Bitter Magic

by Raven Steele

  “Everything okay?”

  “A blood drop’s happening tonight near Lucent.”

  “How do you know?”

  “We’ve got a guy who occasionally passes info to us for money, or other questionable items.”

  I didn’t want to know what he meant by questionable. “Where?”

  Liam glanced up from his phone. “You’re not going.”

  I stood, the blood in my veins turning hot. “Of course I am. I can help.”

  And fight. Please let me fight.

  “You’re not ready.” He turned away and picked up a bag.

  “Are you kidding? You saw what I did the other night. I’m good at fighting.”

  Liam rummaged through the bag, searching for something. “That’s the problem.”

  I folded my arms to my stomach. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Liam removed a sheathed knife. “You’re forgetting what’s inside you.”

  The next words out of my mouth were a lie. “I know what’s inside me, but I’m controlling it. You think a little Vyken poison is going to change me? I’m still—”

  Before I could finish my sentence, Liam had me by both arms. “You’re not you. Don’t you understand? You’re different. You always will be. For the rest of your life you’re going to be like a person on the edge of a cliff. The smallest moment can push you over, and there’s no coming back.”

  He must’ve noticed how my anger had turned to fear, because his features softened and his grip relaxed.

  “I’m just saying you need to remember,” he said. “Don’t ever think you can control it, that you’re better than it. That’s what it wants you to feel. Pride.”

  I sat back down, defeated. “Any silver lining?”

  “Of course. You get to live.”

  I looked around the room. “Is this any way to live?”

  “It’s better than the alternative.” He sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to freak you out, but I don’t want to see you get overly confident and make a mistake. You are an incredible fighter, but you have to make sure you’re fighting for the right reasons and not because you crave the violence.”

  “Why do you do it?” I asked.

  “Do what?”

  “All of this. Fight for us. Fight for the Deific.”

  “Because the second I stop, my inner darkness will overpower me. If I’m not fighting against it, then I’m becoming it. This is my life.”

  I hesitated, studying his face. “How long have you been doing this?”

  He stared at me for a long time, and I could tell he was remembering painful memories.

  “Too long,” he finally answered. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  Before Liam dropped me off, he warned me to stay away tonight, but, as I raced toward Lucent, I formulated a plan. I would go tonight, I decided. No Vyken poison was going to stop me from helping my friends. They needed me, I convinced myself.

  Chapter 28

  “I’m going with you,” May said after I finished telling her and Tessa about my plan.

  “Me too,” Tessa chimed in.

  I picked up Britt’s diary off my floor and stuffed it back into my backpack. “I can’t ask you guys to do that.”

  “You didn’t ask,” May said. “We’re in this together.”

  “But it’s not you the Vykens are after. They want the Auras.”

  May snorted. “Hello? We live in this school too, and they’re trying to destroy it. We’re just as involved.”

  I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help smiling. I breathed a sigh of relief. “I would love some company.”

  “Where’s Christian going to be?” Tessa asked.

  I went to the window and peered out. “He’s tailing Jackson, but something tells me he’ll end up at the same place as Liam.”

  “The blood drop,” May whispered

  I turned around just as she picked up a framed picture off my dresser and stared at it. It was a photo of us that Jake had taken at our graduation.

  “Should we invite Kiera?” Tessa asked.

  May and I looked at each other with trepidation.

  I shook my head. “Let’s not. She seems a little too excited about all this.”

  “Agreed,” May said. She set the picture down.

  Tessa leaned back on my bed, resting her hands against my blanket. “You have to remember, guys, that she’s never had anything go wrong in her life. This is probably like a movie to her.”

  “You’ve lived your whole life here,” May said. “How come you get it?”

  “Just because I’ve lived here doesn’t mean I haven’t seen what’s out there.” Tessa stood to leave with May. “What time do you want to go?”

  “Meet us at the shed at eleven,” I told her.

  She nodded. “I’ll see you there.”

