dazed on the floor. I hurried over and knelt in front of him.
“Are you hurt?”
“Just got the wind knocked out of me,” he said, struggling to his feet.
I grabbed his arm and helped him up. Once he was steady, I rushed over to Lei, who still cradled Kale in her arms.
“I’m sorry—” My voice cracked. “It was an accident.”
“Get out of here. Leave us alone!” Tears dropped from her cheeks and landed on Kale’s laboring chest.
I took a step toward her. “Lei, I’m—”
“Just go away,” she said, almost inaudibly.
I couldn’t move.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Arik hurried to Lei’s side. “Is he breathing?”
Demos and Jaran joined them.
Lei just rocked Kale without answering.
“Lei,” he said more forcefully, “is he breathing?”
Sinead approached from behind Arik and gently grasped Lei’s shoulder. “Let me see him.”
Lei nodded and stood. Arik wrapped his arms around her and guided her a few steps away from Kale.
Lei glared at me. “It’s your fault. What did you do to him?”
“I–I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I was aiming for—he stepped in the way.”
“Give her time,” Bastien whispered, taking my elbow and leading me across the room to a chair.
It’s my fault. He’s going to die, and it’s my fault.
I plopped down on the chair, feeling weak and queasy but not as bad as when I first used my battle globes. The side effects were lessening. While Sinead worked on Kale, I held my breath, hoping I hadn’t killed him. When his leg moved, I exhaled. He groaned, and I let out a sigh. Once Sinead eased him into a sitting position, I sobbed into my shaky hand.
Lei flew to Kale, snaring him in her arms. She didn’t seem to care who witnessed her kiss him. “Is he going to be okay?”
Sinead nodded and then gave me a sympathetic smile.
The Sentinels surrounded Lei and Kale. I felt like an outsider. Actually, I felt like an epic idiot for throwing my globe without knowing what it would do. It disabled Kale’s globe, leaving him vulnerable. He could’ve died, and it would’ve been my fault.
Bastien gently touched my arm. “Don’t worry. It was an accident. Things like this are unavoidable during battles. It can’t be helped.”
I caught Arik staring at us, and he diverted his eyes, barking orders to his Sentinels.
“I must get to Couve,” Bastien said. “To my father.”
“I’m so sorry, Bastien.”
He grabbed my hand. “Follow me.”
With a sigh, I staggered alongside him into the hallway, too exhausted to think, to do anything besides follow along. The battered French Sentinels labored out behind us.
I rolled my neck to relieve the tension. Beautiful paintings stretched across the ceiling. Set in elaborate gold-trimmed frames, they depicted Roman women in everyday life. One was dressed like a warrior.
I dropped Bastien’s hand. “The woman on the ceiling. I know this.”
He ignored me, shuffling over to the Sentinels, a stunned expression still on his face.
“Know what?” Arik asked from behind me with Sinead trailing him.
I flinched. “Crap, you startled me.” I glanced back up. “The mural. It’s a clue to finding one of those keys—”
“Hold on,” Sinead said. “We must keep this secret. Bastien, can you put up a shield to hide our location and to keep this conversation private?”
Bastien nodded, then chanted something with his arms outstretched. A wave of light shot out from him and spread across the ceiling.
Sinead returned her gaze to me. “Now what’s this about a clue?”
“In my great-grandfather’s book, there’s a poem written in it,” I said. “I think Gian put it there for one of his heirs to find. By what Conemar said to me, I believe it’s a chart with clues to finding the Chiavi. It describes that woman in it.”
“A perfect place to hide the chart,” said Arik, “since Gian’s edition has been out of print for eighty years. I can’t imagine why no one else came across it.”
“It’s charmed. Apparently only the Doomsday Child can see it.”
I studied the fresco on the ceiling, trying to remember the poem. Commotion distracted me. Demos and Lei shuffled in, aiding Kale behind her. The jagged cuts on their faces and arms trickled blood, and their clothes were rumpled and torn. Demos helped Lei lower Kale to the floor.
Bastien crossed the hall to us—his face grim and his eyes red. “I must get to my Haven. If your band isn’t able to continue with us, then stay.”
“Let us recover a moment, and we’ll accompany you to Couve,” Arik offered.
Demos hopped up from his position on the floor beside Kale. “We have to go now. What