Alchemy of Secrets - 54

Holland was on the ground when she came back to herself. The tunnel was humid, sticky. She shoved up to her feet. Gabe was gone and so was her satchel. Bastard. He’d taken the last two pages she’d just found along with all her father’s other pages. But it seemed he’d left something else behind.

January’s backpack was on the ground, right by where Holland had collapsed. She quickly opened it. Everything was still inside, including the Professor’s journal.

Dimly, she wondered if returning this was Gabe’s twisted version of a moral code. But if he’d had any sort of moral code, he wouldn’t have pulled a gun on her and taken all her father’s clues, leaving her to die tonight.

Holland looked at her watch. It was 8:03. Just under four hours left. She needed to find Adam. Or did she?

You can’t trust him , Gabe had said. And though Holland knew she couldn’t trust Gabe, his words had planted a seed of doubt. A question that made her wonder if it wasn’t better to go this last part alone.

Gabe might have stolen all her pages, but Holland knew where her father’s last clue was telling her to go. She knew where to find the Alchemical Heart. And she wasn’t sure if she could afford to search for Adam.

“There you are!” Adam called.

Something like guilt clenched inside her.

Adam had one of those faces that didn’t look as if it worried often, but she could see worry all over his face as he jogged toward her. “Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine,” Holland said. “But he took off with all my father’s pages.”

“All of them?”

“It’s okay.”

Adam gave her a look that said he didn’t understand in what world any of this could be all right. And Holland continued to feel terrible that she’d trusted Gabe over him. Adam had never pulled a gun on her, or stolen from her, or kept it a secret that he’d murdered his wife.

Gabe was the only reason she’d briefly felt like she shouldn’t trust him. And yet, Holland also couldn’t let herself forget there were other reasons she needed to keep her distance from Adam. His ability still made her nervous. And once this business with the Alchemical Heart was over, Adam would go back to simply being January’s partner and Holland would return to a life that didn’t involve him.

“Gabe might have all the pages, but I know where we need to go.”

Then she started walking down the tunnel, following the glowing red signs for the exit. “There was one last screenplay page inside the jar. It had one final scene, a bowling alley with six pins that spelled out The End .”

“There are a lot of bowling alleys in Los Angeles,” said Adam.

“Yes, and hopefully that’s what Gabe is thinking. But I know which bowling alley my father meant. In his opening pages, right after he mentions the bowling alley, his description says Think Cassius Marcellus Coolidge meets Spanish colonial revival .”

“How did you remember that?” Adam looked at her as if she had suddenly turned into a dictionary or an encyclopedia or some other book people didn’t usually read for fun.

“Within the last few hours, I’ve read those pages about twenty times. I don’t know who Cassius Marcellus Coolidge is, but I know Spanish colonial revival.”

Adam looked impressed.

Holland didn’t tell him there was actually only one Spanish colonial revival building she was familiar with. “One of my favorite places in Los Angeles was built in this style, and it just so happens that it has a gaming parlor with a bowling alley.”

“Where?”

“The Hollywood Roosevelt.”

Adam’s face went suddenly pale.

“What’s wrong?”

Adam ran both hands through his hair and briefly closed his eyes. “That’s where my brother Mason is.”

Holland flashed back to the night before, when she’d had a vision of Mason on the mezzanine. That had been her second nosebleed. Suddenly, it felt even more significant. “How do you know he’ll be there tonight?”

“Because he’s always there,” Adam answered. “Mason can’t leave that hotel.”

“What do you mean he can’t leave?”

“When I tried to take away his abilities, I couldn’t quite do it. The best I could do was to trap him in that hotel and prevent him from using any magic.”

“If he can’t use his powers—”

“He’s still dangerous,” Adam cut in. “And if Mason sees you with me, he’ll try to hurt you.”

“Then we can split up.”

“No,” Adam said sharply. “I don’t want you out of my sight.”

Holland prickled, his tone and words both setting her on edge.

But was it really that, or was it the seed of distrust Gabe had planted? Adam was her ally. Gabe was her enemy—he’d lied to her, stolen from her, left her to die.

Finally, Holland and Adam reached the end of the tunnel. The last glowing red exit sign was positioned above an industrial-looking door, and Holland tried to shake off any lingering distrust of Adam as she walked through.

The door opened into a hall that looked as if it was part of the JME tour. On either side were displays of mannequins dressed in costumes from classic films and hit television shows, guarded by velvet ropes and decorated with little plaques explaining their significance.

Holland saw an entire setup for Knife and Cross , and then there was a dazzling display for Mirrorland . It was all silver and snow and twinkling lights, and in the center of it was the famous gown her mother had worn.

Holland stopped abruptly in front of it. “Before we go to the Roosevelt, there’s one more thing we need to do.”