  May and Tessa left me alone. I was so jittery with anticipation that I considered running on the track to try and calm down, but I was too afraid of being seen.

  Instead, I opened my Auran history book and tried to study. A lot of good that did. All I could think about was how I would be fighting soon. Over and over I replayed the mistakes I’d made the last couple of times I fought Vykens and resolved not to make them again.

  Sometime later, I sat up when I heard quiet footsteps moving down the hall. I glanced at the time. Must be May. I opened the door before she had a chance to knock.

  “Nice hearing,” she said.

  “Nice outfit,” I said, and smiled back. She was dressed all in black. She’d even borrowed one of my black beanies.

  “I already snuck downstairs,” May said. “There are two Guardians just outside the doors. Is that normal?”

  “I don’t think so.” I tried to recall if I’d ever seen Guardians, besides Jackson, in front of the school. “But I’ve never gone that way.”

  “What way do you go?”

  I opened the window. “Out here.”

  May looked down. “Are you kidding?”

  “It’s not so bad. You just have to make it to that pipe.” I pointed to the long drainage pipe about three feet over. “Or, if you’re me,” I said quietly, “you can just jump.”

  May wrinkled her nose. “But that would kill you.”

  I waited for her thoughts to gather, waited for her to verbalize what I knew she already suspected. Her eyes slowly met mine. “You’re not like you used to be, are you?”

  I shook my head.

  “He bit you.” She reached up and touched my long hair. “That’s why you’re always leaving your hair down. And why you’ve been so angry.”

  “It’s inside me, May,” I said, barely hearing my own voice. “I feel it all of the time.”

  She lowered her hand. “But you’re not one of them.”

  “Not yet. Liam’s helping me fight it.”

  “I wondered about that.” She squeezed my hand. “You’ll do it. I know you will.”

  “Thanks.”

  May glanced out the window again. “Is there any way your new abilities can help me down?”

  “I can throw you out,” I offered.

  “I’ll take my chances with the pipe.” May swung her legs over the windowsill and maneuvered herself onto her belly.

  “Now reach your foot over,” I said. “You’ll find a place for it on the metal clippings holding the pipe in place.”

  I waited until May was safely on the ground before I jumped from the window and landed beside her.

  “Too cool,” she said.

  “It doesn’t come without a price. Come on. Tessa’s probably waiting.”

  We kept to the shadows as we snuck across campus. May kept glancing sideways at me, but I didn’t dare ask her what she was thinking. We found Tessa leaning against the brick wall of the shed, biting at her nails.

  “You sure you want to do this?” I asked.

  “Sure. No big deal, right?” She started walking. “We go into the forest. Remove a few Vyken heads. Easy, right?”

  May and I looked at each other.


  “Tessa,” I said. “Seriously. You don’t have to come.”

  She stopped at the secret door and entered a code. She took a deep breath. “No. I’m okay. Just need to wrap my head around things.”

  When the door opened, May had the same reaction I had. “Amazing!”

  “So how are we supposed to find this meeting?” Tessa asked.

  “Let’s walk this way.” I pointed to the right where the forest looked the darkest, and, to me, the most inviting. “And then I’ll see if I can hear anything.”

  We moved into the forest, and the moment darkness enveloped me, I became more invigorated.

  “This is going to be so awesome,” I breathed.

  May looked at me. “What did you say?”

  “Oh, nothing. Just mumbling.” I opened and closed my fists, every part of me humming with dark energy. To help combat it, I quickly produced Light to lead the way, a soft glowing ball in my hand. Not a weapon. Just Light.

  When we had moved some distance into the forest, I stopped. “Quiet, for a sec.”

  I focused my hearing, listening beyond the sounds of May and Tessa’s breathing and crickets chirping. To my left I heard movement, a slight rustling of branches. “This way.”

  May rubbed at her arms, her eyes darting around the forest. “It’s about a ten on the creep-factor scale out here.”

