Arcane Dropout 2

by Edmund Hughes

  “Red Temptation?” he read, raising an eyebrow. “A heady blast of aggressive focus that will leave her begging for a second round. Just… why?”

  “I know, I know,” said Toma. “It doesn’t really do anything other than smell amazing, but it helps my confidence.”

  “I feel a strong urge to debate your usage of the word ‘amazing,’ but I’ll let it slide.”

  “I need every advantage I can get tonight,” said Toma. “I’m angling for a home run with Jenna, if you know what I’m saying.”

  “Not sure I do.”

  “You know what I mean. Getting a little something in underneath the panties, if you catch my drift. They say it’s like a come-hither motion once you get a finger inside.”

  “A home run isn’t… you know what, forget it.” Lee chuckled and tossed the spray back to him. “I’m going to miss this.”

  “Miss what? Where are you going?”

  “Oh, nowhere,” he said. “Just in general. These types of moments. I’ll miss them down the road, when we’re both out of school.”

  “Same here, so let’s enjoy them while we can,” said Toma. “In the words of Hatchet Body Spray, Let’s Live Life to the Max!”

  “I think your snake oil is having the opposite effect.”

  “You’re just jealous,” said Toma. “Anyway, ready to head out? We should get there early in case the instructors get crotchety about it and shut things down later on.”

  “I still have to take a shower,” said Lee. “I’ll catch up with you.”

  “You’d better. See you later, Lee.”

  “See you, Toma.”

  Lee sat down on the bed, listening to the sound of the dorm room door closing behind his friend. Tess joined him, and he pulled her into his mystic stream as she hugged his shoulder. She sniffled, and then started crying.

  “I really like Toma,” she whispered. “He’s so funny, in his own silly way.”

  “Hey, it’s okay,” said Lee. “I still don’t know what’s going to happen. This might not be the last time we see him.”

  A scene flashed through Lee’s mind’s eye of him on the run as a freelance mystic, evading the grasp of several agents of the Order. Including Toma, who had on sunglasses and a leather jacket. Lee chuckled, deciding that particular scenario was a little unlikely.

  “Come on,” he said. “My sister will probably be waiting for us.”

  “Promise me that this is going to work out?”

  “I promise that it’ll work out,” he said. “Even if it doesn’t.”

  “Lee! It’s meaningless when you phrase it like that.”

  “I know.”

  CHAPTER 42

  Lee let a few minutes pass before heading out himself. It was dark outside, which fit his purposes. He kept to the shadows as much as he could, not wanting his winter coat and boots to reveal his intentions before he’d even made it off campus.

  He’d already been paying close attention to the gate throughout the day and knew that there were two guards stationed outside in the cold, based off a few of the rotations he’d observed. Several more guards patrolled the edge of the wall, at least one of whom passed by the area around the college’s entrance every few minutes.

  “I brought the sleeping potion for the ones outside,” whispered Lee. “Do you think you can help me out with this, Tess?”

  “Um, it’s not exactly like I can just force it into their mouths,” she said, flicking a few strands of brown hair over one shoulder. “I suppose I could ask nicely if they’d drink it, but I somehow doubt they’d hear me.”

  “They’ll have something warm to drink, for sure,” said Lee. “Either a thermos between them, or a flask, or maybe both. Try to pour the potion into the containers.”

  “I can try, I guess,” she said.

  Lee passed her the vial and watched from the shadows as Tess ran toward Primhaven’s wall with long, ethereal steps. She wore a flirty sundress that would have been much more suited to the weather within the climate-controlled campus than outside of it, had temperature been an issue for ghosts.

  She stood almost pressed against the wall, and when none of the guards were looking, she hefted the vial into a throw that went nearly straight up before arcing slightly and coming back down. The way Tess confidently phased through the wall and out onto the other side told Lee that it wasn’t the first time she’d sneaked something beyond the wall.

