Journey Through the Mirrors (56 page)
Read Journey Through the Mirrors Online
Authors: T. R. Williams
“And what do you think he did to me?” Giovanni said, making himself at home by removing his coat and tossing it onto one of the two chairs in front of Simon’s desk. A row of seven gold buttons decorated his blue shirt. “Perhaps what you did to me over twelve years in the dungeons of Dugan was far worse than the wrongdoings of your father.”
Simon smiled. He walked to the front of his desk and sat against the edge. “I was a stupid teenager back then. Had I been older and wiser, I could have found better ways to make your life with us miserable.” Giovanni remained silent, and Simon continued, “My mother never let me have a dog or any other pet, so you were the next best thing. How did you escape, anyway? My father always blamed me for that.”
“You may not want to hear the answer to that question,” Giovanni said. “There were many people living at Château Dugan who despised your father but gladly accepted his money.”
Simon’s expression turned serious. “Tell me,” he demanded. “Was it Francisco, my parents’ driver? How about Cedric or maybe even Floriana? Did one of them set you free out of pity?”
“No.”
“Then who?” Simon’s voice rose.
Giovanni paused, savoring the moment. “Your mother,” he finally said. “It was your mother, Muriel.”
Simon clenched his fists. “My mother never went into the dungeons. She was too busy spending my father’s money and gallivanting around the world to have cared about what was happening at Dugan.”
“Muriel knew more than you thought,” Giovanni said, “and she was far wiser than you give her credit for. She came to the dungeons often after she caught wind of a visitor. She is the only reason I survived all those years and the reason I escaped. She told me about the well, and how it led to the dock in the lake, and how the lake could lead to my eventual freedom.”
Simon just looked at him. “I should have Kashta kill you where you stand.”
“Please, proceed,” Giovanni said, raising his arms in surrender. “After you have experienced what I’ve been through and invited death to arrive into your life as often as I have, all fear of it goes away.”
Simon held still a moment. “How did you find me?”
Giovanni lowered his arms and took his PCD out of his pocket. “Everyone always seems to forget the story of the Trojans and the Greeks. You should be wary of the things people give you.” Giovanni pointed it around the room. It started to beep. He walked over to the shelf where the silver box containing the
Chronicles
sat. Kashta took a step forward and placed his hand in his coat pocket to ready his weapon. Simon gestured for Kashta to wait. Giovanni pulled one of the books from the metal container and brought it back over to Simon’s desk. “This is one of the books you exchanged for Logan’s children, isn’t it?” Giovanni put his PCD away and started flipping through the pages. “I always loved this line.” His eyes moved as if to scan a passage. After he was done, he
peeled a thin clear piece of tape off the page and held it up for Simon to see. “This is my company’s newest invention; it is called Tracking Tape. If you look closely at it, you can see the transmission circuitry; we are working to make that less visible. Stick this tape on anything, and you can track it anywhere it goes.”
“That’s better than the Cheater Virus,” Kashta said.
“Yes, it is,” Giovanni agreed, setting the book down on the desk. Then he went over and took a seat in the chair where his coat lay. “Imagine my surprise when I realized the books had returned to my home country of Switzerland.”
“I still don’t know why you have come here,” Simon said. “Do you need me to invest in your corporation? Have you come to annoy me with stories of my mother? Perhaps you want to kill me or torture me, as I did you?”
“No, Simon. I want none of those things,” Giovanni said, shaking his head slowly. “I have come to join forces with you.”
About the Author
T. R. Williams divides his time between Seattle and Chicago. He is a scholar of ancient texts and loves to ponder the mysteries of life.
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Also by T.R. Williams
Journey into the Flame
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Satraya LLC
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First Atria Paperback edition December 2014
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, T. R. (Tyler Ronald)
Journey through the mirror / T. R. Williams. — First Atria Paperback edition.
pages cm. — (Rising world trilogy ; book 2)
1. End of the world—Fiction. 2. Survival—Fiction. 3. Rare books—Fiction. 4. Conspiracies—Fiction. 5. Quests (Expeditions)—Fiction. 6. Magic—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3623.I5646J685 2015
813’.6—dc23
2014023015
ISBN 978-1-4767-1341-0
ISBN 978-1-4767-1342-7 (ebook)
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