Arcane Dropout 2

by Edmund Hughes

  “Ooh, where to?” asked Tess.

  “I have no idea,” said Lee. “I doubt it’s close by, from what little Harper’s told me.”

  “I should probably stay here for now, then,” said Tess. “My range has expanded, but I still can’t risk jaunting off more than a hundred or so miles outside the college.”

  Lee frowned. “I don’t like the idea of not having you with me, but Harper said this might relate to my sister’s disappearance.”

  “It’ll be fine. Just be careful. You’re capable, Lee, even without magic.”

  Lee pulled Tess into his mystic stream, and she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I’m not sure how long we’ll be gone for. It can’t be too long if Harper intends to be back for her class tomorrow.”

  “See you when you get back,” said Tess. “Bring me a souvenir!”

  Lee made sure to grab his kris dagger and tuck it into his jacket before heading out into the hallway to join Harper. She started walking without a word, leading him north across campus. Lee noticed the extra attention being near her attracted from many of the college’s students. It wasn’t just because of how beautiful she was but also due to Harper’s reputation as an Arcane Striker and powerful spellcaster.

  “Let me do the talking,” said Harper. “We can’t be open about the fact that we’re going on this trip to follow up on a missing student. There’s another incident nearby that we’ll be taking care of to give ourselves cover.”

  “Got it,” said Lee.

  She led him into the First Tower—the official residence of the Head Wizard—which was normally off limits to students. Lee was surprised to find Head Wizard Odarin in the spacious, ground-level assembly area, standing in the center of the open floor and waving his arms around.

  On closer inspection, Lee realized that the man was wearing a VR headset, and his otherwise incomprehensible movements were actions he was miming with the wireless controllers. Harper sighed and walked over to him, her footsteps echoing purposefully with each step.

  “Head Wizard,” she said. “Can I have a moment?”

  “Ooh…” muttered Odarin. “Jiggly…”

  He reached both hands forward and gave the air in front of him a soft, playful slap. Harper reached out and yanked the headset upward.

  “Ouch!” cried Odarin. “What the… Oh. Uh, hello, Instructor Harper. I was just…”

  He scratched the back of his head, clearly fumbling for an excuse.

  “There’s been an incident in New York the Order has requested my help with,” said Harper. “I need access to the Arcane Way.”

  “Of course, of course,” said Odarin. “Let me just… pause this real quick.”

  He took the headset back from her, pulled it on, and tapped through a few invisible menus before removing it.

  “Is it serious?” asked Odarin.

  Harper nodded. “I don’t have all the details yet, but they wouldn’t have requested my presence if it wasn’t.”

  “Well, I shouldn’t be keeping you, then,” said Odarin. “Initiate Amaranth, do your best to support Harper and represent the college and all that good stuff.”

  The Head Wizard led them over to the circular lift that led to the First Tower’s upper levels. He pressed his hand against a rune circle on the outside of it and then gestured for them to enter.

  “If you need to send a message back to Primhaven, uh, perhaps direct it toward Lead Instructor Mattis,” said Odarin. “I have lots of important academic-related issues and activities that currently… need my focus.”

  He didn’t even wait for the lift’s door to close completely before pulling the headset back on. Instead of transporting them up, as the lift had on Lee’s last visit, it lowered them down, into a sub-level that he hadn’t known about.

  “What’s the Arcane Way?” he asked.

  “It’s a web of teleportation points administrated by the Order of Chaldea,” said Harper. “The arcane essence required to fuel it makes its usefulness somewhat limited in terms of transporting large numbers of people, but for the two of us, it should serve fine.”

  The lift opened, revealing a long chamber with an ancient stone arch in the center and several vehicles parked in a neat line. For a moment, Lee wondered how they’d been transported down there, before coming to the obvious conclusion that they’d been teleported through the Arcane Way.

  “Come on,” said Harper. She led him past a truck and a motorcycle, settling instead on a black sedan. They both climbed in and Harper started the car, slowly rolling it forward toward the arch.

  “The sensation can be somewhat jarring,” said Harper. “Some people prefer to close their eyes.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied.

  CHAPTER 7

  Lee’s curiosity got the better of him, and he ended up keeping his eyes open as the car passed through the archway. He immediately wished that he hadn’t. Psychedelic rainbow lights flashed outside the car’s windows, and he felt like the vehicle was tumbling forward with somersaults that made the contents of his stomach lurch uncomfortably.

  He clung to the armrest of his seat for stability even though his rational mind recognized that he wasn’t actually flipping through the air. The sensation continued for thirty-ish seconds before coming to an abrupt stop. Harper was still pushing the car forward at a walking pace, though they were clearly somewhere else.

  They were still in a tunnel, but this one had an exit, through which spilled intense sunlight that cut through the otherwise pitch-black interior. As they passed out into the open, Lee took in their surroundings, frowning slightly as he saw the thick foliage and dense trees on either side of them.

  “I thought you said there’d been an incident in New York?” asked Lee.

  “Upstate New York,” said Harper. “We’re near Plattsburgh.”

  They were in the middle of a forest, and they’d just exited an old, abandoned train tunnel. Harper continued along the disused train tunnel, steering around several vicious potholes, before finally making a turn onto an only slightly better-maintained dirt road.