  He tried to stay patient as he waited. Visions of her failing in one dramatic way or another played through his head like movie trailers in the lead-up to a blockbuster premiere. The mages couldn’t see Tess, he reminded himself. Even if what she was doing was discovered, they wouldn’t immediately assume it was a ghost. She was safe. She was probably safe. God, he hoped she was safe.

  “Surprise!” Two cold, intangible hands covered Lee’s eyes. “Guess who?”

  “Hmmm… Toma maybe?”

  “No.”

  “Eliza?”

  “Still no.”

  “Hmmm… I thought you’d left already, Harper?”

  Tess sighed. “Okay, even I realize how unlikely it would be for her to play this sort of joke on you.”

  She grinned as she came back around to stand in front of Lee and gave him a ‘thumbs up.’

  “We’re all set, then?” he asked.

  “Should be. I dosed the thermos they were sharing, just like you said. I waited until one of them started yawning before coming back.”

  Lee nodded. Now it was just a matter of timing his exit so the inner patrols weren’t watching him. He made his way closer to the gate, hiding behind a small shrub and doing his best to keep an eye out for any of Lead Instructor Mattis’s bonded animals.

  He found his escape opportunity sooner than expected when the mage who was due to pass near him next wandered off from their post with the classic body language of someone in dire need of relieving themselves. He only opened the gate far enough for him to slip out through, sucking in a sharp breath as the cold hit him like swimming in a pond in late spring.

  The two guards outside the gate were down for the count, both slumped into seated positions against the wall on either side of it. Lee hesitated, realizing that he hadn’t taken their extended well-being into consideration. He wasn’t sure if he’d be coming back that night, or at all. He couldn’t just leave two innocent mages outside in the cold to catch hypothermia.

  He found one of their phones, which luckily had no lock screen, and set a timer for twenty minutes. That would be long enough for him to make it to Gillum without being long enough to risk the health of the sleeping beauties. He slipped the phone back into the school, knowing that with the volume and vibration turned up, it would draw the attention of one of the other patrolling guards.

  It was frustrating to undermine the secrecy of his own plan, but it couldn’t be helped. Lee tried to make up for it by moving fast, jogging down the snowy road that led to Primhaven’s tiny, remote sister village.

  There were a dazzling number of stars out that night, which led to a very surreal effect when combined with the endless white snow. The ground looked almost luminescent, powder white and frozen blue, reflecting the ambient light of the celestial starscape above them. The dampening effect the snow had on the air only enhanced the feeling, with the crunch of his footsteps making up the lion’s share of the noise, along with each of his chilled breaths.

  It was a Sunday night, and it felt like one. When Lee reached Gillum, he found the central street completely empty. The lampposts were sparsely placed, with only one outside of the Frostfire Tavern and another farther down at an intersection. Each illuminated a swirling ballet of blown snowflakes, dancing through the light one by one before disappearing back into the dark.

  He half-expected the tavern to be closed, but the door swung freely on its hinges when he pulled it open. There was no doorman, and the only other person within was a grey-haired bartender reading a book. He closed it and cleared his throat, standing to attention and forcing a sm
ile as he took Lee’s order.

  “A beer,” he said. “Whatever’s cheap and tasty.”

  The bartender nodded. “First student I’ve seen all day. Some ruckus happen up at the college?”

  “A minor incident. Might be a few days before things go back to normal.”

  The bartender gave him his beer. Lee sipped at it and tried to collect his scattered thoughts. What would he say to Zoe? Would she actually show up? Assuming she did, would it be to talk? He hadn’t given the idea that the meeting might be another trap the consideration it was probably due.

  The bell above the tavern’s door jingled. Lee glanced over his shoulder and a tall girl with brown hair cut tomboy-short walked into the barroom. She took her parka off and hung it on the coat rack as she passed by, then flashed a wide, genuine smile.

  “Eldon,” said Zoe. “I’m so glad you came.”

  CHAPTER 43

  “Zoe,” said Lee.

