by Laurie McKay
Caden chased after her.
They were out of time. Ms. Jackson raised the new vial—it was just as dark and sparkling as the first—and started to speak. “Wind roar, sky break, let these magical locks continue the spell, and link not only water but air as well.”
Magical locks. The spell ingredient that had been taken from Brynne.
The colorful clouds darkened. The light dimmed. The wind whipped past Caden’s face and roared past his body, taking leaves and napkins and trash with it. People on the sidewalk shouted. Mr. Faunt let loose the cage, and Tito fell backward and downhill. The cage rolled with him and the door popped open. The sounds of traffic stopped.
The wind began to rage just as the river had three days prior.
The burning umbrella came loose from a table. It zoomed past Caden, tumbling up into the angry sky like a fiery spear. The debris that funneled up with it caught fire. Mr. Faunt used his long nails to latch onto the brick wall. The nurse and sixth-grade teachers ran out of sight. Ms. Levers, the wraith, did the same.
Mr. Wist was unaffected by the winds. Certain proof he was a banshee. He turned down the street and walked toward the cage. Whatever was inside, zoomed up and flew straight at Mr. Wist’s face.
Jane ran to Tito and grabbed his hand. She pulled him toward the cover of the alleyway. Tito started to yell. His voice barely registered over the winds. “The cage! The cage!” The wind had turned Tito insane. Then Tito said, “Bird! Jasan!”
Then Caden knew what and who had been in the cage. Jasan—the bird version. Mr. Wist seized Jasan by his talons. With his prize obtained, Mr. Wist turned and flung Jasan at Rath Dunn. Was Jasan the sacrifice after all? He was in bird form, but in truth he was a human. Would he satisfy the spell? Caden wouldn’t wait to find out.
A metal trash can banged down the street. Caden jumped to miss it. He skidded to a stop on the sidewalk next to Brynne. Rath Dunn braced against the winds and his red coat whipped behind him. Mr. Bellows stood to the right of him. Ms. Jackson to the left.
A nearby yellow awning ripped from its overhang.
As Rath Dunn caught Jasan, he said, “Watch, son of Axel, as Prince Jasan, once champion of Razzon, fulfills my purposes and—”
Before he could finish, bird-Jasan clamped his powerful beak down on Rath Dunn’s hand.
Rath Dunn flung his arm left and right and knocked Jasan away. Caden darted for his brother. He reached up and pulled Jasan toward his chest. Jasan struggled in Caden’s grip.
Rath Dunn jumped back. His sweater was ripped, his hand bleeding. He gestured to Mr. Bellows. “Take care of those students,” he shouted. “Of course, if you can’t save them, you can always reanimate their bodies.”
Ms. Jackson turned as if to leave. Mr. Wist was already walking away.
Mr. Bellows surveyed Caden and Brynne with grim excitement. He held on to the side of a flipped table to keep from being blown back. “I don’t know which of you I want to reanimate first.”
Brynne raised her hands as if to fling Mr. Bellows against the building. But she stopped suddenly. She shifted her gaze upward and gaped.
Jasan sensed Mr. Bellows was a threat. He wriggled from Caden’s hold and charged through the winds. Mr. Bellows dived for his heavy bag. Before he could grab it, though, Jasan screeched and dived at his hand.
Caden darted for the bag, beating Mr. Bellows to it. The zipper was opened. Inside, Caden saw bones. Those of some poor, hapless creatures Mr. Bellows planned to reanimate and use. With all his might, Caden swung the heavy bag into the street.
Not only leaves and napkins, but larger things flew. Branches. A tabletop. It had gotten so dark, he could see only partway across the street. The winds caught the bag and carried it out of sight.
“Caden.” Brynne pointed up. “We need to go! All of us!”
Caden gaze turned skyward. A wind funnel hovered directly above them.
Mr. Bellows noticed it, too. He scrambled backward, falling onto the sidewalk, but as he stood, the winds started to lift him. Jasan, too, couldn’t fight the winds. His wings were no match, and he began to rise toward the sky.
“Any of us will satisfy the spell!” Brynne yelled from behind Caden.
Suddenly, Caden felt weightless. He twisted toward Brynne. She wound her left arm around a nearby streetlight. With the right, she grabbed for him. Caden reached back. She gripped his hand tighter than he thought possible.
