by Sadie Jacks
“Do you feel any different?” Asher asked Atlas.
Atlas’ gaze turned inward. “My stomach doesn’t hurt; my lungs aren’t heavy.” He took the stethoscope from around his neck, fitted it to his ears, and listened to his heart. “My heart murmur is gone.” He looked up, awe on his face.
“Right? My legs aren’t in agony. My arms feel like I could lift a million pounds and not feel the strain.” Asher did a couple of bicep curls.
I looked at Xander, Saint, and Taryk. Hints of jealousy darkened the happiness in their expressions.
“RANSOM!” Kiema’s shout pulled all of our attention. Shoving my friends out of the way, I was across the room before the echo of my name faded from the oversized space.
“Kiema!” As I neared the door, I could have sworn I heard the sound of breaking glass.
“Taryk, outside. I just heard glass break,” I called as I backed up from her door. “We’ve got to break in; I don’t have the codes.”
The rest of them lined up, right shoulders aimed at the doors.
“Aim for the seam between them. That’s the weak link,” Asher called from his position.
“On three.” I counted down.
The doors cracked open on the first try; we slammed the doors so hard against the walls that the left door bounced back almost smashing Atlas in the face.
“Kiema!” I ran through the sitting area straight into the bedroom.
“She’s gone,” Taryk called from outside the broken window. “Ransom, shift into an animal. They headed that way.” He pointed off to the north. “I saw them disappear over the far hill. Helo picked them up. I counted five plus the pilot.” He looked down.
I pushed everything else from my mind. Focused on Kiema.
We’ve got to find her. Find Kiema. Find Kiema.
Nothing happened.
“Was her body rigid?” I asked, my voice strained. If those fuckers had touched her skin, I would rip them apart with my bare hands.
Find Kiema. Shift, fucker, shift!
Nothing.
I raged at the animals stuck inside me. They wanted out, but they were trapped. As trapped as I was as a human.
“I can’t change for some reason,” I said.
Taryk looked at me, a grimace on his face. He nodded, as if he’d expected that.
“No, her body wasn’t rigid. I’m guessing some kind of sedative. She was draped over the biggest runner’s shoulders. The helo was too far away to catch the tail numbers. But I did manage to catch this symbol on their backs as they were running away.” He lifted his phone, a golden Rod of Asclepius was surrounded by small golden suns.
“OTIS,” Saint and I growled it at the same time.
“Best guess. We’ve gotta get out of here. If they took her, they’re going to be on the move. We can’t catch them from here. Xander, see if she had her phone with her. If she does, start tracking it. I’m coming in to get our shit and get out of here.” Taryk moved away from the window.
Chapter 46 – Kiema
The pain is what woke me up. My whole body was one giant bruise. Shit, shit, shit.
“She’s awake,” an unfamiliar female voice said.
“Excellent. Ms. Feuer, please open your eyes,” a new person demanded.
I wanted to keep my eyes closed on principle, but I needed to assess my surroundings. Prying my lids open made me feel like I’d run a marathon; I was so exhausted by the time they opened I needed a freaking nap.
I was on the floor of a moving vehicle, staring up at five unfamiliar faces. Two women, three men. None of them looked very friendly.
“Good. You’ll want to continue to follow my orders, Kiema. It keeps him from doing bad things,” the older of the two women said, a snarky smile on her face, as she pointed at a shaved-headed man with so many facial piercings, I struggled to distinguish his features. I almost screamed when he opened his eyes. He had exact replicas of his hazel irises tattooed on his lids.
Never before had I ever felt like prey so much as in this moment.
The younger woman with bright blue eyes, shaved head on one side, long bright purple hair on the other, laughed.
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“We’ve heard about your inability to be touched from your parents. We have left you untouched. Do not expect the courtesy to remain long. You’re here for very specific reasons. Comply with our demands, and you will be set free. Resist and…well.” She pointed to Piercings guy.
He smiled as he shoved a knife as long as my arm in my face.
I nodded again.
“Excellent. I know this isn’t the plan you set up with Reece, but when the other men showed up at the cabin, we couldn’t take the risk that you would lose your nerve.”
I swallowed. “Who’s Reece?”
The older woman laughed. Shaking her head, she said, “Juan and Ferria warned me, I just didn’t believe them: You truly are useless outside of your magic, aren’t you? Reece is the person with whom you’ve been creating plans to escape your parents.”
“Who are you?”
“We’re the Iron Serpent, dear girl. But I think you already know that.”
I wasn’t admitting to anything.
“She knows,” the younger woman said.
“Telepath.” I spit it out. I’d have to be careful.
“Keeping secrets isn’t nice.”
“Suck a dick,” I said, my voice dripping sugar.
The two men on the far side, near my feet, laughed.
Telepath glared at them, punched the closest one in the belly.
“Not her style,” the man on her left said, which earned him a punch.
“Enough,” the older woman said. The rest of the group went still and silent.
Old Lady rolled her eyes as she looked back at me. “We know you went to the cabin to heal Ransom Kolefni. We also know his parents negotiated for three extra days beyond your normal ritual. Were you successful in healing him?”
