Guardians of the Boundary (The Conjurors Series Book 3) Read Free

finally had
enough hair on your upper lip to justify shaving,” Valerie teased him.
    “No one shaves on the Globe,
little human,” Cyrus said with mock offense. “The Glamour Guild is happy to
give you whatever facial hair you would like. I assure you that, if I wanted
to, I could have a full and manly beard. I probably will, once I find a woman
worthy of it.”
    Valerie laughed again, the
second time in one day. Some of her grief receded, and she let herself enjoy it.
The Horseshoe was crammed with picnic blankets and Conjurors of all shapes and
sizes. She spotted Kanti and Henry snuggled next to a family of bears.
    “Break it up,” Cyrus said
sternly. “This is a family-friendly event.”
    Kanti threw a pastry at Cyrus
without detaching her mouth from Henry’s.
    “Ah, young love,” Jack said,
joining the group with Dulcea.
    Now that Jack was out of Zunya’s
clutches, he was happier than she’d ever seen him. He tried to hold Dulcea’s
hand, without success.
    “Where’s Tan?” Valerie asked.
    “It’s good to be missed!” Tan
said, popping up behind her.
    “Where have you been all day?”
Dulcea asked. “I was planning on giving you a tour of the Society of Imaginary
Friends.”
    “Sorry, Dulcea,” Tan said. “This
Master in the Glamour Guild was talking my ear off. Trust me, I’d have rather
been with you.”
    Dulcea smiled back at Tan.
“We’re glad you’re here now.”
    “It’s good to have the gang
together for this,” Cyrus said as the fireworks began. “Now everyone shut up.”
    Cyrus’s words weren’t necessary.
The fireworks made the Fourth of July seem like child’s play. The Illuminators’
display lit up the entire sky like a giant movie screen. Sparkling images of
scenes from around the Globe were perfectly timed to the most ethereal music
Valerie had ever heard.
    The wild purple mountains of
Dunsinane melted into the turrets of an ice castle in Elsinore, which Valerie
was pretty sure was the home of Kanti’s parents and sisters. The sparkling
lights seamlessly morphed into the imposing skyscrapers of Messina, and then to
the deserts of Ephesus. The next display was an incredible light ballet of
scenes from Arden.
    But after that, the mood of the
show changed. Threatening images filled the night sky—ominous shadows, guild
buildings crumbling, and a gaping hole that seemed to suck up all the light.
    Everyone watching was utterly
silent as light was pulled slowly at first, and then faster and faster, into
the black hole, until the entire sky was dark.
    Cyrus reached over and held
Valerie’s hand.
    The sky exploded in a blaze of
light that was dazzling, lighting up the whole city as if it were the middle of
the day. And in the center of it all was the image of a girl with short hair
holding a sword up toward the sky, her head thrown back. She was powerful and
utterly beautiful.
    The girl looked familiar, and
Valerie gasped. The music reached a crescendo, and all of the light swirled
around the girl and then faded, falling to the ground like petals.
    “That image at the end—it was
mine,” Cyrus whispered to Valerie.
    She turned to him and saw his
blue eyes staring earnestly into her own. “Was that me? At the end?”
    “It’s how I saw you when you
saved us from all of the lightning thrown by the Fractus at the Black Castle.
You were a hero,” Cyrus said, sounding more serious than she’d ever heard him.
“That’s how I see you.”
    Before Valerie could respond,
Henry was slapping Cyrus on the back. “Way to go, man. You captured her
exactly.”
    “I gotta admit, that didn’t
suck,” Kanti agreed.
    “Beautiful, like Valerie,” Dulcea
added.
    Valerie stared at all of her
friends in surprise. “You all knew about this?”
    “Of course! Cy’s been working on
it for weeks. The Illuminators Guild let him have the honor of creating the
final image because of his power. I think they’re hoping he’ll switch guilds,”
Henry said.
    Dulcea produced some cups