The Society of Imaginary Friends (Book 1 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 37

For one thrilling moment, Valerie hurtled down, down into the well in a complete free fall. Remembering what Kanti had said, Valerie forced herself to turn her thoughts toward ice, snow, anything cold. A strange sensation seized her entire frame. For a split second, warm bubbles tickled her and a sweet taste filled her mouth.

As she fell, the sight of stone and dirt vanished and Valerie's vision went blank. She was hovering alone in the middle of nothingness, suspended in time and space. She didn't know if she was frozen there for a second or a millennium, but suddenly time sped up, and a cold blast of air hit her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. Bright blue sky blinded her, and she fell several feet to the ground, tumbling into a tangled heap with Kanti.

"Yes! It worked!" Kanti exclaimed.

"What worked?" Valerie asked, rubbing a sore spot on her knee.

"We're in Elsinore, in the woods right behind my house. We can hide out there while we try to figure out what to do next."

"It's freezing here!"

"Don't worry, we'll be inside soon," Kanti said.

"I hope Cyrus and the others are okay. Do you think the plan worked and those transparent guys jumped in after us?" Valerie asked anxiously. Had she made the right choice by running? Her place was by Gideon's side, fighting like a warrior.

Suddenly, the sky flashed above their heads, and one of the transparent Conjurors who had attacked them in Messina fell from midair and landed in a pile of snow that had fallen from a nearby tree. Instinctively, Valerie leapt into one of the defensive stances that Gideon had taught her, positioning herself between Kanti and their enemy and curling her hands into fists.

The breakable rolled over in the snow, groaning. Valerie tensed, ready to fight, but he yelled, "Wait, please, don't hurt me! I don't want to fight."

"Yeah, right!" Kanti said, almost shouting.

"Why should we trust you? You ambushed us!" Valerie added.

"I didn't have a choice! Zunya's punishment for disobedience is worse than death," he said, shuddering. "He ordered us to capture you, and I had no other choice than to obey."

Valerie straightened from her crouch but didn't let her fists relax. Her mind raced. "What happened to the others?"

"I don't know—Zunya told us to jump in the well after you, so I did. I think the others followed me, but I jumped in first, so I can't be sure."

"If you are so against Zunya, why did you join him in the first place? Who are you?" Valerie asked.

"And why shouldn't Valerie kick your butt right now?" Kanti added.

"I'm Blake. I wish I never got into this whole mess. I wanted a power so badly, and Zunya said that he could take me to someone who could give me one. In return, I'd work for him for a while. It was cool at first—I was given the power of invisibility. No one could track my magic and no one could see me. I thought I'd be the perfect spy and become really famous."

"Wait a sec, wonder boy," Kanti interrupted. "Magic always leaves a trail, and we had experts following us 24/7. So cut the crap."

"Oh yeah? Well I guess you're not as smart as you thought you were because my friends and I followed you all the way from Arden to Messina, and you had no idea we were there—even those wolf trackers didn't have a clue!" Blake grinned triumphantly until Kanti gripped his shoulder tightly. He shrank away from her touch.

Valerie ignored his comment, lost in her own thoughts. It seemed like his power defied the laws of magic, and even Azra and Gideon hadn't known about this. Would she ever be safe, since someone like Blake could slip past any defense and ambush her when she least expected it? Even the most skilled guardians on the Globe hadn't been able to stop them.