  She approached the bar slowly, taking the stool next to him and sitting down. Tess had already given Lee some space and was standing over by one of the tables on the other side of the room. Zoe asked the bartender for a wine cooler, and he slipped away after giving it to her, leaving Lee alone with his sister.

  “It’s so good to see you,” said Zoe. “How have you been?”

  “Fine,” said Lee. “I mean, a lot has happened. But that’s not—”

  “Have you been getting enough sleep?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’ve been eating healthy, too, right? You didn’t just start subsisting off junk food after I left?”

  “Healthy-ish.”

  “What about school?” asked Zoe. “I know you’re at Primhaven now, but you didn’t suffer too much through high school, did you? I’ve seen your records, I know you graduated. Barely.”

  “Yes, Zoe, high school was fine.”

  She reached her hand out, taking her big-sister doting to the next level as she pulled at his sweatshirt and examined the fabric.

  “How long have you been wearing this thing for?” she asked. “It’s a month away from having holes in it. I made sure that your money allowance had enough for you to keep your wardrobe up to date, you know.”

  “I know, Zoe.” Lee rolled his eyes. “I know.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. Despite everything he’d gone through searching for her and the emotional trauma of having her reenter his life in such a sudden manner, it still warmed his heart to have her fuss over him like a big sister. Zoe was smiling too, and a single tear sneaked down from the corner of her left eye.

  “I missed you so much, Eldon,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been so horrible to you.”

  “Horrible might be pushing it a little,” he said. “You’ve confused me, that’s for damn sure. I’ve missed you just as much. Zoe… what happened?”

  “A lot. It’s a long story, as I’m sure you’ve probably guessed.”

  “Do you know what else is a long story?” Lee flattened his hand on the counter and spread his fingers. “The story of how long I’ve spent searching for you. The story of how many nights I went to bed and couldn’t sleep because I kept… picturing you dead. Or as a ghost.”

  He lowered his voice as he spoke the last word, feeling the weight of his secret even within the nearly empty tavern. Zoe’s smile had faded, and she reached over and set her hand on top of her brother’s.

  “The reason why I never reached out to you was because I was worried for your safety,” said Zoe. “Obviously. Was I ever cruel to you, Eldon?”

  “Never intentionally.”

  Zoe scowled and rolled her eyes a little. “Do you really think I wouldn’t have written a letter, or made a phone call, if…”

  Her voice faltered and she took a deep breath, finally losing the battle against the first real volley of tears. Lee squeezed her hand.

  “You’re here now,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much this still means to me. But I need to know why…”

  His sister nodded and cleared her throat, dabbing at her eyes with her fingers. The bartender was at the far end of the tavern, out of earshot, but he noticed Zoe’s upset state and was clearly misunderstanding the situation, from his expression.

  “When I first arrived at Primhaven, I didn’t have a lot of options,” she said. “The school is free for mages to attend, as you know. It’s more of the community college of the wizarding world rather than Harvard.”

  “I know.”

  “My point is, I didn’t need money, but… you did,” she whispered. “The trust I said would deposit a monthly allowance into your account and handle the rent and bills through Mr. Alexander never really, uh, technically, uh, existed.”

  “Zoe…” Lee’s brow furrowed in concern. “Was it because of me? Did you have to resort to—”

  “Shut it, Eldon. Let me tell my story and then you can ask questions, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Zoe took a breath.

  “I didn’t have much trouble with my classes,” she said. “In fact, I was one of the top students at the school, along with Harper. I’m really glad that she’s been helping you along, by the way. Harper and I… were very close.

  “Aaaannnyway, as I said, I had to do various odd jobs around the school and in Gillum to make sure you were taken care of. This went on up until the last year I was at Primhaven, shortly before Harper was recruited as an Arcane Striker.

  “A new Head Wizard took over, a man named Dante Antioch. He was a kind old man with outspoken ideas. He and his wife, Mary-Anne, were open to the idea of treating supernatural entities as equals and judging them by their character. This was different from the Order’s philosophy, which sees them more as lesser beings, or potential dangers.

