Fire Magic

by Holly Hook

  “We won't be,” I said. The sewer was only in the alley. It wasn't like we were going to be walking across the city like this.

  The three of us piled out the door, leaving Thorne to stand there inside the doorway. The full toxic sun bathed us, but my blanket was keeping most of the onslaught back. A slight headache started between my ears but as soon as we were in the sewer it would go away quickly. I couldn't wait to get in the darkness, even though we would likely have to dodge Trish. She would take the underground to get to Thorne's apartment.

  “This way,” Xavier said, taking my hand and pulling me into what smelled like the alley. “Did you get a weapon?”

  It was strange, holding his hand through the blanket. I was a blind idiot right now. “I did,” I said.

  “Why does this girl have a blanket over her?”

  A new, adult male voice rang out from the mouth of the alley. A dog went crazy and barked and barked. This wasn't a small dog, either. It was something big like a German Shepherd.

  “I have a migraine,” I said, falling back to my normal excuse.

  “It must be some migraine,” the man said. “Take the blanket off and show your face, please. State your names.”

  Xavier swore next to me, low enough so anyone with normal hearing wouldn't have picked it up.

  “It's an officer, isn't it?” I asked.

  “Alyssa,” Xavier said, “Get ready for a fight.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I had no choice. I had to remove the blanket and throw it to the ground, revealing my pink pigtails and the sword I had stolen from Thorne. There was no glamour on this one. Xavier hadn't had the chance to cast one. I was lucky that I was standing in the shadow of a building right now. The sun had moved so that all of those were long like grasping fingers.

  And yes, there was a police officer standing at the mouth of the alley. He had the German Shepherd on a leash and it was obvious he had been patrolling around on the bicycle that stood up against the building. A girl with a blanket over her walking down a dark alley had brought on his attention at the worst time.

  He didn't have his weapon out. We had only just been spotted.

  “What do you think we are?” I asked. “Abnormals? I think migraines are a pretty Normal thing, especially with it's a girl's time of—never mind.”

  A brief look of horror came over the officer's face but then he got his composure. “I have never seen anyone with a migraine walk around with a blanket in the sun,” he said. “Step forward. State your name.”

  They'd have a description of me out of the librarian. Teenage girl with pink pigtails. I hadn't had a chance to get rid of them yet and now I was paying the price.

  The manhole cover was only a few feet behind us and the officer was reaching for his weapon. I could take a gunshot or two. Xavier and Liliana could not. They were both silent.

  “Please,” Xavier said. “We're on our way and we're not bothering anyone.”

  “Yes,” I said. “We don't want to hurt anybody.” Great. I had given us away. The dog continued to bark and I didn't think the officer heard us. Behind him, a car slowed down and stopped on the curb. Letters on the side read CPD. Cumberland Police Department. Backup had already arrived.

  “Go!” Liliana shouted, stepping in front of us.

  I spotted the magenta glow around her hand and I grabbed Xavier's arm. He tried to reach for his sister but I yanked him back to the manhole cover and pulled it open. It slid across concrete and I picked it up as I pushed Xavier towards the hole. The thick metal ring was light in my grasp. Liliana threw her charge, which missed but made the first officer jump out of the way with the dog. The charge flew into the police car, rupturing the tire. Purple embers fell. Air hissed.

  “Come on!” I shouted to Liliana, standing over the sewer entrance so Xavier couldn't climb out. He was trying. I had to keep shoving him back with my shoes and I felt horrible about it.

  She retreated as the officer got off the ground. Her dress flowed as she climbed down between my feet and descended into the sewer.

  “Alyssa!” Xavier shouted. “Get down here! We've got to go.”

  Another officer got out of the car, leaving it empty. The first was getting up and the dog growled, lowering to the ground. The second was drawing his weapon. I had to do something and it had to be now.

  “Move!” I yelled, throwing the manhole cover. I didn't want to hurt them, just scare them, so I aimed for the car.

  It spun and sailed towards the vehicle, smashing into the door with a metallic crunch. I dove into the sewer and descended into the darkness as a shot fired.

