Midnight Law

by Geanna Culbertson

  Gordon, Marie, SJ, Divya, Javier, and Pietro departed at eight o’clock exactly, leaving the rest of us to figure out what to do with our lives. Part of that involved looking after Mauvrey. My friends and I would have to sort out shifts.

  Past that, the world was weirdly without structure for a change. With no school, no pending mission, and no need for any of us to leave the castle, we kind of had the run of the place. The Darlings had opened their home to us months ago, so our presence was no longer a big deal. All of Chance’s siblings had their own things going on, and his parents were too busy to worry about our activities. I had no idea what I was supposed to do or who to do it with.

  I glanced at Daniel sitting across from me. He absentmindedly poked the wad of eggs on his plate with a fork. He had changed the subject last night—he was good at that—and we had delved into my issues instead. I knew he genuinely cared about my stuff with Blue, and he was sincerely trying to help when he’d asked and advised me about it, but he also had used it as a means to avoid talking about his own stuff.

  That was a loss on his part. He’d been right when he said the split with Crisa hurt all of us, and we all had to deal with it in our own way. But Daniel’s way usually involved pushing feelings, and people, away. So while he suppressed the subject when I brought it up over sandwiches last night, I knew the guy well enough to tell he was holding back. I’d seen his face after we’d parted ways with Crisa. I’d heard the anger in his voice when we were discussing it upon our return. Despite the short amount of time he’d known her, the two had grown incredibly close. They were friends, but there was more to it than that; they had this weird connection.

  It was noticeable.

  My eyes turned to Kai beside him. She sipped her juice. I wondered if aside from his natural guardedness, she was partly why Daniel had changed the subject from Crisa last night.

  “Mauvrey,” Kai said, setting her glass down. “If you’re feeling up to it, why don’t you let Daniel and I show you the village at the base of the mountain. We were going to head there after breakfast.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Blue said. “The whole point of us watching her is to keep her safe from the antagonists. The odds of her not being recaptured are way better if she stays in a fortified castle. All Darling family and staff are already under strict order to keep her existence here a secret. That should extend to her waking up too.”

  “I agree,” Chance said. “Mauvrey should stay within these walls for now. We can’t risk word of her presence leaking out to the village. There’s plenty for her to do inside the castle, particularly the music room.”

  I tilted my head. “Why there?”

  “Mauvrey plays the piano,” Girtha responded. “She’s really good at it too.”

  We all turned to Mauvrey. The girl wore her first fresh outfit in months—a pink suede jacket and a white top that Marie had lent her. A pink headband held back her blonde hair.

  Before Tara-Mauvrey had revealed her evilness and left Lady Agnue’s, she’d been roommates with Girtha and a princess named Jade. They weren’t so much friends, to my understanding, as Girtha and Jade had been Mauvrey’s lackeys as she did her bully Queen Bee thing around school.

  It must’ve been so strange for Girtha to be with the princess now. Girtha had told me how much she regretted the bully persona she’d fallen into out of her need to feel liked and be a part of a group. Once freed of Tara-Mauvrey’s influence, she’d changed. Which meant that both Girtha and the princess sitting next to her were different people than they’d been the last time they saw each other.

  Mauvrey pursed her lips. “I took lessons when I was little before Tara possessed me, and the Tara version of me always took music as an elective at school, so over the years we—she—became advanced in the subject. But . . . I do not know how easily the skill will come now that I am behind the wheel of this body.”

  “Well, someone believes in you,” Chance said. He reached down into a bag he’d brought with him to breakfast and held up a heavy book. “Before he left this morning, Merlin gave me this book of music to give to you. I was waiting for the right time to bring it up. We have plenty of sheet music in the castle, but he was adamant about you playing from this.” He passed it to Mauvrey.

  “Why?” Blue asked.

  “Why does Merlin do anything?” I shrugged. “He has a plan.”

