Island of Legends (The Unwanteds) by Lisa McMann Read Free Book Online Page B

yelled, trying to clear the jungle from his mind. “Is the opening to Artimé secure?” She didn’t answer. He went to the door and shouted for her once more.
    After searching all around the palace for Secretary, to no avail, Aaron finally began barking orders at the guards to arrange to have the back hallway of the palace blocked off so no one could get in through the magical passageway that Mr. Today had once used. And as long as the old hag was actually taking care of the gate to Artimé, that left only the tube . . . and Aaron would take care of that himself.
    He looked around the palace, gathering tools, and made his way past the portcullis to Haluki’s house. Once inside, he entered the office and opened the closet. He peered at the tube, wondering how it was attached and how to dismantle it. It seemed to be freestanding. Aaron pushed against it, trying to tip it, but it didn’t budge.
    He wandered through Haluki’s house, looking for anything at all he could use to cover the opening in the glass. Some tin, perhaps. Or a blanket. But neither would be hard to break through.
    Aaron would have to destroy the button, he supposed, which would prevent someone from going into Artimé. But would that prevent someone from arriving here? Aaron didn’t know. It was a puzzling phenomenon to begin with, this magic.Still, he didn’t want Artiméans able to get into Quill to attack without him having the same advantage.
    He scratched his head. Maybe he was being hasty. Was it really a bad thing that he could stage a surprise attack on his brother, right in the heart of Alex’s own office? “Perhaps a lock on the closet doors,” Aaron murmured. He closed the double doors to the closet and looked at the knobs, trying to imagine a way to lock them so that anyone trying to come to Quill through the tube would be stuck inside the closet.
    He’d have to fashion something, he supposed. A tiny thrill ran up his spine as he thought about it—the design it would take. It reminded him of the excitement he’d felt when he’d designed the Favored Farm and when he’d thought he’d figured out how to solve the oil problem that the Quillitary was having with the vehicles using too much of their drinking water. It was like a different part of his brain woke up.
    Aaron searched the house again, coming up with a thin, rusty chain attached to a yoke, which had once supported water buckets. It would have to do for now. Anything to block off the strange tube. What if that creature in the jungle figured out how to use it? It wasn’t impossible that it could press a fewbuttons by accident and find its way into Quill.
    As Aaron wound the chain around the doorknobs, he frowned. That creature had had every chance to attack Aaron. But it didn’t. It was like it understood Aaron’s words. Did it—could it possibly—?
    “No,” Aaron said, almost embarrassed to think it. But why else? “Did it somehow sense that I am the high priest of Quill?” There in Haluki’s office, it sounded ridiculous. But so did a magical world called Artimé, yet that existed.
    Still he wondered. The thought of creatures from other realms obeying his commands was enough to get Aaron’s blood pumping. If he could command creatures like that, it would be so much easier to take over Artimé.
    As he worked the chain, his fingers slowed. Aaron bit his lip. It was daylight now. Perhaps . . .
    He stood there contemplating for a long moment. And then slowly, with trembling fingers, he worked the chain the other way until it slithered to the floor at his feet. The closet doors popped open, and once again, Aaron stepped inside.

Wrapping Up Loose Ends
    A fter making the rounds once more, checking on the injured and stopping for a meeting with Mr. Appleblossom about how to handle the new children from Warbler, Alex took the tube to the lounge. He waved to Fox and Kitten in the band, stopped to greet Earl, the lounge blackboard, and made his way over to the booth