Sinead knelt on the other side of me and closed her eyes, mumbling something that I suspected was faery talk. It almost sounded like a song. The pain vanished and my arms and legs stopped shaking. She examined my face. “Better?”
“Yes, so much better. Thank you.” I stood with her. “You can do that, but you can’t do charms?”
“Fey can’t conjure wizard charms.”
“Charms are my specialty.”
“You added to it,” Sinead said.
“How did you know?”
“I’ve heard it spoken before.”
“Oh. Well, not only did I lock the door, but I also made it so only Merl can open it. Professor Attwood taught me how to change up spells.”
“Good thinking.” Arik smiled. “Who’s this Sean?”
“Carrig’s changeling. I think their minds were weaved together or something.”
“That would explain how Sean knew things about Carrig,” he said. “A wizard must have done it, then compelled Sean. The wizard could then see and hear everything Sean did. Carrig was trained to resist this process. That must be why whoever it was used his changeling.”
“If their brains were weaved together, how come Sean didn’t recognize you, Sinead, or your glamour in front of Nana’s house?”
“Because glamour is a magic and a wizard can’t weave someone else’s memory of it to another brain.”
“Well, that’s scary,” I said. “Anyone could be a spy and we wouldn’t know it.”
“Not all the memories from the compelled transfer to the one compelling.” Arik’s eyes went to Sean. “If you pay attention, you can spot a slip up.”
“Let’s move. We have to get help.” Sinead headed toward the stairs.
I formed a globe and held it high, its light surrounding us.
“Thanks.” Sinead went through the trap door and skipped down the steps.
“No problem.” I peeked back at Sean. He gave me a nervous smile as he clambered down after us.
“What happened back there?” I asked Arik.
“Veronique ambushed us on our way to Merl. I’m not sure if she’s acting alone, but if she isn’t, it won’t fare well for Asile. Thank goodness, she didn’t see Faith escape down a hall. Our only hope is for Faith to alert Merl or Professor Attwood about Veronique’s attack before she can do whatever evil deed she’s planning.”
My thoughts flew to Nana. I prayed she’d be safe.
“We have to find the other Sentinels.” Arik said, then turned to Sean. “Where are you from?”
“Galway,” answered Sean.
“We’ll take you to the Trinity College Library in Dublin. It’s the best I can do.”
“Anywhere ’tis better than here,” Sean said tightly.
We reached the end of the tunnel and climbed to the top of the stairwell. Thankfully, the library closed on Sundays, or we would’ve had to wait all day. Above us was the entry into Duke Humfrey’s Library.
Arik pulled a lever, and a bookcase slid open. We stepped up into the library, and the case trembled back over the opening. “Sean, sit there.” Arik pointed to a reading chair and turned to me. “We have to find the book.”
Each gateway volume had the same Dewey Decimal number attached to it, so no matter what library a jumper was in it was easy to locate.
“Sei zero sette periodo zero due DOR,” I recited the numbered charm to find the book. A row shook on a shelf of a tall bookcase against the wall, and the gateway book slipped away from the rest and floated over to us.
Sinead caught it, placed it on the table, and opened to a random page. She brought her hand up to her mouth and blew an air kiss across her palm. Several shimmery silver butterflies took shape and batted their wings as they hovered in front of her face. She spoke to the incandescent creatures in a language that sounded ancient, and they fluttered into the book. Their bodies and graceful wings melted into the pages, leaving behind a shimmery glow that faded within seconds.
“Okay, I give. What do the butterflies do?”
“They’re tracers.” She pulled me away from the table. “They can summon whoever I want from within the libraries. I’ve told them to retrieve the other Sentinels. We should keep back or they might land on us when they come out.”
My stomach knotted in anticipation. After several minutes had passed and they hadn’t shown up, I tried to distract myself.
“Exactly what are the Silent People?”
“The Silent People is another name for the fey. We move silently, stealth-like. We have some magical powers, and we’re the gardeners of the changelings.”
“Changelings?” Sean stood. “Aren’t they supposed to be deformed creatures switched for normal children, and