“Yes.”
The older woman looked at Telepath. Got a nod.
“What was his ailment?”
“I don’t know.”
Another look. Another nod.
“Have you ever been unable to heal someone?”
“Yes.”
They did the look-nod routine.
“You have a fucking telepath. I’m not going to lie to you. It would be a waste of both of our time.” I rolled my eyes.
Old Lady examined me with cold blue eyes. “Be that as it may, Sasha here will be vetting your answers.”
“Then this is going to take all day with how slowly you’re asking questions. Just ask what you really want to ask and let me go.”
“Have you heard of the Iron Serpent?”
“Yes.”
Look. Nod.
“Good. This makes my job so much easier. We’ve recently accessed your MagCorp records.”
Blah, blah, blah. I’d known my parents were part of Iron Serpent.
Look. Head shake.
“You are one of the highest ranked Mages in the world. Did you know that?”
I almost laughed. “Are you kidding me? If that were true, my parents would’ve had me doing a lot more than healing people for them all these years.” They also wouldn’t have beat the shit out of me everything I upset them.
Look. Nod.
“Your parents are idiots with small minds.”
“Yes.”
Surprised look. Nod.
“You have no love for your parents?”
“I will always love the people they should have been. I do not love the people they are.”
Look. Nod.
“Interesting. Did you know that MagCorp is able to tell the different types of magic a person has?”
“No.”
Look. Nod.
I sighed. This was going to take for-fucking-ever.
Sasha snickered.
The older woman glared at the younger one.
“You carry three types of magic. The first, your stro
ngest, is healing.”
“Obviously.” I stifled a fake yawn. Three types of magic? How the fuck was that even possible?
Sasha snickered again. Received another glare.
I looked at Sasha. She stared back at me, no expression on her face.
“The second is revelation.”
Old Lady looked at me like I should be impressed with myself. “Great. Color me excited.”
Look. Shrugged shoulders.
“Do you know what a revelator is?”
“Never heard the term before today.”
Look. Nod.
“A revelator is someone who can find the truth of things. In the magical sense, it means you can tell what kind of magic others have.”
How the hell was that supposed to work if I can’t touch people?
Look. Head shake. Sasha repeated these words out loud.
“From my understanding of your powers from your parents, you usually see a field of grays when entering someone’s spiritual plane. Yes?”
“Yes.”
Look. Nod.
“Those with latent forms of magic should appear in color. Have you seen this before?”
Yes, I fucking knew that, how did they? Again, how was this supposed to work with not touching people?
Look. Sasha repeated only the last sentence.
Interesting.
“You would still touch them. You just wouldn’t expend any magic to heal them. Following?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful.” Old Lady clapped her hands like she was praising a baby’s first steps. “Your third type of magic is your weakest form: defense. You barely registered on the scale for it, but it is there.”
“What does that mean, defense? Like I can defend myself against other magic users—excuse me—mages?”
“In theory. Or you can protect yourself or others. The defense sub-designation has yet to be fully mapped or understood. Since your defense is your weakest magic, we’ll leave it alone for now. We need to use your healing and revelator abilities.”
“Why? I can’t be the only one in these categories otherwise you wouldn’t have them as categories.”
“Because, as I stated before, your healing magic is off the charts. As is your revelator magic.”
“Yes, and touching anyone pulls me to their magical plane against my will. Even with my rituals. I can’t be of any help to you unless you want to kill me faster than my parents had planned to.”
Old Lady looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “What have your parents told you about your healing magic?”
Seriously, woman? Sasha served as my unwanted puppet once more.
“Yes, I’m very serious.”
“For every person I heal, I lose six months off my lifespan.”
Old Lady’s eyes went huge as she slumped back in her seat. “That can’t be right. Are you lying?”
“Of course not. Why the hell would I lie about something like that?”
Look. Nod.
“Well, that does pose some interesting puzzles.” Old Lady sat back, her eyes unfocused.
“That’s fucking messed up, chica,” Sasha said to me.
“You have no idea.” I rubbed my hands over my arms. “Anyone have a blanket or something? I’m freezing.”
The three men all looked to Sasha. She nodded.
The man nearest my feet twisted in his seat and pulled open a door tucked into the wall behind him. He pulled out a blue blanket, tossed it to me.
“Thanks. What are the rest of your names?”
“Reece,” the man who’d thrown me the blanket said. He had a shaved head, medium build, and a scar running from his right ear to the side of his mouth. His brown eyes were a muddy color that looked glazed somehow.
“You sound different than when I talked to you on the phone.” I unfolded the blanket and tucked it around myself.
“And you sound pretty much the same,” he said, his voice a perfect match to the man on the phone.
“He can manipulate sound waves with his mind,” Sasha explained.
“Interesting. Other than disguising your voice, what else can you do?”
Immediately, the sound in the small space sounded like we were tucked directly under a huge engine.
I blinked. Sat up just the tiniest bit. “We’re in the air!”
Everyone laughed at me. Reece did something that made the cabin of the craft quiet again.
