Conjured

Chapter Twenty-Five

Without looking at Zach or Aidan, I fetched a cloth and began to scrub at the chalk circles and symbols. Aidan caught my arm, the cotton in my elbow squishing under his grip. “That’s evidence,” he said.

I yanked my arm away. Bits of fiber flew in the air. “The boxes are evidence. The body parts are evidence. I am evidence. These are instructions for how to do what he did. No one sees this.”

Zach grabbed another cloth from the Storyteller’s bag of scraps and began to scrub beside me. His lips were pressed together into a thin line, and he scrubbed with such ferocity that he looked as though he wanted to wear through the floor as well.

“But you can’t—” Aidan began.

“You lied to me.”

Aidan winced. “I thought it would be the best way to win your trust. You’re remarkably unsusceptible to my manly charm, Green Eyes. And you already trusted the WitSec agents. I thought I had to trump that.”

“You could have told me the truth,” I said. Beside me, Zach obliterated another set of symbols. Nearly all traces of the ritual markings were gone.

“You didn’t like me,” Aidan said, as if this were inexplicable. “You wouldn’t have believed me. As you may or may not recall, when we did tell you the truth, you didn’t believe us.”

“Whoa, back up,” Zach said. “What truth?”

“The truth that she is special,” Aidan said, looking only at me. “And we value her. Regardless of how the trial turns out, she will be safe with us.”

“Who’s ‘us’?” Zach demanded. “Who are you?”

“He had a badge,” I said.

“What badge?” Zach asked. “Did I miss something? Obviously I did. I was stuck in a box. What did I miss?”

Aidan shrugged with fake modesty. “I persuaded a few people that I could be useful here. Namely, Lou and Malcolm. Lou seems to think he controls me, and Malcolm … well, he knows I want to keep you safe. Our interests align, at least in that respect. They loaned me the badge.” He bent to pick up the box with the Magician inside, but I scooped it off the floor faster. I clutched it to my chest.

“Notice how he’s avoiding the key question,” Zach said. “Let me say it very slowly. Who are you, and what do you want with Eve?”

“I want her help,” Aidan said simply. He faced me, his eyes earnest. “My home … my country … we’re at war. A nation on our northern border wants to topple our government, destroy our culture, and claim our resources. They’ve invaded twice, and we’ve fought them back twice. But thousands have died. And I believe—I know—we are losing.”

“So?” Zach said. “I mean, I’m sorry, I am, but what does that have to do with Eve?”

“Two years ago, I left school and enlisted,” Aidan said. “I used my power to help my country … but when word spread about a serial killer who was targeting the young and powerful, I was ordered to let WitSec hide me.”

Zach crossed his arms. “Okay, so you’re a war hero in hiding.”

Aidan ignored him and focused on me. “I was also ordered to recruit others with power to join our cause.”

“Victoria and Topher,” I guessed.

“Yes. And I was ordered to find a weapon—the killer’s power source. My superiors were certain that WitSec had it. And they were right.” Aidan flashed his brilliant smile at me. “I found you.”

I felt cold. “I don’t want to be a weapon.”

“Would you rather be dead?” Aidan asked. “After the trial, they’ll kill you. Or they’ll try. If you agree to work for my government and to help us win the war, then we will ensure that WitSec can’t hurt you.”

Zach put his arm around my cloth shoulders. As a doll, I was smaller than he was, and his arm draped down, enveloping me. “I don’t trust him,” he declared.

“He’s still so innocent,” Aidan marveled. “Tell me, Green Eyes: Who exactly would you trust? Can’t trust your maker.” He pointed at the Magician’s box. “You ran from WitSec, so I doubt you trust them. Face it, I am your only reasonable option. Come with me, and we will keep you safe in exchange for your cooperation.”

“And Zach?” I asked. “Will you keep him safe too?”

Aidan hesitated. “He belongs in his own world. He said it himself—you’re the special one, Evy.”

“You want to use me, like the Magician used me,” I said.

“It’s not the same! Our enemies are like the Magician. Unscrupulous. Evil. You’ll be able to save hundreds, potentially thousands, of lives—”

Zach snorted. “By being a weapon?”

“For a just cause!” Aidan said. “Yes, we will use your power against our enemy. Yes, some people—evil people—may die. I won’t lie to you. War isn’t pretty. But with your strength … we could win, end the war, stop the violence, save the day! Eve, you’d be a hero to millions. Please, Eve … consider it. And be ready when the moment comes.” He then fetched a cloth and wiped away the final symbols on the floor with a flourish, as if he were making a point.

I didn’t know what to think of that decision and the possible future he offered. But I knew I was done with the past. Holding the Magician’s box, I surveyed the wagon, my home and my prison. The candleflame in the lantern flickered, causing shadows to dance over the bottles, bones, and boxes. “I want to leave.”

“The marshals are outside,” Aidan said. “Ready to take you to the trial.”