  Blue blinked at me and scrunched up her nose before looking away. I guess she was still trying to avoid me, and I was making it difficult by talking to her like a human being. That hurt, but now was not the time to deal with our issues.

  “Merlin had a vision last night about music being a key trigger for Mauvrey’s memories,” Chance explained. “He told me and SJ when we saw him off this morning. She was going to get an early start to the peace talks—that’s why she skipped breakfast—so she asked me to give Mauvrey the book.”

  “What did Merlin say about his visions exactly?” Kai asked, leaning forward with intense interest.

  “He didn’t get into the details of his dreams much, just some mentions of an ice cave and blue trees. But he was very clear on the music point. With enough practice, it can be an effective tool to draw out Mauvrey’s lost memories—both the ones that belong to Paige, and those she’s missing from the days leading up to the Vicennalia Aurora. Maybe it’s because of how good she-Tara is at the skill, like Girtha said.”

  “Or because it was something she did before Tara took her over that she can still theoretically do now,” Girtha suggested.

  “Okay. To the music room with her then,” Blue said.

  “Mauvrey.” I spoke suddenly. “What do you want to do?”

  Mauvrey appeared startled that anyone cared enough to ask. So startled, in fact, that she did not produce an answer. Kai gave one for her.

  “Maybe we delay the music for a few days. Give her brain a chance to properly reboot post Shadow removal. She’ll be more useful to us if she is functioning at a sharper capacity.”

  We all pivoted toward Mauvrey. “I . . . I think that sounds good. I want to help you all to the best of my ability. Perhaps more mental rest would do me some good.”

  “So the village?” Kai suggested.

  “No village,” Blue said, putting her fork down.

  Mauvrey nodded slowly. “Blue is right. I have already caused you all enough trouble. No need to court additional danger.” She glanced at Kai. “How about a tour around the castle instead? Yesterday I was too weak to leave my room for more than a few minutes so I have not had the opportunity to see it.”

  “Chance would probably be a better tour guide,” I commented.

  Chance’s face fell with a bit of discomfort. “I, uh . . .”

  “It’s fine.” Kai waved a hand. “I have a good memory. I remember where everything is.” She stood up and pushed her chair back in one motion. “Come on, Daniel.”

  He didn’t respond. He appeared to be staring off into space.

  She put her hand on his shoulder. “Dani,” she repeated.

  He looked up at her. “Sorry, what?”

  “We’re giving Mauvrey a tour of the castle.”

  “Shouldn’t Chance do that?”

  “Just come on.”

  My friend sighed and got up. Mauvrey did too and followed the couple out. Chance, Girtha, Blue, and I were left in the room. Girtha glanced at us in turn after a moment. “So . . . do you guys want to hang out or something?”

  Blue huffed and gave Girtha a condescending look. “I don’t want to talk to any of you right now. I’ll be anywhere but here if somebody needs me.” She stomped out of the room unapologetically. When she’d gone, Chance looked at me.

  “I know why Blue is angry at Girtha and me. What did you do?”

  “It’s a long story,” I said. “But it’ll be okay. She gets intense and aggressive when she’s upset. It’ll pass.” I caught a glimpse of the hurt in Girtha’s eyes. “It always passes, Girtha. Seriously.”

  “I wouldn’t
be so sure,” Chance said, leaning back in his chair. “You’re her best friend. And you’re also you—Jason Sharp—Mr. Do-No-Wrong. Maybe whatever you two are going through will blow over, but Girtha and I don’t have the same history with Blue. It’s our fault that Crisa got trapped in Nightmare. Blue is holding us accountable.” He sighed and sadness filled his expression. “I hold us accountable too. Me more than you,” he said to Girtha.

  “Darling, I triggered the realm to lock in all Shadows,” Girtha said bluntly. “Whatever happens to her is on my conscience most.” “Yeah, but I am the one who lov—” Chance cut himself off. He cleared his throat. Girtha and I glanced away awkwardly.

