Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (41 page)

"To the ends of the earth, first leveler," he responded playfully.

We ran upstairs, heading toward my room, where I rushed in to find Jessica, Brooklyn, Zora, and Rosalinda huddled by the window, looking out anxiously.

Jessica squealed before rushing over to me and hugging me tightly. "Gabi, I heard about Celeste. We’ve been so worried."

I hugged her back tightly. "She’s not doing great. I’m seriously worried."

Brooklyn and Zora rushed over too and gave me a big group hug. Rosalinda just stared out the window, looking on worriedly.

Justice leaned against the doorjamb, giving us a very bored look. "How touching. Group hugs," he sneered.

They looked at him with surprise, then at me accusingly.

I gave them a guilty look. "What? He’s here to help us."

Rosalinda’s eyes lit up as she fluffed her hair, smiling at him prettily. He in turn gave her a very frigid stare, instantly deflating her smile. Jessica looked at him warily. "Umm, help us with what?"

"We need to get to the
Eternals’
chamber and get the
Book of Eternals
. Grandma Celeste asked me to protect it." I looked at him quickly. "And we need Justice to help us get in."

Brooklyn balked, slamming her hands on her hips. "Are you seriously thinking of breaking in and stealing it?"

I looked at them guiltily.

They groaned in unison.

Rosalinda walked over quickly. "And he’s going to help us steal the book?"

He looked at us angrily. "Hold on a minute. I’m not stealing anything. I’m just going to get you into the chamber." He looked over at me crossly. "It’s up to you and your
Circle
entourage to steal it."

"But if we get caught, this is seriously going to get us kicked out," Zora replied anxiously.

Jessica twirled a strand of blonde hair around her finger nervously. "Is this really what Celeste wanted?"

I looked at them pleadingly. "Yes. Look, you know that I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it really wasn’t necessary. Come on, work with me."

Brooklyn gave me a toothy grin. "You’re lucky that we’re friends, because this is a suicide mission."

Zora twiddled with her glasses. "To say the least. I mean, the
Book of Eternals
must be guarded by tons of
Eternals
. How are we"—she gestured her arm widely—"going to get past them?"

"Well, we have him." Rosalinda pointed over to Justice, who shot her a very nasty glare. "Plus, they’re all out in the courtyard rioting. So, that’s our opening."

Justice sneered, causing Rosalinda to back up nervously. "You know what? You’re not as dumb as you look."

Rosalinda bristled. "How dare you?"

I whistled loudly. "Please, let’s focus. Justice will take us to the chamber, and we’ll find the book and take it to Grandma Celeste’s room. Veda will need it to find a spell to fix her, and then
poof
, she will be back to new."

They groaned in unison.

Justice slapped his head with disgust. "Seriously, you NCs are crazy. Look, we’re wasting time by standing around. And frankly, I’m getting bored with all of you. The sooner that I can get you into the chamber, the quicker I can be on my way. So, are you ready?"

I looked at them questioningly.

"Yes," they said in unison.

I smiled with relief. "Let’s go."

"About time," he spat before storming out of the room.

They scrambled after him. He took the same exit that Brooklyn had taken when they snuck out to the secret meeting, rushing down the stairs, then through the dense woods. They ended up walking through a stone archway that led to the other side of the castle.

Justice stopped at the huge, bold, ornately carved gold door, twisting the knob and pushing it open. I held my breath, anticipating fifty guards to come barreling out with swords in hand, ready to attack us.

He looked at me sharply. "Relax, the Warriors are at the courtyard trying to keep the peace."

I gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry, I’m just a bit jumpy."

We stepped in and followed him past the warm torches that flickered invitingly as our shoes squeaked against the shiny wood floors. I looked warily at the life-sized statues of Warriors holding huge jewel-encrusted swords at chest level, waiting for them to come alive and slaughter us for trespassing. I swore that the huge winged statues were watching us menacingly.

Justice looked around cautiously as we stood before the ominous solid gold door. "Okay, this is it." He pushed open the door. "The book is somewhere in there." He pointed inside to the lit torches that were giving the chamber an eerie, spooky Halloween glow.

Jessica looked at him worriedly. "How are we going to find it?"

"Uh, why don’t you try using your gifts? Jeez, if I have to help you first levelers figure out everything, you might as well turn around right now," he replied sarcastically.

I shot him an irritated glare. "Seriously, that was rude. We’ll take it from here. Let’s go, girls."

Turning around, I started to follow Jessica, Brooklyn, Zora, and Rosalinda inside the chamber, when Justice instantly reached out to grab my arm.

"Look, I’ll wait out here and guard the door. But, you don’t have too long, so hurry. The Guardians should be back shortly. Work fast, and be careful." He looked at me solemnly.

I searched his face quickly, seeing a brief flash of concern in his eyes. "Thank you, Justice. For everything." Without thinking, I reached up and touched his cheek.

Suddenly, he stepped back, clearing his throat noisily. "I’m doing this for Celeste. Not for you," he responded gruffly.

I gritted my teeth angrily. He was such a butt. Just when I thought there was a little humanity in him, he flipped back to being cold Justice.

"Whatever," I spat before sprinting into the chamber.

The chamber was just as inviting as the last time I was in there. But this time the vibe was definitely screaming that we shouldn’t be in here. So, we silently stood in the middle of the chamber, overwhelmed and awed, gawking at the unusual stained glass window with a huge gold phoenix with wings outstretched in the center of the mammoth gold and purple shell.

"It’s a phoenix," Zora said with wonder.

"There’s no time for sightseeing, Zora, sorry," I responded quickly.

Brooklyn looked around frantically. "Where do we start? The book could be anywhere."