“Outside? I thought that was a bluff! They’re really …”

Zach’s eyes bulged, and his face tinted pink. He looked as if he wanted to explode. He gulped in air like a fish. “And they didn’t help because … why? You were nearly killed! I was … And there was help outside?”

“As soon as I obtained proof that Eve was here and that this was the right magician, I was to pop out and signal for help. An impenetrable wagon was not part of the plan.”

“You had a crappy plan,” Zach said. “You could have been killed.”

“It was a risk I accepted,” Aidan said.

“I could have been killed!” Zach said. “She could have been killed!”

Aidan tilted his head and smiled his dazzling smile. “Seems to me your plan had flaws too, library boy. Yet you chose to come as well. You weren’t forced. In fact, I believe the agency tried enthusiastically to prevent you. And when Lou realized that he couldn’t stop you, he gave you the tool you’d need to succeed.” He nodded at the box. Aidan’s words made sense. Maybe he wasn’t lying anymore.

The box in my hands felt like a weight. “I want this to be over,” I said.

“Then let’s end it, Green Eyes.” Aidan held out his hand to me. I ignored his hand and instead took Zach’s. His fingers closed tightly around my cloth fingers. Aidan lowered his hand, and I thought I saw his expression twist … but no, the smile was plastered on his face again. “You really do have green eyes. Don’t you want to change back to human before we go out there?”

“This is who I am. What I am. Anything else is a lie, and I’m done with lies.”

Zach and I walked to the door. He released my hand so I could unlock it. I cradled the Magician’s box under my arm. As I ran my fingers over the swirls in the wood, I heard the familiar click, click-click-click. The door swung open, and weak sunlight filtered inside. I looked back once more—the bottles caught the sunlight and cast colored shadows across the boxes, skulls, and feathers. I held the box containing the Magician tighter, and then the three of us stepped outside.

Guns were trained on us. On either side of me, Aidan and Zach raised their hands as if in surrender. I didn’t. I was holding the box tightly in my cloth hands, clutched to my chest. The guns were held by agents in flak jackets—Malcolm, Lou, Aunt Nicki, and dozens of others that I didn’t recognize. Behind them, in a semicircle, I saw the acrobats and contortionists and animal trainers from the carnival. Squeezed between them, a kid ate a caramel apple, as if this were just another part of the show.

I must have looked strange to them, even compared to the circus performers. A living doll. I wondered what they thought, if they even knew who or what I was. Holding up the box with the Magician, I said, “He’s here.”

Malcolm lowered his gun.

He walked forward. His eyes were fixed on the box. He doesn’t recognize me, I thought, and I was surprised at how much that thought hurt. Approaching me, he held out his hands. My grip on the box tightened, and the fabric of my fingers strained. I didn’t know what the agency planned to do with him—or what I wanted them to do with him. One twist, the Magician had said, and you could crush a box in one hand. One twist, and he would never hurt anyone ever again. As if this thought were visible in my eyes, Malcolm stopped. He didn’t touch the box. He looked down at me. As a doll, I was much shorter than he was. “Eve.”

He knew me! Even like this …

“He’ll stand trial,” Malcolm said quietly. “He will be held accountable for what he has done. Your testimony will make it possible.”

“Did you let me escape?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“Because you needed more evidence? Because you needed me to stop him? Because you couldn’t find him without me?”

“Yes,” he said again.

“I could have died.”

He nodded.

“Zach could have died. Aidan almost did.”

He looked down at his feet.

“You were supposed to keep me safe,” I said. “And Aidan too. You were supposed to keep everyone safe. It’s your job. It’s who you are, who your past made you.”

Malcolm half smiled. It was a sad smile. “I can’t keep you safe from yourself. It’s true we let you escape, but stopping you would have required deadly force. Lou … tried to salvage the situation.”

“How did you find me?”

“Pieced together clues from our notes about your visions, plus you and the boy were spotted several times by our contacts as you passed through their worlds. But finding the carnival took longer than we wanted. There are many worlds.” He looked up at me, met my green marble eyes. “I wanted to keep you safe, if that counts for anything.”

I didn’t know if it did or not, but I handed him the box.

“Thank you,” he said. “We will talk more back at the agency. I am … glad you’re alive.” He looked as if he wanted to say more, but he didn’t.

I watched him carry the box to a steel briefcase. It was lined with foam inside, cut to fit the box. They were prepared for this, I thought. I was a pawn who had been moved across the chessboard. Malcolm’s strong hands were trembling as he laid the box inside. He closed the lid. The snap of the clasps echoed in my ears.

“Now what happens?” Zach asked softly in my ear.

I shook my head. I didn’t know.

Behind us, other agents swept into and over the wagon. It was photographed, and then the items inside were carefully collected, each sealed into its own plastic bag or jar and labeled. Yellow tape was stretched around the site, and the carnival workers and patrons were pushed back behind the tape. Outside the tape, the agents began to interview the contortionists and the acrobats and others. A few tried to drift away but were corralled back for their turn. I saw several of them point to me as they were interrogated.

