help me make sense of it. I flipped the pages to the first chapter. Reading always helped me fall asleep, and this book looked boring enough to put me out fast.
The chapter was about how mystical beings once lived openly with humans, without concern for who witnessed their powers or their unusual exteriors. The number of humans grew rapidly until they surpassed the Mystik races. Some of the Mystiks turned evil, killing humans for food or for rituals. Out of fear, humans hunted and killed Mystiks—even the innocent ones—wiping out entire covens.
The Mystiks feared the differences between their races and refused to band together against the humans, so many of the weaker Mystiks sought help from the wizards. That’s when the wizards cloaked their havens and built cities nearby for the gentler Mystiks to live protected. The gateway books were created by the fey to make travel between the havens faster. To keep rogue Mystiks from traveling through the gateway books and killing humans, the wizards commissioned the fey to create a force of magical knights—the Sentinels. With the help of their new force, the Wizard Council took control of the gateways and libraries. And because of the Sentinels, only eight percent of the nearly hundred attacks on humans each year by Mystiks ended up in loss of life.
I stretched my hands over my head and yawned. “Still, that’s like eight deaths a year.”
The next chapter was about Laniars. Mostly, it was the same stuff Faith had told me the night before. Wait. Where was Faith? I glanced around the room. She should have been there protecting me already. By the bed, her bag lay on its side, books, magazines, and a variety of small things strewn across the area carpet. Amber liquid dripped from an open can of an energy drink tipped over on the nightstand.
I could have kicked myself for not realizing earlier she wasn’t in my room. If I didn’t learn to be more aware of my surroundings—and quickly—we could be in serious danger.
Chapter Thirteen
I barreled into Nana’s room. “Have you seen Faith? She told me she had to guard me at night.”
Nana—mummified in the covers of the bed with her hands barely poking out to hold the book she was reading—peeked over her reading glasses at me. “Perhaps Merl summoned her?” Nana reached over and picked up the beige handset to a landline on the bedside table.
“You have a phone?” I had tried my cell phone several times and couldn’t get reception.
“You can’t make calls outside of Asile with it. One moment, it’s ringing. Yes,” Nana answered whoever was on the other line. “Merl, please.” She placed her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. “When did you see her last?”
“We saw her just before dinner, remember?”
Someone on the other line answered. “Why hello, Merl, dear. I’m so sorry to bother at such a late hour, but Gia is concerned for Faith—” He must have said something to cut her off. “No, she isn’t here, and we haven’t seen her since before dinner.” She paused. “All right, we’ll see you in a few.”
After Nana hung up the phone, she slipped on her robe and rushed into the bathroom. I followed. She started brushing her hair.
“How can you worry about your hair at a time like this?”
“Well, Merl and I did go for a romantic walk after dinner, and I think he was pretty darned close to kissing me.”
Ew. Find a happy place. “Did you use a love spell on him?”
She twisted the bottom of a lipstick until a well-used red nub extended from the case, then swiped her finger across the red stick and patted the cream lightly onto her lips. “No, I didn’t use a love spell on him. I don’t use charms for my own benefit. I love the mess of life. I hate when things come too easy.”
“Hand me the brush. You have a rat’s nest on the back of your head.” I took the brush and smoothed out the knot in her hair. Afterward, I paced until someone knocked on the door.
Nana opened the door. Merl wasn’t alone. The Sentinels flanked him, wearing their battle gear.
“Has she returned?” Merl asked.
“No, but do come in,” Nana urged.
Merl shook his head. “I haven’t much time. Searchers and surveillance eyes are hunting the grounds for Faith as we speak. I gave her strict orders to stay with Gia and she’d never go against them.” Worry weighed on his face, deepening the hint of wrinkles at