by N. M. Howell
The creature inhaled mightily through its nose, the wind of it stirring the surrounding leaves. Raina realized it was hunting—hunting for her. Was it the same thing she’d seen in the lake? As it neared she saw algae clinging to its dull orange scales. A name came to her, from something she’d only seen in childhood picture books. A nithedrake, the most evil and dangerous of all the dragon family.
Nithedrake were creatures of the Dark Fae, used to hunt and kill unwary Light Fae, or as mounts to fly above protective wards and dive into battle. Something about their presence dulled Light Fae magic, perhaps an adaptation to allow the sinister monsters access to their favorite snack.
After the great truce, the Dark Fae agreed to divest themselves of the lethal creatures. Raina had never seen nor heard of one in her life. The Light Fae believed them all but extinct. But to encounter one here, in the middle of New York City? Surely, she must still be trapped in a dream.
With a roar, the massive, smoking head twisted toward her, fanged maw wide. The head darted toward her, large enough to bite her in half. No, that hot, sulphurous breath most definitely smelled real. Ice cold panic filled her veins.
Instinctively, she held her hand in front of her. A futile gesture at best. To her shock, a scythe of light flew from her, growing, slicing and splashing with sparking energy into the beast’s face.
What the hell was that? She didn’t have time to consider. Raina leaped off the angled log, down the tumble of boulders. Behind her, the fallen tree exploded in splinters, the rocks cracking and thundering from the nithedrake’s passage. A sound like huge drums shook the park. The nithedrake was taking flight. Raina ran along the twisting path of The Ramble. Fire rained around her, behind her, setting the branches alight. She didn’t have enough of a head start. The monster would fry her to death. With the sound of a raging storm, the creature inhaled mightily above her. An idea occurred. She knew approximately where she was in the park. Making a hard right, she headed toward the lake. Between her and the water, nestled in trees between two abrupt rises, was an archway beneath a narrow path.
Despite the dark, Raina sprinted along the path, diving for the stone shelter as the nithedrake let loose. Both sides of the path beneath the arch billowed with white-hot flames, but Raina remained sheltered from the worst of the heat. Wings beat heavily, the creature flying past. She knew it would only circle back. It was too big to pass through the arch, but it could easily hop over it once it discovered its prey.
She remembered a nursery rhyme her mother taught her. A hide-and-seek song that could make her invisible, to give her a leg up on older children but not reveal herself with the power of a Phaze. Maybe. If she could even remember it. Raina cast her memory back.
Nithedrake, o Nithedrake
Not a sense will I awake
Nary a single twig I’ll break
A frightened breath I will not take
Neither a leafy branch I’ll shake
Nithedrake, o Nithedrake
Wyvern, o Wyvern
My shadow you cannot discern
For my blood you do not yearn
I am none of your concern
Away! Away from me you turn
Wyvern, o Wyvern
Drum-beat wings lost tempo. The nithedrake settled to the ground with an earthquake. Long, scaly body stiffened, tail waving hypnotically, taloned feet scraping furrows in the concrete, the horror locked glowing orange eyes with hers.
The eyes narrowed. Sinuously, the neck moved the narrow, toothy head back and forth.
Raina’s heart soared. It couldn’t see her. She held her hands in front of her—visible as always. Yet the nithedrake turned in a great circle, its tail shaking the stone arch as it moved.
For what seemed like hours, the monster searched for Raina. First on the ground, then taking to the air again. She could see its huge wings against the cloud-obscured disc of the moon. Finally, it was gone. She had heard there was a cave beneath this part of the park, long closed. Nithedrakes supposedly lived in caves, guarding treasure hoards. Maybe this one had found its way in—or, more likely, out.
Seeing no sign of the thing, the scent of brimstone faded, the leathery drum beats silent, she stole out of The Ramble. Across the lake, she saw the academy building. Nothing doing there—hardly even a light to be seen. Counting herself lucky, Raina gained the path over the arch. It led to West 77th and Central Park West. She walked to the subway station outside the Museum of Natural History and headed home.