  The dirt road led to a paved road, which led to their destination. Lee wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but the walled, industrial-capacity prison that Harper parked the car outside of wasn’t it.

  It felt sterile, with few people visible from the outside other than a single armed guard at a desk in the surveillance tower that poked up over the heavy concrete wall encircling the grounds. Lee felt a bit disturbed by the fact that his first thoughts, upon viewing the facility from outside, were of comparisons to Primhaven, with its own wall and towers.

  Harper led him up to the main gate, which was chain link with razor wire along the top and an electric hum that suggested he should avoid touching it. She pressed a button next to an intercom to the side of it.

  “Harper Black, AS375, Pixie-Gamma-Backfire.”

  No response came, but after half a minute, the gate clicked and then began to open. Harper led Lee forward in her usual no-explanation, no-nonsense style, and he walked alongside her toward the main building.

  To either side of them, through several deliberate lanes of chain-link fence, were the prisoners. Lee heard a few distant catcalls and whistles. He felt a sudden suspicion that it was a good thing that so many fences separated them from Harper.

  Inside the lobby, the prison had a similar clean and sterile ambience to the one Lee had picked up on outside. A guard stood at the main door, and a young secretary with a shaved head was answering phone calls at the main desk. The secretary nodded to Harper when he saw her and pressed a button.

  “This isn’t what it looks like, is it?” asked Lee.

  Harper gave him a small smile and slowly shook her head.

  “Why do you always have to be so mysterious?” he asked. “Will you at least give me a yes or no if I guess something correctly?”

  “Yes.”

  Lee took another look around the lobby, taking note of th
e lack of a gun or alternative weapon on the guard’s belt, though he was otherwise perfectly dressed for the part.

  “This prison doesn’t just house normal, non-supernatural criminals,” whispered Lee.

  The slightest hint of a proud smile flickered across Harper’s lips, and she gave him a small nod.

  “This is a maximum-security private prison run by the Douglas Group, one of the Order of Chaldea’s umbrella companies,” said Harper. “It houses normal criminals who’ve been given multiple life sentences, along with a few dozen magical detainees.”

  “Clever. If the regular inmates have life sentences, there’s more leeway when it comes to keeping the secret under wraps. It’s not as though they’ll ever be released to tell about it.”

  “Yes, though dream weaving is still performed on the population after major incidents,” said Harper. “The one that we’re here to address, however, is still fresh in their minds.”

  Lee had another question on the tip of his tongue, but before he could ask it, a young woman with a wispy brown ponytail and thick-rimmed glasses approached them and offered a smile.

  “Ms. Black?” she asked. “I’m Alex. The Warden sent me to bring you to his office.”

  Harper nodded and gestured for Lee to follow. Alex led them down a hallway and through a complex series of turns, then up a staircase. At the end of that hallway was a door with a copper plaque on the front that read “WARDEN’S OFFICE.”

  “He’s waiting for you,” said Alex. “You can go right on in.”

  Lee smiled at the girl, and she gave him a small wave as she hurried off to her next duty. He followed Harper into the office. A tall, well-built man was inside, leaning forward on a desk and scowling at a map pinned up to the room’s far wall.

  “Ah, Harper,” said the man. “Good timing. I can’t tell you how glad I am that you could make it.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” said Harper. “Daryl, this is Lee Amaranth, my new apprentice. Lee, this is Daryl Hoffman. He’s the warden in charge of the Upper Valley Penitentiary.”

  Daryl seemed somewhat young for the responsibility, perhaps 35 at the oldest. His curly black hair was cut short, and he wore a navy suit without a tie. Hanging from his neck was a silver chain with a single key hanging from it, though whether it served a purpose or was purely ornamental was an open question.

  “Apprentice?” Daryl’s forehead crinkled. “Never thought I’d live to see the day that the Queen brought someone under her wing.”

  “The Queen?” asked Lee.

  He glanced over at Harper, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

  “It’s her nickname amongst the Order,” said Daryl. “Queen as in the chess piece. Harper has always been a bit of an outlier when it comes to her ability to excel and get things done. She’s the one who gets sent in to clean up messes, the one whose time isn’t usually wasted on lesser concerns. I have to ask, though. What did you do to make her deem you worthy?”

  “I pissed her off,” said Lee.

  Daryl blinked, his expression caught between reacting to the joke and watching to see how Harper would take it.

  “Well, trust me, you’re learning from the best,” said Daryl.

  “We should get down to business,” said Harper.

  “Of course.” Daryl sat down at his desk and drummed his fingers against the wood. “There’s been an escape. Seven of the supernatural detainees broke through one of the fences during yard time. The hexes had been stripped off the fence, so there was nothing stopping a spell from tearing through it.”

  “An inside job, then?” asked Harper.

  Daryl sighed through his teeth, frustration bubbling to the surface on his face.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Nothing like this has ever happened before. It could have been a member of the facility’s staff. It could have been an illusionist posing as one of my people.”

  It could have been a specter, thought Lee. He tucked the theory away to come back to later.

  “Who were the escapees?” asked Harper. “That should tell you much of what you need to know.”

