Bright Blaze of Magic

by Jennifer Estep

  Draconi guards sporting blood-red cloaks and hats patrolled around the three cages, but not as many as I would have expected. If I had been Victor, I would have had more guards in here, watching my prisoners. But he had most of his men posted outside, waiting for Devon to show up with the black blades. Of course he did. Victor thought that the Sinclairs were beaten and that he’d already won. He was wrong.

  “Look!” Felix whispered in an excited voice, pointing at one of the cages. “There’s my dad! And Reginald too!”

  Sure enough, Angelo and Reginald were in one of the cages. Reginald was talking to a group of pixies that were huddled together on a wooden bench, while Angelo was looking at a cut on the face of one of the Sinclair guards.

  “Look!” Felix whispered again, pointing to another cage. “I see Deah and Seleste too!”

  Deah was sitting on a wooden bench, curled into a tight ball, her knees against her chest, with one of her shoulders slumped up against the mesh-covered bars. No cuts or bruises marred her body, although she kept grimacing and rubbing her sprained ankle. Meanwhile, Seleste was moving from one side of the cage to the other, aimlessly circling like a goldfish in a bowl, her gauzy white dress fluttering around her.

  Some more of the tightness in my chest eased. They were okay and Victor hadn’t hurt or tortured them. This part of my family was still alive.

  But my heart dropped when I realized that I didn’t see Mo or Claudia anywhere in the cages. I looked once, twice, three times, but they weren’t down below with the rest of the Sinclairs. So where were they?

  “Hey,” Felix muttered, echoing my troubled thoughts. “I don’t see Claudia or Mo. Do you?”

  I shook my head, and we both scanned the rest of the warehouse for them. Rows of wooden crates took up the back half of the building, and I spotted a long glass window set into one of the walls on the opposite side of the building. The window looked like it was part of some large office, and I leaned down a little more, trying to see through the glass. I could tell there were people in there, although not how many. But some of them were guards, given the red cloaks swirling around their bodies.

  One of the guards moved away from the window and I spotted the edge of a man’s shoe—black and patterned with white hibiscus flowers. The same kind of shoe that Mo had worn to dinner last night.

  I waited, my breath in my throat, hoping that the shoe would move, wiggle, or give me some other indication that he was still alive. But it remained still on the floor. I hoped that meant that Mo was just unconscious or tied down. I wouldn’t let myself think the worst—I would not.

  “There,” I said, pointing the room out to Felix. “Mo is over there, and I’m willing to bet that Claudia is in there with him.”

  He nodded, then checked his phone again. “Ten minutes until Devon is supposed to meet Victor.”

  “Let’s go,” I whispered. “We need to get into position before then.”

  He nodded and we eased away from the railing, crawled back over to the wall, and got up on our feet again. I pointed to a set of stairs leading downward, and Felix nodded and fell in step behind me.

  We tiptoed down the stairs. Luckily for us, the stairs led down to the back of the warehouse, well away from the cages and guards near the front. I slid into a pool of shadow behind a row of crates, with Felix beside me.

  “Now what?” he muttered.

  “Now, we wait for Devon and his distraction and hope that none of the guards come back here in the meantime,” I whispered.

  He nodded, and we both tightened our grips on our weapons. Felix kept checking his phone, counting down the minutes, while I peered around the edge of the crates, staring at the cages in the distance, using my sight magic to focus in on the locks. They were all relatively simple, so it wouldn’t take me long to pick them open. Good.

  But the cages were spaced apart from each other, and I would lose precious seconds moving from one to another, not to mention trying to get over to the office to rescue Mo, Claudia, and whoever else might be in there with them.

  The minutes crawled by and everything remained the same. Felix and me hiding, the guards patrolling, the Sinclairs staying quiet in their cages. Felix held up his fingers, telling me that there were three minutes until Devon was supposed to meet Victor.

