by Ella Summers
“Yes, but they took her away before I could get anything big out of her,” Alex said glumly.
“Why?”
“Because, Marek, the Magic Council wants professional interrogators to question her. They think I’m too emotional to do it.”
Marek shook his head. “They don’t get it.”
“No,” she agreed. “They really don’t.”
“So, did these professional interrogators get anything out of her yet?” Marek asked.
“No,” Logan said with professional disapproval.
He would have uncovered all of the mage’s secrets by now. Hell, Alex would have too.
Logan braided his fingers together. “Apparently, the mage in question—”
“Melody Caron,” Marek supplied.
“Yes,” Logan said. “She is the daughter of the Caron dynasty head. Her father, who also sits on the Magic Council, has put a hold on her interrogation.”
“For how long?” Alex demanded.
“Her father hopes indefinitely,” said Logan.
Alex resisted the urge to break something. “Politics and power plays,” she growled. “And these damned old magic dynasties thinking they are better than everyone else. Meanwhile, my brother is being held who knows where. And the one person we have in custody who can lead us to him is being shielded.”
“We could break into the prison where Melody Caron is being kept,” Logan suggested. “And then have a private chat with her.”
“The Magic Council’s prisoners are very well-guarded,” Marek said.
“Your point being?” Logan asked coolly.
“I could try bringing us through a teleportation glyph straight into her cell,” Alex suggested.
“Melody’s cell is shielded to prevent that sort of maneuver,” Marek told her. “All the cells are.”
“In that case, getting in would be a bitch.” Alex frowned. “And getting in undetected for long enough to get Melody out or even interrogate her there…that would be almost impossible. Still, since we’re short on options, I’m tempted. I really am.”
“There’s another way,” Marek told her.
“I’m all ears, Marek.”
“There’s another mage out there, one with connections to Nightstar.”
“Who is this mage and where can we find them?” Alex asked.
“I’m not sure who he is, actually. All I know is he’s a mage with powerful connections in the supernatural community.”
“Probably connections to one of those old, insufferable magic dynasties we love so much.” Alex shot an apologetic look at Marek. “No offense.”
“I’m not offended, Alex. Most of us are quite insufferable.”
“But, in any case, there’s a flaw with your plan, Marek,” Alex told him. “Even if we knew who this mage is, the Magic Council would never let us near him. They’ll shield him, just like they’re shielding Melody Caron. Hell, they probably already have him in protective custody.”
“Oh, I doubt that,” said Marek. “The Council doesn’t even know about his connection to Nightstar.”
Alex sat up straight in her chair. “They don’t? So then how did you find out?”
“I did some digging,” Marek said cryptically.
“You talked to Daemon,” she guessed.
“I did.”
“So you must know where the Council is keeping Daemon,” she said.
“I do.”
The Magic Council had kept that information secret from Alex. Her best guess was they didn’t want her talking to Daemon. Daemon could provide her with the names of the supernaturals connected to Nightstar, and then she could run off after those mages. Which, at this point, Alex would totally do, to hell with what the Council wanted. They’d had their chance to do things their way and failed. Their way sucked.
“Daemon didn’t tell me who this mage is, only that he has connections,” Marek said. “But Daemon did tell me that he hasn’t yet shared this information with the Magic Council.”
Alex perked up at that. “We could talk to Daemon and ask him who the mage is. Then we could nab the mage and interrogate him before the Council even knows about it. Marek, you’ve got to tell us where Daemon is,”
“If you really want to do this, I will tell you where he is,” Marek said. “But, Alex, are you sure you want to go down that path?”
“What path?”
“The one where you work against the Magic Council.”
“They are protecting Nightstar’s mages,” Alex told him.
Marek sighed. “Strictly off the record, Alex, I agree with you. Those mages betrayed everything—their family, the Council, the world—and they don’t deserve to be protected.”
“The Magic Council is blocking us at every turn,” Alex said. “They aren’t helping us. In fact, by shielding these people, they are actively standing in our way of rescuing Riley.”
“You want to go after this secret mage,” Logan said.
“I want us to go after him, Logan. We could do it today, take off while everyone is busy on another mission. We could get answers. Maybe those answers will lead us to Riley. It’s better than sitting on our hands, waiting for the Magic Council to come to their senses.”
“Going against the Magic Council’s wishes will have consequences,” Logan told her.
Alex smirked at him. “Since when have you been afraid of the Magic Council?”
“I am not afraid of them. I’m just pointing out that there will be consequences. Because in your rush to storm off and play hero, you tend to forget about the consequences, Alex.”
She blew him a kiss. “Na, I don’t forget about consequences. I just like to pretend they don’t exist.”
Ok, so that wasn’t quite true. At least not anymore.
“Things used to be so much simpler, back when the Magic Council wanted me dead,” Alex said with an unhealthy dose of nostalgia. “Working with them is considerably worse than fighting against them.”
Logan took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “Just say the word, and we’re gone.”
