by Linsey Hall
As I’d thought.
We raced through the halls on silent feet. This was going too smoothly. The sun was fully overhead when we made it out of the main building. It shined so brightly on the gold that it was nearly blinding.
“Come on!” Zoana waved us forward. “There’s a back gate over here.”
As soon as she’d spoken, the guards appeared. Over two dozen of them, so fast that I hadn’t even heard them coming. They closed in, surrounding us.
Maximus conjured a sword and lunged, moving so quickly I almost couldn’t see him. He’d beheaded four guards within seconds.
Holy fates.
I’d never seen anyone fight like him.
Zoana threw out her hands, hissing, “Sleep!”
Two of the guards keeled right over.
I ignored the dagger at my thigh—too small—and dragged a sword from the ether, wishing that I had my potion bombs.
I swung for the nearest guard and sliced him across the chest. He bellowed and stumbled back. Another darted toward me, sweeping out with his blade. I ducked, jabbing upward with mine and sinking it into his gut.
To my left, Maximus was a whirlwind. Blood sprayed, but he was so quick that a drop never landed on him. I could see how he’d survived so long in the fighting pits.
When a guard’s blade sliced toward his arm, Maximus didn’t even flinch. No wound, either, just like before.
But there were so many guards. They seemed to be appearing out of nowhere.
Panic flashed on Zoana’s face. “They won’t stop coming!”
“Eventually, they have to.” I panted as I swung my sword, trying to ignore the pain of a recent slice to my thigh.
“No, they don’t.” Her gaze met mine. “My great uncle’s magic is powerful.”
The fear in her eyes made my heart thunder. Crap, she was really afraid. And it made me believe her. The guards might never stop coming.
I kept fighting, but she was right. More and more came. Even Maximus couldn’t take them all on—not if they were endless in number.
Panic rose in my chest.
Trapped. I was trapped here, fighting endless guards with golden swords.
It was the same feeling I’d had with the Rebel Gods, and the same feeling with the demon in The Vaults. The same feeling with the Caipora.
Trapped. Doomed.
When the dark magic started to rise in my belly, I expected it. The darkness came whenever I felt like I was going to die. Whenever I felt as trapped as I had been with my captors for five years.
I fought it, desperately not wanting to give in to the evil. It tainted my soul, made sickness sweep through my limbs.
But I couldn’t fight it. It was too strong.
My eyes began to glow. I could only tell because the faces of the men in front of me gleamed even brighter than they had before.
Oh, crap.
We really needed any help we could get right now—and my dark magic sure packed a hell of a punch—but I didn’t want it to escape. Not again.
I had no choice, though. It was like a steam train barreling down.
“Zoana, Maximus. Get down!”
Their gazes flashed to me, shock evident. The fear in my voice was so strong that they reacted immediately. They dived low, scrambling away through the legs of the guards. The movement shocked the hell out of the guards, who couldn’t figure it out for a few seconds.
It gave Zoana and Maximus just enough time to get far enough away. I hoped. Because I was out of control. The power had filled me up to the brim. It made my skin feel like it would burst from the pressure.
The magic exploded out of me, darkness blasting the guards into dust.
Frantic, I searched for Zoana and Maximus. They were huddled on the ground, covered in the remains of the guards.
Ew.
“Come on!” I said. More guards would come, but hopefully I’d bought us a bit of time.
My friends leapt up. Zoana’s bright eyes met mine. Then she turned, sprinted toward the gate, and pressed her hand to it. The latch sparked with magic, then the gate swung open. We darted out into the jungle.
Behind us, guards shouted.
“Hurry!” I yelled to Maximus.
He shoved his hand into his pocket and withdrew the transportation charm, then hurled it to the ground. A cloud of glittery gray smoke rose upward, and I grabbed Zoana’s hand, lunging into it.
The last thing I heard was the roar of the guards, and I prayed the portal would close before they could reach it.
10
I arrived in the Grassmarket, panting. Maximus appeared next to us, and the portal closed behind him. No guards followed, thank fates.
I looked at Zoana. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her face pale. “I never thought I’d escape that jungle.”
I frowned. “You were able to walk right out of the gate, though.”
“Yes, but how was I going to get through the jungle on foot? Without a boat, it’s a two month walk. With no food or fresh water and monsters at every turn?”
“Right. Them.” In all the stress and adventure, I’d forgotten about them. But honestly, giant monsters were such a normal part of my everyday that I hadn’t registered them as a real issue.
“Well, thank you.” She nodded at us both. “I’ll be on my way.”
“Wait, you’ve been in the jungle all your life. Don’t you need help, like, assimilating?” I waved my hands to gesture to everything around us.
She looked around, her eyes wide. “It is different. But I’ll be fine. If my uncle comes after you for taking his potions, I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”
“Fair enough,” Maximus said. “But if you need help, the Undercover Protectorate can hide you.”
I nodded. “They protected my sisters when they were running from something terrible.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.” She smiled. “But someone has been in control of me my whole life. I want to be in control now.”
With that, she slipped away into the crowd.