  “It sounds like a small thing, but it was truly a different time for Primhaven. It was a cozy place of magic and tolerance. We hosted some frost trolls for a winter feast. We had a vampire as a guest teacher for Meta-Magic class. It was different, Eldon, the type of education that teaches you about new perspectives.

  “Head Wizard Antioch was a busy man who needed a lot of help when it came to scheduling appointments and administrative work. He took me on as his apprentice and assistant and started paying me three times what I’d been making through my side work.”

  Zoe’s lips pulled up into a fond smile. It faded as her free hand closed into a tight, angry fist.

  “It all fell apart when Antioch brought a wounded lycanthrope onto the campus to save its life,” she said. “A wild werewolf, about as unsocialized as they come. He had to keep it locked up in the First Tower while it was recovering. One day, it broke loose, and…”

  She winced. Lee resisted the impulse to urge her on, and after a moment, she continued.

  “It attacked his wife, Mary-Anne. It raped her, and bit her, and escaped. I was there for the aftermath. She was screaming so much. It was like watching an animal slowly develop rabies. Antioch changed after that. He’d never been an angry man, but getting revenge on that werewolf became all he cared about.

  “He called in a few of his old friends from his time in the Order of Chaldea. They set out into the wilderness, found the werewolf, and killed it. I wish that was where the story ended, but word eventually got back to the higher-ups at the Order.

  “A group of investigators arrived at the school. Antioch was combative with them, refused to let them properly do their job. They didn’t just have an issue with Mary-Anne’s condition, but with his entire philosophy.

  “I was there when it happened. Antioch heard them coming up the lift. He wanted me to hide in the closet with Mary-Anne to keep them from finding her, but she was too aggressive, too far gone. He just hid me, in the end.

  “They talked for a while. The investigators refused to budge. They… wanted to put her down. Antioch couldn’t stop them. He watched them kill his wife, Eldon. As soon as it was done he started making threats, talking about how he’d kill all of them, destroy the Order. How the students would rise up and su
pport him. Honestly, I think some of them would have. I would have, after what I’d seen.

  “He attacked them, giving me a chance to run. I made it down to the Arcane Way and escaped to Paris. Not my favorite city, but I managed to hide out from them, at least. A month or two later was when I first encountered the Dealmaker, and that was basically that.”

  She let out a relieved sigh and sagged slightly on her bar stool. Lee slowly shook his head, feeling a tad overwhelmed by the mass of information she’d dropped on him.

  “There were no records of you at Primhaven,” said Lee. “Harper said that none of your classmates from the time even remembered you.”

  “I’ve only heard rumors about that, but it does make sense,” said Zoe. “I assume they took Antioch’s threat about having his students rise up against the Order seriously. They couldn’t kill everyone, like they killed him and his wife, but they could erase him from their minds. I guess they decided to include me in the dream weaving too.”

  “Harper still remembers you.”

  “She left just before Antioch came to the school. They wouldn’t have worried about her.”

  Lee frowned. He felt like he was trying to poke holes in his sister’s story, as though the thought of trusting it at face value was just too much after so long.

  “What about the Dealmaker?” he asked. “I understand that you were on the run from the Order, but to just join up with a group called the House of Shadows…”

  “That’s what the Order calls them,” laughed Zoe. “We only use that name sarcastically. It doesn’t even refer to anything other than the fact that our main base is, technically, a house. Well, more of a mansion, really. It’s quite scenic.”

  “Zoe…” Lee winced and ran a hand through his hair. “This is a lot to take in.”

  “I’m sure you have more questions,” she said. “Come on. I have a room rented upstairs. It’s probably best if we talk about what comes next in private. Bring your ghost girlfriend, too.”

  Lee wasn’t a fan of the intonation Zoe used as she brought up Tess. She was watching from the corner and smiled innocently as he looked over at her. He waved a hand, and the two of them followed Zoe upstairs.