“He’s also the one who knocked you out,” the man sitting next to Reece said. He was a little bulkier than Reece and had black hair that was scraped back off his forehead and pulled into a little bun on top of his head. His left eyebrow was pierced. His eyes were a deep violet. “Aeron.”
“What do you do, Aeron?”
“I’m telekinetic.” He blinked and the thing we were flying in began to fall out of the sky.
I screamed as my stomach said hello to my throat.
Sasha punched Aeron in the stomach again. “Stop it, asshat. I’m going to puke all over you.”
The craft leveled out before climbing into the air again.
I spent a few moments breathing and reorganizing my internal organs. I looked at the scary guy with facial piercings and tattoos. “And your name?”
“We call him Hellion. He doesn’t talk, nor does he have magic. He’s just a psychopath who likes Matilda,” Sasha tipped her chin at Old Lady.
Hellion wiggled his knife in my face again.
“Nice to meet you, Hellion.” I pulled away from him as far as I could get. “All of you.” I cleared my throat. “So, if you’ve done all this research on me, why did you not know that I lost six months of life for every person I heal? Just a bad investigator or crappy informant?”
Reece growled. “There was nothing in your file and your parents said nothing about your magic having a cost. None of us suffer from using our magic.”
I couldn’t believe it. “Are you fucking serious? You can use your magic whenever, however you want and not pay any price for it?”
All of them but Matilda and Hellion nodded.
“Fuck. That’s fucking unfair.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“We each only have one type of magic though,” Sasha offered.
“I’m not sure the price I pay is outweighed by having more than one type of magic.”
Sasha lifted one shoulder into the air, let it drop.
“Bishop is calling MagCorp for your records. If you’re lying, or your parents are lying, there will be hell to pay,” Matilda said.
“It’s true.”
Look. Nod.
“Shit,” Matilda said under her breath. “Have you been able to touch someone and not heal them?”
“I’ve already answered that question. Pick another one.”
Hellion rumbled low in his throat behind me.
“Not been unable to heal. If you’ve been able to heal them, have you ever chosen not to?”
“No. It’s a compulsion. I can’t not heal someone if they are in need of healing.”
Look. Nod.
“Have you ever fought this compulsion?”
“No. Why would I? My whole job was to heal people.”
Look. Nod.
“Would you be willing to test this theory?”
“I guess it depends on what you want me to do.”
Look. Nod.
“Touch Hellion. He has no magic, no known ailments. He’s in the peak of mental and physical health. He requires no healing. Would you be willing to touch him?”
“I’m pretty sure psychopathy is not the peak of mental health.”
“He is satisfied with his mental state. That should be enough.”
I looked at the man. He nodded.
“Um. Sure. I guess.”
He leaned forward, his arm outstretched.
I recoiled. “First, don’t touch me. I touch you. Second, I only touch you after I’ve done at least part of my ritual.”
Hellion looked over my shoulder. He looked back to me, gave me a nod.
>
I moved myself into a seated position, pulling the blanket with me. I closed my eyes and began the process of centering myself.
On the fifth deep breath, I opened my eyes. “Since you have no voice, I will ask my question with my eyes open. Once I close my eyes, I will touch you once my ritual is complete. Do you agree?”
He nodded, his shaggy brown hair sliding over his shoulders.
“Seeker, are you ready?”
He nodded again.
I nodded. “When I say, ‘Open your mind,’ you’re going to need to drop any mental barriers you have. Will you have difficulty with this?”
Hellion shook his head.
“Good.” I closed my eyes, repeated the steps of deep breathing and began my ritual.
One, inhale. Thank you, Gaia for this gift.
Two, exhale. Thank you, Gaia for this gift.
Three, inhale. Thank you, Gaia for this gift.
Four, exhale. With this gift, I give back to you.
Five, inhale. With this gift, I give back to you.
“Open your mind.”
I opened my eyes and placed my palm against Hellion’s. I felt the familiar tugging of my spirit to merge with someone else’s on contact. Hellion’s spiritual landscape was a morass of throbbing black, not the grays I’d been told to expect.
Nor was it a calm place. It beat almost like…a heart. I didn’t know what Sasha could hear in here, but I needed to make sure to pass along whatever thoughts I had in real time, just in case.
I didn’t find anything to heal, my spirit content to remain unencumbered by the searching tendrils of Hellion’s spirit.
I began my exiting ritual.
A piece of Hellion’s pulsating black attached to my spirit just as I entered my own body.
“What the fuck did you just do?” I leapt across the small space, hands reaching for the psychopath.
Something locked me away, almost as if invisible arms wrapped around me. Holding me back from Hellion. I pushed and shoved, but nothing happened.
“What is going on here?” Matilda fairly screeched.
“That fucker just stuck something in my spirit.” I pushed at the invisible hands holding me. “Get it out, get it out.”
“You must be mistaken. Hellion has no direct access to his spiritual plane, no magic through which to give or take anything from a different spirit.” Matilda shook her head, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked at me like I was a naughty school girl making drama for attention.