I looked around the chamber quickly. "The only thing that could remotely help us, is the last thing Grandma Celeste said." She searched her mind quickly. "Something about being it being hidden in divine law."

Jessica looked at me with panicked blue eyes. "That’s not a lot of information, Gabi."

Zora looked around quickly. "Well, it’s got to be hidden in something really old and sacred to the
Eternals
. I suggest we start there."

We looked the dimly lit chamber and saw nothing that was remotely useful except the unlit vessel.

"Is there another room?" Rosalinda asked quickly.

Wait, there had to be another room from which the council came from the other night. I looked around, spotting two dark tunnels tucked in the back of the chamber, one on the left side, the other on the right.

"Okay, here’s the plan. Brooklyn, you keep watch in here. Zora, you come with me, and Rosalinda and Jessica, you take the left tunnel."

We ran into the right tunnel, looking around anxiously, and there was nothing on the walls that could be of any use.

Zora adjusted her glasses. "Well, it’s definitely not in here. Let’s see where the tunnel leads us. But I see light at the end of the tunnel. Literally."

We quickly ran to the end of the tunnel, ending up smack-dab in the middle of an enclosed, circular garden, in the middle of which was a huge water fountain. Something about it drew me over to the cascading water that gurgled at the feet of a towering bronzed statue of a beautiful young woman with gold balance scales suspended from her left hand and carrying a gold double-edged sword in her right hand. The woman was confidently dressed in a long, draping red dress with a cape drifting behind her as if it was being carried by the wind. Her gaze was piercing, with her face tilted upward as if looking at the stars transfixed.

"This is it, Gabi. The statue of Goddess Themis, goddess of divine justice," Zora whispered in awe.

I examined the statue quickly. "Okay, let’s not get too happy yet. We still have to figure out where they hid the book." I stepped into the fountain, with Zora following.

Zora looked down at the clear water with sparkling gold coins packed at the bottom. "Okay, so we rule out the base of the statue because it’s totally submerged in water, and that would completely ruin the book."

We both smiled as we looked at the gold balance scales suspended from her left hand. Zora gave me a questioning look.

"Do you think that they would be that obvious?" I asked quickly.

"Let’s hope that they are," Zora responded nervously.

We hopped up on the ledge of the fountain, examining the statue with frustration; we were quickly running out of time. Defeated, we sat on the edge of the fountain with our feet sloshing around in the water, just staring at the statue.

This is not happening. I am not going to let Grandma Celeste down
, I thought angrily. I frantically scanned the statue, looking for anything that was out of place.

"Did you know that most statues of Themis are depicted with her wearing a blindfold?" Zora stated matter-of-factly. I looked at her painfully, but she continued. "The blindfold is supposed to represent her belief in doling out just objectivity, something like blind justice."

I looked at her like she was crazy. "Seriously, is this information download going to take long, because we’re almost out of time."

Zora ignored me and continued. "Her scales symbolize how she measures the strength of a case for judgment, and her sword, the power of her reason and justice."

I was about to scream like a wounded animal, when something caught my eye. "It’s the scales." I looked at her excitedly.

Zora adjusted her glasses, which had slipped to the tip of her nose, pushing them up quickly. "The measurement of divine justice," she replied with awe.

I smiled widely. "It took you forever to get to the point. But you know what? It was worth the wait." I looked down at the gold coins at the bottom of the fountain, then back at the scales. "It’s measurement." I dipped my hands in the cold water, scooping up a couple of coins.

Handing her half of the coins, we climbed up on the ledge of the fountain, looking at each other apprehensively.

"Coins on the scale. When I put one on, you put one on the other side to keep it balanced," I said quickly. "Ready?"

Zora nodded her head nervously as she watched me drop a gold coin onto the scale. She placed one on the other side. Nothing happened.

"Okay, there are twelve members on the
Eternal
Council. They are the divine justice for the
Eternals
. That makes six on my side of the scale and six on your side. A balanced scale." I looked at her confidently.

Zora smiled at me. "How you come up with these things and you never crack a book is beyond me."

I smiled back. "Let’s do this." I gathered five gold coins and placed them on my side of the scale at the same time as Zora.

The fountain made a horrific rumbling sound. We watched in amazement as the gold sword rose slowly, until it was pointed toward the ceiling. It rumbled again. The statue slid open. We jumped down into the water, peering into the illuminated inner cavern of the statue with the
Book of Eternals
nestled on a small pedestal.

But this was a little too easy for my comfort. "Umm, I don’t know about this. It has to be a trick. I mean, it’s just too easy," I said nervously.

Zora looked at the book, then back at me. "I totally agree. It’s got to be a trap. There is no way I’m sticking my hand in there. Remember our last adventure, with the wall, where Jessica’s hand got caught?"

Time was running out, and I had to do something, and fast.
Here it goes.
I stuck my hand into the statue and yanked out the book. Big mistake. With the weight of the book missing from the pedestal, it shook and quivered. There was an eerie silence, and then everything happened as if in slow motion. A loud, piercing alarm echoed throughout the garden. The sword snapped down, and the statue creaked to a shaky close.

Zora looked at me nervously. "I knew it. The pedestal was pressure sensitive, triggering an alarm. We are so caught."

I looked around quickly, sticking the huge, heavy book under my arm. "Enough with the overanalyzing, Zora. Let’s just get out of here."

We jumped out of the fountain, dripping with water as we ran through the tunnel and into the chamber. The alarm was now practically blaring so loud that the chamber’s floor vibrated frighteningly. Justice ran into the chamber with stormy eyes. "You first levelers can’t do anything right. You triggered the alarm. Now they’ll be heading here in full force."