From far away, a long whine rose with the smoke. It was her. It had to be.
Rase jogged from one side to the other, stopping beside a large barrel filled with crystal clear water. He used his teeth to cut the hem of his t-shirt. He ripped the bottom away from the rest. He dipped the material into the water and then tied if over the bottom half of his face.
Winnie hooked his arm and pushed her talkbox to his ear. “I’ll come with you.”
He shook his head. “No, wait here.”
Winnie tried to come with him, but he waved her off. When she finally listened, he bolted through the flames. At the bottom, he leapt over the last two already-collapsed stairs. Heat singed his cheeks as he hurtled through a wall of smoke.
When he landed on the other side, his knees buckled, flinging him into a hairy mass in the middle of the storage hold. A coarse mane grazed his face, and the stench of burned hair made his eyes water.
When he sat up, curses poured from his mouth. He’d landed face-first in the abdomen of a giant spider. Instead of the normal head, it had the snout of a bear, blood coagulated on its teeth.
The hairs shivered, and he kicked it in the side, but the beast didn’t move again.
Rase’s heart thumped in his chest.
Jess’s parents laid on the floor, their limbs tangled together. Her dad had a split lip and a black eye. Her mother’s lipstick smeared over her chin and her mascara streaked her cheeks.
Rase swallowed. Were they… Were they…. Surely, they weren’t…
He knelt beside them. They had to be okay. He pressed his fingers to the father’s neck to check for a pulse. The heartbeat pumped. He moved to Jess’s mother. The same thud-thud-thud worked beneath his fingertip.
He sagged with relief, nearly losing his balance. He had to get them above the smoke. They’d die there. Where was Jess? Where had she gone? She had to be here. Where else would she be?
The wood splintered, and a beam crashed down from the ceiling. The next right thing… The next right thing….
He hefted Jess’s mom onto his back and carried her to Winnie. Carefully, he lowered her to the ground. He grasped Winnie’s shoulders. “That’s Jess’s mom. Get her out of here.”
Winnie’s gaze darted from the unconscious woman at their feet then back to Rase. She nodded and then crouched beside the woman.
Rase returned to the hold and dragged Jess’s dad back up with him. Reaching the top, he collapsed, gulping at the fresh air while he put out the smoldering spots on her father’s trousers. Not done yet.
He hefted the man onto his back and ferried him down the gangplank. He laid him beside his wife. Winnie hovered nearby, wringing her hands.
Rase pointed to her. “Get help.”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
He grimaced. “To get Jess.”
She ran toward the entrance of Unseen Street.
Rase boarded the burning ship once more and flung himself back through the flames. Spots danced in his vision. He couldn’t search much longer. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Jess!” Come on. Come on. “Where are you?”
A shriek cut through the noise in the hold. The sound came again, and Rase spun toward it. “Jess! I’m coming.”
“Rase? Rase! Why are you here? We’re sinking. Get out of here.”
The vessel shuddered, and she screamed.
Rase crisscrossed the hold, searching. “Where are you?”
“In here. I’m in here,” she whimpered.
Turning, he spied a gap in the rear wall, half as large as his bedroom door back home. He edged toward it, but the cloud thickened.
Smoke obscured his vision and made it hard to breathe. He dropped to the floor. Coughing, he army crawled as fast as he could toward the opening.
I’m coming, Jess.
Just inside, he stopped to survey the interior.
Jess laid on her back. Thick metal chains draped her body, the end of each one bolted to the floor. She whipped her head back and forth, crying and coughing.
He scooted toward her. “It’s okay. We’re going to get you out.” He spoke in a low voice, soothing her the way he did panicked creatures.
She opened swollen eyes and pressed her cheek to his forearm. “Oh, Rase. How did you find me? You shouldn’t be here. Is Winnie safe?” Fresh wounds and red welts covered her. Burns striped her skin.
He smoothed her hair back from her face. “I found your parents.”
She froze. “Are they… Did they…” She choked on the word.
“They’re alive. Winnie’s with them.”
She sagged against him.
