by Rhiannon Lee
"I just can't believe he would do this," Thain said disbelievingly.
I could. The man creeped me out. I couldn't figure out why Thain would be so blinded by him, but it didn't matter. We didn't have time for this.
"You're right. We need to move! I shouted.
"Yes, of course," Thain conceded, shaking his head as if to clear it.
He started toward the alley but stopped to turn back to the men who had spoken up.
"You let a Mimic live among you?" Thain asked them.
"We had no choice! That's why we came for help!" one man cried.
"I don't know who they spoke to, but it wasn't me or my men," Thain replied.
"They went straight to your office! Who else would we tell? There is only one sheriff in this city," the man retorted.
I could see the gears turning in Thain's head, and his face dropped. He knew it was true, even if he didn't want to believe it.
"Unfortunately, we have no more time to discuss what went wrong. We have to go. I will be back to speak with your elders once all of this is taken care of," Thain promised. He pulled a business card from his back pocket and handed it to the man. "If you hear anything else that could be helpful, please call me. And I'm sorry for threatening your people, truly I am."
The man nodded and held out his hand. "The name's Jakob with a K," he said as Thain reached his own out and shook it.
The exchange was taking too much time. My feet started moving he could finish. The panic in my belly pushed me toward the alleyway the woman had indicated. I felt a breeze as the crew caught up with me.
"I'm sorry for taking so long," Thain apologized. He stepped around me to take the lead. "If Jakob was right, I know where they went."
"The blood," I replied shakily. "She's hurt."
It was all I could say before tears welled in my eyes. Thankfully, Thain picked up his pace to a sprint. I roughly wiped my face to clear my vision and scrambled to catch up.
Chapter 19
Poppy
Muffled shouting brought me semi-around. My head throbbed sharply, like knives were being stabbed into the backs of my eyes. I carefully cracked my eyes open, but all I could see was darkness. My cheek was pressed uncomfortably into the hard ground where I laid on my side. The ache in my ribcage told me I'd been in this position for a while. I struggled briefly to move my arms, but they were tied securely behind my back, so I stilled and tried to listen to the words being yelled. Whoever was speaking seemed to be somewhere above me, which made it hard to make out details. I needed to get up, but I didn't have the strength to try. I nearly screamed when I heard a groan a few feet away from me, but I swallowed it down in time.
"Hello?"
"Hello?" I replied shakily in a mere whisper.
"Poppy?" the voice asked.
"Who are you?" I replied. I still couldn't see anything.
"Poppy, it's Aaron. Are you okay?"
I let out a long breath I didn't realize I had been holding. "Yes, I'm okay, I think."
"I'm tied up, can you help me?" Aaron asked.
"I can't move. My hands…"
"It's okay. I'll think of something. Can you whistle?"
"Oh," I whispered. My head was so clouded that I didn't even think to try. I pursed my lips and pushed a soft gush of air through them. It made a faint rushing sound but included no note of any kind. I tried again, and this time a faint whisper of a note could barely be heard before everything fell back into silence.
"Something's wrong. I don't… I can't seem to…" A rush of nausea shot through my stomach, cutting me off. My head was swimming again, the darkness pressing in around me, threatening to knock me back out.
"Just rest. I think I can slip these off," he said.
I tried to relax my limbs and settle back against the floor, but the ropes were holding me in an uncomfortable angle.
The shouting from above was getting louder. Suddenly, light burst into the blackened room, its blinding ray causing pain to shoot through my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and listened as the sound of boots stomped down a set of stairs, then toward my direction. I struggled to open my eyes to see what was happening, but I was still blinded. As they got louder, I pulled myself into a ball, bringing my knees as far up as they would go to protect myself.
Hands roughly grabbed my arm and my pant leg, jerking me around. "Get up, we have to move!"
Every inch of my body hurt, and the thought of moving sent tears rushing from my eyes as I sobbed in reply.
"Leave her alone!" Aaron screamed. The man's hands were suddenly gone, but it was followed by another scream from Aaron and a loud thud. I fought to pull in air between strangled sobs.
I heard more shouting from above, so I struggled to slow my breathing, desperate to hear what was going on, but it was of little use. The man cursed loudly again. Then more sounds of boots were followed by the door slamming. When I tried to open my eyes again, I was no longer blinded; we had been cast back into darkness.
Aaron's silence frightened me, and I drew upon all the strength I had left to settle my tears enough to speak. "Aaron? Aaron? Are you alright?"
He moaned loudly. "I'm fine. Let's get you untied," he muttered.
I recoiled as something touched my arm.
"Shhh, it's just me," he said from right beside me.
"I thought… I was worried…"
"I know. I'm going to be down for a while after this, but I'm not dead. We have to find a way out of here before he comes back," he laid out His voice was rough and scratchy.
I nodded but realized he couldn't see me. "Okay," I said.
When I tried to push myself up in a sitting position, I failed. The ropes were making it hard to do anything. I jumped again when I felt something against the skin of my shoulder.
"It's okay. I'm going to untie you," he said. He began working his fingers down my arm and I rolled over to my side so he could reach my wrists.
