Bitter Magic

by Raven Steele

  Because I couldn’t find May and Kiera in the dining room, I walked into the kitchen, ignoring the stares of Lizens, and found Tessa. “How’s it going?”

  She wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and stacked plates of food up her arms. “Good.”

  “Have you seen May and Kiera?” I picked up the last three plates on the table and followed her into the dining room. Nobody said anything this time.

  “Yeah, they’re eating outside.”

  “Cool. Do you think you can get off or stop working or whatever to eat with us?”

  When Tessa stopped at a table, I joined her in handing out the plates of food. Both of us ignored the snickering of younger Auras.

  “Maybe. Give me a second. Wait here.” She set the last of the plates down and walked away.

  I backed up against the wall. Across the room I locked eyes with Sophie. She was clearly upset but didn’t say anything. Instead, she forced a smile. I forced one back.

  Tessa returned a minute later. “Let’s go before my mom changes her mind.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room, carrying two lunch bags.

  May and Kiera were out front sitting on the steps.

  “I just told Kiera about Dr. Han,” May said. She slid over to make room for Tessa. I sat above her, next to Kiera.

  “The plot thickens,” Kiera said, still looking a little too happy about all of this.

  “How about you, Kiera?” I asked. “Did you get a chance to talk to Abigail?”

  “I did.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a notebook. She flipped through the pages, reading a bunch of notes that started off being about the vitamins, but then changed into Abigail’s youth. My mind began to wander.

  “Are you listening?” Kiera asked me.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I’m listening.”

  Kiera glanced down at the notebook. “And then I asked her when the vitamins were first introduced. She said in 1921. So then I asked—”

  “1921? Are you sure?” I interrupted.

  Kiera scanned her notes. “Yup. 1921. But I guess back then it was a powder that they put into tea. It wasn’t put into a pill form until the 1950s. As for our blood, they started storing it fifteen years ago.”

  This I found really strange. Somehow I expected the timing of the pills to correspond with the timing of when they first started storing our blood.

  We continued talking through lunch, but gradually our conversation moved away from dark things to superficial things: boys, shopping, and life outside Lucent. I glanced to the forest beyond, the package of pills burning a hole in my pocket. I was wasting time.

  “What are you thinking?” May whispered to me while Kiera and Tessa laughed about something that had happened last year.

  “I’ve got to talk to Liam.”

  “Then do it. I’ll go to your next period and pick up your assignment. I’ll tell them you’re sick.”

  “Really?”

  “Sure. There are more important things, right?”

  I nodded, grateful she understood. I jumped to my feet. “I’ve got to use the restroom. Be right back.”

  As soon I was away from prying eyes, I pulled the cell phone Liam had given me from my pocket. I texted to the only number listed in the phone: Can you meet?

  A minute later the phone rang. I answered it.

  “What’s going on?” Liam asked, his voice dripping with concern.

  “I wanted to give you something.” When he didn’t say anything, I hurried and added, “Some pills. We were able to sneak a foil of them from the box.”

  “That was dangerous. Someone might notice it’s missing.”

  “Do you want it or not?”

  “Who dropped it off?”

  “Jackson.” I paused. “So can we meet? I want to know what’s in them. Your people can do that right?”

  “Sure. As for us meeting, don’t you have class?”

  “This is a little more important, isn’t it? And there’s something else I want to talk to you about,” I said, without knowing exactly what that was. For some reason I felt I had to see him.

  He paused before saying, “Can you get out of the school?”

  It would be harder during the day, but I felt confident I could do it. “Yeah.”

  “You know our usual spot? Head north from there until you hit a dirt road. I’ll pick you up there. Listen for the sound of my car.”

  “You drive?”

  “Before this assignment, Llona, I actually had a life. I don’t live in the woods, you know.” I heard the smile in his voice. “See you soon.”

  I hung up and returned to the girls.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I tossed the rest of your lunch,” Kiera said. “You looked done.”

  “No problem. Thanks.” I didn’t look at her. I was too busy surveying the area, looking for an escape route.

  “You leaving?” May said.

  I nodded.

  “Where you going?” Kiera asked.

  I patted my pants pocket where the pills were hiding. “I’ve got to get this to Liam.”

  “Isn’t Christian in your room?” Tessa asked.

  I groaned. “I completely forgot. Would you mind telling him where I went and take him some food while you’re at it? I’ll owe you.”

  “He’ll want to go with you,” May warned.

  “I know, but I’m not sure how long I’ll be, and he’s meeting with Jackson later.”

  “I’ll tell him,” Tessa said. “Come on, let’s go. I have to help with dishes.”

  We parted ways. I made sure no one was watching as I walked around the school and toward the back. I headed straight for the shed, pretending it was my destination. When I reached it, I turned around.

  No eyes were watching.

  No one cared where a girl like me was going.

  Chapter 27

  I leapt high over the wall. It took me about ten minutes to run through the forest and find the road I thought Liam was talking about. The forest felt different in daylight. Warmer and brighter. I didn’t like it.