Caden felt the spell pull him toward the sky. Only Brynne’s grip tethered him to the ground. He turned back. Mr. Bellows clawed against the cement. He wouldn’t be able to hold on, though. If Caden stretched he could reach him. Not that Mr. Bellows was someone Caden wanted to save, but if Mr. Bellows fell prey to the spell, the sacrifice would be satisfied. The second part of the spell would be complete.
With a blackened, dead-looking hand, Mr. Bellows dived for Caden’s hand. But in bird form, Jasan must have taken it as an attack. He darted over Caden and Brynne, toward Mr. Bellows, beak open, a mighty squawk on the wind.
“Jasan!” Caden yelled.
If Caden let go of Brynne’s hand, he’d be sucked into the sky. If Caden didn’t grab Mr. Bellows and Jasan, so would they. But Caden only had one free hand. He could only save one. There wasn’t a choice. Of course he reached for his brother.
Caden seized Jasan by the talons. The whirlwind pulled them, and they tilted toward the sky. Mr. Bellows flew upward but grasped onto the rippling fabric of a partially torn awning. One of his shoes flew off, up, and into the spiraling winds.
Brynne gripped Caden’s hand tightly. “Don’t let go! Don’t let go!”
Caden’s hands hurt—his right where Brynne held it, his left where he held Jasan’s sharp claws. But he would never let go.
The streetlight Brynne hugged flipped on, which meant it was getting darker. It bathed them in yellow light. If they could all hang on long enough—he, Brynne, Jasan—and if Mr. Bellows could keep hold of the yellow awning—dusk would pass. Part two would end without a sacrifice and be incomplete. The winds increased. Caden was midair, caught between Brynne and Jasan. Jasan started to slip from Caden’s fingers.
Rip. The yellow fabric Mr. Bellows grasped tore from the building. Mr. Bellows sped upward into the sky, a trail of ripped yellow fabric zooming behind him, and disappeared into darkness.
Like an extinguished candle, the winds stopped. Whap. Caden fell face-first onto the sidewalk. Jasan fluttered out of his hand and flew down beside him. Brynne kept hold of Caden’s hand.
Items were strewn around them: A large branch to Caden’s left, a dented Ashevillian trash can to his right. On the street, cars were overturned. High above, it sounded as if the winds still raged. Jasan pecked lightly at Caden’s cheek.
Debris also fell from the sky. Caden grabbed a broken leaf. It was cold and covered in blue ice, but one side was melted and burned. It was a blizzard oak leaf from the great forests of the Winterlands. Caden stared at it. It was rare for the blizzard oaks to burn. And there were no blizzard oaks in Asheville.
Caden was still staring at it when something crashed down an arm’s length from him and stuck in the sidewalk. It was charred and ash covered. When Caden reached out, heat emanated from the item, and he pulled back his hand. There was something about the shape that was familiar.
Caden pulled his hand from Brynne’s and pushed up to his knees. She still had her arm wound around the streetlamp and seemed content to keep it there. After a moment, she cleared her throat. “Are you all right, prince?”
Caden also had to catch his breath. “As well as can be,” he said, and pointed to the item. “What is that?”
“Carnage?” Brynne said.
Caden handed her the blizzard oak leaf. It was rapidly melting. Soon it would be little more than blue water. Brynne blinked at it, and her brow creased. “This is from the Greater Realm.”
Jasan hopped and landed on Caden’s shoulder. “I know,” Caden said. Maybe the item in the sidewalk was as well? Did that mean more cracks h
ad formed between the realms? Was the tornado a portal, part of the rip that would connect the realms? Maybe the river was the same?
Caden used his coat sleeve to protect his hand and yanked the item from the cement. It was metal. That he could tell through the coat. It was shaped a lot like the Winterbird emblem of the Elite Guard. He turned back to Brynne to show her. “What do you think—” He stopped and couldn’t help but stare.
Brynne unwound her arm from the post. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Caden put the item in his pocket. His coat would keep it from burning him until it cooled down enough for him to clean it off and investigate. There really was no good way to say what needed to be said. “Your hair,” Caden said.
“Well, if it won’t grow, it won’t grow,” she said, but he could tell she was upset. “It doesn’t look bad short.” She waved like it was nothing. “It’s fine.”
