Vile Magic

by Holly Hook

  "Done," Xavier breathed at last, leaning against the final stone coffin. "They'll blend right in down here." He held the torn purple robe we had yanked off the last body. Thankfully, my new power--whatever it was--hadn't affected the fact that the men were still wearing shirts and pants underneath their robes.

  Thorne peeled himself from the cobweb-covered wall. "There is still blood in my dojo," Thorne said. "We need to go back and finish cleaning that up. Someone with a good sense of smell might be able to pick up on the fact that it's War Mage blood within the next few days."

  He was right. The blood would retain a tiny bit of the familiar wood smoke scent for the next few days. Dead blood was usually scentless (even if it was from a blood bag) but it didn't completely lose its scent for some time. Thorne was right that we needed to clean it.

  The three of us walked back towards the dojo. The faint, musty scent of mummified flesh still hung in the air. The circulation wasn't very good down here tonight.

  As usual, I was the first to realize something was wrong. We were at the corner to our street when I heard the voices coming from the direction of the dojo. Somebody was down there.

  A lot of somebodies.

  "I swear, I smell death in there," Les the werewolf told someone in low voice.

  I held my arms out to tell Thorne and Xavier to stop. Low muttering followed, muttering that I knew they couldn't hear. Both of them looked at me with questioning eyes. I flicked my hand again to tell them to stay quiet.

  I listened. Les lived out here in the "slum" part of the Underground and it was clear he didn't like the Lovellis, Xavier included, even though Xavier wasn't like the rest of them. By extension, he probably didn't like me either. I sniffed the air. A faint doggy smell had joined into the faint, dry death. All werewolves gave off the doggy smell.

  And I could assume they all had a very good sense of smell.

  "I've been smelling it for the last half hour," Les said. "The scent wafted down to my room and it's been getting worse. I've tracked it to here. Someone died in the fighting room."

  "I trust your judgment," Leon rasped.

  I muttered a curse. It was unusual for Les to want to talk to Leon. He must not have known what was really going on or who had done it. I wanted to slap myself. We hadn't thought about who could smell the death down here. We had been too worried about who was going to see us instead. I of all people should have known.

  Thorne's staff was still in the dojo. I had brought my sword and wore it on my belt but Thorne's scent was on that staff.

  "Les is down there," I said. "He says someone died in there. He got Leon."

  Thorne cursed. "He's right," he said. "I never liked that guy."

  "Elsina likes him," Xavier said. "It's why I kind of know him. He won't help us."

  "I know," I said. "Thorne's staff is in there."

  Thorne paled. "We need to leave. My apartment's not safe. The entire Underground will be searching for us as soon as they know Thurton's missing."

  He was right. People would believe the Elders over us. We were just a few people against the government. No--we were just a few people against two governments. Leon's and Thoreau's.

  "We have to go get Liliana," Xavier said. "I left her at home. I don't think Leon will hurt her. She's the only one who can continue the Lovelli line since I'm so disgraceful." He spoke with anger, normal anger that had nothing to do with Shadow Sickness. "It's Thoreau I'm worried about. He can come through down here at least a little. We saw that. He won't care whether or not the Lovellis continue."

  Xavier was right. Liliana was somewhere at home in the underground mansion. Thoreau was sneaky. He knew how to get what he wanted and he loved to hold hostages. Liliana would make a good one. We had done a horrible thing, running out of the underground mansion at the sight of Thoreau's eyes. Liliana was still there. She had gone to bed, begging us to tell her what happened at the meeting in the morning.

  It was also the last place I wanted to go, even if Leon wasn't there right now.

  But the three of us didn't hesitate. Together, we bolted down the brick-lined street and back into the wealthy district. The ceiling got higher, the light brighter, the homes themselves taller and the plants more vibrant. In this part of the Underground, it felt more like a lavish shopping mall than anything else. The glass ceilings in the wealthiest part showed a false night sky complete with winking stars and a waxing moon. The richest War Mages had a thing about making their part of the Underground look like the surface.