  Standing in the center of the dirt road, I looked both directions. Listen for him, Liam had said. I closed my eyes and focused. Not far away, I heard an animal, probably a rabbit, moving through shrubbery. I listened to its quiet movements. Calculated. Careful.

  And then I heard a rhythmic thumping. I whirled around, searching for the sound. I took a few steps forward. Definitely this direction.

  It wasn’t long before I realized the sound was a bass drum, muffled by the walls of metal. I rounded a bend in the road and spotted the back of a black 1967 Chevy Impala. It was Jake’s dream car. All the windows were as black as the paint, and they shook from a rock song’s deep bass.

  I approached the passenger door. The music lowered and the window rolled down.

  “You made it,” Liam said.

  I bent down and peered into the car. As soon as I saw him, I grew lightheaded and my pulse raced. Guess the pills have worn off for good.

  I mentally pushed back the dizziness and said, “Anyone tell you it’s summer?”

  Liam still wore his leather jacket and jeans, a darker color than the other day.

  “Sun allergies,” he said. “You getting in or what?”

  I opened the passenger door and slid into the leathered seats, still trying to get over the dizzy feeling. “So, you really can’t be in the sun?”

  Liam faced me, but because he was wearing sunglasses, I couldn’t tell if he was looking at me or not. A short moment passed before he said, “I can, but it hurts. Instant sunburn.”

  He turned forward and pressed on the gas.

  “I meant what I said before. You can have some of my blood.”

  His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “No.”

  “I’m just saying. I bet it would make your job a whole lot easier.”

  “Do you have the pills?”

  I reached into my pocket and removed the foil. Liam took it and drove while he examined th
e casing.

  “Bodian Dynamics,” he said, his voice low. “Doesn’t surprise me.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because they are a huge research corporation that has their dirty fingers in everything. I think they have a facility not far from here.” Liam turned the car left, down another dirt road.

  I chewed on my lip, wondering if I should tell him that Christian’s father owned it and my own uncle worked there. But then I thought better of it. The place probably employed thousands of people. Any one of them could secretly be helping Vykens. We needed more information.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “I have a place not far.”

  “So you do live in the woods.”

  He snorted. “It’s just temporary.”

  “Where do you normally live?”

  He adjusted his weight in the seat. “All over.”

  “Vague much?”

  “I have a few homes. Coast City. Rouen. Irondale.”

  I whistled low, impressed. “But where’s home? You know, the place where you have Thanksgiving?”

  He didn’t answer right away, but when he did I regretted asking the question. “Not much of a thanksgiving when all your family is dead.”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “I’ve been around a while,” he added. The car slowed. “We’re here.”

  I peered out the tinted windshield. A cabin, more like a shack, was just up ahead. “Nice place.”

  Liam turned off the car. “See you inside.”

  He opened the car door and bolted, hunched over with his jacket pulled high over his head.

  I followed behind him but not as fast. The area was well covered by trees; the wood cabin almost looked like part of the forest except for a single window near the front door.

  “You mind closing that?” Liam asked, when I entered the cabin.

  I couldn’t see him, but when I closed the door, he stepped out of the shadows and flipped on a light, illuminating one big room. A small kitchen was on the right and a bedroom on the left. No pictures, no personal touches. It felt empty even with both of us standing in it.

  “Cozy,” I said.

  Liam held the pill package to the light, examining it further. “It’s a roof over my head.”

  He lowered the pills and set them on a small table. Using his cell phone, he took pictures of the front and back of the foil. I waited patiently while he typed a message into his phone. When he was finished, he looked up at me. “What else did you find out?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You said you had to talk to me about something else. Besides the pill.”

  Right. I had said that. Standing alone with him in this cramped cabin, I felt stupid for having said anything at all. I should’ve just given him the pills and left. “

  Llona?”

  I tried to focus on something in the room, but there was nothing to look at. My gaze settled on a small dust bunny in the corner, a tangle of dust and stray hairs.

  “What’s going on?” With brows furrowed, he came toward me.

  His concern made me feel even dumber for having said something. “It’s nothing, really. I guess I was just wondering,” I looked up, down, around, “how long will it take to find out what’s in the pills?”

  “I have to give it to them first.” He moved closer, slowly, his eyes focused on me.

  “When are you going to do that?”

  “As soon as you’re gone.”

  “Right.” I walked past him into the kitchen, a whole three steps to my right. “Do you have anything to drink?”

  “Water.”

  I opened the only cupboard and pulled out one of the two cups in it.

  “So tell me more about these guys you work with,” I said while I held my cup under the tap. “The Deific, was it?”

  Liam took the cup from me; water was pouring over its edge. I hadn’t even heard him come up behind me.

  He shut off the faucet and turned me around. “What’s going on?”

  Words twisted inside my brain, giving me a headache. What was wrong? I reached up and touched the marks on my neck. So much was happening. About to happen. I was almost killed last night even though I felt like I could’ve destroyed an army. I didn’t trust myself, and that frightened me.

  “Talk to me.”

