“Oh? You know him that well?”
Aspen wanted to blurt out that yes, of course she did. Isak was infuriating, deadly, coarse but kind, clever, an equal to her in every sense.
But really, did she know that? They’d been around each other—heck, really only talked—for three days. The old Aspen, the one who had been more sensible before the boy with the dark eyes and a new world of magic had arrived, would have laughed at her.
Cliff appeared at the foot of the stairs. “You had an escapee,” he grunted. “The boy. Ran out of here. Should I…”
“It’s fine,” Lucien said.
Cliff nodded. A couple minutes later, Aspen, Lucien, and Nina sat around one of the tables in the bar. Cliff nodded to T-shirt boy. “Lock the door for a bit, will you?”
“Sorry to lose you any business, Cliff,” Lucien said as T-shirt boy closed the front and slid home a large deadbolt. Cliff shrugged. He’d looped behind the bar and started pouring them all drinks.
“No harm done. You can’t do any more damage than the Unseelie Fae have.”
“The Fae?” Nina said. “What have they been doing in here?”
“Ruining the place, that’s what,” Cliff said darkly. “Going unchecked, scaring off my customers, taking things without paying, the works.”
“I…didn’t know,” Lucien said. “Simshar hadn’t mentioned anything. And I hadn’t noticed.”
Cliff finished topping off the last of the drinks. “Honestly, Lucien, when’s the last time you actually looked?”
“I can’t say.”
“That’s the correct answer. Unseelie Fae have been running amok here for a while, unchecked. My guess is I’m not the only one with problematic supernatural beings.”
“Hey…there’s a girl here,” T-shirt boy said from the front window, just before someone knocked on the door. With a nod from Cliff, T-shirt boy pulled back the deadbolt and Tana came in.
“Aspen!”
She hugged Aspen fiercely, quickly reminding her that the sprite hadn’t managed to heal all her bruises quite yet. “When I heard…those stupid Fae…and now Xavier?” A low growl started in her throat. “I’d punch ‘em both if I didn’t think they’d kill me. Did they…”
She gave a quick once-over to Aspen. “You look all right.”
“I’m fine,” Aspen assured her.
“Any more guests, Lucien?” Cliff said, returning to the bar for a final drink.
“She’s it,” Lucien said.
Cliff slid all the drinks in front of them. Aspen, despite her glowering mood, was at least a little bit cheered at the prospect of drinking alcohol she didn’t have to swipe, but when she sipped it, it was lemonade.
“What gives?” Tana demanded, putting down her own glass.
Cliff cocked an eyebrow. “You’re a minor, kid. Friend of Lucien’s or not, I’m not losing my license because of you.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “But come back later if you want the good stuff.”
“I’ll pretend like I didn’t hear that,” Nina said.
Lucien put his glass down with a loud thunk. Everyone looked at him. “It sucks,” Lucien said. “But we need to act now. Isak will be back with Xavier within the hour and then…” He shook his head. “I’m not sure what he’ll do.” He gave Aspen a sorrowful look. “Aspen, I’ll…I’ll save him if I can. He might be stubborn and arrogant, but he’s a product of his master and I can’t kill someone for something that isn’t entirely their fault.”
Aspen swallowed the lump in her throat. “And Xavier?”
Nina shook her head. “The Council’s already shown they’re too stupid or willfully ignorant to handle this. We can’t risk bringing Xavier in for a trial.”
“This ends with him,” Lucien agreed quietly. “I think I’ve always known it would, even from the very beginning. But if I can save that idiot boy too—”
Aspen hugged him, reaching across the table and practically shoving her face into his chest, nearly toppling Lucien off the bench. “Wha—Aspen…?”
But Aspen held onto him. She couldn’t explain this sudden rush of emotion, just as she couldn’t explain how she’d acted with Isak earlier. It was as if she’d been so numb to her feelings the last few years, she’d allowed them to sneak up and erupt like a volcano when she least expected it. Finally letting them out was relieving.
