hand. He pushed something on the gloves’ palms with his middle fingers, and the blades retracted. He tugged them off, tucked them into his belt, grabbed his helmet, and placed his hand on the other guy’s shoulder, saying something I couldn’t hear.
The pages of the books on the floor nearby fluttered. The East Indian guy’s hair swooshed angrily around his face. The two guys’ pants lashed at their legs, and the flaps of their vests slapped against thick leather belts. Their bodies spun together until they turned into a multi-colored tornado and vanished into the page.
I gasped and stumbled back, and Afton grabbed my hand tight. A quick breath cut through my lungs. Tremors ran up the length of my arm. I wasn’t sure if it was my hand shaking or hers. Or both.
“Where did they go?” Nick said, crowding close to us.
“They…they disappeared,” Afton squeaked.
“They went into the book.” I dropped Afton’s hand, leaning forward to get a better view of the scene below. And I knew what had happened. “Just like we did.”
“Is anyone hurt?” The guy from the Athenæum called up to us, his voice smooth and deep.
“I-I don’t think s-so,” Nick answered, a quake in his voice. He then looked to us. “You guys okay?”
I tightened my hands into fists and took several calming breaths, trying to stop my body from trembling. Other than the rug burns on my knees and the welts on the backs of my legs, I was alive. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Physically, maybe.
“It’s safe to come down,” the Asian girl shouted. “The stairs are behind you.”
We went down and then stepped out of the stairwell. The stench from the beast hit me, making me queasy. I swallowed the bile rising up in my throat.
Afton kept her grasp on Nick’s arm. “What was that thing?”
Athenæum guy’s stare was on me again. “Just a minute, you’re that girl in Boston—the one in the reading room?”
Wait. He remembers me? My heart jerked and then jackhammered against my chest. “Y-yes,” I stammered.
“We should make our introductions,” the Asian girl said. “I’m Lei, and the rude one is Arik.” She removed her helmet, releasing a long black braid that fell against her back.
“Did you say Eric?” Nick asked.
“No. It’s Ah-ric,” she said and holstered her katana in a sheath fastened to an emerald-encrusted belt around her waist. Nick and I had become obsessed with the swords after streaming all the Kill Bill videos on his laptop one Saturday. But seeing a real one was scary. It looked like it could cut someone’s head off with a single swing. Unlike the other four, Lei didn’t carry a shield.
“I guess that leaves me. I’m Demos,” said the sandy-haired guy. He wore a metal chest plate molded to resemble a muscled torso. A helmet with a red plume dangled from his right hand. His liquid blue eyes lingered on Afton.
“What the hell is going on here?” Nick said. “Is this some sort of joke? Is this for real?”
“I don’t understand your meaning,” Arik said. “What’s your name?”
“Nick.”
“Well, Nick, I assure you this is real.”
“Yeah, welcome to your new reality,” Demos said.
“I’m Gia, and this is Afton,” I blurted, taking her hand again. Her fingers were ice-cold and she shivered uncontrollably.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gia,” Lei said.
Arik attached his shield to his back with a belt strapped diagonally across his torso, and Demos did the same.
“Exactly what were you hoping to accomplish with the stapler?” Demos asked.
“I, uh, there wasn’t anything else,” I said.
“Well, I must say, you did look menacing with it.”
“Which one of you spoke the key?” asked Arik.
Nick quirked a brow. “The what?”
“Right. If you want to play it like that,” Lei said, “then tell us who sent you here.”
“That book in the library—”
Arik looked at me with those dark eyes. Their thick lashes distracted me and I froze again, unable to form words.
Seriously. Say something. He must think I’m in need of a brain transplant.
“What book?” Arik urged.
“Yes, that book, you know…the one you were reading. It…well, one minute we’re in Boston and the next we ended…we ended up here.” I had to sound like a stuttering idiot trying to catch my breath between words. I needed to get a grip on myself, but each time I looked at Arik all thoughts escaped me.
“How did you know the key?”
“What key?”
“The key is a phrase spoken in Italian,” Lei answered.
My stomach lurched at that. “Do you mean aprire la porta?”