by T J Kelly
“Yeah, I shy away from them myself,” Harris answered. “Seth was more open to it, but we once had to use a vendor in a park for help, and he ended up getting burned pretty bad. It's sick to do that to somebody so helpless compared to us.”
I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. Apparently, I had untwisted my braids for comfort while I slept. It was probably sticking out everywhere.
The guys were talking about contacts, people who could help us while we were out on missions. There was a lot of debate in the upper class about whether we should use mundanes. They were fully aware of what we did. Although they couldn’t get away from us fast enough when we used spells in front of them. Plus, magicians usually took over everything since we had such an advantage over mundanes.
A few of our Elders suggested pulling back to keep from overwhelming them with our powers. But in the end, the Council decided we had just as much a right to success based on our talents as they did, even if our talent was magic. Magicians had all the advantages and had been in charge of every great civilization all the way back to the Egyptians, and before, although that time was shrouded in mystery.
My parents were in a society that pushed for mundane rights. Once the three-year-long holding pattern ended at Rector Enterprises and all my contracts expired, I was going to renegotiate them to ensure my parents and their contribution would be remembered. Charity and good works were the Rector Family’s penance for having so much darkness within. It was such a part of who we were, our altruism was almost a blood oath.
“I’ve had little contact with mundanes,” Peter admitted. He was so friendly and outgoing I tended to forget that he was a Makenna, and they had tons of enemies. Although Peter's clan had died out, their old enemies and allies still sought after him. My uncle thought they would want to use him to lead an uprising. That was one of the reasons my aunt and uncle had adopted Peter, besides the fact that Armageddon was the agent Peter’s parents attacked, their backfired spell killing them. Adopting Peter was for his, and our protection - and a way for Armageddon to make amends.
Too bad that meant Peter was home-schooled until he ascended. Then he could attend college, but the students were magicians. That was the only way to work around our strange apprenticeship schedules. He also didn’t get out much unless he was on assignment. Peter was almost exclusively in the company of magicians.
I had several interactions with mundanes and thought they were ingenious. I was creative with my magic, but I couldn’t imagine inventing the things they came up with without it. But it was a respect I had from afar.
“You aren’t missing much. Although Seth and I used to go out on our liberty weekends at school and pick up mundane girls. They like a magician better than a guy with an accent. We had both.”
I laughed. They turned, finally noticing I was awake.
“Wow, it’s getting deep in here,” I teased. My nose was so stuffy I sounded weird. And my throat hurt. “Are you going to list off all your best features for us next?”
“Hush. You know we’re prime examples of magical manliness. We’re true-blue chick magnets,” Seth called back. He seemed at once both far away and very, very close. Expanding the inside of the car had some freaky side-effects.
“True,” I freely admitted. My mother once told me during one of our rare mother-daughter talks that no matter how confident other people acted, they could still be hurt. They might be under more pressure than I understood and I should always keep that in mind. And I had no desire to be mean.
Besides, they were attractive, smart, and funny. And all of us knew how magic was a draw for mundanes if we stayed too long in their vicinity. When they weren’t running away in fear, we were so appealing to them that it was a little embarrassing.
“How are you feeling?” Peter asked.
I was miserable, that was how I was feeling. “Okay, I guess,” I said. I wanted them to think I was tough, regardless of my earlier need to be coddled. “I’ll be fine when the time comes to confront our enemy.”
My reward was the look of approval on Peter’s face. “We'll be stopping soon to get food and stretch our legs. You could check out the medicine aisle while we’re there,” he suggested.
I bit back a groan. I missed my aunt, who was a phenomenal healer and had a ton of herbs on hand. Instead, I was stuck with mundane medications, which always made me feel hollow inside. It was better than constant sneezing, though. That would throw off my aim.
Seth pulled off the road and parked near the main store in a travel center. It was the kind of place that had a bunch of restaurants all around, with showers in the bathrooms. I purchased a token and locked myself inside one of the stalls and cranked up the hot water.
Ah, bliss. The steam helped clear my stuffy nose, and I felt more human by the time I was done. I went all the way and washed my hair, too, using the shampoo in the tiny travel bag I bought along with the bottle of liquid goo they called medication. I arranged my hair with the brush I had zippered into the small pouch on my backpack by braiding it into two braids, one on each side of my head. I looked like a pioneer girl, but I didn’t feel up to plaiting the usual battle-braids.
I tugged on a pair of dark gray yoga pants and a black t-shirt. Despite the warm weather, I slipped on a hoodie and then tossed all my dirty clothes into a plastic shopping bag, stuffing them into my backpack before skulking out the door.
“Hey, there you are,” Peter said. “I was wondering if you got sucked down the drain or something.”
“Ha.” I scowled.
“Come on, grumpy, let’s get you some food. Then we’re going down the road a short way so we can commune with nature while we eat.”
I perked up. I always felt better when I had the chance to surround myself with the elements and soak them in for a while. Maybe it would also help me feel less awful.
After a quick glance around, I walked over to one of those refrigerated areas where they stocked salads and fruit cups and other cold foods. I ignored the sandwiches completely. They were always so bland and never had anything interesting on them, not even sprouts for a little crunch. Just mushy chicken salad. Or tuna salad, which scared me. Who bought fish at a gas station?