  And that’s when one of the guards broke away from the others and headed toward the back of the warehouse—right where Felix and I were hiding.

  We both tensed, but the guard was checking his phone so he didn’t spot us. I gestured for Felix to slip farther back behind the crates, out of the guard’s line of sight. I did the same, moving so that I could just look around the corner of the end crate and track the man’s movements. The guard was walking fast and he’d be right beside us in less than a minute. There was nowhere else to hide or run to and absolutely no way that he wouldn’t see us.

  The guard drew closer . . . and closer . . . and closer.

  Beside me, Felix sucked in a breath, getting ready to move just like I was. The guard would attack the second he saw us, and I’d have to come out swinging, take him out, and hope that I didn’t make too much noise doing it. Not likely, but maybe if I was really lucky, I could sprint over to the cages and get at least one of them open before the other Draconis spotted me and realized what I was doing. If I could free some of the Sinclairs, that would improve the odds and give us all a chance to get out of here. If I couldn’t free the others, well, I’d fight for as long as I could, even if I was horribly outnumbered by the Draconis.

  The guard kept closing in on our position. Ten more seconds and he’d spot us and sound the alarm. I tensed and raised my sword, preparing to leap out and attack him—

  “Hey!” one of the guards at the front of the warehouse called out. “The Sinclair kid is here!”

  That made the guard in front of us stop, spin around, and sprint back in that direction.

  Felix and I both breathed sighs of relief, but it was short-lived. More guards came pouring out from the side of the warehouse where the office was located, all of them lining up in a row along the front wall. Somewhere deeper in the warehouse, a door banged open, loud enough to make Felix and me jump, and steady footsteps rang out on the concrete floor.

  A moment later, Victor Draconi stepped into view. Blake was with him, along with a couple of guards.

  But the worst part was that Victor was holding a dagger in his hand, and it was glowing midnight black.

  Felix spotted the dagger at the same time I did, and he hissed out a worried breath. “What is that?”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea, but it can’t be anything good.”

  Victor gestured for Blake to step forward. Blake was holding two dull, ash-colored swords that looked identical, and Victor waved his dagger over first one sword, then the other. Victor’s weapon didn’t do anything as it passed over the first sword. But as soon as it got within a couple of inches of the second sword, the midnight glow on the dagger intensified, pulsing darker than ever before, as if it were a magnet that was reacting to another magnet.

  Victor nodded at Blake, who tossed the fake sword over to one of the guards and kept the real black blade for himself.

  “That dagger must be some sort of tester,” I whispered. “Some way for Victor to check and make sure that Devon is giving him the real, magic-filled black blades this time.”

  Felix gave me a worried look. “Well, let’s hope there’s enough magic in Devon’s weapons to pass the test.”

  Earlier today in the library basement, we’d filled a duffel bag full of black blades—the ones with the weakest magic. We weren’t stupid enough to give Victor any more power than we absolutely had to, so we’d left the stronger weapons hidden in the basement. And Devon hadn’t brought all of the weapons with him either. For one thing, he couldn’t carry them all by himself. Besides, we all knew that Victor would try to double-cross him, so we’d decided to hold on to as many of the weapons as we could.

  But I hadn’t expected Victor to have
a way to actually test the weapons for magic. Worry twisted my stomach, but there was nothing I could do to help Devon right now.

  Felix and I watched while Victor slid the dagger into a holster on his belt, hiding its midnight glow from sight, then strode over to the door at the front of the warehouse. One of the guards rushed to open it for him, and Victor stepped through it and out into the night, with Blake right behind him.

  The guards hurried to fall in line and follow them, until there was only one man left behind in the warehouse. But even he stayed near the front, staring out the windows, watching what was happening on the street outside. In their cages, the Sinclairs turned so that most of them were facing in that direction as well, trying to figure out what was going on.

  I looked at Felix and he nodded back. We wouldn’t get a better chance than this. Together, we eased out from behind the crates and tiptoed toward the front of the warehouse, hugging the wall and keeping to the shadows as much as we could.