  “That’s what I thought, but they weren’t all from one faction,” said Daryl. “One of them was a member of the Melting Pack, the lycanthrope biker gang that meanders across North America. One of them was a member of 88Purity, the white supremacist sorcerers, not sure if you’ve heard of them.”

  “The other five?” asked Harper.

  “We aren’t sure about all of them, but at least two were members of the House of Shadows, the terrorist group that’s previously fought the Order directly,” said Daryl. “They seem like the most likely culprit, but I don’t have any hard evidence yet.”

  “Where have you been searching?” asked Harper.

  Daryl gestured to the map he’d previously been staring at, which was a blown-up printout of an area that spanned at least four hundred square miles.

  “Everywhere,” he said.

  “Stop that,” said Harper. “Just look here.”

  She walked over to the map and tapped a single finger against an area with only a few roads crossing over.

  “Mount Fellmore?” asked Daryl. “What makes you think—”

  “The lycanthrope will be there,” said Harper. “Set up a perimeter around it and wait for him to poke his nose out. Once you capture him, make him tell you where the rest went. I’ve no doubt they left as a full group and only split up after discussing their options.”

  Daryl opened his mouth, hesitated, and then nodded. “See? This is why I called you in, Queen. I’ll get my men right on it.”

  “Be sure to let the Order know about this while you’re at it,” said Harper. “You never mentioned whether you’d informed them, and they need to be aware of something like this.”

  “Ah, right.” Daryl shrugged. “I figured it would go over more smoothly for my career if I waited until I had the recapture underway before sounding the alarm. I don’t want this little incident to seem worse than it really is, you know?”

  Harper just stared at him and held her silence as though it were a weapon. Lee found himself appreciating the fact that for once, he wasn’t on the receiving end of her intensity.

  “I’ll tell them,” said Daryl. “Right away.”

  “Good,” said Harper. “Call me if your men see anything that warrants following up on.”

  She stood up without another word and left the room. Lee shared a small, knowing smile with Daryl.

  “Nice meeting you, Lee,” said Daryl.

  “Likewise.”

  “Good luck. You’re going to need it with her.”

  CHAPTER 8

  “Our cover story has been established,” said Lee. “Now can you finally tell me more about the lead you have on Zoe?”

  They were back in the car Harper had borrowed from the First Tower’s under level. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was slowly setting over the horizon as they drove south from the prison toward their next destination.

  “Keep your expectations managed,” said Harper. “Someone I know claims to have seen her, very briefly, on their doorstep.”

  “Someone around here?”

  “Yes,” said Harper.

  “Do you think Zoe’s still nearby?”

  “No,” said Harper.

  “Do you have to be so vague about all of this?”

  Harper didn’t answer him, and it took a force of will for Lee to shackle his irritation. She kept driving, passing through a small, rural town before heading out into the country again down a road in dire need of paving.

  She pulled into the driveway of a large ranch house with a barn converted into a garage. The nearest neighbors were a good quarter-mile down the road in either direction. Two large dogs played in the backyard, and they both made a beeline for Harper as soon as she stepped out of the car. She started petting them when they came up to her.

  Lee came around to do the same and was greeted by a chorus of growls. Harper flicked one of the dogs on the nose, which served as a re
primand to both of them. The house’s front door opened, and an older woman with grey hair and a thin build came outside, smiling broadly.

  “Harper!” called the woman. “It’s been so long, my little Harper-Mari!”

  She ran over to Harper and pulled her into a tight hug. Seeing both women close together and noticing their similarities confirmed Lee’s suspicions.

  “Eldon,” said Harper. “This is Felicia Black. My mother. Mom, this is Eldon Brock.”

  “Oh!” Felicia blinked several times, looking back and forth between Lee and Harper and clearly letting her mind run wild. “Eldon, it’s so nice to meet you.”

  “I go by Lee,” he said. “Nice to meet you, too.”

  “Harper-Mari is the same way,” said Felicia. “She can’t stand the fact that I had the gall to give her two first names instead of just one.”

  “Mother, please,” said Harper. “I’m here about your message.”

  “Right, of course,” said Felicia. “Come inside. We’ll talk more about it over dinner.”

  She squeezed Harper’s hand and hurried back toward the house, gesturing insistently for them to follow her. Harper let out a sigh and nodded to Lee.

  “She’ll insist on us staying the night, but it’s fine,” she said. “I was already planning on getting us a hotel, and this will save money.”

  “You don’t sound thrilled,” said Lee. “This is your childhood home, isn’t it?”

  Harper didn’t answer as she followed her mother inside. Lee stayed close behind her, and the two dogs trailed along after him. The house’s entranceway was a simple mudroom, and he took after Harper’s example, taking his shoes off to set alongside hers in a neat row.

  Felicia led them into a spacious dining room that, judging from the thin layer of dust on the table, didn’t see much regular use. He and Harper took a seat, her mother fussing over them at the kind of accelerated pace that only a family matriarch can manage.

  “If you’d told me you were planning on coming, I would have done more prep for dinner, but I suppose I can still make do,” said Felicia. “Michael! Your sister is home! Come on out and say hi.”