  We had attacked police. Non-ATC police.

  There would be more of them and maybe we deserved that.

  “Go go go,” Xavier shouted, descending the ladder.

  “I don't want to stab Liliana,” I said. I held my sword as high as I could as I climbed down, rung by rung, trying not to jab anyone by mistake. My feet scraped Liliana's shoulder but I didn't dare speak. My head still throbbed. Daylight still stabbed down at us.

  “I'm at the bottom!” Liliana shouted.

  “Move!” we both yelled at her.

  “Did you hear me? Freeze!” The officer shouted from the top. His form stood at the top of the hole, aiming a pistol down at me while the dog continued to bark. “Call for backup!”

  “Jump!” Xavier shouted from the bottom.

  I did, landing on my feet just as a shot rang out. Sparks flew from between my shoes and I backpedaled. Xavier caught my arm and kept me from sailing into the rushing water below. We were on a narrow walkway. He pulled me close.

  “Run,” he said with a terrified smile.

  Feet hit the rungs above. “I'll carry you,” I said.

  “That sounds great.”

  I handed Liliana my sword (what good would that do against bullets?) and picked up Xavier. I took Liliana's hand and muttered an apology before I burst into a sprint.

  The world blurred and Liliana yelled that I was hurting her by making her run this fast, but I had no other choice. I ran because bullets could kill Xavier and his sister. I ran because I didn't want to hurt any Normals who weren't Bound to Thoreau. I ran because I didn't want Xavier to see what I could really do, what I had to do.

  Another shot rang out. The wind from it zipped against my ear and I turned the first corner I saw. It was dark here even with the yellow service lights. The water glistened. Garbage floated. Liliana yelped in pain, echoing off the walls. I muttered another apology. The officers yelled behind us and gave chase. I sniffed the air. A breeze was coming down from the surface and bringing the officers' scents. One smelled like Burger Planet. The other one had consumed coffee and donuts. I'd have to tell Xavier about that later.

  I ran and ran, turning corner after corner. The officers' voices and footfalls got fainter and fainter behind us. I slowed to give Liliana a break and she panted for air, collapsing to the floor.

  “I'm sorry,” I said, putting Xavier down and letting him stand. “I run fast. I didn't want you to get shot.”

  “My arm,” she said. “I'm not used to this.”

  “The ride's over?” Xavier asked.

  “For now,” I said. “Your sister needs a break.” I knew the police wouldn't give up on us too easily. If they knew which way we'd gone they would send more officers in no time, especially since there was a ninety-nine percent chance that they knew I had bitten that librarian. The pink pigtails had to go. “I think I should carry your sister next.”

  “Please,” Liliana said, cradling her arm.

  “That's a good idea,” Xavier said, backing up and stepping on a cigarette pack. “Liliana, you can't run like this. I have longer legs than you do and I've seen more battle. And you did not have to throw a charge at that police car.”

  “They were going to shoot you!” she yelled.

  “Well, we're even,” Xavier said. “We've both done stupid things, so the deal is that you have to stop calling me an idiot for the next twenty-four hou
rs.”

  “Should I set a timer?” Liliana asked. Hurt marred her features and it had nothing to do with her arm, which looked okay when she swung it in a circle. That was good. I wasn't sure if I could live with breaking Liliana's arm by mistake.

  And then I heard the sound of a manhole cover opening in the distance. The scraping sounded like it was coming from the tunnel ahead. Water continued to trickle in from open pipes, but it did nothing to mask the sound.

  “Incoming,” I said.

  “What do you hear?” Xavier asked.

  “We have to go,” I said. “That's what I hear.” Footfalls echoed from far behind, too. The police were catching up. I took Xavier's hand and his sister handed him the sword.

  Carrying Liliana was easier than carrying Xavier and I felt less bad dragging him along. He did a better job of keeping up. Ahead, I heard feet scraping ladder rungs and I ran faster. I caught a glimpse of police boots descending through a ladder hole and heard and more sirens from the surface. They had called in backup—a lot of backup. We were doomed if we didn't get out of here.

  “They're coming,” Liliana said. Even she could tell.

