Conceal, Mosaic Chronicles Book Six Read online

  Nicole was surprised—she figured Lizzie would have done anything to get off the boat. Maybe she was really creeped out by the island. Nicole definitely was.

  The man directed the boat away from the place where the other tours were landing. He pulled up alongside a tall stone wall with a ladder built into the side.

  “Great,” Nicole muttered. “Another ladder.”

  Austin took her hand and gently squeezed it. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Nicole sighed, then hoisted herself onto the ladder and started climbing. This one was only about twenty rungs high, though, and soon she could see the crumbling walls of the nearest building.

  She pulled herself the rest of the way up, staying low in case anyone was there, and waited until the others had also climbed. The boat drifted away and the man continued as if he were still giving a tour.

  “Where to from here?” Nicole asked Coolidge.

  He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. “According to the directory, Takashi’s old apartment was near the center of the island.”

  “Naturally,” Nicole said. Why couldn’t the apartment be in the nearest building? She was starting to feel weird about being there, and it had nothing to do with laws and rules governing the tours.

  Even though the sun was bright, the buildings had a dark feeling around them. The weathered stone was washed out in some places and dark in others, the glassless windows gaping. Planks and broken boards littered the ground around the edifices, and random industrial junk was everywhere—tubes, cracked concrete boxes, mossy chunks of cement. Some of the buildings looked like they’d been painted at one point, and that paint had mostly flaked off and fluttered to the tall grass that grew in clumps.

  “Does anyone else feel that?” Austin asked.

  Coolidge nodded, a grim expression on his face. “Aretes are here.”

  Nicole felt the blood drain from her face. “How many? Do you think they’re here for the talisman?”

  Coolidge shrugged. “Maybe. I can feel around twenty. We’ll have to be careful.”

  Nicole felt stupid for asking it, but needed to know. “I thought all Aretes were pretty much on the same side. Am I naive for thinking they would be willing to help?”

  Coolidge glanced at her. “It’s true that renegade Aretes are very rare. We usually stick together—something about there being so few of us. But I don’t expect that to happen here.”

  Following the instructions on Coolidge’s paper, they started forward, walking between the decaying buildings.

  They’d gone maybe forty paces before Nicole finally felt the pulses Coolidge and Austin had sensed earlier. She was frustrated that she still didn’t have as much reach as they did.

  The pulses all centered around one place—the middle of the island.

  “I’m going to guess they’re here for the talisman,” Nicole whispered.

  “But how?” Austin whispered back. “We’re the only ones who know where it is.”

  Nicole shrugged, noticing that Coolidge looked as mystified.

  After five more minutes of walking, they reached the building where Takashi had lived.

  “How far up?” Nicole asked, looking at the disintegrating edifice.

  “Eighth floor.”

  “It had to be.” The only staircase was falling apart so badly, Nicole wasn’t sure it would hold their weight. But she didn’t see any other options.

  “We should have brought Akeno,” she whispered to Jacob. “He could have shrunk us and put us on the right floor.”

  Jacob gave her a small smile. “I thought about that too, but we would’ve needed a Makalo up there to enlarge us. I don’t think we’d be able to find the talisman without being regular sized.”

  Going quietly on the staircase was impossible. The crumbling debris and falling rocks echoed loudly. Several times, Nicole or one of the others slid on loose gravel. And of course, the railing for the stairs had long since disappeared.

  They’d reached the sixth floor when Austin paused, looking at Coolidge. “They’re all Fire Aretes,” he said.

  Coolidge nodded. “I know. I wonder why.”

  “Maybe whoever sent them only trusts Fire.”

  Coolidge didn’t respond to Austin’s comment for a moment. Then he said, “Our plan is to continue on as normal. We don’t know that they’re a threat right now. Let’s not assume they are until we assess the situation.”

  Finally, they got to the eighth floor. Nicole started counting the different sources of magic. Coolidge was right—there were about twenty of them all in one place. Why? She’d only ever met two Fire Aretes, and had seen maybe thirty at Katon University. But what were they doing out here, away from a place where all hair colors congregated?

