the book. “It’s easier if you jump up the instant the book tugs at you. So when you feel the suction, just hop in with me. Got it?”
Afton tried to pull away from him. “No. Are you freaking crazy?”
“Ah, come on, you can trust me.” He clutched her waist and gave Nick a smirk as he did. “Aprire la porta.”
Afton shrieked as the book sucked them in. They vanished in a wake of flipping pages, just like the others who’d disappeared earlier. It creeped me out that I was beginning to understand what they were doing. I bet my mother had known about this, too.
Nick crossed his arms. “I’m not going through that again.”
“It’s your only way home.” Arik clapped Nick’s back. “That is, unless you’d prefer to purchase an airline ticket.”
“It can be tough when you’re a beginner, love,” Lei said. “Just remember, we jump when we feel the pull. Concentrate on keeping your legs down and you’ll land on your feet, not your face.”
Arik snickered. “Or your arse.”
Nick untangled his arms. “We’re so screwed. We probably tripped an alarm or got caught on security cameras.”
“The instant someone enters a library by way of the gateway books, magic immobilizes all alarms and cameras,” Arik said.
“Okay, let’s go before we’re hound snacks,” Lei said to Nick.
“Will you just stop saying stuff like that already?” Nick raked his fingers through his hair.
“Sorry, ducky,” she said and stepped over to the book. “You ready?”
He stared at her for several seconds before joining her. “Let’s do this.”
Nick was so anxious to leave after Lei spoke the charm that he almost jumped into the book by himself. Lei snatched the back of his shirt and fell in with him.
Arik shot me a crooked smile. “Are you ready?”
I caught my breath. “I guess so.”
He thumbed the pages until he found the right one, grabbed my hand, and recited the charm. When a pressure tugged at me, I jumped up with him. A powerful burst of wind lifted us above the book and then dropped us feet first. My foot kicked the book, turning the page before we entered the gateway.
Arik cursed.
Chapter Four
Arik clutched my hand as we plummeted through the inky void. Chilly air rushed across my body and my teeth clattered. He raised his hand and said a word I couldn’t hear over the wind’s howl. A ball of light sprouted from his palm and lit up my frosty breaths. There was nothing else to see within the gateway—no walls, ceilings, or floors—only his light searching the blackness.
I struggled to keep my skirt from flying up in the turbulence. I didn’t want him to see my underwear. We slowed, and my legs went level with my body. I thrashed around, trying to get my feet underneath me. Arik made it look easy, like skiing on air. In contrast, I mimicked a novice on the bunny hill, frantically struggling to stay upright.
We shot out of a book cabinet, knocking open its doors and spilling books. I landed on my feet, barely, and stumbled into Arik’s rock-hard arms.
“You all right?”
His amused gaze touched my face and my stomach belly-flopped. I swiftly pulled away from him to hide my flushing cheeks. “Yeah, I’m good, thanks.”
Arik glanced around, a concerned look igniting on his face. “Bugger,” he snapped under his breath.
A smell like antiquated, dusty books mixed with pine cleaner lingered in the air. It was warm and my fingers tingled as they thawed. We were in a large room. Every single wall, pillar, and arch had murals of saints and bible scenes painted on it. Gold trimmed everything. I’d seen this room before when I was younger. Father Mortimer had shown us pictures of it at Sunday school. The Vatican?
The tapping sound of booted feet came from a hallway on the right. A girl and five guys, all about my age and dressed in what I assumed was Sentinel gear, entered the room.
Arik brought his mouth close to my ear. His warm breath brushed my neck, sending chills across my skin. “Follow my lead. They can’t know you’re human.”
“Okay.” I was about to lie in the Vatican. And I was pretty sure committing even a minor sin in this place would put me on the damnation list.
“Well, well, Arik, we weren’t aware you were to pay us a visit,” a guy with a large nose and dark curly hair said. He broke from the others and crossed to us, his boots click-clacking against the black-and-white checkered floor.