He tugged on the chains. “Now we just have to get you out of here.”
The chains rattled as she tried to claw her way out. “I tried to burn through them,” she sobbed. “But I set the ship on fire instead. I don’t want to die, Rase.”
“We’re not going to die,” he soothed, pressing his palm to the bolts that fastened the chains that held her down. His hands glowed. Molten metal dripped out from beneath his fingers, burning holes in the already-heated decking.
The ship quaked. He had to go faster. Something crashed in the other room.
Rase placed his other hand on hers. Linking helped.
Jess gasped, and her eyes widened. “Rase. Rase. What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer, too afraid to break his concentration as he moved on to the next bolt.
Chapter Nineteen
Clean-Up
When Rase set her on the pier, Jess’s knees buckled. She clutched at him, and he steadied her before letting go of her.
She searched their surroundings, spinning slowly. “Where did he go?” she gasped. “He has the key. To the gate. We can’t let him get away.”
Beside them, the galleon blazed, burning hot enough that her skin turned hot. Sparks showered them. She wiped the back of her hand over her eyes. When she brought it away, soot smeared the back of her hand.
“We need to get out of here,” Rase said.
Winnie moved from spot to spot, stomping out any embers that looked like they might catch fire. She crouched beside Jess’s parents and then glanced up. “They can move now.” She jerked her thumb toward Jess and held up her talkbox. “Who’s she looking for?”
“Edward,” Jess answered, gesturing wildly. Didn’t they understand? Didn’t they know who he was? She had to catch him. She had to get him. He’d left her and her parents to die. If she didn’t end this now, they’d lose their chance.
Rase pointed to the bay. “What in the—”
Jess dashed down the length of the dock, leaping over holes already burned through the decking. She screeched to a halt at the end, scrambling backwards to keep from tipping into the water. In the distance, sleeker and smaller than the Fae galleon, another ship sailed toward the open sea.
“That’s him,” she said, pointing. She pushed her hand through her hair. Did she have enough ability? Maybe she could call all the sea creatures to help. She chewed her bottom lip. Did she have enough left in her?
Rase came to a stop beside her. “Who?” he repeated.
“The man who kidnapped me and then left me to burn to death inside. He can’t escape.”
Facing the bay, she lifted her arms, seeking each and every water creature within thought-distance of her. If they could slow him down, she’d have enough time to spread the fire to his vessel.
A rumble rolled through the bay and the water boiled. But nothing else happened. She couldn’t reach them all.
She choked on a sob. Not alone. Not by myself.
“What’s wrong?” Rase whispered closer to her ear.
“I can’t. I can’t communicate.” She gasped. “I can’t reach them all.”
Edward slipped way. He had the key. He wanted to bring the end of the world on the back of a Chaos Beast. Whatever it meant, Jess knew—knew in her soul—that Edward threatened everything she held dear.
Help me.
A light hand moved over her back,
and Jess glanced over her shoulder.
Her mother smiled as tears slipped down her cheeks. “Let me help, sweetie,” her mother whispered.
“He has the key.”
Her mother gave a tiny nod. “And it’s up to us to stop him.”
Together, they raised their hands over the water.
The surface of the bay boiled and waves rolled, larger and larger. Large, kraken-sized tentacles reached out from the depths, stroking the ship as it raced through the waves. Selkies leapt in the wake. Mermaids poked their head above water, their eyes fluorescing.
Her mother nodded at her. “Your turn,” she whispered.
Jess turned one palm toward the burning Fae galleon and the other toward the sky. Moving her hand in a circle, she whipped the remaining boat fire into a giant sphere, snuffing out the inferno aboard the vessel beside them. Then she summoned a gust of wind to carry it out into the harbor to hover over Edward.
Dots in the distance, figures aboard scurried one way and then the other. The breeze carried shouts of horror, and the terror nearly changed her mind. Her hands wavered.
But Jess steeled her resolve. Edward couldn’t be allowed to leave with the key.
“Now,” Jess said. “Tell them to go.”