And a little awkward.
“Ah…” Lucien said, patting the top of her head awkwardly. “Not that I don’t appreciate…ah, getting attacked by hugs, can you please not get tears on my robe? I’m sure they’re a pain to get out.”
“Thank you,” Aspen said, still hugging him. “Thanks for coming after me. And thank you for being willing to save him.”
“Aspen…please don’t. I don’t deserve your thanks.”
Lucien managed to gently pry her off and she sat back, rubbing her eyes. Tana gave her a reassuring pat. Nina was smiling.
“Don’t thank me just yet. Please,” Lucien said again.
“You saved me. You came after me.”
“Of course. After all, you’re my apprentice.”
“Even after this?”
Lucien almost looked pained. “If you’d like. If we get through this. But Aspen, I need to tell you…I think I should…”
Nina took his hand, wrapping it in hers. Lucien fumbled for his next words, then fell silent. He stood. Aspen was dismayed to see a spatting of tear stains on his chest.
“I need to go,” Lucien said. “Tana, you know we have a few allies in the city. I hope we won’t need them, but I’m counting on you to get the word out about Xavier. Perhaps some of them will come help us.”
“Got it,” Tana said, draining the last of her lemonade. She gave Aspen another reassuring pat then slipped out the door.
“I’m going with you, too,” Aspen said. “Don’t.” She held up a finger to stop Lucien as he opened his mouth. She’d pieced together something that had been bothering her before. “I recognized the tattoo on Xavier as the same one Maladias’ book had. And I’ve seen it somewhere else.”
Lucien frowned. “Where?”
“A Mage’s house I broke into a little while ago. It must be Xavier’s house, though I’m not sure if Hugo knew that or not. I found something there. An object in his study with the same symbol on it.”
Lucien’s frown deepened. “Describe the object.”
Aspen recounted the details of the cylindrical, metal pill-like thing. It had been a little while, but she found the events of that day were still somewhat fresh in her mind. She never thought she’d be glad about breaking in there.
“It’s a battery,” Nina concluded when she’d finished. “A magical storage unit.”
“My guess is he’s probably taking the magic he’s stolen and temporarily holding it there to release it at once,” Lucien said.
“Into the spell Isa—into the spell we found,” Aspen said. “The one that’ll take down the wards.”
“Then you’d better hurry,” Nina said. She stood beside Lucien and pulled out her knives. “Xavier might have enough magic by now. I’ll keep the Mages off your back, then meet you there.”
“Aspen, I don’t think—” Lucien tried again.
“I’m going with you,” Aspen said again. “No arguments. I’ve seen Xavier’s house before. Heck, I’ve broken in before. This’ll just be round two.”
“You don’t think I can do that without you?”
“Not if you want your strength for fighting. Lucien,” Aspen took a deep breath. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for ten years. Don’t take it away from me. I still haven’t forgotten what he did.”
“This isn’t about revenge. This is justice.”
“This is my justice.” Aspen stepped to the door and turned to look back at them. “So are we going or not?”
Lucien took a breath. “Onward ho, into the fire and flame.”
Nina gave him a peck on the cheek. “And may you come out unscathed on the other side.”
The Gath
ering Darkness
Something was wrong.
“You’re positive this is his place?” Lucien said.
They crouched on the inside wall of Xavier’s garden, looking at the house Aspen had broken into before. Only, she hadn’t needed to break in this time. The outer charms along the walls were gone. The inner gardens so far had held no nasty surprises lying in wait for them among the shocks of well-trimmed grass and glittering pool. Aspen couldn’t even see any shimmer of magic like she had the first time.
That’s what had her worried.
“Maybe you were thinking of a different place,” Lucien said, brushing his robes aside so he could lean forward to get a better look. “Easy mistake.”
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Aspen said indignantly. “There aren’t exactly a lot of houses that look like this.”
“Well…”
“Why are you blaming me? Shouldn’t you know which house is Xavier’s?”
