“It’s weird that they haven’t yet.”
“I can only assume they want to stress me out as much as possible. They want me to suffer. Honestly, if they have the right resources, it could be anyone playing tricks with my mind. The clincher is how they’ve managed to bind my magic. That part worries me.”
Atlas nods, looking solemn.
“Can we try again? The magic.”
“Of course.” Atlas offers his hand. “I think I should tell you something.”
“Hmm?” I grip his fingers, my breath catching as I feel a surge of my own magic trickling through me. How is this possible? How is Atlas somehow the keeper of my magic, at least a bit of it? Certainly not enough to pull off anything big enoughfor a jail break, but it’ssomething. Even feeling this little tickle of my magic settles something inside me.
“I think I know how this is happening. The magic stuff between us.”
I meet his gaze. “Do tell.”
“Um, well, last time, when we were looking for you, we needed something that belonged to you, something that would help us overcome you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Go on.”
“So, um, we may have taken—well, Drax took and then gave to me… um… Don’t be mad.”
“Tell me, Atlas. What did he take?”
He swallows hard, a slight look of panic in his eyes as he scoots back from me. “One of your journals.”
My eyes go wide.
“And I’ve been reading it.” He averts his eyes, gazing down at his feet. “I didn’t mean to do anything with it, but it was almost like it was calling to me. I didn’t know how to return it to you, so I read it. Often. Even though it doesn’t make much sense to me, you know, being spells and notes like that, I couldn’t make myself stop.”
My mind is racing. He read one of my journals?
“I’m sorry, Rune. I figured since I’m not a magic user, I couldn’t really do any harm, and it was just so fascinating. A peek into a brilliant mind.”
“You read my journal?”
He nods, lifting his head to meet my eyes. “Yeah.”
“And because of that… some of my magic…” I stand as the meaning sinks in. I know the missing journal. I’d assumed I’d left it in one of my many homes around the globe, and that I would find it again when I needed it. The spell attached to it should have prevented anyone but my most trusted contacts from reading it, but Atlas managed it.
“I was gonna give it back if I ever saw you again.”
“You opened it and read the pages? You saw the words?”
“Yes. It still has your scent on it. That’s how we found the bar where you were taken.” He rubs the back of his neck.
“Huh.” I sit on the cot, trying to sort through my thoughts, but it’s like there’s a windstorm in my head.
“Are you angry?”
“No, but I am very confused. There’s a spell on my journal that should have prevented you from reading it. I know you said gargoyles aren’t affected by most magic, so it makes sense that you weren’t cursed when you touched it, but it’s mind boggling that you couldreadit. It just opened like a regular book?”
Atlas nods. “Yes.”
“And you said you could sense me through it?”
“I think that’s how.”
Well, isn’t that interesting?
