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Gideon was watching me with a serious expression on his face. “Gwyneth?”
“Hm?” I lowered the hairbrush and returned his gaze as calmly as I could. Oh, my God—he looked so incredibly good, and a part of me was trying to turn back into blancmange again.
“Do you…?”
I waited. “What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
The familiar dizzy feeling was spreading through me. “I think we’re off,” I said.
“Hold tight to your bag. Whatever happens, you mustn’t let go of it. And come this way a bit, or you’ll land on the table.”
Even as I was moving toward him, everything blurred in front of my eyes. Only fractions of a second later, I made a soft landing on my feet, right in front of the wide-eyed Mr. Marley. The gargoyle was looking over his shoulder, grinning.
“At last,” said Xemerius. “I’ve had to listen to Ginger here talking to himself for the last fifteen minutes.”
“Are you all right, Miss Shepherd?” asked Mr. Marley, taking a step back.
“She’s fine,” said Gideon, who had landed behind me and was now looking me up and down. When I smiled at him he quickly moved aside.
Mr. Marley cleared his throat. “I’m to tell you you’re expected in the Dragon Hall, sir. The Inner Cir—Number Seven has arrived and wants to see you. If you’ll allow me, I’ll take Miss Shepherd to her car.”
“Miss Shepherd doesn’t have a car,” said Xemerius. “She doesn’t even have a driving license, dimwit.”
“No need, I’ll take her upstairs with me.” Gideon picked up the black blindfold.
“Do I really have to wear that thing?”
“Yes, you do.” Gideon tied the scarf together behind my head. As he did so, he caught a couple of my hairs in the knot, and it tweaked them, but I wasn’t going to squeal, so I just bit my lip. “If you don’t know where the chronograph is kept, then you can’t give the secret away, and we won’t find anyone lying in wait for us here when we land in this room some other time.”
“But this cellar belongs to the Guardians, and the ways in and out are always guarded,” I said.
“First, there are more passages in this vault than alleys running past the buildings in the Temple, and second, we can never rule out the possibility that someone in our own ranks might be interested in a surprise meeting.”
“Trust no one. Not even your own feelings,” I murmured. They were all so suspicious here.
Gideon put a hand on my waist and propelled me forward. “Exactly.”
I heard Mr. Marley say good night, and then the door latched behind us. We walked along side by side in silence. There were a lot of things I’d have liked to say, but I didn’t know where to begin.
“My instinct tells me you two have been at it again,” remarked Xemerius. “My instinct and my sharp eyes.”
“Nonsense,” I said, and Xemerius burst into a cackle of laughter.
“You take my word for it, I’ve been on this earth since the eleventh century, and I know what a girl looks like when she’s just been rolling in a stack of hay.”
“Hay?” I repeated indignantly.
“Are you talking to me?” asked Gideon.
“Who else?” I said. “I was going to say hey, I’m ravenous—I could eat a horse. What’s the time?”
“Nearly seven thirty.” Gideon suddenly let go of me. A whole series of electronic beeps could be heard. Then my shoulder rammed into the wall.
“What’s the idea?”
Xemerius cackled with laughter again. “That’s what I call a real gentleman.”