I looked at Maximus. “Thank fates for her.”
He nodded. “Let’s take the portal back to the Protectorate.”
I followed him through the busy streets, passing by supernaturals of all varieties. Dusk was falling and shop windows were lighting up, sending a golden glow over the cobblestones and storefronts.
Maximus seemed to know exactly where the portal to the Protectorate was located, and I followed his longer strides toward the alley.
“You’re allowed to go through the portal?” I asked. “I thought only Protectorate members could.”
“Jude gave me special permission.”
“Ah. Because you’re training me.” I followed him into the alley.
He turned abruptly and faced me, looming in the dark. I startled a bit, then held my ground.
“Speaking of that.” His voice was low. “I wanted to wait until we were away from the crowds. But your dark magic went haywire back in the jungle.”
I swallowed hard. “I know.”
“And your skin now has a gray cast to it.”
My hand flew to my cheek. “Wait, what? Gray?”
He nodded, his brows lowered and his mouth flat. “The dark magic is growing inside you. I think the signature is manifesting as a gray aura. You’re going to have to learn to control your signature to keep anyone from knowing what is happening. And if you can’t control the magic, I can’t guarantee you won’t be discovered. I should turn you in, but…”
He looked like maybe he didn’t want to. Please don’t want to.
“Just try harder to control your power. You have to.”
Shit, shit, shit. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“I can help you with learning to repress your signature, but it’s just a Band-Aid. We’re going to have to find the counterspell to whatever the Great One gave the monster. Once we’ve stopped it from feeding, you’ll hopefully have a break and be able to get the magic under control.”
“Let’s get back to the Protectorate and see what the others have found out. I’m pretty good with potions, but Hedy is a genius with this kind of thing.”
“Hedy?”
“The R&D witch. She develops new spells and weapons for us. Like Q from James Bond.”
He grinned. “I’ve seen that one. She must be useful.”
“Very.”
We hurried to the portal and stepped through. Again, there was the briefest hesitation. The magic in the portal was starting to sense the darkness in me. It didn’t want to let me through to the Protectorate in case I was a threat.
Dread filled me, dark and thick.
Finally, the portal spat me out into the enchanted glen. I did my best to shake away the dread. Fairy lights twinkled through the gnarled old trees, lighting the way down the path. It didn’t take long to reach the main lawn, and we raced up the castle steps. As always, the massive wooden doors swung open to permit us entrance to the huge hall.
As if she’d seen us coming across the grass, Jude raced down the main stairs, her starry blue eyes glued to us. “Well? What did you find?”
“A definite clue,” I said. “Can we get Hedy in the round room? Lachlan, too, if he’s around.”
Lachlan was Ana’s boyfriend. He was a master potion maker and the Arch Magus, the most powerful mage in the world. Between him and Hedy, they could figure this out. Though I was getting pretty danged good with potions, I’d only been at it six months. They’d been practicing for years. I’d learned a lot from both of them, in fact.
“I’ll find them.” She turned to head back up the stairs, then stopped and turned back around, squinting at me. “Are you all right? You look a bit ill.”
I swallowed hard. “Um, just a rough trip through the jungle.”
“Ah.” She nodded knowingly, but I was pretty sure she didn’t realize what was wrong with me.
She turned and I shared a glance with Maximus. He was willing to keep my secret now, but for how long?
I looked at him, but his expression was unreadable. I started toward the round room.
Maximus followed me down the ancient hall, past old artwork and flickering sconces. A huge round table was set up in the round room, and I felt a bit like Arthur and his knights as I sat.
A few moments later, the rest joined us. Hedy and Jude sat on the other side of the table, while Lachlan and Bree took a spot between us. Lachlan was a tall, dark-haired man with dark eyes and a strong aura of power. In a way, he was a bit like Maximus.
They introduced themselves, then Jude leaned forward. “What did you find?”
I put the pouch of the Great One’s potions on the table and pushed it across, then told the story of our adventure in the jungle.
“That’s good stuff,” Jude said.
“We can definitely make progress with this.” Hedy dug into the bag and removed the ingredients. She passed some over to Lachlan, who inspected them.
“What has everyone else found?” I asked.
“Ali and Haris might have a lead on the demons’ current location, so they are tracking that,” Jude said. “Ana and Caro are off trying to find out what kind of bird or beast has a feather like the ones left at the scene. There’ve been two more murders, but no one from the PITs arrived in time to catch the monster.”
“There will be even more,” Maximus said. “The demons are creating a super monster and letting it loose. Every time it feeds, it grows stronger. There’s no reason for them to stop.”
Hedy and Lachlan stood.
Hedy looked at Jude. “We’ll get started right away on analyzing these ingredients. Hopefully we’ll find a counterspell soon, and the beast will no longer be able to break flesh with its claws and beak.”
Lachlan looked at me. “Rowan, do you want to be part of this? I know you’re interested in potions.”
Interested was one way to put it. Developing the potions had become my lifeline—something I was good at when I had no other magic.
“I don’t know.” Bree frowned. “Maybe Rowan should rest. She doesn’t look well.”