Her mother waved her hand, and the water beasts and mythical creatures fled. The largest tentacles slipped back beneath the waves. Dolphins sped away in the company of water horses and kelpies. Whale flukes slapped the water.
Holding her breath, Jess dropped the fireball on Edward’s ship. Screams echoed across the waves, and Jess closed her eyes. She swayed.
But her mother caught her and pulled. “He’s the reason I vowed to never let magic into our lives again. I couldn’t forget what it had done to him,” she said, stroking Jess’s hair. “You did well, my brave, beautiful girl.”
The tears flowed from Jess’s eyes, and her mother wrapped Jess in her arms. Tears flowed from Jess’s eyes. Jess didn’t know how long they stood like that. Colonel Blackfox strode down the dock, his hands clasped behind his back. Hobson marched behind him. Blackfox raised one eyebrow. “Quite impressive, Jess Roberts. Seems you’ve inherited your mother’s talent for mess-making.”
“Realm-saving, you mean,” Jess countered.
Hobson pressed a hand to his ear. “Sir, the mayor is requesting a meeting.”
Blackfox chuckled. “We should catch her up. Ask her if she’s available now.”
Hobson nodded, pressed his hand to his ear, and turned away.
Blackfox extended his hand toward Jess’s mother. “Myrna, I didn’t expect to meet you again under these circumstances.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “You mean you didn’t know Jon and I had a key to the gate.”
Blackfox glowered at her. “How did you get it?”
“We had it made.” She crossed her arms. “I think you’ve forgotten.”
Blackfox stepped closer. “Forgotten what?”
She smiles. “You can’t intimidate me with that look anymore, Mzuzi.”
“Mzuzi?” Jess mouthed. Her mother was on a first name basis with the headmaster. That couldn’t be good.
Blackfox took a breath. “You’re… accurate.” He leaned on the railing. “We’ll have to retrieve it.”
“The key?”
“Hmm,” Blackfox agreed.
“Better in the depths of Unseen Street than in Edward’s hand,” she said.
Her father strode toward them. “We’ll get it back,” he said. Then he wrapped Jess and her mother in his arms.
Later, Jess turned to watch the last of the ship sink beneath the waves, wincing at the final scream. The dwarf decapitation played over and over in her head. It would be a long time before she got over that.
Her mother pulled Jess closer. “You did well. Who taught you magic?”
“Grandma’s journal.”
Her mother’s mouth fell open. “I thought I threw that out years ago.”
“How do you think Rase and I found that cat in the dumpster?”
Rase elbowed her. “I thought you heard the cat calling for help.”
“I heard it because I was out there hunting for my grandmother’s spell book.” Jess didn’t miss the look her parents shared with Blackfox.
Hobson marched up. “Sir?”
Blackfox blinked and then tore his gaze away from the water. “Yes, Hobson?”
Hobson inclined his head. “The mayor is here to see you.”
Blackfox tugged on the bottom of his uniform, pulling it straight. He smoothed his fingers over his goatee. “Let’s get straight to the cleanup, shall we? Deep water recovery requires permits. The red tape can be atrocious…”
He strolled away, muttering to himself, and Hobson followed.
Chapter Twenty
Back to the C.C.A
Seated in a Rolls Royce Coupe, roughly the same year as the Plus Morgan, Jess watched the scenery change as they rolled up the graveled drive toward the academy. The three—Jess, her mom, and her dad—had piled into the narrow backseat.
One car behind, Hobson, Winnie, and Rase rode in front seat of the Plus Morgan.
Beside Jess, her mom took a deep breath. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been back here. Brings back so many memories. Meeting your dad, going through the gate, learning how to port…” She turned silent.
Jess touched her mother’s shoulder. “Are all the memories happy, Mom?”
When her mother turned toward her, tears glistened in her eyes. “No, not all of them.” She swallowed. “I never meant to hurt anybody. It was my first year, and I wanted to see what the forbidden realms looked like. Somehow, Edward got sucked inside the first one that popped up in the gate. I don’t know what happened to Edward or where he went.”