15
Sunlight slanted at her as she emerged from the subway. What time was it? Had the dream lasted all night? It was early when she’d performed the soft scry on Derek. Now the entire night had gone. She must’ve slept, the exhaustion from her tiny feats of magic no longer weighing her. Perhaps she still had adrenalin going from her encounter with the nithedrake.
She scanned the buildings as she walked, looking for a clock. There was a scrolling sign on a bank across from the Welcome to Chinatown sign, but the numbers flashed by too quickly for her to translate. Early morning pedestrians already mobbed the street. Was she late for her promised shift for Lee Wing?
Hurrying, she crossed against several lights, making her way to the store. Maybe she could sneak in and grab an apron before Lee noticed she was missing.
In the alley, she saw Derek unlocking the door to the rear stairs.
“What are you doing here?”
Duh. “I’m late for work.”
“Where the hell have you been?”
She could ask him the same question. “C’mon, open up, your dad’s gonna kill me.”
“What? No. I had to remind him you were enrolled in that damn school.” Derek smirked. “Nothing like the mention of higher education to get your Chinese father off your back.”
“Seriously?” Raina’s heart lifted. “You covered for me?”
“Of course I did. What kind of guy do you think I am?”
She put her back to him, headed for the subway again. “I really have no idea anymore,” she muttered under her breath.
“Just… Be careful,” he called after her.
Once again ensconced in the brattling D Train car, she wondered what she was even doing at the academy. The classes were nonsensical, theoretical, and it seemed as if the Dark Fae had no more idea where Light Fae magic came from than the humans did. It sprung from everywhere, with Bright Fae children needing to learn how not to ensorcel, augur, or cast. Studies of the Dark Fae involved obtaining magic from a world now shrouded in magic-muting iron. They treated the supernatural energy like gold or gems, struggling to free more of it. Light Fae treated magic like oxygen or water. Or at least that’s how it had been before the destruction of the portal.
Huge puffy clouds skated across the blue morning sky. Finally, a day without overcast. Raina felt her spirits lift as she walked into the green sward of Central Park. She walked the paths with a spring in her step. Her boots hardly even squished.
Even the sight of the pre-fab, quasi-neo-classical building didn’t diminish her sprits too much. Perhaps she had gotten more sleep than she realized. Until she saw him heading her way.
Jax strode purposely toward her across the pedestal before the academy building. Resigned, she stuck her nose in the air and quickened her pace toward the front doors.
He caught up with her, holding the door.
“I’d like to talk with you.”
Raina shook her head and kept walking toward her first class, Magical Charging of Inanimate Objects. A total yawn-fest. “I don’t think there’s anything left to say.”
“How about I start with ‘I’m sorry.’”
That almost gave her pause. She slowed down enough to take him in. Same vaguely military outfit. His blunt, haughty features now held a conciliatory expression. She gave him a one-shoulder shrug. “That would be a nice start.”
“Rainara.” He reached out and took both of her hands, facing her toward him.
Those black, intense eyes—being so focused upon by Ja
x sent a warmth through her that she wanted to ignore.
“It was wrong of me to spring the peering stone on you like that.”
Raina couldn’t help but feel his firm grip, his searching eyes. She had to keep her cool. “That’s a pretty good start.”
Jax’ gaze broke. He took in other students in the hall, the females whispering and smiling. “Come on, let’s find a more private place to talk.”
He led her down a set of stairs, dusty with disuse. Raina’s emotions warred as he led her to a secluded hallway. Her heart leapt at the solitude, only the two of them together. At the same time, his people had forced her to flee the city. She’d been on the run from them for years. Still, he was so beautiful, his intent sincere. He took her hands again, and she didn’t bother to suppress the flutter this time.
“I understand your apprehension about the peering stone. We barely know each other. I don’t think I would want someone I hardly know sharing some of my more intimate secrets.”
