by Kat Adams
Several more gasps and a few sniffles. “Our world as we knew it was no more. Dark elementals had been using dark magic to enhance the powers of young elementals. Some did okay, but others…” I hesitated as the memories of sending so many innocents to Carcerem still haunted me. I remembered how torn up the guys were when they’d lost that kid during an extraction. “They weren’t strong enough for that much power. It consumed them. It killed them. They were just kids.”
I lowered my head and regrouped. “Those who survived were the first to be outlawed by the Council, dividing our world even more. Being magically enhanced was now a crime, one that got you sent to prison just for being different. None of us could possibly know what that’s like, being persecuted and separated from our friends, our family, all for the crime of being different.”
A lot of nods in unison told me they still followed my every word. “There was a terrible attack last fall, one that killed the head of the Council, several members, professors, even the headmaster of the academy, perpetrated by one woman. My mother. She’d handed the Council to the man now in charge, Virgil Graves. How did he repay her? He killed her, right in front of me.”
My voice cracked, and I drew in a shaky breath, swallowing several times. The crowd was still, silent aside from the occasional sobs and sniffs. I glanced to my right, to Stace standing there, hands folded in front of her, tears streaming down her cheeks. She’d been there for me through it all, supporting me, fighting for me, even covering for me with the Council when necessary.
I pointed at her, bringing my point home. “Stacey Layden stepped in as headmistress and kept the academy going despite the chaos and growing tension. She kept the students safe from the dark elementals trying to destroy our world. This is the thanks she gets. Arrested for being a witch, tortured for not giving up the location of this coven. She was willing to go to prison to protect you.”
Lowering my arm, I rested and let that sink in. “The Council tried to arrest me for the same reason. The prophecy. The one they’d deemed the protector of our world. The one who’d fought tirelessly alongside four incredibly powerful elementals, defeating the dark side time and time again. None of that mattered. I’d challenged the Council. I’d stepped out of line and opened my mouth. I spoke against Graves bringing Alec into the Council. I spoke against them allowing Spencer in as a teacher at the academy. And I’m speaking out now against a corrupt governing body, one that will destroy our world as we know it if we don’t take a stand.”
I moved to center stage. “Look around you. These women are your sisters, your family. This isn’t about elementals. Or witches. Or even about keeping our powers and magic hidden from the Nelems. This is about our rights. Our right to live free. Our right to simply exist. We all share a common enemy, an enemy that wants us annihilated. Will you join me in restoring our world?”
The crowd erupted in applause and cheers. I glanced at Stace, at Renee standing behind her, both nodding their approval. I looked to Bryan, who looked right back, admiration shining in his gaze. I regarded the coven and drew in a deep and satisfying breath.
The Order of the Sentry was born.
10
Bryan and I were asked to stay with the coven and given our own treehouse to establish the headquarters for Sentry. I never in a million years ever thought I’d be leading a revolution, yet here I was, doing exactly that.
I wished the guys were here. They’d love it. Rob would immediately try to take over as the leader of the group. Leo would point out something obvious. Clay would go around high-fiving everyone for breaking the law.
As Bryan and I sat at the table in the center of the treehouse, along with Renee, Stace, and two elder witches who’d brought their own covens here to hide from the Council, I racked my brain, trying to figure out how to build our numbers. We were almost one hundred strong now, but even with the level of power we had, it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough.
The Council had an entire army of dark elementals on their side. What did we have? Three elementals and a coven of witches. They’d slaughter us if we attempted to take a stand, which meant we needed to recruit more members.
But how?
“We’ve sent word out to sister covens in other regions.” Renee pointed at their locations on the map flattened on the table. “With Stace’s ability to teleport, we’re able to pop in and out undetected.”
“What about the elementals planted in the Nelem world?” Serenity, the elder witch with short white hair spiked at the top, looked around the table before resting her pale gaze on me. “There are watchers amongst the Nelems, are there not?”
I nodded, thinking of Ms. Wilkerson, and wrote it down. She might not stand against the Council, but I had to try. “That’s a great idea. What else?”
“I think we should start an underground radio station.” Bryan offered yet another reference to Harry Potter. The guy was obsessed. “Hear me out. We’re targeting entire groups, which may or may not work. What about all those not in a group? All the individuals out there with no other way to know what’s going on or that Sentry even exists? We have to find some way to reach them.”
He had a point. We needed a way to send a message out to the entire elemental world—the entire magical world—without the Council knowing.
I had no idea how we’d do it, but did know someone who had already done it, and back when there were no radios or cell phones. “We need to go bigger. Radio is too local. Cressida had to have gotten word out to the elemental world to let them know of the sanctuary she’d established for our kind. How did elementals from around the country find out about Clearwater Academy back then?”
We all looked at each other before every set of eyes settled on me. My connection to Cressida was no secret, not anymore, not after my own mother had outed me in front of the Council right before she shackled me with an elemutus.
“She only manifests herself to me at the ruins. It’s not like I can walk onto campus and wave at all the Council members patrolling the grounds. They’d mute me in a heartbeat.”