Aidan joined a cluster of agents around a computer—they’d set up a makeshift workstation under a white tent, a command center. Lou took Malcolm aside and spoke in low tones that I couldn’t hear. When Lou finished, Malcolm nodded and looked over at Aidan as if something had been decided. For the first time, I couldn’t read Malcolm’s expression. I gripped Zach’s hand with my cloth fingers. His hand felt damp with sweat that seeped into the fabric of my palm.

Lou strode toward us. “Zachary, our medics would like to check you out.” He nodded to a woman in a doctor’s uniform. She beckoned three assistants to join her. “Afterward, we’d like to ask you some questions.”

“He stays with me,” I said.

The doctor spoke calmly, as if I were a wild horse that needed soothing. “He’s been hurt. He may have internal bleeding. We need to be certain that his injuries are superficial.”

I hadn’t thought about his injuries. Of course they should check him. “You’ll bring him back to me?”

“You should check her too,” Zach said at the same time.

The doctor looked at Lou and then at me—my cloth skin, my marble eyes, my thread mouth. Carefully, she said to Zach, “She doesn’t need human medicine.”

“Don’t change,” Lou said quickly to me. “You as a doll will be more effective at the trial. No one will doubt your story with you as living evidence.”

“She isn’t just a doll,” Zach said.

“Of course,” Lou said.

“She’s become more.”

“So Agent Harrington has said, time and time again.”

Zach turned to me. “Who you were … who you became … You were wrong before, when you said it was a lie. You have changed, in all the ways that matter.”

I didn’t know if I believed him, but I smiled as if I did. He loosened his grip on my hand, and the doctor and her assistants efficiently separated us. Zach was escorted away from me. The instant he wasn’t touching me, I felt panic rise up into my throat. I pushed forward, and Lou held out his arm, blocking me.

“I won’t cooperate if he’s not safe,” I said quietly, low so that Zach wouldn’t hear. “You want my testimony, then that’s my price. Don’t harm him. Don’t detain him. Don’t … do anything to him he doesn’t want. In fact, help him. Set him up with whatever life he wants, with or without his family, in whatever world he wants. And I’ll say whatever you need me to say.”

“She means it,” Aunt Nicki said behind me.

I turned to look at her. Her gaze slid away from me, as if she didn’t want to look at my doll face. She watched Malcolm lock the briefcase. Aidan was beside him, double-checking and triple-checking the locks.

“She has succeeded beyond our wildest expectations. You have to admit that,” Aunt Nicki said, her eyes still on Malcolm. “Malcolm was right.”

Lou grunted. “Suppose I’ll have to give him a promotion.”

“He deserves a damn medal,” Aunt Nicki said. To me, she said, “Malcolm was the one who first discovered you, you know, after you escaped the carnival. You were careening between worlds. He insisted you had the potential to grow, to coalesce into a coherent being, even though you were”—she gestured at my cloth body—“like this. The rest of us thought he was crazy.”

Malcolm lifted the steel briefcase. He was flanked by multiple agents.

“He badgered Lou into pulling in magic-wielding doctors from multiple worlds—specialists to build your body.” Frowning again at me, Aunt Nicki clarified, “Your human body. At the time, you couldn’t control your magic well enough to do it yourself, even if you’d understood what we wanted you to do.”

“Those doctors are ridiculously proud of you,” Lou said. “They babble on about papers that they’ll write based on you. You made a number of careers.”

“At Malcolm’s insistence, we set you up,” Aunt Nicki continued. “Gave you a home. A job.”

“At my insistence, we recruited Aidan, Victoria, and Topher to befriend you—they were our three strongest, the ones best suited to challenge you and the ones best able to defend themselves against you, if need be,” Lou said. “Working with them, we threw as much stimulation at you as we could.”

“Malcolm believed the memories and instincts were buried in there, inside you,” Aunt Nicki said. “We simply needed to help you become someone who could access them. And we succeeded!”

“Yes.” Lou contemplated me as if I were a sculpture he’d carved. “Yes, we did. We’re all proud of you.” From Lou, this was an extraordinary statement. I stared at him with my marble eyes. Maybe … maybe I had misjudged him.

The agents parted, creating a path through the crowd, and Malcolm marched toward one of the silver mirrors, carrying the briefcase. He looked back once, directly at me, and raised his hand in a wave. Aidan vanished from his side as Malcolm melted into the mirror—I wasn’t certain if Aidan had gone through the mirror or not. I felt a breath of wind on the back of my neck.

“You have done well.” Lou smiled, an unnatural expression on his face. I hadn’t thought his mouth could form any shape but a scowl. I remembered I’d seen him smile exactly once, when he’d handed me the magic box. He put his hand on my shoulder, as if to be friendly. “Our apologies,” Lou said. “But we can’t risk losing you now.”

I looked behind me to see Aidan holding an open box, the one that had once held the Storyteller. “See you at the trial, Green Eyes,” Aidan said. Lou shoved me toward him, and Aidan touched me with the box.

I was trapped inside.