Her dad pulled them close. “You didn’t mean to, Myrna.”
Jess sniffed.
Her mother continued, “It took months to get Edward back. When we got him back, he’d changed. Blackfox sent him to counseling. Timefix tried hypnosis. We even sent him to the church in New Haven.”
“Our Lady of the Park?” Jess asked.
“That’s the one. They couldn’t get him sorted. He couldn’t forget the horrors he saw or the beasts he met. None of them could help.”
Blackfox eased to a stop. “When he escaped, she left.”
She nodded. “I couldn’t handle it anymore. I wanted Edward to be well, but what if it happened to your father or to me… or to the child I carried?” She squeezed Jess’s hand. “Magic can be so dangerous. I hope you can forgive me for trying to keep it away from you. I know I shouldn’t have.”
Jess peered up at the manor. The morning sun illuminated the ivy leaves until they almost seemed to glow. “It can change things for the better, too.”
No one spoke.
Blackfox turned around. “If you like, you can stay here until you figure out what to do about your home. If you’re interested in something long-term, I’m sure it can be arranged.”
“We wouldn’t want to impose.”
Blackfox shook his head. “It’s not an imposition. I’m sure Timefix has something edible inside.”
Her mom gasped, and her upper lip curled. “Timefix? She’s in charge of the food now? No wonder you don’t have any more students than usual. Who would eat Timefix’s food?”
Blackfox and her dad guffawed.
“What happened to Chef Mee?” her mother demanded.
Blackfox waved to the manor. “It’s only until Mee gets back from her summer abroad.”
“Timefix is terrible in the kitchen.”
Jess elbowed her mother. “So, what do you say? Want to spend the day here?”
“Maybe a little longer,” her mom said.
Three Days Later
Jess let the flame dance over her fingers, up the back of her hands, and over her shoulders. She felt lighter than she ever had before. Except maybe when they’d saved the cat from the dumpster.
Jess gasped, patting out the edges of her smold
ering shirt. “Haven’t quite got that yet.”
Professor Timefix peered through her monocle, studying Jess. “Mmm,” she agreed, folding her newspaper in half and setting it aside. “Lucky thing you’re attending a school that’ll teach you, no?”
Jess tipped her head side to side, not quite ready to agree with the gruff old woman that liked to take every student to task.
Professor Timefix took a pipe from a sewing box and put the mouthpiece between her lips. “What’s on your mind, girl? I see a question stirring.” She puffed but did not light anything in the bowl.
“Have you ever met an old woman named Ziva? She lives in New Haven City, I think.”
Professor Timefix puffed on her pipe. “I have, indeed, but you have not.”
Jess frowned. “But I met an old woman at New Haven High School. She sent me to the basement.”
The older woman snickered, tapping her chest. “Did you now? Are you sure that was Ziva? It probably looked like her.”
Jess’s eyes widened. “That was you?”
Professor Timefix crowed. “We’ll go to great lengths to test our students. You should ask Rase about the Jekyll-Hyde dragon in the library. Blackfox engineered that specially for him.”
Jess shook her head. They’d had their eye on her for so long. Her mother must have known. Maybe that was why she bound her magic. Maybe she let the fear get the best of her. A student gone bad could wreak all kinds of havoc on the world.
“Maybe it’ll be an uneventful school year,” Jess said.
Professor Timefix smirked. “It’s possible, child, but highly unlikely. Bayburgh and New Haven City are never boring for long.”
Blackfox strode in with Rase close behind. Rase made a beeline for the bookshelves, and Jess followed him to the spell section. He would be working his way through the paperwork Roger had finally gotten to him. Jess would have to start on it soon, if she meant to catch up.
“Are you settled into your room?” Blackfox asked as she strolled by.
Jess nodded. “Winnie will be a great roommate. Did you know she’s named after a character in a book?”
Rase glanced up from the Academy handbook. “I didn’t know that. Maybe my roommate will be as good as yours.” He glanced around and lowered his voice even more. “What about the gryphon?”
Academy of Magic Collection Page 17