Renee shook her head as if the answer was obvious and I was a bleeping idiot for not seeing it. Annoyance and embarrassment burned my cheeks. “Do you have something you’d like to share with the rest of the class?”
“It surprises me how little you know about your powers. That’s all.”
I didn’t know whether them were fighting words or she was about to give me a lesson. “Perhaps you’d like to enlighten me.”
“Stand.”
“If this is another demonstration like when you attacked me with the blob, I’ll pass.”
“Nothing like that. Stand with me. I’ll show you.” She stood. Reluctantly, I did the same and approached when she waved me over. “Witches can’t teleport the way an elemental can, but we can telepath.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Teleporting is transferring yourself to another location. Telepathy is transferring your mind. You’re both an elemental and a witch, Katy. Therefore, you can do both. Since going onto the academy’s grounds isn’t possible without being seen, telepath your mind there to talk to Cressida.”
“I needed to stand for you to tell me that?”
“No. You needed to stand for me to do this.” She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a warm hug. I stiffened, not being a hugger and not expecting the embrace. “You’re doing an amazing thing. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you before. I’m sorry I didn’t agree to stand with you when you came to me the first time. My stubbornness and ignorance could have hurt our cause if you hadn’t persisted. That’s what makes you a great leader, Katy. Persistence. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of Sentry.”
Our cause. She’d called it our cause. I smiled and hugged her back. “You’re welcome.”
“There’s another way,” Serenity pointed out, and grasped the pendant hanging on the long leather string around her neck. “This was given to me by my grandmother. It’s been in my family for generations, pa
ssed down from mother to daughter. I didn’t have any children, so I have no one to pass it down to.” She pulled it over her head and held it out for me. “I’d like you to have it.”
The look of determination holding her pale gaze firm and her expression set told me she wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was honored and accepted it, holding it in my hand. It was a green crystal, extraordinarily stunning. “It’s beautiful.”
“That little gem has gotten me out of quite a few jams in my day.” Serenity looked to be in her late sixties, maybe seventies, her skin loose and wilting on her thin frame. She’d seen some shit in her lifetime, I was sure.
“Does this unzip the protective field around this place?” I thought back to how Stace had created a slice in midair with hers. “Do all witches have one?”
“Only high priestesses and their most trusted inner circle.”
“And ours can’t do what that one can do,” Stace added, eyeing the crystal in my hand. “Serenity is from a long line of powerful witches. One of her ancestors enchanted the crystal as a way to travel to and from places undetected and hide in plain sight. It’s brilliant.”
She waved off Stace’s comment as a slight blush colored her cheeks. “Oh, pish tosh. It’s a simple spell, really. Katy, repeat after me. Aperi oculos.”
“Aperi oculos.” The crystal heated in my palm, or maybe my hands were just sweaty from nerves. But then it glowed, brighter and brighter, creating a ring of green illumination that expanded from the crystal until the oval was about the size of a door.
“Picture where you want to go, much like when you teleport. The crystal will open a gateway to that place where you can walk through undetected. You’ll be completely invisible as long as you have it on. Remove it, and you remove the enchantment.”
“Wow,” I breathed and stared at the crystal, concentrating on the ruins. Slowly, a perfect image of the dilapidated stone structure appeared inside the smoky green oval. It was dark, raining, and the cold seeped into me. I reached my arm through the opening and back out, fascinated by the raindrops that’d collected on the goose bumps that’d sprouted as a result of the temperature change.
Serenity’s warning drew my attention. “Wear the crystal at all times, Katy. I can’t emphasize that enough. If you take it off, do so deliberately once you know you’re safe to be seen, and always know where you placed it. Always. Lose the crystal and you lose the ability to pass through the concealment veil.”
“But we got through it before.” And now I had a key in the form of a brilliant crystal the same color as Clay’s eyes.
“With Stace’s help,” Serenity fired back, her eyebrows raised. “And only because she knew you were there. Look around. The veil works both ways. It conceals us from the outside. It also conceals the outside from us. Stace is able to teleport out no problem. She can’t teleport back in. No one can. The only way through the veil is with one of the crystals.”
I slipped it over my head and glanced down at where it landed. I didn’t want a crystal or anything else, for that matter, resting between my boobs and drawing attention to them, so I retied the leather necklace to shorten it. Now that the crystal sat higher above the girls, I felt better and tucked it under my shirt to keep it hidden. A gem like this would draw attention, and quite possibly the wrong attention. If it fell into the wrong hands, we’d be seriously screwed.
“I won’t let it out of my sight.”
Serenity nodded firmly, accepting my answer. “Now, go talk to Cressida. We’re not going anywhere.”
I wrapped my fingers around the crystal as I turned to Bryan. “Will you be okay?”
He shrugged one of his magnificent shoulders. “I need to make more elixir to heal bones.” He stood and pulled me into his arms, hugging me close. “Be careful, Katy. Get what you need from Cressida and come right back.”
“That’s the plan.”
We kissed our good-byes, and without looking back, I walked through the gateway, immediately shivering from the cold. Why didn’t I think to bring a jacket? Brilliant, Reed. Inside the concealment veil, it was sunny and warm all the time, not a cloud in the gorgeous blue sky. It was paradise.