  “Faster,” Xavier shouted. “Don't worry about me.”

  I put everything I had into the sprint, crossing under the descending feet and beyond. The sewer curved up again and more flowing water met my ears. I remembered our last ride through sewer rapids and I didn't want to repeat that with Liliana but we might have to. Trish wouldn't be saving us this time. I had my own blood amulet now. I had kept it with me at all times so no one but Xavier would be able to find me.

  “Left!” Xavier shouted.

  I saw at the same time. From the right tunnel up ahead, several men and women in black, padded suits ran out. Plastic masks covered their faces and I caught the scent of metal weapons. Guns. Maybe worse.

  A swat team. All of them had the letters ATC printed across their jackets. They spread out, ready to intercept us.

  “Freeze!” a man shouted. A gun cocked.

  “Watch out!” Xavier shouted, raising one hand.

  I could feel his energy thrumming through me even before the charge formed in his free palm, bright and illuminating the tunnel around us in purple. He threw the charge and the swat team members scattered, hitting the ground. The charge exploded on concrete, raining purple embers.

  “A War Mage!” a woman shouted.

  I stopped. Feet thudded behind us. We were surrounded.

  “We have to Transpose,” I said.

  “I know,” Xavier said. “I don't know if I can do three people.”

  “You have to try.” Another gun cocked. The ATC team wasn't messing around. All of them stood and dodged to the corners of each tunnel, taking cover.

  I set Liliana down and she grabbed Xavier's hand like the two of them had done this before, many times. I could only wonder if it had to do with their family. I grabbed Xavier's other hand and he closed his eyes. I kept my grasp on my new weapon. I was armed, but we were outnumbered.

  “Freeze! On the ground!”

  “You heard us! Get down!”

  “You are under arrest!”

  Rough shouts surrounded us. There was no other escaping this. I closed my eyes, waiting for the first shots to ring out and for the pain that would follow.

  But it never came.

  The floor wavered, snapped back into place, and then fell out from under me completely.

  Hand linked with Xavier's, we fell. Liliana screamed, then stifled it. We seemed to fall for a long time, through magenta fire that didn't burn. I opened my eyes to see it screaming around us, brushing past my skin but not hurting. I had never watched it before. The fire weakened, then snapped back into place again, and then weakened. Xavier was having trouble.

  And then we landed.

  Tile met my hands as I lost grip with Xavier and stumbled. Watery scents surrounded me along with something worse. We were in a bathroom.

  “Ouch!” Liliana shouted.

  “Sorry,” Xavier said. “I've never done that before. It wasn't easy.”

  I got my bearings. The tile was pink, the color of coral, and a long row of stalls waited on one wall. “Where are we?” I asked, straightening up. We were in a public bathroom and judging from the color, the women's one. We were the only three in the room, even though a toilet was running.

  “I don't know,” Xavier said. “I was trying to Transpose us back to Mack's, but obviously we didn't get all the way there. I couldn't hold onto the magic for very long.” He was shaky.

  “Why Mack's?” I asked. I let one hand splay out on the sink. Liliana leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. I was shocked the girl wasn't crying. Maybe War Mages were naturally tough, even as children.

  “He's close to The Pit,” Xavier said. “It's only a few blocks from his junkyard. And well, I need something to eat.”

  I sniffed the air. Aside from the obvious bad smells, including tobacco smoke, there were others. The faint smell of Chinese food, pizza and soda floated in through the entrance. A sign on the door warned shoplifters that they would be prosecuted and low chatter filled the air outside, echoing off high ceilings. I could tell a lot just from standing in here. “I think we're either in one of those big warehouse stores or a shopping mall.”

  “I can live with that,” Xavier said. Then his mouth dropped open in horror. “Are we in the girls' bathroom?”

  “We sure are,” I said, moving to stand in front of the door. After nearly getting shot in the sewer by people who were okay with firing on kids, I needed a bit of comic relief.

  “You have to let me out of here,” Xavier said, flushing.

