“Yes.” For the first time in a while, I spoke with genuine confidence. One way or another, I felt certain my pixies were the key to solving this.
Her teary eyes held my firm gaze. “Fine, but if you screw up the hunt, I’ll turn you in. Just stay out of everyone’s way and focus on catching the pixies.” She looked over at the door leading to the building. “I need to get to Victoria’s office. There’ll be another briefing now that she’s put us on high alert.”
“But you won’t say anything?” Genie interjected.
“No, I won’t.” She shook her head, like she couldn’t believe what she was doing. “I get why you want to do this, and we need as many hands on deck as possible. People who know the enemy. You Purged them. They might listen to you, or at least come out of hiding for you.”
They’re not the enemy. I held my tongue to avoid shattering this fragile treaty.
Charlotte walked away, her shoulders slumped. The walk of a weary woman. I watched her go, my chest uneasy. “Do you think she’ll tell Victoria?”
“I hope not, for both our sakes.”
I put the puzzle box back in my bag. “Well, one thing I know for certain is that Victoria just threw a massive wrench in the works. How’re we supposed to sneak around, hunting pixies, if everyone who isn’t a hunter is on lockdown?”
“Carefully.” Genie flashed me a reassuring grin. One of her best ones.
“And what about this other magical?” I readjusted the strap of my bag. “I might’ve believed the pixies were responsible for one disappearance. But two? I don’t buy it at all. These monsters are new to the Institute. They wouldn’t have a clue where to hide two people.”
Genie looked away. “How can you be sure?”
“I’ve got a… weird sense about it. Like, I can feel they’re confused, and they’re frightened, but I don’t feel any malice.” I didn’t know how else to put it. Like the gargoyle in the training room, it was like our emotions were running parallel, giving me a vague sense of how they were feeling—though it was, admittedly, a distant sense.
“You’re certain?” Genie still didn’t look at me.
I nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more certain.”
“Then… things don’t add up,” she agreed, with a note of reluctance that threw me slightly. Had they gotten to her, too? I guessed the fact that she was still standing at my side meant she had some faith in what I said. I hoped it prevailed, because I didn’t know what I would do if I lost my last source of support.
I drew a lungful of fresh air. “Why is no one suspecting someone closer to home— someone who’d know where to hide abductees? In true crime shows, nine times out of ten the murderer is someone who knew the victim.”
“Don’t go throwing the ‘M’ word around, Pers. We don’t know that they’re dead, yet.” Genie urged me toward the door. “But I think you’re onto something. All we’ve got to do is clear the pixies’ name before anyone will listen to alternatives.”
If only it were that easy.
The stakes had risen with the addition of a new missing person, but that was all the more reason to keep going. I wouldn’t sit in my room and leave it to hunters who had no emotional link with the pixies and obeyed the party line of “capture at all costs.” The connection between my creations and the disappearances seemed murky at best, but we wouldn’t change anyone’s mind by arguing. We needed hard evidence, which would prove tricky to find if my wayward beasties kept up the Houdini act. Or worse, if the Institute caught them all and sent them away before I could gain their trust and get answers.
“Help me out, wherever you are,” I whispered to the orchard. “Help me to help you, or we might all end up in a box.”
Fifteen
Persie
I took refuge in Samuel Beckett after a fruitless day of pixie-searching and hunter-avoidance. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. Considering we were supposed to be on lockdown, there had been a few close calls with the black-suits, but Genie’s bag of tricks had gotten us out undetected. I owed her expert thief of a grandfather a huge debt. If I ever went to