  Xavier didn't knock as we reached his house and ran up the stairs between the lion statues. He opened the door on a silent entry room. The portraits of Leon in varying ages hung on the walls, complete with the gross one where Allunna had her hand on his chest. I sniffed the air and didn't pick up any sewage or cologne in the immediate area. I did hear muttering coming from the direction of the meeting room though I couldn't make out the words. The tone was tense and minus Thurton. It was clear that the Elders had listened to Leon and decided that Xavier and I were dangerous and possibly even working with Thoreau, which was stupid. At the best, we were criminals who had broken tradition and were threatening to take down the order they had established.

  It was easy to creep up the stairs and towards the bedrooms. I had never been in the upper section of the house before and no one was up here when we reached the level. A long hallway with big, lavish doors and white carpet stretched out in front of us. The ceiling of the hallway had that glamoured night sky and whoever had done this magic had even included the sound of a light breeze. I couldn't help but look in amazement at this place. I felt like I was standing under the real night sky. Next to me, Thorne was staring as well. He hadn't seen this before, either.

  "We can't linger here," Xavier said. "This is where our rooms are but they don't like it when battle partners or anyone else comes up here. Nora's not even allowed up here."

  "That's because they don't want people to know how you live," Thorne said.

  "Yes. I know. I'm a rich snob," Xavier said. "I stay out of here as much as I can."

  "I know you do," I said. "You are not a snob." It was as if he hung around Trish and Elsina, two Abnormals from the poorest section of the Underground, to erase where he had come from. It was something I could understand.

  Xavier ran down the hall and knocked on one of the doors. It must belong to Liliana. His sister groggily answered. She had been asleep. Xavier told her to get dressed and that we needed to get out of here. Clearly she didn't know that Leon/Thoreau had showed up, but she woke up pretty fast when he told her the truth.

  And he told her the entire truth: that we had killed.

  We had her out of her room in five minutes. Xavier's younger sister had thrown on an ordinary T-shirt with a kitten on the front along with ordinary jeans. Xavier ducked into another room and grabbed what had to be his new leather jacket. I didn't get a chance to see what the inside of his room looked like because he closed the door quickly and locked it with a brass key.

  "I just want some sleep," Liliana complained.

  "So do I," Xavier said. "We can't go to the safe house, either. Leon knows where that is." He faced me. "Can we invade George's place again?"

  My friend Janine was still there. Her mother hadn't found a new apartment yet and she was still dealing with the aftermath of the fire. As far as I knew, Leon and Thoreau didn't know about George or the fact that Janine was staying there. "Maybe," I said. George had already saved us at the airport from the ATC and I felt bad about invading him again, especially now that there were four of us. People would be sleeping on the floor. "Unless we know of another place?"

  We stood at the stairwell that led to the bottom floor. I didn't hear any new developments, but soon the Elders would figure out that Thurton and his friends were missing and would make the connection when Les's story reached them. We had hours left to think of something if we were lucky. Xavier and I had taken a risk already.

  The front door opened.

  So
meone shuffled into the underground mansion.

  "Crap," I hissed. "I think the hybrid is back."

  "Primrose," Leon rasped.

  Yeah. He was back.

  "Well, we can't go out that way," Xavier said.

  Leon still wanted to destroy us as far as I knew. Thoreau wanted to enslave us and turn me into whatever he needed to end the world. Both were below, less than two hundred feet from us and I wasn't sure how much they were working with each other. I could smell Liliana's fear. Xavier's scent was weaker than ever. He needed some food and the fight had drained him of strength. I hated that he was doing this to himself because of me.

  "Father?" Aunt Primrose asked.

  "I'm back, Princess," Leon said. "Where is Liliana? I need to speak to her. It appears Xavier has done something terrible and left us. Les picked up his scent at the scene of a crime."

  "Um..." I said.

  Xavier faced me. "Time to hide?" he asked. He obviously hadn't heard the exchange.

  "She's sleeping," Aunt Primrose said.