When Caden told her, he feared she might explode. Caden scooted back and ignored Jasan as he pecked his cheek again. “Brynne,” he said as gently as possible. “Your hair isn’t short”—he took a deep breath—“it’s gone.”
Brynne reached up and patted her head. She became more fervent as she searched for what wasn’t there. Her face went as white as a frost spirit. Her lip trembled.
Mr. Faunt peeked out from his hiding place, then scurried away. Mr. Wist had left, as had Ms. Levers. Downhill, Caden saw Rath Dunn and Ms. Jackson getting into his red Audi. A building alarm wailed.
“Caden! Brynne!” It was Jane. She ran out from an alleyway, Tito behind her. “In her hand, she still grasped the vial she’d taken from Ms. Jackson. The once sparkling contents looked as if they’d turned to ash. The vial was cracked. “Are you all right . . .”
Her voice trailed off as she saw Brynne. Tito seemed to force himself not to stare.
“Did you get your brother?” Tito said, and turned to him. “He was in the cage. I tried to run with him, but Mr. Faunt latched onto it.” When he noticed the falcon on Caden’s shoulder, he let out a relieved sigh. “Oh good.”
“We’re okay,” Caden said, though his voice sounded weaker than he expected. “Mostly.”
A melody began to play—one with drums and trumpets—and the music came from Brynne’s pocket. Her phone was ringing. Then Jane’s rang. Then Tito’s. Finally, Caden felt his phone buzz. He pulled it out. It was Rosa. Their absence had been noticed.
After the incident on the last day of summer school, Caden had promised never to avoid her calls. He tapped the answer icon. “Rosa?” he said.
“Where. Are. You?” She sounded furious.
“There was a tornado,” Caden said. “Downtown. Brynne’s hair blew away. And my brother got turned into a bird again.”
Wait. Did Rosa know Jasan had been turned into a bird? Caden couldn’t remember at that moment. Maybe he wasn’t explaining things well?
“Caden,” Rosa said. Her fury had shifted to worry. “Where exactly are you?”
He told her. Looking around at the damage from the spell’s winds, Caden doubted the bus would be running to take them home. “Please come pick us up.”
“I’m on my way,” Rosa said.
They sat on the curb and waited. Brynne had her face buried in her hands. Jane rubbed her back in slow circles. Caden sat with his posture perfect and petted Jasan on the head. Tito looked terrified.
“She’s going to kill us,” Tito said.
“She won’t,” Caden said.
“Bro,” Tito said. “Even Rosa has limits to how much she’ll put up with.”
“She considers you her son; she won’t give up on you.”
“Then she should adopt me,” Tito snapped, but he looked like he immediately regretted saying that out loud.
“You should tell her that,” Caden said.
Tito rested his chin on his hands. “That would be embarrassing for me and uncomfortable for her. It would be bad for all of us.” He shrugged. “Even if she’d consider it, she couldn’t just adopt me. What about the three of you?”
“I have a family,” Caden said. “So does Brynne.”
Jane leaned over. “I don’t want to be adopted. I like things as they are. So I’m okay, too.”
“You’re just saying that.” Tito sat back straight. “Look, don’t tell Rosa I said I wanted to be adopted.” His voice was harsher this time. “Got it?”
Jane nodded.
“I understand,” Caden said. He decided that, like Brynne, Tito needed someone to rub his back. “There, there.”
Tito scrunched up his face. “Don’t do that.”
That’s when Rosa drove up, steering her pickup around the debris. Officer Levine drove up behind her in his patrol car. Immediately, Rosa got out and ran to them. She scanned the overturned cars and the scattered tables. “Are you all right?” she said.
Tito stood up to greet her, and she pulled Tito into a hug.
“Yeah,” Tito said.
“Brynne needs you,” Jane said.
Rosa let Tito go. She turned to Brynne, paused, and blinked at her.
“Rosa . . . ,” Brynne said, and stood. Her voice cracked. “My hair.”
For a brief moment, Rosa didn’t seem to know what to say. Then she drew Brynne into her arms. “It’s all right,” she said, and gently ran a hand over Brynne’s bare head like she couldn’t process what had happened. “It’s all right,” she said again. “Let’s get you checked out at the emergency room.”
Officer Levine strode over as well. He surveyed the scene with concern and caution. “What happened? They okay?”