  Coolidge led them along a narrow hallway. They had to hug the left wall—the right one had completely disintegrated. Nicole didn’t want to look down. Eight stories felt impossibly high.

  They had just reached the apartment when they saw their first Fire Arete, a man with a shaggy beard and dirty clothes. His eyes were glazed over and he had a crazed look about him.

  “More Aretes?” he said, stumbling toward them. He barked a laugh. “Maybe you’ll have better luck.” He gave them a conspiratorial look and loudly whispered, “Stay away from them other Aretes—they’s not nice.”

  Nicole and the others looked at each other, then entered Takashi’s old apartment.

  The place was fairly bare, apart from debris from the ceiling and walls. Takashi had cleared it out effectively.

  “Watch out,” Jacob whispered. “They’ve seen us, and judging by their emotion colors, they’re not happy.”

  Even with his warning, the first attack caught Nicole off guard. A fire ball exploded in the front room of the apartment.

  Nicole jumped to the side, feeling her arm and face searing from the heat.

  “Take cover!” Coolidge shouted.

  She felt more magical pulses being gathered—she couldn’t tell if they were her group’s or the other Aretes. Instead of analyzing the situation, she dropped to her knees, hugging the wall again, looking for a place to protect her from the burning heat.

  Thank goodness there wasn’t any wood in the room.

  And too bad Fire Aretes didn’t need anything other than magic to create fire.

  Nicole gathered her own powers but didn’t know what to do with them. She couldn’t control water yet, and the last thing the apartment needed was more air. What could she do?

  Another fire ball blasted into the room—smaller than the first, but just as hot. It barreled toward Nicole. She scrambled backwards, trying to get out of the way, but there was nothing to hide behind.

  Suddenly, an opaque barrier, like a shield, sprang up between Nicole and the fire. She jumped up, looking around until she saw Jacob holding his hands in front of him, controlling the shield.

  “Thanks,” she called over the sound of the flames.

  Jacob didn’t respond and Nicole immediately understood why—he was controlling several shields.

  An idea suddenly popped into Nicole’s head.

  She didn’t need to increase the air—she’d decrease it.

  Yes, that would be dangerous for everyone, but if the Fire Aretes didn’t have oxygen, they wouldn’t be able to attack.

  Nicole’s magic was already there, waiting. She sent it into the room, telling it to pull the oxygen away from the Aretes who were attacking.

  It worked.

  The fires died and the Aretes fell unconscious.

  Nicole rushed to Austin’s side—he’d dropped to the floor, half his body covered in ugly blisters, most of his clothing burned away. He rolled over, groaning, his hands hovering over his arms where the most severe parts of his burns were.

  “Oh, no, oh, no,” Nicole muttered, wanting to gather him up and hold him, but knowing that would greatly increase his pain.

  Coolidge was in a worse state and unconscious from his injuries. Nicole and Jacob were the only ones who w
ere mostly uninjured.

  She looked at Jacob, wringing her hands. “What now?”

  He shook his head. He looked exhausted. “There are more Aretes coming—they must have scattered when the fireballs started going off. I can’t go on much longer.” He motioned to Austin and Coolidge. “We have to get them out.”

  “How?”

  He looked to the back of the apartment where the Aretes had come from. “Help me put a door together—I’ll key them to Akeno’s.”

  Nicole nodded. “But we can’t stay there—Lizzie and Juri are waiting, and finding them later will be nearly impossible.” Especially since they didn’t have phone service on the boat. “Even if you Time-Saw their location, that wouldn’t help us get on the boat.”

  “Good point.” Jacob was already lifting the door from where it had rested for many, many years. “Look around and see if you can find something to hold the hinges together.”

  Nicole found a ballpoint pen and took the ink chamber out of the casing. It wasn’t very sturdy, but it should last long enough. Jacob had found one of the original pins. They hung the door, putting the ink chamber and pin in the appropriate slots.

  Then Jacob closed it, reopening it as a link to what Nicole assumed was the Makalo village.