Between the words intimate and secret, she felt like her emotions were on a roller coaster. Raina couldn’t speak. She swallowed hard, trying to gain her wits. “Totally. I’m sure there’s another way.”
“I don’t think so.” Jax said.
“You don’t?”
Raina caught footsteps on the concrete stairs. She was both hoping for an interruption, and annoyed by the intrusion.
“No.” Jax frowned, following her eyes. His brows lowered before returning to her.
Trini appeared at the landing. She gave the couple a smirk before walking off down the corridor. Jax didn’t even pause.
“I think the way is to get to know each other better.”
“What?” She was distracted, as much by Trini’s appearance as Jax’ apparently not seeing her.
“Much, much better.”
Pay attention, Raina. “Um. Okay?”
“I’m asking you out on a date, Rainara. No rabbits, no secret location, no pretending to be a dark mysterious figure. How about dinner? I know a quiet place not too far from the academy.”
No, no, no. She was not falling for this Dark Fae. She did not need to know him much, much better. She needed to find out how to reopen the portal, to save her entire race. Not to mention keeping up this human façade.
“I have a lot going on,” she said. “School, work. I’m pretty busy.”
Trini’s footfalls faded away. What the hell was that girl up to?
“You don’t understand. I’m not going to stop asking until you agree. You might as well say yes right now.”
Trini had been with Derek when she’s soft-scryed him. Raina had to find out what she was up to. But she couldn’t’, not with Jax holding her hands and staring at her and making her insides go way melty. “Okay, how about a solid maybe?”
He gave her a mock look of disapproval. “Fine. I’ll call you.”
“Okay, that’s good. I’ve got to go to class.”
“I’ll call you soon.”
“Soon is—” To her shock, Jax pulled her close. A hand pressed the small of her back. He leaned closer, fingers on her jawline, gently guiding her into a kiss. His lips were hot. Something melted inside her, releasing a floodgate of head-spinning desire. Raina threw an arm around his neck, kissing him back hard.
Trini. Damn her! Raina broke the kiss with a gasp. “Class,” she managed breathlessly.
“Soon.” Jax smiled at her, and headed back up the steps.
Wobbling on her feet, Raina put a hand over her heart. It threatened to tear straight through her rib cage.
Well, shit.
Trying to pull it together, she started off the way Trini had gone. She hurried, as fast and as quietly as she could. Boots echoed, and Raina found another staircase leading down, this one even more dusty than the first. So dusty, in fact, that she could see prints on the treads.
This sub-basement was barely lit. Still, when Raina peeked around the stairwell, she saw Trini approaching two men who stood guard at the end of the hall. She ducked back. If the childhood spell had worked on the nithedrake, it might work on those two Dark Fae guards—and hopefully Trini as well.
Nithedrake, o Nithedrake
Not a sense will I awake…
Steeling herself, she walked quickly down the hallway. The guards didn’t even stir. Trini pushed through a door covered with glowing wards. Raina broke into a run. Before the men could wonder at the door opening on its own, she slipped in behind Trini. After a split second, the door slammed behind her.
“I thought you locked it.” She heard voices through the stout wood.
“I thought you locked it.”
“This is a new building. Why is it so drafty?”
Raina pressed her back to the wall beside the door. Trini chuckled to herself and headed into a far corner. At a wave of her hand, gem-like globes of light pulsed in the corners. Immediately, Raina recognized the damp, stone walls, the familiar orange flicker, the way the dim light silhouetted Trini. It was the room from her soft-scry. Except now, instead of Trini and Derek having a tense conversation, two men sat, chained to chairs, each across from an ornate gold brazier.
The half-Fae made a fist and pumped it downward. Coals in the brazier glowed to yellow and blue life. Prisoners jerked in shock, straining at the manacles.
They were dressed in black combat clothes, torn and shredded. On the floor, two hood-like masks lay, discarded. Exposed skin showed a pattern of contusions particular to magical skirmishing. Dry blood trailed from ears, nostrils, the corners of mouths, even from the eyes. One man’s eyebrows and hair were burned down to ashes. The other’s face was one large bruise.