Brynne pushed away from Rosa and threw up her hands. “My hair blew away.”
Rosa pulled Brynne back to her, but frowned like she couldn’t figure out how someone’s hair could blow away in an evening windstorm. “They seem mostly okay.”
“More happened than Brynne losing her hair,” Caden said. “Part two of the spell is complete. Mr. Bellows was sucked into the wind funnel.”
Officer Levine glanced up at the swirling sky with a deep frown. “I’m not sure there’ll be any evidence. We didn’t find anything of Mr. McDonald in the river.”
“Kak!” Jasan said.
Caden motioned to him. “Also, Jasan has been transformed into a falcon.”
Rosa’s eyes went wide at the bird on Caden’s shoulder like she’d just noticed him. “Where did you find that animal?”
Caden looked at her, confused. “It’s Jasan.”
But why was he a bird again? Near the joint of his right wing, where the paper clips connected it to his bird body, Caden saw blood. The enchanted paper clips didn’t completely negate the effects of the blood dagger. Likely, Caden’s arm bled again, too. And where was Manglor?
Suddenly, Brynne looked up from Rosa’s embrace. Her cheeks began to blaze. It never took Brynne long to move from despair to fury. “Someone is going to suffer for this.”
Rosa squeezed her tighter. “It’s only hair.”
“But it’s my hair,” Brynne said.
The villains had used Jane’s tears, and she’d lost them. They’d used Brynne’s hair, and it had blown away on the wind. If they had the opportunity, they’d also use Jasan’s blood and then . . .
Jane could live without tears, Brynne without hair. But what would happen if Jasan lost his blood? Caden felt his heart drop. Jasan couldn’t live without his blood. If the next part of the spell happened, Jasan would die. It wouldn’t matter that Caden had saved him from the wind funnel. He’d die either as man or bird.
Already, Caden had lost sixth-born Chadwin. And though still alive, it felt like he had lost second-born Maden, too. He couldn’t lose another brother; he couldn’t.
“I’ll take Brynne to the doctor,” Rosa said, drawing Caden out of his thoughts.
“I’ll drive the others home,” Officer Levine said.
“Thank you, Harold,” Rosa said. “Caden, leave the bird for animal control.” She sounded as if she expected no argument, as if she expected him to obey.
>
However, Caden would never leave his brother for animal control. He raised his chin. As he was gifted with speech and Jasan with speed, their father was gifted with resolution. He was headstrong and unrelenting in a way beyond description. It had to be experienced to be understood. Caden might not be as resolute as his noble father, but he’d seen how effective being unyielding could be.
Caden didn’t falter. “No. He’s my brother.” To prove his point, Caden brushed Jasan’s wing and showed her the paper clips. “Just like Jasan. You see.”
“That’s a bird,” Rosa said.
It was true. “He’s a bird for the time being. He’ll turn back.”
Rosa rubbed her temple, then glanced at Brynne’s bare head again. She’d witnessed Jane’s eyes go bad. Brynne was now bald. It was time for Rosa to believe him.
“Rosa,” Caden said. “It’s time to accept that things in the world are not what they seem. Why can’t you keep us from school? There have been countless disasters there. Jane was kidnapped. A building fell on Tito. Yet each day you drive us back. That doesn’t seem like something you’d do lightly. Why do Jasan and I speak a language you’ve never heard?” Caden showed her the cut on his arm. “Why won’t this heal? It’s because I speak the truth. You need to accept it.”
Rosa didn’t dismiss his words this time. “I need to think about everything.” She turned to Officer Levine. “Do you believe this?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I do. And I don’t like the mess these villains have brought to my town.”
Some people needed undeniable proof. Rosa still seemed hesitant, but not as much as before. “We’ll talk more about this at home,” she said. “I still need to take Brynne to the emergency room.” With a deep inhale, she added, “Assuming there’ll be no more . . . spells . . . of any kind tonight.”
“There shouldn’t be,” Caden said.
That was how Officer Levine, Caden, Tito, and Jane ended up in the patrol car—Caden in the front seat, of course, Jasan in his lap, and Tito and Jane in the back—while Rosa drove Brynne to get checked by an Ashevillian doctor. Sadly, Caden doubted there was any treatment for magically induced baldness.