  Once the door was open, Nicole and Jacob lugged Coolidge through, Nicole at the man’s ankles and Jacob carrying his upper body.

  “Hurry,” Jacob huffed. “They’ll be here soon.”

  “And the other Aretes are waking,” Nicole said, carefully lowering Coolidge to the inside of the small dwelling. “I can feel their magical pulses getting stronger.”

  “They’re behind the door—we’ll worry about them later.” Jacob dashed and grabbed Austin under the armpits.

  Nicole joined him, shaking her head. “They’re Aretes. They’ll destroy the door.”

  Jacob blanched. “Good point.”

  They carried Austin toward the link, where their actions had caught the attention of several Makalos. Already, the creatures were rushing to help.

  As soon as Austin and Coolidge were safely in the Makalo village, Jacob and Nicole closed the link.

  “Back to the boat,” Jacob whispered.

  Nicole nodded.

  They sneaked out of the apartment as the Aretes behind them started waking and the Aretes below reached the eighth floor. They hid in the neighboring apartment until all the Aretes had rushed into Takashi’s place. Then they dashed out and scrambled down the stairs.

  They were nearly to the first floor when their escape was discovered. The Aretes shouted, searching for them. Nicole couldn’t help but wonder why—the talisman hadn’t even been touched.

  Nicole and Jacob raced the rest of the way down the stairs and flat-out ran through the buildings, trying not to trip over debris as they hurried back to where the boat had dropped them off.

  Without hesitating, Jacob jumped over the ledge and into the ocean.

  Nicole paused for a moment, then jumped too. Better to be safe, even though it didn’t seem like the Aretes had followed them.

  Ice-cold water immediately threatened to slam Nicole into the side of the stone wall. As it drew her near, she reached out and grabbed a rung of the ladder, then pulled herself up several rungs, gasping for breath.

  Jacob also grabbed hold, and Nicole climbed up a little higher so the teenager could get to the point where the water wasn’t constantly slamming into him.

  After only a couple of minutes, the boat came into view, and Nicole and Jacob motioned it over.

  Lizzie stared at them as they boarded, her eyes glazed over. She blinked multiple times until she was able to focus on Nicole and Jacob and asked where Coolidge and Austin were.

  Nicole shook her head. “Not good—back on Eklaron. We were attacked by Fire Aretes.”

  Lizzie gasped, her hand covering her mouth. “You’re serious. Wow. Are they going to be okay?”

  Jacob nodded, squeezing water from his shirt. “Yes.”

  “So you probably didn’t get . . .” Juri glanced at the boat driver, then continued in a whisper. “What you were looking for?”

  Jacob and Nicole shook their heads.

  Nicole turned to Lizzie. “How are you feeling?”

  Lizzie shrugged, her eyes going to the island, and the dazed expression crossed her face again. “Nauseated.”

  Nicole sat next to her. “From the water?”

  Lizzie looked at her friend. “I don’t know . . . I just feel . . . weird.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Lizzie blinked, her eyes clearing as the boat pulled farther away from the island. “I feel—and you’re going to say I’m crazy—but I feel something there tugging at me. It’s like it recognizes my magic and is asking me to come.”

  Nicole’s eyes widened. “We’ll talk about it later.” She sent a glance toward their boat driver, who probably could hear everything they were saying.

  Once they’d reached the harbor and left the driver—with Juri paying him the rest of the money—Jacob keyed them back to Juri’s apartment.

  She invited them to clean up while she put together a quick lunch for everyone. After some discussion and checking on Austin and Coolidge, Nicole and the others decided to stay in Japan and try to get the talisman again. With how much attention it was creating, they couldn’t afford to wait to steal it once Coolidge and Austin had healed.

  Nicole glanced at Jacob while they were eating. “Did the Fat Lady or Aldo mention the Aretes who would most likely be able to operate each talisman?”

  Jacob shook his head. “Not that I know of—I wasn’t there for all of the discussions, though. Why?”

  Nicole had Lizzie tell Jacob what was going on, then she asked, “What if the talismans were created for specific Aretes? I mean, what if this one is for Fire Aretes?”