  "I must speak to her," Leon rasped. He was drawing closer to the stairs.

  "Leon's coming up to check on Liliana," I said. I faced Xavier. "You know another way out?" We might not make it out of the house before Leon spotted us. I smelled the first strong wood smoke and a tiny hint of cologne wafting up the stairs. Thoreau was a little bit present. I had the sense he was using Leon to get in here.

  "I told you," Primrose said. "She is sleeping at this time of night. Wait until morning to speak to her."

  Leon stopped. "It cannot wait," he rasped. "She may know where Xavier has gone to."

  "There are worse things to worry about right now than Xavier," she said. "We need to worry about Thoreau. Where is he?" Primrose sounded confused and worried.

  "Do not question your father," Leon said. "Thoreau is likely in the ATC building. He will not be getting through our wards."

  I wasn't sure what to make of his words. He might be either helping Thoreau or taunting him.

  "But Xavier is a mere embarrassment," Primrose said. "The real threat is the ATC. We lost over a hundred Abnormals due to the scare we had."

  Primrose was making sense. Maybe she suspected that something was wrong with Leon after all. It wasn't every day that your father returned from the dead and crashed an important meeting.

  "The scare is over," Leon said. "They may return to the Underground."

  Primrose wasn't having it. "Most have. It was too dangerous on the surface world. Most Abnormals do not have the safe houses that we can retreat to."

  Leon raised his voice enough for even a human to hear. "It was not my fault that Xavier killed Allunna and by extension, me. He knew what he was doing. That is why he must be brought to me. We also have strong evidence that he has had a hand in killing three Elder War Mages tonight."

  Xavier tensed next to me.

  Before today, no one but us, Trish, and Elsina knew what Xavier had done or how Allunna had actually died. Now Primrose knew. Leon would spread the knowledge through the entire Underground.

  "He what?" Primrose gasped.

  "It is true," Leon said. "You know that Xavier never listened to me. He hated me. And then he killed Allunna. I am not sure where he did the deed, but obviously it was done when I suddenly died in the sitting room of our own home. You must have discovered me here."

  "Nora did. She said you must have died suddenly." Primrose's voice was filled with emotion. I could sense her hatred of Xavier deepening. This was complicating matters. I hadn't thought about Xavier's worst secret coming out until now. Whether or not he was with Thoreau, Leon still wanted to spill our blood and he had every reason to.

  Primrose wouldn't believe that Leon had attacked us first.

  She wouldn't believe that Xavier had shamed the family because he had desperately tried to cure himself of Shadow Sickness.

  She didn't know that Xavier was in this mess because of Allunna in the first place. Allunna, who had sold out his first battle partner, Lisa Elora, to the Shadow Wraiths.

  Leon took another step. I eyed Xavier's door and nodded to him.

  "He's coming, isn't he?" he asked, grabbing Liliana's arm.

  "Hide in your room," I said. "He doesn't expect you to be here. Liliana, you too."

  I gripped my sword and pulled it out of my belt, thankful that this underground house didn't have an elevator. Stairs would slow Leon down. Xavier unlocked his room and ushered us inside.

  Liliana was right that Xavier collected superhero figures, likely a reason that he had a key for his room and had tried to block it from my sight. They were everywhere, on shelves around his bed and all in different poses. I didn't care. I had a collection of My Little Pony after all--or I had before Thoreau had broken into my home. Xavier locked his door and waved us towards his closet. I could hear Leon's quiet footsteps coming up the spiral stairs. I prayed the old man had lousy hearing. I knew that even though he was old, he was an advanced War Mage, way more powerful than Xavier and I. We wouldn't have the element of surprise this time and we were both more drained than ever.

  Xavier's closet was full of comic books and another new leather jacket that smelled like he had just bought it from the lavish mall we had visited not too long ago. We crammed in and Leon's footsteps reached the top of the stairs. He was moving faster than I expected. The old man had more energy now, some of which may have come from Thoreau. I could only hope that the wards here kept the mayor from coming through. He was worse than Leon. Leon might have some mercy on Liliana. Thoreau would not.