I felt my bindings loosen a bit, and I tried to yank my hands apart and lift myself up at the same time. As I jerked my shoulder, I hit something, and Aaron grunted. The ropes were still too tight for me to slip my hands through.
"I'm sorry," I whispered as I settled back down on my side.
"I almost had it, won't be long, I promise," he said, finding my arm again in the dark.
Soon, the bindings finally fell away, and blood rushed painfully to my hands. I gingerly bent my fingers, then tried to sit up.
"Take your time. They hit you pretty hard, you probably have a concussion," he said with another grunt. I could barely make out his form in the dark, but my eyes were adjusted enough for me to see his outline. He was standing up now.
I cleared my throat and wrapped my arms around my knees. "They got you worse," I managed to say.
He bent down and landed on his knees in front of me. I jerked away again as I sensed him reach for my face. "I'm sorry," I said again. Forcing myself to hold still, I whispered, "Go ahead, I won't jump this time."
His hands found my face, and he began prodding gently around my head and neck. It took everything I had not to cry out when he hit a sore spot.
"My head's harder. I'll be fine," he joked.
As much as I appreciated that he cared, I was thankful when he pulled his fingers away.
"You're bleeding pretty good from your head still," he said.
I lifted my hand and placed it where his had been with a wince. I could feel the crusty film of blood and a small patch of wet, thick liquid. I fished around through the pain until I felt a gash where my skin had split. It wasn't big, but the part in my skin told me it was probably pretty deep. It wasn't anything that could be helped right now.
"Can you stand?" Aaron asked as he stood up again. "Here, I'll help you."
Taking his hand free, I shoved off the ground and grabbed his middle to keep myself up as my head pounded and my vision swam. Luckily, my equilibrium settled, and I was able to keep myself upright this time.
"Stay here, I'm going to peek up the st
airs and see how many are up there."
I heard a click and then light from a flashlight streamed into an empty corner of the room.
"Where did you get that?" I asked.
"Side pocket. Forgot I had it," he said, pointing to his thigh.
I nodded and realized his brain must have been just as scrambled as my own.
As his light shifted around the room with the movement of his body, I noticed something off by the far wall.
"Aaron," I choked out. "What is that?"
"What is what?" he asked in reply.
"There is something over there. Point your flashlight back that way."
He clumsily swung the light back around, trying to find what I was talking about. Finally, a stone fixture was re-illuminated. It looked frighteningly similar to the well of magic I visited recently in the center of the city.
I took a shaky step toward it.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. I think…" my words trailed off as I ran a hand along the top. Aaron was now a few steps to the side of me, and he outstretched his hand to offer me the light.
"No, you hold it. I need to see what's inside," I instructed him.
His shrug was followed by an almost inaudible grunt. He was in a lot of pain and trying not to show it.
I frowned at him in concern.
"I'm fine, but we're wasting time. We need to get out of here," he said.
Ignoring his statement, I turned my attention back to the circular well of piled stones before me. There was no pulley on this haphazardly created imitation, but it didn't need one. Where the other had a lid made of skilled bronze, this was a cheap counterfeit. It was warped and dented with scuff marks.
The top moved with almost no effort, exposing some sort of black box suspended in the center by a series of dirty nylon cords. Underneath the roughly made device sprang a flow of colors that would have put the most beautiful rainbow to shame. It swelled up toward, flowing into the box as if it were being invisibly drawn to it.
"We have to turn it off, whatever it is," I said.
"Poppy, we don't have time, we have to–"
I cut him off. "You don't understand. This has to be what's wrong with the sproutlings," I insisted.
He still looked confused.
"They are stealing the city's magic supply and redirecting it here," I clarified, and his face pulled up in understanding.
Aaron turned toward the well and reached a hand outward. His fingertips barely cleared the rim before he was thrown backward. He hit something hard, then fell onto the floor where he stayed, unmoving.
I raced over to him, narrowly making it before my vision became spotted and dark. Slumping down to place one hand on his chest, I waited for everything to come back into focus.
"Aaron," I whispered as I ran the light over his body to inspect him. I stopped at his chest and waited for it to move. He was breathing. I placed my hand over his heart just to be sure it was still beating. It thumped steadily and strongly under my touch and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Aaron, wake up," I said a little louder.
Finally, he twitched, and then he opened his eyes.
"What was that?" he croaked.
"I told you. It's the city's source of magic."
It took two hands and strength I thought I didn't have to pull him up into a sitting position. My head throbbed and my vision dimmed from the strain. He grabbed me and pulled me down beside him.
"We'll get nowhere if you lose consciousness. I don't think I have the strength to carry you out of here."
I knew he was right, so I sat still and allowed my abused body to rest enough for me to keep going. My hands hung limp in my lap as I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. Once my mind was as still as it was going to be, I pursed my lips together and tried a healing spell. Just like before, no sound came out. I didn't understand what was happening.
"Aaron, I still can't whistle," I said as I opened my eyes to look at him.
"It will be okay," he assured me, but I wasn't so sure he was right.