I barely resisted touching my cheek. I needed to get this dark magic under control. At least enough to control my signature so it didn’t turn my skin gray and make me look like death. “I don’t feel that bad. Maximus was going to show me a few fight moves, then I’ll join you in Hedy’s workshop.”
Jude smiled. “Good. I’m glad you’re taking your training seriously. You’re going to need it if you want to pass the Academy.”
Jude was a hard taskmaster, but I appreciated it. I nodded.
We split up, and I met Maximus at the door. “I’m going to grab a quick shower and change of clothes. Where do you want to do the training?”
“Outside is fine. Away from people.”
I nodded, then left him. He wasn’t living in the castle, so did he have a place to get cleaned up? Should I invite him up to mine?
No.
I didn’t want to get too attached. I needed to focus on my work, and attachments were dangerous. Especially to an Order of the Magica person. I couldn’t trust him. Not as long as he worked for them.
I shoved away thoughts of Maximus and hurried up to my apartment. The halls were quiet as I slipped through, and I was grateful not to run into anyone. It had been obvious Bree wanted to ask me questions about the gray cast to my skin, but Jude had asked her to go on a job, so she’d departed.
My touch unlocked the door to my tower apartment, and I climbed the stairs to the main floor. I pushed open the door, my shoulders relaxing at the sight of my own space. It might be cluttered and full of potions and equipment, but it was mine.
A rustling from the kitchen on the left made me stiffen. It was open to the main living space, with a low butcher block bar separating it from the living room, but I could see no one.
Carefully, I drew a sword from the ether. “Who’s there?”
I edged toward the kitchen, every surface of which was covered with potion-making stuff and a few packages of double chocolate cookies. My skin tightened as I waited for the intruder to show themselves. But no one did.
I stepped in and spotted the cabinet door to the trash swinging open. At that moment, the trash bin tumbled over, and three creatures rolled out of it.
Romeo blinked up at me, then grinned, his little fangs sharp and white.
Poppy had an old cheese rind in her paws, and Eloise the badger had a yogurt cup. They’d bypassed the cookies entirely and went straight for the trash bin. To each their own.
Hello, friend. Romeo grinned wider.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
You said we could have your trash. He plucked dejectedly at an empty beer bottle. But there’s not quite as much as I’d hoped.
“I’m just one person.”
Well, you could eat at home more. His eyes brightened at that. If you don’t eat here, you must eat somewhere else in this palatial estate.
“Palatial estate? What kind of raccoon says that?”
He brushed off his shoulder and gave me a sassy look. Smart raccoons. He nudged Poppy and Eloise with his foot. Come on. We’re off to find better trash.
Poppy nodded, as if saying About time.
She was a bit of a grumpy possum, but I liked her. Eloise was more of the strong and silent type, but I liked her, too.
They hurried off, and I grabbed a cookie, chowing down. Still chewing, I hopped into the shower, cleaning up as quickly as I could. While the water pounded on me, I focused on the dark magic that filled me up. It made me feel vaguely ill, a slight nausea that was off-putting. I sucked in a slow breath and tried to force the magic back down, driving it deep inside myself so the gray cast would leave my skin.
Every time I thought I had a handle on it, it slipped through my grasp.
Damn it.
I needed to get control of this, but I couldn’t. I freaking hated magic at this point. The Rebel Gods had forced me to use it against my sisters, which any good shrink would say had given me PTSD or an aversion to magic or something like that, but I wanted to be stronger. I wanted to fight my way past this.
But I just couldn’t.
Tears smarted my eyes, and I blinked them back, determined not to let them fall.
I shut off the water and got out, drying off quickly and then switching out my clothes. Pink and black again, with neon-green underwear that featured a giraffe’s head on the butt. Goofy underwear was a weakness of mine, along with my pink lipstick and weird, fancy beer. No one would see it, but that wasn’t the point. Then I refilled my potions belt and strapped my mother’s dagger to my leg. After grabbing my bag of potions, I headed back down the stairs. Before going outside, I swung by the kitchens beneath the main hall.
As usual, Hans was bustling around, his white chef’s hat crooked on his head. Boris the rat rode on top, his constant companion. Once upon a time, I might have been grossed out by a rat in the kitchen.
After my captivity, however, when things had been really bad, I found it charming. Life was too short to be bothered by rats. And Boris had some truly excellent hygiene, always washing his little hands in the sink but making a point to stay away from the food, for the most part.
“You brought guests!” Hans’s mustache quivered with delight as he pointed to my three new sidekicks.
Romeo, Poppy, and Eloise were set up at a small table near the fire, each dining on a plate of trash.
“They insisted on only eating from the bin.” Hans grinned. “Such a brilliant way to reduce waste.”
The Menacing Menagerie shot me three fangy smiles. I gazed back at them, bemused, then asked Hans for a couple of sandwiches.
He handed them over, along with two juice boxes. “Don’t forget your juice!”
He had a thing for juice.
I’ll eat your crusts if you don’t want them.
“Finish your plate first, Romeo. Looks like you’ve got some good garbage on there.”