  Tessa stepped over a log. “It’s not bad if you’re used to it.”

  “How often do you come out here?” May asked her.

  “I used to come all the time, but lately there’s been too many Vykens.”

  I stopped and listened again. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw movement to my right.

  “Do other Lizens come out here?” May whispered.

  I heard another brushing of leaves, but the sound seemed to be behind us now. How did that happen? I listened again. Faint sounds of someone walking, but this time to my left.

  Tessa nodded. “We used to have parties out here.”

  I turned around. “Let’s go back this way.”

  May glanced behind us. “Isn’t that the way we just came?”

  “Yeah, but,” I paused, listening again, “there’s movement all around. Almost as if we’re being—”

  “Surrounded,” Tessa finished.

  My pulse suddenly racing, I turned and stared at her. My Light dissipated at the same time.

  Tessa raised a shaking finger, and May and I followed its direction.

  Stepping out of the shadow at the same time were two men. As they walked toward us, my head began to spin.

  Not men. Vykens.

  “What do we have here?” one of the Vykens said.

  Next to him was another male who was grinning wildly like he’d just uncovered the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

  I pulled May and Tessa behind me and whispered, “Stay back.”

  Tessa clutched my arm, while May ignited her hands on fire.

  The Vykens laughed. One of them had a tattoo of a bloody dagger on the top of his bald head. I gasped as I realized who it was. The Vyken from Britt’s journal! It had to be. I glanced over at May. She seemed to be thinking the same thing.

  The Vyken next to dagger-head looked his complete opposite, more like the good boy-next-door with short, blond hair and a baby-blue polo shirt. “Look, Blade, a baby Fury, a Lizen, and a”—Baby-blue looked me up and down—“what are you, girlie?”

  I swung my wrist, creating a tight ball of Light the size of a tennis ball. “You’re about to find out.”

  Blade scratched at the back of his neck. “An Aura? But you’ve got Vyken blood in you. I can sense it from here.”

  Tessa’s head snapped my direction, but I didn’t dare look at her. This wasn’t the time for a confession.

  “All you need to know is that I’m an Aura who’s about to dust you,” I growled.

  Tessa tightened her grip on my arm. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Every part of me screamed otherwise. I’d never wanted to fight so much in my life. Even my mouth was watering.

  “Say the word,” May said and stepped next to me.

  I moved forward, ready to attack, when a cold breeze rushed by. I froze. Not because of the sudden wind, but because of the words they brought with them. A familiar voice had whispered, “You shouldn’t be fighting.”

  I looked around for Liam but didn’t see him. How did he do that?

  “What are you waiting for?” Clean-cut asked,.

  I glanced back at May and Tessa. Even though May looked ready to fight, I saw the fear in her eyes. As for Tessa, her eyes couldn’t be any wider. As much as I wanted to feel the blood of the Vykens between my fingers, Liam was right. My reasons for fighting right now appealed to my darker side.

  “I’m hungry,” Blade said. “Let’s get this over with Alex.”

  Clean-cut Alex shrugged. “Fine by me.”

  As soon as I saw their bodies jerk forward, I turned and pushed Tessa and May. “Run!”

  Before I ran after them, I shot a stream of Light from my palm, hitting Blade squarely in the chest. He flew backwards, but I didn’t see his body fall. I was too busy trying to outrun Alex.

  He was only a few feet behind, and when May yelled at me to duck, I did. May shot fire just above me and into the face of the Vyken. He fell to the ground screaming, but jumping over his body was Blade, who looked madder than ever.

  “Head toward the lake!” I yelled up at Tessa, who was a surprisingly fast runner.

  She nodded and veered left, bursting through bushes and jumping over fallen trees. If one of us tripped, Blade would be on top of us. I had to slow him down somehow.

  While sprinting, I formed several balls of Light and tossed them back. Because I was running, my aim was terrible, and he easily dodged them. Not far behind him raced Alex, half of his face still smoking.