  My gaze met his. “I’m scared.”

  He stared at me for what seemed like a very long time before he said. “You should be.”

  “That wasn’t the answer I was expecting.”

  “I’m not going to tell you everything’s going to be okay, because it’s not.”

  “I’m not ready.” My chin quivered.

  Liam shook his head, his eyes sad. “None of you are. You’re all fish in a bowl, where a shark’s about to be released.”

  I rubbed my temple. “You’re really not helping.”

  “Do you know what’s happening? Has anyone at Lucent bothered telling any of you?”

  “Tell us what?” I asked.

  “They’re dying. Auras. All over the world. Their Guardians too. I just got the message from the Deific last night.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath, and my heart skipped a beat.

  “They are being hunted and killed,” he continued. “By packs of Vykens.”

  I must have turned pale, because Liam pulled over the only chair in the room and placed it behind me.

  I dropped into it. “No one’s said a word.”

  “Why?”

  I shook my head.

  “Why, Llona?” Liam pressed. “Put the pieces together.”

  I thought harder despite my headache. Auras and Guardians dying. Pills to make us blind. Our blood taken. A Vyken in the school. The faces of those who had been in the room with me when I’d first met Cyrus flashed in my mind, specifically that of Cyrus and Jameson. Cyrus was the head of Lucent Academy. Everyone respected him. Everyone did what he said. And then I remembered something Christian had told me months ago.

  “What is it, Llona?” Liam asked.

  I looked up at him. “The president. Cyrus. It has to be.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Christian called him when he suspected a Vyken was after me. That was months ago. Cyrus had told him not to worry. That it was nothing. That I was safe.”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. “But it can’t be Cyrus. Christian said he cut him, and he didn’t heal.”

  I opened my eyes. Liam was smiling in front of me. “What?”

  “Cyrus is a Geo. Even with Vyken blood, he’d still take a day or two to heal.”

  “But I heal fast,” I countered.

  “Because that’s a side effect of Light too. He doesn’t have that. He will heal quickly, but not like a Vyken would.”

  I sat up straighter in my seat. “But then there’s the pills. Abigail said they’ve been around since the twenties, and Cyrus didn’t become president until the thirties, so he couldn’t have created the pills, right?”

  “Unless the chemical that suppresses an Aura’s senses was added later to the vitamins.”

  “That makes sense.” I shifted in the chair. “What do you know of Cyrus?”

  “He’s old. Before my time, centuries before, in fact. And, like me, he’s the last of his kind. But we need to make sure he’s the one. Think you can find a reason to meet with him?”

  “You want me to meet with a suspected Vyken?”

  “He won’t hurt you in the school. It would give him away.”

  “Comforting.”

  I sunk into the seat, thinking dark thoughts. They were like shadows on my mind, always there, haunting me. My eyes widening, finally understanding what was really bothering me.

  “What is it?”

  I looked up at him. “Did you know him? The Vyken who killed my mother?” Before Liam could answer, I added, “I knew him as Mr. Steele, but my mother knew him as Lander.”

  His expression softened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t.”

/>   “It’s okay. I didn’t really want to talk about him, but more about something he said. Before I killed him he told me about the night my father died. Mr. Steele said that my father almost killed him but someone stopped him. That person broke my father’s neck.”

  “Who?”

  “Mr. Steele called him the Shadow. ‘The Shadow who always watches but can never be seen.’”

  Liam’s jaw hardened, and he knelt in front of me, his eyes burrowing into mine. “Are you sure? Are you sure he called it a shadow?”

  I’d never seen Liam frantic before. “Yes, why?”

  He stood and turned his back to me. Every muscle in his body had tensed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Liam turned around, his expression grim. “It’s something very dangerous that we thought had been destroyed. It’s been decades since I’ve heard that name.”

  “What is it?”

  “A creature without any bodily form. It was made by witches in the thirteenth century and does the will of whoever commands it. The Shadow hurt a lot of people in the 1930s, but an Aura”—his eyes flashed to mine—“gave all of her Light to trap it.”

  “All her Light?” I frowned. “But wouldn’t that kill her?”

  Liam nodded. “It did, but her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. She saved a lot of lives.”

  “And now it’s back,” I whispered, swallowing at the cold chill inching up my spine.

  “Back?” He lowered in front of me. “How do you know?”

  “I didn’t, until just now. Since I first came here, I kept seeing shadows move out of the corner of my eye, rooms seemed darker, and I often felt like I was being watched. And the time Christian and I fought the Vykens in the tower, I saw part of a shadow, almost like an arm, reach out and stop a Vyken from killing him. Because everything was happening so fast, I thought I’d imagined it. I wonder why it saved Christian?”

  “Someone doesn’t want him dead, and that someone is at Lucent. They’d have to be if they are controlling it.” Liam sighed and raked his fingers through his short hair. “One more problem. I’ll get the Deific on it right away.”

  “Who was the Aura that stopped it?” I asked, but just then Liam’s phone buzzed. He stared down at it and frowned. He came to his feet.