Lucien gave her a wry, sidelong glance that told her she still had a lot to learn about the way Mages worked. “I’m not in the habit of handing out my address to anyone. Especially Mages. Why do you think I keep Caretaker around?”
“Because of his sparkling personality, of course.”
Aspen did one final sweep of the yard just to ensure she hadn’t missed anything (she hadn’t. She knew she hadn’t, but it was just to be sure), then took a deep breath and said, “Shall we?”
“I still don’t know how the magic Segur put in you will react,” Lucien said, his voice clipped with uncertainty. “Hopefully your body’s breaking it down like normal. But if something goes wrong in there…”
“Nina told me a little already. She said I could now have the ability to store and use magic.”
“That’s a huge ‘could.’ It ‘could’ also kill you, so it’s best not to be taking any hits for a while.”
“Gee, that’s some swell advice. Wonder why I never thought of that earlier?”
Lucien grumbled before moving from his position. Aspen gripped the hilt of her knife firmly and followed. She tried ignoring the worsening weather growling overhead. The storm had moved in fast and low; thick black thunderheads bottled up just under the skyline and prowled around the buildings.
“Wait.”
Aspen tugged on Lucien’s sleeve as they approached the steps leading to the back door. Aspen pulled out Charlotte. Lucien recoiled as the iPod sprang to life.
“What on earth is that thing?”
“Hello, Aspen. Looking lovely as always,” Charlotte said, gazing up at her.
“Go check the perimeter and report back,” Aspen said. She placed her hand near the ground and Charlotte jumped off and scrambled up to the steps.
“Was that spider…flirting with you?” Lucien shook his head. “Never mind. Too many questions. I assume you made that thing yourself.”
“Of course.”
He shook his head again. “Remind me never to underestimate you.”
“I thought that was already clear.”
Charlotte returned a minute later.
“There is no magical perimeter,” she hummed. “There is no magic out here at all.”
Aspen glanced at Lucien.
“That’s…unusual,” Lucien said. He stole to the back door and, with some slight hesitation, tried the handle. It opened easily.
“Definitely not good,” Lucien said. “He may be gone already.”
The two of them slipped inside and Aspen was immediately hit with the recurrence of unwelcome memories. The remnants of the chandelier she’d shattered in the center of the white marble rotunda had been swept away, but not replaced. Aspen’s eyes immediately went to the paintings on either side of the room. The dragons were gone. She couldn’t see them on the pillars or near the winding staircase. She still didn’t relax.
“Either he’s left,” Lucien whispered, “or this is a trap.”
“Where would he have gone?”
“The wards surround New York City proper almost like a dome. He doesn’t have to be right next to them for his spell to work, but my guess is he wants to bring the spell at least a little closer to the sky for maximum effect.”
As he said this, both their eyes trailed up the winding staircase to the second floor.
“The roof,” Aspen said. “His house is tall. He’s got to be on the roof.”
“Or the Empire State Building, but let’s hope it’s the roof.”
They took the stairs, Aspen keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of movement that would predict an impending attack. The house seemed deader than the last time she’d been here, and that had been pretty dead. The marble lacked its lustrous sheen. The artifacts on display seemed dull and uninspired. There was only the brush of moving air as they ran, the hush of silence in all the rooms they passed.
And there was no shimmer of magic. Anywhere.
“He’s drained the house, too,” Aspen panted when they reached the top of the steps.
“I know,” Lucien said. He checked where they were before taking off down the same corridor where Aspen had found Xavier’s study. He reached it before Aspen could. He stretched out a hand to open it.
“Wait! Lucien, don’t—”
When Lucien touched the handle, there was no explosion of magic. Aspen let out a sigh. Stupid. Of course there wasn’t. All the magic was gone.
Lucien threw the doors open. A pair of deadly growls came from inside. He quickly shut it.
“Did you know he animated the dragon paintings?”
Okay, apparently not all the magic.
“Did you see the battery in there?” Aspen said.