  I motioned to Felix and we both crept toward the guard, who was still staring out the windows. We had almost reached him when one of the pixies spotted us.

  “Felix!” she yelled in a high, squeaky voice.

  The pixie clamped her hands over her mouth, realizing her mistake, but it was already too late.

  Startled by the pixie’s outburst, the guard whipped around, his hand dropping to his weapon. His eyes locked with mine and his surprised shock hit me like a jolt of electricity in my chest. He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but I was quicker.

  I surged forward and slammed my fist into the guard’s face. I didn’t hit him all that hard, but he staggered back and his head snapped against the wall. He dropped to the floor unconscious. A lucky break for us. As soon as I was sure that he wasn’t going to get back up anytime soon, I sheathed my sword and sprinted over to the closest cage, with Felix right behind me.

  I yanked my chopstick lock picks out of my hair, bent down, and slid the tools into the lock. So much adrenaline was pumping through my body that my fingers trembled and the picks slipped out of the lock. I swallowed down a curse, then made myself draw in a long, deep breath and slowly let it out. My fingers steadied and I went to work on the lock in earnest.

  Snick.

  It popped open. One down, two to go. I left Felix to unhook the lock from the cage and open the door, even as I raced over to the second cell, where Angelo and Reginald were already standing by the door waiting for me. Ten seconds later, Felix was by my side with the first of the freed guards and pixies zipping through the air behind him.

  “What are you doing here, son?” Angelo hissed. “It’s too dangerous!”

  Felix gave his dad a grim smile. “Believe me, I know. But no way was I leaving you or any of the other Sinclairs in here a second longer than necessary.”

  “Where are Mo and Claudia?” I asked, still working on the lock.

  “In the office,” Reginald said, worry making his English accent even more pronounced than usual. “Victor has been . . . talking with them ever since he brought us here last night.”

  “You mean torturing them,” I spat out the words.

  Reginald winced and nodded.

  I redoubled my efforts on the lock, and a moment later, it too snicked open. While Felix opened that door, I raced over to the third and final cage where Deah and Seleste were. A few seconds later, I had it and the cage door open as well. I shoved the lock picks into my coat pocket.

  “Darling!” Seleste said, striding through the open door and beaming at me. “I knew you’d rescue us!”

  Deah limped up beside her mom and smiled at me. “I knew it too.”

  I grinned back at her. “Sterlings stick together, right?”

  Her smile widened. “Always.”

  All the Sinclair guards, workers, and pixies came pouring out of the cells and gathered in a tight knot in the center of the warehouse. As soon as the guards were free, their eyes lit up with anger and they turned and glared at the front of the building, as if they were wishing that the Draconi guards would come back inside so they could show them what a real fight looked like.

  “Now what?” Angelo asked.

  “You, Felix, and Reginald stay here and keep watch. If Devon gets in trouble outside, you guys go out and help him. Meanwhile, let the guards help the injured folks and pixies out the back of the warehouse,” I said. “I’ll go get Mo and Claudia and come right back.”

  “But—” Felix started.

  “Just do it!” I hissed, already turning and sprinting deeper into the warehouse.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  I left the cages behind and headed down a long hallway that led to the office that I’d spotted before. I rounded a corner and found a door set into the wall. There was no time to be sneaky, so I put my shoulder down, twisted the knob, and barreled in, surprising the two guards who were inside.

  The Draconi guards whirled around, not expecting someone to come bursting into the office, but I was already moving forward, swinging my sword. I took the first guard completely by surprise, slicing my sword across his stomach, then whipping back around and stabbing him in the chest. He crumpled to the floor.

  I turned toward the other guard, but he moved away before I could attack him the same way I had his friend. I swung at him, but the guard ducked my blow, whirled back around, and slammed his fist into my face. He had a strength Talent, and blood filled my mouth from the hard blow, but the pain was worth it because that cold burn of magic exploded in my veins.