Not me.
“Look around,” Peter said, grinning. I was sure he knew what I was thinking by the look on my face. I wished we could try out the cute diner across the way, but my insistence on taking a shower had used up a chunk of time. “They’ve got tons of different things in there. Even a rack with fancy bread. I bet you can come up with something interesting if you tried.”
I sucked in a determined breath and then narrowed my eyes, studying the layout. I glanced over at the bread and nodded to myself. “Stand back,” I told Peter. “This is no place for amateurs.”
He laughed and got out of my way. After a moment’s pause, I decided to go old-school and gathered a few ripe bananas, a tray of bacon and rubbery eggs, honey-wheat bread, and creamy peanut butter from down the aisle. I grabbed a beat-up red grocery basket and tossed in several other items, forming an idea for our next meal. It felt appropriate that I was roughing it while out on a mission, but Peter was right. There was no need to give up my creativity and eat a sketchy egg-salad with no horseradish or onions or dill pickles or celery-salt like some kind of barbarian.
I almost crowed in delight when I spotted several containers of yogurt with berries. I grabbed those, too, and then snapped up a bag of salt and vinegar chips and four bottles of peach sweet tea.
There was one nasty moment when it came time to pay, and I realized I only had my card. I never carried cash, but obviously, I couldn’t use it, or else everyone could trace me that way. Sure, magicians used magical methods to find people, but they weren’t above tapping phones or tracking credit card purchases. Whatever worked.
Peter slipped beside me and tossed down a couple of twenties. I looked up at him and smiled sheepishly. Of course, he was prepared.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said on our way out. “You d
on’t have your pouch yet. We’ve got a bunch of cash in them. Seth and Harris shared theirs.”
I let it drop, but I wanted to wail about my rookie mistake. I hated how being sick turned me into a worse baby than normal. Good thing he saved me from myself.
“You guys ready?” Seth asked. He and Harris were lounging against the car near the gas pumps.
“Yeah, we’re done. Let’s go.” Peter took the groceries from me and held the door open. I climbed in and hurriedly scooted over. He hopped in and set the bags down by our feet. Seth drove back to the highway a little too fast, knocking me sideways into the window where I hit my sore shoulder.
“Ouch,” I mumbled. Peter and I exchanged a knowing glance as we chuckled. Seth was turning out to be a speed demon.
◆◆◆
It didn’t take long to get to the scenic-view rest stop (with no bathrooms!). There was another car already there, but the people were dozing inside with the windows rolled down. We grabbed the plastic grocery sacks and headed out along a path that had a sign indicating there was a picnic area a short distance away.
There were a few tables, and the view was okay. There wasn’t a stream nearby, but Earth and Air would cover all of us, and we could make do using other methods.
I emptied the bags onto a table. Seth and Harris watched me warily. They bought their own lunch, two of those gummy sandwiches, but they weren’t tearing into them. I didn’t blame them. With a scornful huff, I tossed a pack of veggies and dip their way.
“Here, keep yourselves occupied while I make some real food,” I ordered. They gratefully threw their junk sandwiches down on the table and wandered off to refresh their Air and Earth elements while crunching on some carrots. I shooed Peter away, too, so he could soak in the sunlight. His main elements were Air and Light, so it was the perfect spot for him to recharge. I wasn’t sure how depleted he was, but I wasn't taking any chances.
I tore off the plastic covering the breakfast tray and pulled out the bacon. It was a tad underdone, but that worked for me. I knocked off bits of cold egg and looked around to make certain there were still no mundanes nearby. Knowing about magic and watching its casual use were two different things. I didn’t want to cause a scene.
Since it was just us in the clearing, I pulled out one of the crystal blanks Peter had tucked away in his backpack. He showed me all the different pockets and his hidden stashes of crystals and spells just in case we ended up on the bottom of a river again with only me conscious. Which I feared could actually happen, knowing my luck.
I used the darkness I always seemed to have in abundance to alter the crystal into a heat source. Then I finished cooking the bacon until it was crispy and smelled fantastic. Spreading peanut butter on slices of honey-wheat bread, I added the bacon to one side and sliced up the bananas for the other. After pressing them together, I carefully toasted the bread.
The eggs went into the garbage bin and I dumped the berries into the empty container. I trashed the yogurt, cringing at the waste, but it was all runny, and I was afraid it was bad. Besides, I only wanted the berries, anyway.
It was a simple meal, but filling and tasty. I definitely rose to Peter’s challenge.
“Hey!” I called out. “Come on over and eat.”
The guys obviously hadn’t been too far because they heard me and trotted over to the picnic table in record time.
“Thanks, Lia,” Harris said. He bit into the sandwich and looked surprised. He kept chewing and then stuffed more into his mouth right away, so I assumed he liked it.
“How cute,” Seth said. “You cut them into little triangles.” But he shut up too once he began to eat.
I loved an appreciative audience.
The berries I served as-is, and the salt from the chips plus the peach tea helped cut through all that peanut butter. It was a nice meal. And when we were done, Peter cleaned up the garbage, which I thought was awesome.