Alex’s heart soared at the thought of freedom, but then she thought of Sera—and she came back down to Earth fast. If she went against the Council’s orders, she would be brought in. Imprisoned maybe. Then Kai would be in the position of punishing his wife’s sister. And Sera would be in the position of asking him not to. It would all be a big mess.
Old Alex would have jumped right in and worried about the consequences later. But not New Alex. No, New Alex was far too responsible. New Alex was far too aware of the consequences of her actions.
Sometimes, Alex really hated New Alex. Especially right now. And the longer Riley’s rescue was held up by Magic Council politics, the harder it was to keep listening to New Alex.
“No,” she sighed. “Let’s go see what the illustrious Magic Council deems appropriate for us to do today.”
20
A Difference of Opinion
Alex and Logan walked into Sera’s living room. She and Kai were speaking with the commandos, but they stopped the moment they saw Alex. It was as though Death himself had just walked into the room. All was silent, so silent that Alex could almost hear the flowers growing from the pots on the windowsills.
She didn’t like this. Something was…weird. Just weird.
“So…what’s up?” Alex asked them.
“We’re going to apprehend another mage,” Sera told her.
Alex’s gaze slid over to the commandos, then back to Sera. “All of us?”
“We felt this one warranted extra firepower,” Kai said.
Alex exchanged loaded glances with Logan. Yeah, something wasn’t quite right. She didn’t know what, but she also couldn’t shake that nagging suspicion.
Well, she’d figure it out, she was sure. Probably when it hit her in the face.
“What are we waiting for?” Alex said. “Let’s get that mage.”
It turned out to be two mages actually.
Thanks to Logan, they’d sidest
epped the mages’ automatic magic defense system, but the situation had deteriorated from there. The mages were powerful and really pissed off.
Alex and Sera were locked in a battle with the two mages. The guys were still a few rooms over, battling the monsters the mages had unleashed on them when they’d breached the house’s inner sanctum.
“Break any glyphs you can find!” Alex shouted to Sera over the pandemonium of colliding magic and steel.
Nightstar’s mages had a nasty habit of casting a backup teleportation glyph so they’d always have another way out, but after Melody was captured, they might have decided to upgrade to even more backup glyphs.
Alex dodged a spell from the mage she was fighting. The flaming red ball shot past her—and shot right through the wall behind her.
Good thing that spell didn’t hit us, Nova commented. It looks nasty.
Alex watched as the crimson spell residue ate away at the wall, making the hole even bigger.
This mage plays dirty, she said to Nova.
So let’s show her what dirty fighting really looks like.
Alex grinned. Happy to.
She followed the mage into the adjacent room. Sera was still back battling the other mage. She wasn’t here to look over Alex’s shoulder. No one was. This was her chance, but she’d have to be quick.
Alex launched the scarlet ribbon of the entrapment spell at the mage, but he evaded it and ran for the door. Then he fell suddenly to the ground, like he’d hit a wall.
Not a wall, Nova said, as Alex moved in closer. Logan’s fist.
Logan walked toward Alex, dragging the unconscious mage after him. “Lose something?” His brows lifted. “They’ve almost secured the other mage. If you want answers from this one, you’d better hurry.”
Nodding, Alex locked her Mind Breaker spell around the mage. He jolted awake. His eyes slid from her, to Logan. His pulse quickened. His scent soured.
“I’ve spoken to one of your friends. Melody,” Alex said. “She told me of Nightstar’s plans.”
The mage wasn’t strong enough to stand. Logan had to hold him up.
But the mage did laugh.
“Something funny?” Alex asked him.
“You didn’t talk to Melody.”
“Sure I did.” Alex cracked her knuckles. “Crushed her mind like a nutcracker chomping down on a nut.”
He coughed. “Melody told you nothing.”
“She told me Nightstar is behind the strife in the supernatural community. He’s trying to disrupt the supernatural world. And he’s using the Convictionites to do it. They think they are driving this, but it’s Nightstar who’s driving it. They think they’re helping themselves, but Nightstar is helping himself. I just don’t know why.”
The mage coughed again, and this time he spat blood. “You don’t know a lot of things, Alexandria Dering.”
“That’s why you’re going to fill in the blanks.”
His nose turned up into the air. “I will not.”
“Of course you will.” Alex prepared another dose of her magic.
“Stop!” Sera shouted.
She, Kai, and the commandos rushed into the room.
Alex held back a groan. She’d never thought she’d be unhappy to see her sister. But Sera wasn’t what this situation required. She was too good. She didn’t want to do the things that had to be done to find and rescue their brother.
“Don’t you want to get answers?” Alex asked her. “Don’t you want to find Riley instead of just sitting by while the Magic Council protects its own delinquents?”
“Yes, of course I want to find Riley.” Sera looked hurt by the question. “But it’s not so simple.”
“Actually, it is that simple. And now I’m going to show you that simplicity at work.” Magic sprang to life on Alex’s fingertips.
The commandos moved quickly to plant themselves between her and the enemy mage.
“Move,” Alex growled. “Or I will move you.”