  The guard came at me again, but I avoided his fist, then put my shoulder down and barreled into him the same way I had the door. With my extra surge of strength, I shoved him all the way across the office and slammed him into the wall. His head snapped back and he dropped to the ground unconscious.

  I whipped around, wondering if any other Draconis might be lurking in the warehouse and come to investigate the noise, but none did so I turned toward the two people in the back of the office.

  Mo and Claudia.

  They were both tied down to chairs, with heavy ropes looped around their wrists and ankles. They wore the same black suits they’d had on at the White Orchid restaurant last night.

  And they’d both been tortured.

  Someone had badly beaten the two of them, maybe even more than one person, judging from the blood and bruises that covered their bodies. I hurried over and stopped in front of Mo, who had remained absolutely still through my fight with the two guards. For a moment, I thought he might be dead, but he slowly lifted his head and focused on me.

  Up close, the damage to his face was even worse than I’d thought. Both of his eyes were blackened, his nose was broken, and his lips were swollen and split from where someone had punched him repeatedly. Every part of him looked like it just hurt, and my stomach roiled with a combination of grief, guilt, disgust, and rage. But his dark eyes were still sly and bright, and his gaze was steady on mine as I dropped down beside him.

  “What did they do to you?” I whispered, tears filling my eyes.

  Mo looked at me through his blackened eyes, and his face creased into a grin. “Nothing too bad, kid. Just some cuts and bruises. Why, I know pixies who can punch harder than Blake Draconi. Don’t worry. Pour a little stitch-sting on my face and I’ll be as right as rain. Promise.”

  He laughed, but it quickly turned into a choking cough and blood bubbled up out of his lips, dripped down his face, and spattered onto his black suit jacket, soaking into what was already there. The sight and sound tore at my heart, but I pushed my feelings aside and used my sword to slice through the ropes that bound him. Then I put my shoulder under Mo’s and helped him to his feet.

  He staggered forward and put a hand on a nearby desk to keep from falling. I watched him a second, but he managed to stay upright so I moved over to Claudia, who hadn’t moved or spoken the whole time I’d been in the office.

  Claudia’s head was slumped down on her chest, so I couldn’t see how badly her face had been damaged, but someone ha
d sliced through the sleeves of her black suit jacket, and deep, ugly cuts crisscrossed her arms. It reminded me so much of my mom and how Victor had cut up her body before he’d killed her that white stars exploded in front of my eyes, blotting out everything else.

  I blinked and blinked, trying to force the stars away, but it didn’t quite work, and the image of Claudia’s body wavered with that of my mom’s, until I was seeing both of them side by side at the same time, each one of them bloody, broken, and beaten.

  My stomach heaved and a screaming sob rose up in my throat, but I choked it down. Claudia couldn’t be dead—murdered—like my mom had been. I couldn’t be too late to save her. Devon would be devastated, and so would I.

  Mo shuffled up beside me, reached out, and carefully laid a hand on her shoulder. “Claud? It’s time to wake up now. Come on, Claud. Time to go home.”

  At his touch, she let out a weak cough and slowly lifted her head. I gasped. Her face was just as much of a mess as Mo’s, and I could barely make out her green eyes in her bloody, swollen features.

  “Mo?” Claudia said, her voice slurring. “What’s going on?”

  “Lila’s here,” he said in a gentle voice. “Everything’s going to be okay now. You’ll see.”

  Claudia looked over at me, her face creasing with confusion. “Lila? What are you talking about? That’s Serena standing there. Look. She has on her coat and sword and everything.”

  My heart twisted, realizing exactly how badly she’d been beaten to make her confuse me with my mom, but I knelt down and took hold of Claudia’s bruised, bloody hand. “We’re going to get you out of here. I promise.”

  She smiled at me. “Okay, Serena. Whatever you say.”