After a few more moments, he stood up and then reached a hand down. I shook my head and turned until I was resting on my knees. Using the nearest wall, I walked my hands up it as support until I was also on my feet. I stayed leaning into the surface until I was sure I was steady enough to stand on my own.
I pointed the flashlight at him to make sure he wasn't about to fall back down.
"I feel… better. Not a hundred percent, but much better than when we first woke up down here," he said.
"I think you're in shock," I replied, although he looked steadier than he should have.
"No, seriously. My head doesn't even hurt anymore."
"That doesn't make any sense, unless…"
He nodded, but then his features took on a serious edge. "The magic."
I moved back toward the well. "We need to destroy it."
"We can't even get close to it. How are we supposed to do that?"
Maybe I could tolerate the power coming through it. I went to reach my hand past of the rim when Aaron caught my wrist.
"No, Poppy. We need to find a way out of here and then we'll come back and take care of it with backup. There's no way to destroy that thing on our own. Not in the condition we are in," he said.
My heart was beating hard in my chest at the thought of leaving it here with those men.
"Maybe I could. I have to try at least," I pleaded.
Aaron grabbed my other hand, sending the beam of light to our feet. "It could kill you, you're too hurt."
A single tear rolled down my face as the image of all the little dying sprouts filled my mind. He was asking too much; I couldn't leave without giving it all I had. Even if it meant my life.
"I promise we will come back and fix this," he said gently, then pulled the lid back over the top.
Before I could argue, the sound of gunfire rang out. Aaron grabbed me around the middle and pulled me to the floor. "Stay here," he hissed into my ear.
He was already hauling himself up the stairs before I could stop him. The shouting had resumed above us, this time more frantic as more shots sounded off. My mind was frozen in terror.
Aaron's footfalls stopped. Then there was nothing but silence. I clicked the flashlight off out of fear that someone would see it, or I would give Aaron away to the men up there. Suddenly, the top of the stairs was illuminated by a sliver of light. Aaron must have opened the door. As quickly as it had come, the light went out and then I heard feet on the stairs again.
"Poppy, turn the flashlight on, I can't see where you are."
I did as he asked and moved the light around, trying to find him. He was almost to me before the light landed on his legs. Once he was in front of me, he grabbed my hand and gave my arm a tug.
"We need to move against the wall," he directed.
I stood up as quickly as I could, and he wrapped an arm around my waist to help me. We quickly shuffled toward the wall and hunkered down. The rough cinder blocks scraped against my back as I pressed against them for support. Aaron pulled me close and tucked me against his body.
The gun fire continued as my heart pounded in my chest.
And then, just like it began, the noise from above ended abruptly. The silence crept up my spine uncomfortably as I waited for something else to happen.
When the door finally opened again, I had to choke back a scream. Aaron gave me one last squeeze and stood up.
"Stay here," he whispered.
I couldn't just let him rush into danger to protect us both. I pulled myself up against the wall and hobbled to where he was standing by the bottom of the steps. He turned toward me, pulled the flashlight from my hand, and turned it off.
We finally heard more shuffling. Suddenly, the door was flung open wide as light shot into the dark from above. My entire body tensed as I waited for our attackers. When footsteps sounded on the steps, Aaron sprang forward with a scratchy battle cry ripping from his throat. He raced up out of
my sight to meet them before they reached us. I wanted to follow him to help, but I was frozen in place. I closed my eyes briefly to clear my mind and will my body to move, but still it refused. Shouts rang out, and I knew this was the end. Aaron and I were dead. When I felt something touch my shoulder, I screamed and recoiled, stumbling to get away.
It happened again, but this time I swatted it away from me. Upon the third time, I realized it was a bird and hope welled up in my stomach. This time when I felt the brush of wings, I stood completely still. It fluttered past my face carefully, and then tiny legs grabbed onto my shirt. A tiny squawk tickled my ear, and the tension dropped from my body.
"Oh Bea, I'm so happy to see you."
Chapter 20
Bea
A loud thump drew my attention back to the group of men who thought going at this problem with force was the only way to solve it. I rolled my eyes as Victor peeled himself up off the concrete floor with a moan. He dusted his hands across the thighs of his jeans, lifted his head, and walked back toward Thain, Aaron, and the driver of the van who I had learned was named Robert. A few hours ago, there had been a whole slew of determined masculine pride, but it was getting late and anyone with sense had left for the night. Yet, I was still here and counted in the group of overly stubborn souls who didn't know when to take a break. Or eat dinner, I thought as my stomach growled loudly.
"It's never going to work. We have to try something different," I said as I joined them, stressing the last word.
Poppy was still at home in bed recovering from the damage she took at the hands of the traitor, Franklin. I really wished she were here right now to help. She always knew what to do.
"What do you know, baby Godkin?" Thain replied with a huff.
I knew his attitude was directed more at his frustration over not being able to destroy the black box that was slurping up all the magic in the area, but he needed to tone it down before I thwacked him with something.
"You're right, I know little about magic, but I know that trying the same thing repeatedly is pointless. I do have a brain," I said, pointing to my head and raising an eyebrow. "Besides, we still don't know where Franklin has scurried off to. He needs to be found and locked up before he does anything else."