  I caught up to May. “We’re not going to make it. We need a barrier or something.”

  “I think I can do that.” She stopped abruptly, spun around and, with both hands extended, produced a wall of fire directly behind us. When the Vykens moved to go around it, she swirled her fingers and the edges of the fire wall expanded until it had entirely circled them.

  By this time, Tessa and I had stopped to watch.

  “I’m so glad you’re my friend, May,” Tessa gasped.

  I was about to add my own compliments when Blade took a step through the flames. His clothes caught on fire, and despite the fact that his skin sizzled and bubbled, he patted the flames, extinguishing them with his bare palms.

  “It’s not going to hold them,” May said, her voice shaky.

  I thought fast. “Do it again, May. More fire.”

  May raised her hands and expanded the fire until it had once again circled the Vykens. Before either one of them had a chance to get through, I blasted it with Light, increasing the heat ten-fold. The fire changed from a bright orange to an ice-blue color. This time, when Blade tried to go through it, he cried out and stepped away from the flames.

  “How long will it hold?” May asked, sweat dotting her brow.

  “I don’t know, but let’s not stick around to find out.” We took off running again toward the lake.

  “How much farther?” May gasped through a shallow breath.

  “It’s just up here,” Tessa answered. “As soon as we get to the lake just dive right in, got it?”

  “I’m not a good swimmer,” May called up to her.

  Tessa side-stepped a log. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve got you.”

  “Whatever happens, May,” I said, “trust Tessa.”

  Tessa disappeared down the steep hill to the lake. May stopped suddenly before going down, making me run into the back of her. We both fell and rolled down the steep embankment.

  Tessa was already in the water when we reached the bottom. Her head broke the surface. “Hurry! Get in!”

  I stumbled to my feet and waded into the water, pulling May with me. Not far away, I
heard the Vykens approaching.

  May whimpered when the water line reached her chest. “I hate water.”

  I stared her in the eyes. “You will be fine. I promise. Just don’t worry about breathing.”

  “What?” she said just as Tessa jerked us both beneath the surface.

  I let her pull me down, but May was fighting so hard I had to grab onto her too, just to keep her from returning to the surface.

  When we reached the bottom, I stood upright along with Tessa, but May kept kicking her legs. I took a deep breath, held it, and let go of Tessa. With both hands, I cupped May’s face. It took a second for her to open her eyes, and I made sure that when she did I had a huge smile on my face. May looked puzzled, but smiled sheepishly back when she realized she, too, no longer needed air.

  Now that she was calm, I grabbed Tessa’s hand. My lungs relaxed as if air had returned to them, but I wasn’t sure if that was really the case or not.

  Tessa motioned us forward with her head. We all held hands and began to walk along the murky bottom. We learned not to let go, because the second we did we’d start to float back to the top. Somehow Tessa was also keeping us grounded.

  Walking was a slow process, but that was fine with me. I wanted to make sure that as soon as we did surface, the Vykens would be gone. We reached the end of the lake and began our ascent. After giving us a signal to hold our breath, Tessa let go of our hands and went up first to look around. When she ducked back under the water she motioned us up.

  As soon as we broke the surface, May gasped for air and whispered, “That was the strangest thing I’ve ever done.”

  I scanned the lake to make sure we were alone before I said, “But awesome too.”

  “How do you do it?” May asked Tessa.

  “I’ll tell you later.” Tessa scrambled to the top of the ravine. I was right behind her.

  “We need to find Liam,” I said. “I’ve got a feeling there’s going to be a lot more Vykens at this blood drop than he was planning on.”

  May caught up to us. Tessa removed a rubber band from her pocket and pulled her wet hair back. She offered one to each of us. May accepted, but I didn’t.

  While they wrung water from their clothes, I listened hard, focusing all of my senses. Most of the forest was full of life, insects scurrying for food, hunters hunting prey, but there was one section of the forest that was unusually quiet.