  Jacob nodded. “It would explain why there are so many Aretes.”

  Nicole also nodded. “But what do we do with this information? Why is the talisman calling Fire Aretes? And why haven’t any of them taken it yet?”

  “I think . . . I think it wants me,” Lizzie said. She hesitated, glancing at Nicole. “That’s crazy, though.”

  Nicole shook her head. “After the elixir that only called to me, nothing is crazy, girl.” She paused to think. “Are you sure about those feelings? What if it’s calling all Fire Aretes, making them all feel special?”

  Lizzie shook her head. “I really don’t know. It’s worth a try, isn’t it? I feel like it’s begging me to come get it, protect it.”

  “I don’t want to offend you, Lizzie,” Jacob said, “but judging by how the others acted, I’d be willing to bet it’s doing the same to them—some of them looked completely crazy, trying to find the talisman. I wonder how long they’ve been hanging around it.”

  “I’d guess since Takashi died,” Nicole said. “Wouldn’t it make sense? Takashi has been dead for a few weeks, and that first Arete had at least that much growth of facial hair. So, the talisman probably started calling for a new owner as soon as its current one died.” She looked at Lizzie and then Jacob. “We really need to get it before anything more happens.” She turned to Juri. “Do you know anyone else who can get us back to the island?”

  Juri thought for a moment. “No, but I can probably find someone. It might take a while.”

  “That’s fine.” Nicole glanced at Jacob as they finished eating. “Let’s go check on Austin and Coolidge.”

  Their trip was quick—Akeno updated them on Coolidge and Austin’s status, happily reporting that they both would heal without a problem.

  Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks for keeping your eye on them. We’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  Nicole, Jacob, and Lizzie returned to Juri’s apartment and snoozed on her couch while they waited. It was super late in the evening when Juri finally found someone, and of course, this man charged a lot more than the first driver had.

  The water was incredibly choppy this time—even Nicole got nause
ated from the constant tugs and jerks of the craft. By the time they reached Hashima, they were all wet and cold. Nicole pulled her hoodie closer around her, wishing she’d worn something warmer and glad she’d left her phone at Juri’s place.

  The driver killed the motor and allowed the boat to drift to a new section of wall. Jacob and Juri grabbed the ladder rungs to help hold the boat in place, allowing Nicole and Lizzie to climb up first. Nicole was surprised when she looked back down and saw Juri following but realized the woman didn’t feel safe waiting with the driver. Nicole didn’t blame her.

  Once everyone was safely away from the edge of the wall, they turned to inspect the buildings of Hashima Island. Clouds mostly obscured the moon, and Nicole struggled to see anything in the resulting inkiness. They’d landed on a different part of the island, and there wasn’t any electricity that Nicole knew of. She had no idea where Takashi’s apartment was.

  Juri crept forward first. Nicole was fine with that—the woman had most likely been there before.

  They hadn’t gone far when Nicole sensed several magical pulses coming toward them.

  “Juri!” she and Jacob hissed at the same time—he must’ve seen the emotions approaching.

  The four backtracked, then rushed around a couple of corners and down an alleyway, trying to keep some separation between them and the Fire Aretes.

  Nicole took the lead now, jogging as quickly as she could. She ducked inside a building and crouched below a window, then turned to her friends. “They can sense our magical prints,” she whispered. “We’ll never get to the talisman if they know we’re coming.”

  Jacob nodded. “I can try shielding us—form a bubble.”

  “Would that keep them from detecting us?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure, but it’s worth trying, since it blocks physical attacks. Here, let’s test it.” He created a nearly translucent shield, then stepped next to Lizzie. Nicole could still see the two, but the air was hazy, and Lizzie’s magical pulse was dampened considerably.

  “Well?” Jacob whispered.

  “It doesn’t remove her print all the way, but it’s much better than nothing.”

  “We’ll need to stay as far away from the others as possible, then,” Jacob said. He expanded the bubble until it covered Nicole and Juri as well, then glanced at Nicole. “I’ll lead, if that’s all right—I can see all the emotions on the island.”