“No. But I didn’t really look.” Lucien took a deep breath. “I want to you to check for me on three. One. Two—”
He threw the doors open again. There was a flash of color and curling dragon whiskers, and the pair of them wriggled between the seams of the door jamb. Lucien was already raising his hands, his mouth forming the words to a counterspell.
Aspen ducked under them just as the first of his spells crackled through the air, making her skin buzz.
Xavier’s study, much like the rest of the house, appeared as it had before, except for the lack of magic.
And the lack of the battery.
The center table where Aspen had seen it before was completely empty. She quickly scanned the rest of the room to make sure he hadn’t moved it anywhere else.
“It’s not here, Lucien!” she called.
The sound of magic from the hallways had tapered off. When Aspen cautiously stepped out again, Lucien was staring down at two colorful strips of paint as they lazily drifted from the wall to the floor.
“Good job,” Aspen said, impressed.
“It wasn’t me. Well, it partially was, but…”
He tilted his head up. He raised his hand and snapped. A small ball of ghost-blue flame ignited on the tip of his finger. It flickered there for a moment before sputtering and whisking away above, as though being sucked through the ceiling.
“Xavier’s spell must be drawing all the nearby magic to it. The closer we get, the weaker my spells will grow,” Lucien said. “On the plus side, that means Xavier’s magic should be weaker, too.”
He didn’t sound encouraged by this. He looked at Aspen. “No battery?”
“He’s taken it with him.”
Lucien spun in a circle. He pointed to a door at the end of the hall, one Aspen hadn’t noticed last time. On the other side of it was a stone stairwell, narrow and rotating upwards.
They started up. Aspen’s heart pounded faster the closer they grew to the top. The closer they grew to Xavier. She was here at last; she was going to face him, and this time she was going to—
Her foot tripped over the next step. She tried to catch herself but the brick her foot landed on simply vanished beneath her, reforming itself the moment she wasn’t touching it. Now the steps her back foot stood on were giving way, too. Aspen began sliding backwards.
“Grab something!” Lucien call
ed above her, beginning to slide back himself.
Aspen frantically clawed at the steps nearest her until she figured out they wouldn’t stay solid beneath her anymore. Hoping this didn’t hold true for the walls, she jammed her fingers between the jagged cracks to her right. Her body jolted to a halt. Her wrists and shoulders screamed in protest.
By now the entire stairway seemed to have turned on them. Lucien hadn’t found a way to slow himself down and was rapidly descending toward her, picking up speed by the second. Aspen could imagine him gaining more and more momentum all the way to the very bottom where he’d come to a sudden, abrupt halt.
He was nearly to her now. Her fingers felt like lead chips, but still she reached out and grabbed the collar of his robe. No sooner had Lucien jerked to a stop than he rolled over and yelled, “Sesulian!”
Glowing pads of light blossomed on the wall across from him. Lucien held his hands up and they were pulled across to the center of the pads and stuck there.
“Aspen! Hurry and follow me! Put your hands where I do!”
Aspen shook her head frantically. “It won’t work on me! I’ll just negate it!”
The pad was shrinking beneath his hands, being eaten up by the spell Xavier was performing above.
“It’s already negating,” Lucien said. “Hurry up!”
Aspen hurriedly contorted her body so that her feet were nearly flat against the wall, her toes tucked just beneath her fingers. She took a single, steadying breath. Then she kicked off, her hands flailing for the nearest glowing pads Lucien had left.
Her palms collided with them. They almost immediately began to dissolve beneath her.
“Next one! Quick!” Lucien said.
Like he needed to tell her that.
He was already making his way up the wall like some sort of magical leap frog, looking ridiculous with his lanky, longish limbs grasping for each glowing point, his cloak trailing behind him.
Aspen followed. Each time she landed she had to rock her body in place to maintain any sort of balance. Her eyes were constantly forward, timing the next jump. The nearer they grew to the top the faster the patches of magic faded until she was often jumping onto almost nothing at all.
Mage's Apprentice (Mages of New York Book 1) Page 27