My only disappointment was that it was hard to taste anything. My nose wasn’t stuffy thanks to the medication, but somewhere inside my head, I was still clogged up. I couldn’t smell well and my food wasn’t as interesting as normal.
“Hey,” Peter said. He sat down beside me on the bench. “I know you need recharging yourself. Let’s go over there by that tree.”
I looked over to where Peter indicated and perked up. It was perfect for me. If I lay on the ground, I could commune with Earth, and the dappled shadows from the leaves would allow me to recharge my Dark and Light sources. The breeze would take care of Air. There wasn’t any Fire or Water, but I could bring a water bottle with me. Water users always insisted on clean, fresh water from natural sources, but any water would do. I had a lighter in my backpack, and there was a BBQ grill not too far from the tree where we could start a small fire.
“Looks good, thanks,” I said. Peter helped me up and pulled me along behind him. I was simply too run-down to be my normal self. Once we were near the tree, I picked a dappled patch of grass and flopped down.
“I’ll build a fire,” Peter said, chuckling. He had never seen me ill before, so I guess he thought my misery was funny or something.
My lids drooped as I soaked in the world around me. I needed all the elements, even the darkness. I did feel healthier, especially when I could tap into the fire Peter started.
“Thank you so much,” I murmured. Peter came back to where I lay prone on the grass and sat close to me. He stayed outside the shadows as he continued to refresh his Light element.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
“Definitely.” And I was. My face still felt like it was plugged up somehow, but the weakness in my bones was leeching into the ground as the Earth element inside me recharged. I sucked in a giant breath of Air and held it for a moment and then exhaled with a whoosh. “What do you think is happening at the castle right now?” I asked. I missed my beautiful bedroom with the huge, soft bed. And infirmary. Peony could have fixed my cold for me.
“I’m sure they’re analyzing the defenses,” Peter responded after a short pause. “I bet Mort is back so he can help.”
“I thought Uncle Ged’s defenses were fool-proof,” I said. A twinge of pain distracted me as the memory of Chas showing me the castle defenses popped unwelcome into my mind.
“So did we. Well, as fool-proof as anything can be in the magic world.”
I nodded absently, yawning as my body felt as if it were sinking down, rooting into the soil below me. A breeze played across the skin on my arms after I tugged up the sleeves of my hoodie, and it connected with the Air element within. Exposed skin always helped the process. So did meditation, but I wanted to stay alert while outdoors, the same as the guys did. Meditation was awesome, and we could recharge quicker, but it left us vulnerable.
“It scared me when I saw Tian on the floor,” I admitted. I was the only girl in the Irregulars, besides my aunt, and sometimes I felt like I had to prove that I wasn’t emotionally weaker than the rest of them just because I was at a disadvantage physically. Not that Mort wasn’t teaching me to kick butt. But Peter was my best friend, and he wouldn’t judge me.
“I was, too,” he replied. “We haven’t lost anyone since Ged took over the Irregulars. I hope I never find out what it’s like to lose a fellow agent.”
“Definitely,” I agreed. “Especially now.” I was referring to the fact that my uncle was being held prisoner by a psycho who liked to beat him. I suddenly felt vulnerable, exposed, and tugged my sleeves back down and curled onto my side, an arm tucked under my cheek so I wouldn’t be lying face down in the grass. I glanced at Peter, who was sitting with his back against the tree. He must have finished communing with the Light.
“I wonder how they got through, though,” Peter idly speculated. He picked up a few blades of grass and drew a small mark in the dirt to help them float the short distance between us to tickle my cheek. I huffed out a weak laugh and rubbed them away with my sleeve.
“They started on the border around the backside,” I said.
“That’s where we got hit by the Taines.” I shivered despite the warm afternoon. Peter and I both were injured in the attack last spring. Even though it was a pretty spot and we walked there often, the thought of it in the context of another attack reminded me of the dread I initially felt right after I was healed. It had taken me a month to be comfortable going there again.
“We strayed over the border that time. The Taines didn’t break through, so I don’t think there’s a weak spot or anything.”
That was true. The thought made me feel better. “So they had to get through the redirect spell that would have turned their feet to the main gate, and then the border spell that sets off the alarms and triggers the first round of our offenses.”
“What bothers me is that the spells amp up every layer they go through, the closer they get to the castle. How did they survive the spells embedded in the castle walls? They’re lethal.” Peter scowled and threw a grass blade.
I thought about the day I went up on the ramparts with Chas. We had just completed a security drill. My uncle suggested that Chas show me around while the protection spells were active. For the first time, instead of being sad when I remembered how close Chas had stood, or how I loved it when he slid his arms around me, I was annoyed. At myself. I was so guy crazy at the time that I didn’t remember the details of his explanation.
I cringed. I guess I was over Chas enough to realize what a fool I had been. Lovely.
“The alarms eventually went off, though.”
“True,” Peter said. “There were people still in that area when the others reached the ground floor of the castle. They must have set it off somehow.”
An idea struck me, and I bolted upright, turning towards Peter. “What if the person who broke through the spell was too far to cover the men trailing behind? Uncle Ged thought there was a proximity issue.”