  Xavier closed the door, which thankfully was not squeaky. The four of us were cramped beyond belief. Leon walked past his door and knocked on Liliana's. He knocked three times, waiting almost a minute each time. Primrose walked up as well.

  “Do not wake her,” she insisted. “Can this not wait until morning?”

  “I need her to tell me where Xavier is,” Leon said. “She is a lot more sensible than he. Xavier is closer to her than to any of us.”

  “Liliana doesn't even like her brother,” Primrose said.

  “All siblings fight,” Leon said. “I fought with mine. She is not in here, is she?”

  “Liliana is not Xavier,” Primrose said. “She has sense.”

  Leon knocked again. It was clear Primrose was trying to protect Liliana. Liliana had better standing in this family than Xavier did, but it was clear that was about to evaporate. Xavier had never wanted Leon's attention to go onto his sister. Leon was physically abusive from what I understood. He had hit Xavier in the past.

  I wondered if that extended to the rest of the family or if he just reserved that for Xavier.

  Leon pounded on the door now. “You go inside,” he ordered Primrose.

  “We might need to Transpose,” Xavier said. Apparently he could hear what Leon was saying, though not as well as I.

  “You can't,” I said. “You're too hungry.”

  “I know I am.”

  “I can help,” Liliana whispered.

  “You can't,” Xavier said. “You can barely Transpose yourself.”

  “Then what do we do?” she asked.

  “Quit starving yourself,” I said to Xavier.

  “You know I have to do it,” he said. There was an air of resentment in his voice. Towards me. "Besides, I can only take two people with me."

  "Leave me," Thorne said. "It's more important that the three of you get out of here."

  "You're no match for Thoreau," Xavier said.

  "He might keep me alive," Thorne said, "but I won't give him any information. Do not come back after me no matter what happens. When the three of you leave, get out of Cumberland. Don't let Thoreau find you."

  My martial arts instructor sounded so brave. He was ready to sacrifice himself.

  I couldn't leave him and I didn't know what to say.

  Primrose unlocked Liliana's door and called for her. “She's not here,” she said at last.

  “They're in Liliana's room,” I relayed. Leon a
nd Primrose had lowered their voices to the point where they might not be able to hear.

  Leon shuffled in and opened her closet door. “You are right,” he rasped. “Check Xavier's room.”

  “He is gone. Xavier is never here. You know that.”

  “Check!” He was fierce.

  I tensed.

  "Leave without me," Thorne instructed.

  "You're unarmed," I said. My chest constricted with the agony of losing him.

  Primrose pulled on Xavier's door. “It's locked,” she said. “He never lets anyone in. He's so into superhero figurines that he doesn't want to embarrass himself further. Father, he's not here. It can wait until morning.” It was clear that Primrose didn't want to believe what Xavier had done. Leon didn't have full control over her after all.

  “He may be going after Allunna again,” Leon said. “He's taken Liliana with him. He needs to be stopped. We have one remaining Lovelli heir and that is Liliana. I need to extract information about her whereabouts if our family is going to survive. There may be information in this room."

  Liliana tensed next to me. I couldn't imagine this burden going onto a thirteen year old girl.

  Xavier seized my arm. “We're going,” he said. He did the same with his sister. “Liliana, help us get to the mall we were at before.”

  "But can't we take this guy?" Liliana asked, nodding to Thorne who was pressed against a shelf of comics.

  "Go without me," Thorne ordered again.

  Primrose knocked on Xavier's door. “He's not here,” she said.

  There was fear in her voice. I smelled adrenaline. It was overpowering. It wafted off of Xavier and Liliana, but some came in from under the door, from Primrose. My stomach rumbled. I was hungry.

  But there was no time for that now.

  Xavier sighed. Both of the Lovelli siblings grabbed my arms now. We stood in a tight circle with Thorne outside of it. He nodded at me and gave me a good luck smile.