Raina knew these were the men who raided the school along with Derek, only these two had been unlucky enough to be caught and tortured.
Their eyes rolled wildly, Trini’s Phaze of Disregard shielding her presence. She stepped behind the burned man. From beneath her short jacket, Trini produced a short dagger in glimmering black. The half-fae made a gesture as if pulling a cobweb from her hair. As she did, the bruised man gasped, “Oh, God, no.” His eyes locked on the blade.
“You knew how this was going to go down,” Trini said.
Through clenched teeth, the bruised man said, “Just make it quick.”
Trini sighed. “It won’t be quick. And it certainly won’t be painless.” With one hand on the burned man’s shoulder, Trini raised the black knife. The burned man closed his eyes.
16
Gods beyond, Trini was going to kill them! Raina couldn’t let that happen, damn the consequences. She raced across the dark room, slapping the knife from Trini’s hand. At the contact, her incantation broke. Trini struck out, a kick sweeping the legs out from under Raina. But Raina had a grip on the Dark Fae’s wrist. The two of them went down in a tumble.
Trini had the muscular strength of a human coupled with years of training. Had Raina full access to her magic, a simple gesture of her fingers would produce a Static Lunge that would slam the half-fae into the far wall. But she had no magic. It was no contest. In half a second, Raina lay face down, Trini on top of her. The Dark Fae pulled Raina’s wrist back behind her shoulder blade. It felt like her arm would pop free.
“Ow!” Was all Raina could come up with.
“How could you follow me? How could you even get in here?”
“Get off me! You’re hurting me.” Raina tried to wiggle free, only to get more pressure on her arm, her shoulder. “Gods, you’re heavy.”
“Rude. Speak for yourself, Friend.” Trini leaned closer, her breath in Raina’s ear. Damn it, the half-fae wasn’t even breathing hard. “What are you?”
“I’m not a killer, that’s for sure!”
“Stupid girl.” Trini let go and jumped to her feet. In the moment it took Raina to get control of her arm and sit up, the half-fae had retrieved the black knife.
The prisoners looked on in mute shock.
“This is an anamnesis anlace, the blade of memory. With it, remembrances can be probed. In this ca
se, they will be excised.” Trini held the handle between her palms and spun the blade back and forth.
Raina got to her feet. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not surprised.” Trini smirked. “These humans are firm believers in a cause. Zealots, if you will. The fact that I must cut all memories of that belief from their minds is horrifying. More horrifying is that they will be tortured for information they no longer possess.”
Zealots, Raina thought. Derek. “Belief in what? Information about what?”
Trini brandished the anlace, waving it around the burned man’s head. “I don’t have time for that right now. The guard shift changes in less than an hour. Go stand in the corner and shut up.”
Raina’s stomach turned as Trini plunged the knife into the burned man’s forehead, whispering a chant in a strange language. The man’s brown eyes bulged. As Trini worked, the brown dissolved, becoming as reflective as two tiny mirrors. When the blade came out, bloodless, woundless, the man sagged forward, unconscious.
Trini leaned on the chair for a moment, catching her breath. Her face shined with perspiration in the wan glow of the room. She crossed to the bruised man. Tears fell from his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Trini said low. Then, the whispered chant began. She stabbed with the knife, which met no resistance. The man shuddered, restraints clinking. His blue eyes underwent the same change, becoming like silvered glass. Trini withdrew the blade. She tossed it onto the brazier, and it erupted in a cloud of green steam before vanishing.
Trini hugged herself, panting. “Well, that sucked.”
“I want to know what’s going on,” Raina demanded. “How is Derek involved in this?”
The half-fae’s features turned down. “Forget about that Moth-Boy. Let’s talk about you, Friend.”
“What about—”
“You can see me when I’m in full Phaze. You can walk through warded doors without setting them off. You got past the guards at the door without even trying. Hell, I didn’t even see you following me. What are you?”