They didn’t flinch, and they didn’t move. For the first time ever, she was really annoyed that they were such fearless badasses.
Alex looked at Kai. “Tell them to move. I have work to do.”
“You’re not in any state to question him, Alex.” Kai’s voice was perfectly calm. “Your magic is wild. You’ll kill him.”
Alex could feel her wild magic thrashing under her skin, boiling, fuming, screaming to get out. But she was containing it. Considering the circumstances—and the stakes—she thought she was doing a damn good job of staying in control.
“Fine,” she barked. “If you think I’m too emotional to question him, then let Logan do it. There’s no one as detached in an interrogation as Logan.”
“This isn’t how we do things.” Kai’s voice was so calm—and it was so starting to piss Alex off.
“Your way doesn’t work,” she told him.
“That is merely a difference of opinion.”
“A difference of opinion?” she repeated, incredulous. “Your way simply sucks, Kai. Which is why six days after Riley was taken, we’re still no closer to finding him. And yet the Magic Council refuses to question any of the prisoners we’ve brought them.”
“They all come from old dynasties,” Kai said. “Important ones. If we push, a civil war will erupt. It will tear the supernatural community apart. There is too much tension to risk ripping the Council apart.”
“And if you don’t push, we will never find Riley,” Alex snapped. “Can you live with that? Can you?”
Kai clenched his jaw.
“You’re on the Council, Kai. You could make the others listen.”
“It’s not that simple, Alex.”
“Riley is your friend. He’s like a brother to you. There’s nothing simpler than doing whatever you must to protect your family.” She looked at Sera.
Sera’s eyes were wide. She looked like she was going to cry.
“What the hell is the matter with you all?!” Alex demanded, then she stormed out of the room.
Logan followed her. On their way out of the building, she slid her phone out of her jacket pocket and dialed Marek.
“Alex,” he answered after one ring.
“Ok, the Magic Council’s way isn’t working, Marek. I need your help. I need you to tell me where the Magic Council is keeping Daemon, so we can do things our way, without anyone there to stand in our way.”
21
Fractured
Traffic was light on the way home. Alex sat on the passenger side of the car, looking out the window, watching the rain hit the glass. Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter. It was so…so surreal.
Not the rain, of course, but what had just transpired between her and Sera. Sera’s behavior, that she would even risk Riley’s life for…for what? So that she could follow the rules, play the good girl, be the person she was supposed to be: the wife of a member of the Magic Council.
What had their lives come to? This wasn’t how things used to be. They were so fractured.
She wanted to go talk to Daemon, but once she did, that was it. She would set herself on a completely different path than Sera’s. A path that would divide them.
Alex’s thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She pulled it out of her jacket and glanced at the screen. It was a message from Sera, asking if they were still coming over for breakfast.
Alex frowned at her phone. She considered throwing it out of the window.
Logan glanced over from the driver’s side. He obviously knew what she was thinking. “You and Sera are fighting, but at the end of the day, you love each other. And you both want the same thing.”
“I’m not so sure that we do anymore,” replied Alex. “Sera should be trying harder to get Riley back.”
But, despite the fact that Alex was pretty annoyed with Sera right now, she did go over to her house for breakfast. Sera was her sister, after all. They were a team. They could work out any problem together, even if that problem happened to be between them.
Rig
ht?
Alex and Logan went into Sera’s house. It was normal for the sisters to just walk into each other’s houses without knocking. And Alex really wanted things to go back to normal.
No one was in sight, so Alex and Logan went down the hall, into the dining room. Kai’s influence was evident here. The room wasn’t just grand; it was grandiose, just the kind of thing you’d expect from one of the old magic dynasties. The windows’ curtains were drawn back, revealing the unseasonable summer storm brewing outside.
The table was big enough for twenty people, though right now it was set for only four. And yet what should have been a cozy, intimate setting had gotten lost in all the pomp and ceremony, in all the grand legacy furnishings.
Sera had brought out the fancy plates this morning. And on each plate sat a gigantic waffle. Many large serving bowls, each one filled with a different kind of fruit, were scattered all across the table. Strawberries. Blueberries. Cherries. Blackberries. Raspberries. And at the center of them, the crown jewel of the table, was an even larger bowl filled with a mountain of whipped cream.
It was a meal fit for a king—or a queen, for that matter.
“Something’s missing,” Alex said softly.
Logan had already sat down. He was patient. Always patient. If there truly were a balance to life, then Alex liked to think that his abundance of patience more than made up for her total lack of it.
“Chocolate,” she muttered. “Waffles need chocolate.”
She wasn’t sure why, but in this moment, that was the most important thing in the world. No, actually, she did know why. Normalcy. This was about normalcy. And there was nothing more normal than chocolate for breakfast.
Alex left the dining room in search of chocolate syrup. She passed through the kitchen. It was decidedly modern, decked out in the latest and greatest appliances, yet tempered by the prestige of good, old-fashioned taste.
The chocolate syrup would be in the walk-in pantry. Alex took a step toward it—then stopped when she heard voices coming from within.