  “Not yet,” I said, holding up my sword to point at him. “You have to glamour this first.” At least Xavier hadn't landed us somewhere worse than this, like in the middle of a crowd.

  “It's going to take a minute,” he said. “I'm drained. That was hard on my magic. I'll also need to eat. If we're in a mall, there will be food.”

  “But do you have money?” I asked.

  “I'm better prepared this time,” he said, reaching into his leather coat pocket to pull out a wallet. “I keep this with me all the time now. I have a few thousand in here. I'll give you a few twenties in case you need it.”

  “A few thousand?” I asked.

  Xavier flushed again. “It's just for emergency purposes.”

  “Well, we can't leave this bathroom until you glamour this very sharp, dangerous sword that will get mall security called on us in about five seconds,” I said.

  “She's right,” Liliana told Xavier. “You need to do it or we can't leave.”

  “And I need to get rid of the pink pigtails,” I said. “I'm sure there's a salon if we're in a mall.”

  In short, we argued about the bathroom and went silent when someone knocked on the door and tried to push it open from the other side. The person knocked again and I held it shut. The woman muttered about the bathroom needing an out of order sign and walked off, complaining about having to go use the one in Macy's. Yes. We were in a mall.

  “Hand me the sword,” Xavier said. “I'll do my best, but I really am drained.”

  I gave him the weapon. Xavier muttered some low words in another language—Liliana mentioned that it was an ancient magical tongue and only Mages were allowed to learn it—and the sword transformed.

  Now it was my turn to have my mouth fall open. “A plastic baseball bat?”

  Xavier frowned as he looked at his handiwork. My weapon had turned into one of those big, red plastic bats for little kids and even worse, this one had Superman printed all over it.

  “I told you I was drained,” Xavier said. “When I try to do magic drained, things like this happen.”

  “But why Superman?”

  Liliana was happy to pipe up. “Xavier worshipped Superman when he was younger. He still has a big collection of comic books. He also still likes to collect superhero figurines.”

  “Sis!” he shouted.

  “Lo
ts of people do that,” I said. “I can think of some of Dad's friends who still do and they're in their forties, so don't feel bad.”

  “It's just...girls think that stuff is lame,” Xavier said.

  “I don't.” I could see why a guy like Xavier would look up to superheroes. If they existed, they would technically be Abnormals. “Let's get you something to eat. I'm sure you more than burned off that toasted cheese by now.”

  “I have,” he said, “and more. Now can we please get out of the women's' bathroom?”

  “I don't smell it on you anymore,” I said. His wood smoke scent remained, but it was weaker now that the magic in his cells was depleted. “We can head to the food court. Get you some greasy burgers.” He was shaking but I had to get him to eat, even if the scent would make me want sample his blood all over again. If I had resisted while he was bleeding from his shoulder, I could do it now. Right?

  But if he got injured again...

  I didn't want to think about it.

  So with the plastic bat in hand, we left the women's' bathroom just as two teen girls were walking in our direction. I got some stares and then heard laughing as soon as they were in the bathroom, but at least it wasn't the really bad kind of attention that got the ATC called on you.

  We were in a very big mall. That was clear once we got to the end of the security hallway. The food court was upstairs. We took the escalator. So far, so good. Xavier ordered himself and Liliana a tray of fast food and we sat at the edge of the court, as far from the skylight as we could get, and ate. A couple of mall guards passed us, but they were busy talking about the latest episode of some TV show. As Xavier ate, his scent got stronger...stronger...as the light above faded into evening.

  My stomach rumbled loud enough for him to hear.

  “What about you?” he asked. “You need sustenance, too.”

  “Um,” was all I could manage.

  “We're headed to The Pit next. Liliana, I don't want you to go there.”

  I was glad we had turned the conversation to something else, even though Xavier and his sister started arguing again, this time about whether or not Liliana should be allowed to go. Xavier told her to go back to the safe house but she pointed out that all the Elders were angry at us and she was better off waiting until they left to the area to return home, and that Aunt Primrose would need some time to cool off. Xavier pointed out that she was angry at him a lot more than her, and that she was a lot safer returning home while me and Xavier went to the Pit.