Unlike the real world, where the sky hung low, the dreary drizzle a constant this time of year, the temperature barely moved the needle from morning to night. At least in Montana, where I grew up, the temp fluctuated throughout the day, cold in the mornings, warm during the day, then cold again at night as it should be. It shouldn’t be in the forties when you wake up and never change.
I felt every one of the chills vibrating through my body. Jebus, why was it so cold? I hunkered down, wrapping my arms tight around me and tucking my hands into my pits to keep them warm. The mist from my breath swirled above me as I took a step, then froze when voices sounded through the darkness. Two males hid somewhere in the inky night. I had no idea of the time since I didn’t have my phone and had no need to carry a burner inside the veil.
“Graves is the best head of the Council we’ve had, getting rid of all those unwanteds.”
“Yeah, now if he just could do something about all the magically enhanced brats around here.”
“All in due time. Got a light?”
The flicker of a small flame caught my attention. Oh, you have got to be kidding me. These two? It was Weak 1 and Weak 2, the two Council members Virgil Graves had assigned to test his daughter at her tribunal. Even combined, their powers were no match for a first year at the academy, let alone someone at my level. If I had to battle them, it wouldn’t even be a challenge to take them down.
I tested the crystal’s power of invisibility and took a step toward the ruins. Neither Council member noticed me. I took another step, then another. Weak 1 and Weak 2 were busy chatting it up about Graves being the master of the universe and how he should be knighted or some bullshit. I stopped listening when they both declared him the only Council head who’d done anything for our world. Albert Stephens wasn’t my biggest fan, nor me his, but he was a hell of a lot better than Virgil Graves. Granted, the prior Council head had been unceremoniously and quite brutally murdered at a celebration he’d insisted on holding, and by the very person the party was celebrating, which said something about his judgment of character, but I stood by my opinion. I’d take Stephens over Graves any day that ended in Y.
Weak 1 and Weak 2 still carried on about something I’d lost interest in. I stopped and faced them, waving my arms above my head. Nothing. Well, fine. I’d take it. I hurried across the wet grass, so by the time I’d reached the half-fallen stone structure, my shoes were soaked, my feet sloshing inside them. I really wished I’d worn my boots. At least they were waterproof.
I stepped inside the ruins and glanced around. It hadn’t changed much in the few weeks since I’d last visited Cressida, at least from what I could see in the darkness. The roof we’d replaced had held, keeping the inside of the building dry. It did nothing to keep in any heat, but that made sense since the rock wall facing the cliff overlooking the ocean was more like a window. Giant square stones that used to make up parts of the outer shell were now embedded into the ground, providing makeshift seating.
“Cressida?” I whispered and glanced over my shoulder. The Council members were still standing there, stilling talking, still not paying any attention. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. With patrols like theirs, the school didn’t stand a chance.
“Cressida?” I whispered more fiercely, unsure if the invisibility charm worked on my voice as well. “Please come to me. I really need to talk to you. I’m already opening my eyes. Please. I don’t have much time.”
Silence answered me. Didn’t she know the stakes? How could she choose a time like this to ignore me?
“This is literally a matter of life and death,” I went on, my irritation edging higher. “I need to know how you sent word to all the other elementals to join you here on the island.”
Open your eyes.
I wanted to scream every freakin’ time she planted that message in
my subconscious. Each time, it meant something different.
That thought stopped me.
It wasn’t the message that meant something different. It was my interpretation. Every turn I made, that message smacked me upside the head. Why? Why constantly repeat it? What was I missing?
I waited for over twenty minutes, begging Cressida to appear, and received silence as my reply. Finally, accepting defeat, I turned to leave. “Thanks for nothing.”
Open your eyes.
“Dammit, Cressida!” I shouted as I whipped around, shaking my fists in the air. “Why can’t you ever just tell me what you’re talking about? Why do you always talk to me like I have to solve a puzzle to get to the answer?”
“Who’s there?”
Oh, shit.
Apparently, the crystal’s charm didn’t transfer to my voice. Good to know.
And fuck a bunch of fuckers for giving up my position like a dumbass.
“Cressida, if you are here, now would be a good time to create a distraction.” Especially now that the two Council members had started to walk this way.
“What the hell are you two doing just standing around?”
I sucked in a breath. I knew that gruff, growly voice. I peeked around the wall to see Rob Emmett, my beautiful hotheaded hottie of a fire elemental, storming up to Weak 1 and Weak 2, Leo on his heels.
Rob towered over them both and used every inch to intimidate them as he stood up as straight as possible before puffing out his chest. “I asked you a question.”
“Ease up, Emmett. You may be Graves’s new favorite thanks to your relationship with his daughter, but you’re still the new kid on the block around here.”
Relationship? Did he say relationship? With Vanessa? Oh, hell to infinity no.
Rob took Weak 1’s statement as a challenge, of course, and practically bumped his chest against him. Weak 1 wisely backed down, but that didn’t stop Rob from pushing it one step further. “Well, Blanchett, this new kid on the block runs the patrol here at the academy, so when I ask you a question, I expect you to answer.”