  “We’ve sort of been dating for a little while,” Chance corrected, “and I have been trying to prove she can count on me. And then I do this. What kind of prince abandons his princess in a demon realm? What kind of prince causes his princess to get trapped there in the first place? Maybe my family is right to expect nothing but weakness and loner-ness from me. I’ve only had real friends for a few months and I’ve already screwed them over significantly.”

  “Chance, man, you’ve got to take it easy on yourself.” I adjusted my position to look at him and Girtha together. “You both do. Yes, you are partly to blame for what happened; it sucks and you have to live with that. But that’s how life is. We accept our choices and deal with the consequences. If things don’t work out, we try to do better the next time. It’s all we can do.”

  Girtha shook her head after a second. “Seriously, why is Blue mad at you? You’re like the nicest person alive.”

  “I made a choice,” I said. “And I think it’s time I take my own advice and deal with the fallout. Excuse me.” I stood up and left the room.

  Telling Blue I had feelings for her had driven a wedge of awkwardness between us. If I was ever going to get her to be open toward a deeper relationship with me, the first step was resurrecting the one we currently had. Daniel had advised me not to address the incident directly, and I agreed with that approach. So I had to try and ease Blue back into normalcy instead.

  The ball truly was in her court and she wasn’t going to hit it back over if I kept freaking her out. Past the romantic stuff . . . I didn’t want Blue to feel like she had to keep distance between us. She was my best friend and the whole reason I’d avoided telling her about my bigger feelings for so long was to protect that. Clearly, I’d done a lousy job.

  I stopped by my room to pick up my trusty axe, stored in its sheath. My thumb traced the JS carved into the base of the handle. Carrying the sheath over my shoulder, I left the castle and took the mountain elevator down to the basecamp village. At ground level, I trotted toward the forest. It was a beautiful day. The smell of cake wafted in the air coming from one of the bakeries. The castle had plenty of tricked-out combat areas, but there were a few rustic, outdoor ones by the stables that I preferred. I didn’t think people needed a bunch of fancy tech to practice fighting—you just needed a partner and gumption.

  As I’d hoped and suspected, I found Blue in one of the fenced-off areas near the stables, hurling throwing knives at targets pinned to bales of hay. Her enchanted utility belt replenished the weapons as she launched them. She loved using those knives for taking out targets quickly, though the hunting knife in the holster of her belt was her favorite weapon.

  The hood of her trusty powder blue cloak—which she almost always wore—was up and covered her hair. She faced the other way as I approached, totally in the zone of her practice. I hopped over the fence and snuck up behind her. When I was only a few feet away, I threw my axe at the target. Her last shot had hit the bullseye, but since my weapon wielded more power, it knocked Blue’s knife from its place.

  Blue spun around. “Rude.”

  I shrugged. “It seemed like a good way to get your attention. You don’t like people sneaking up on you when you practice.”

  “And yet here you are.”

  “This isn’t sneaking; it’s a friendly, casual ‘Hey there’.”

  Blue drew a knife from her belt and threw it, nailing another target perfectly. “Then allow me to reply with a friendly, casual ‘I’m busy, Jason.’ And I’m not in the mood to hash it out about our relationship.”

  “Neither am I,” I said. “I didn’t come here to bother you. I came because I know you’re as messed up about this Crisa thing as I am and I just want to distract myself hanging out with a friend. We have to wait weeks until she comes back, and we can’t do anything about it. But we’re not do-nothing people. We need to keep busy or this is going to drive us crazy.”

  Blue examined one of her throwing knives hesitantly. After a beat, she flung it then turned toward me with her hands on her hips. “So, what do you want to do?”

  “How about sparring?”

  “Our weapons aren’t compatible for sparring,” she said. “With your axe and my hunting knife I would need to be closer to you and you’d want to maintain more distance. It’s not ideal.”

  “All the more reason to practice,” I suggested, walking to the target to collect my axe. “What would you do if you faced an enemy with my kind of weapon?”

  “I’d kill them,” Blue said bluntly. “With you, that’s not exactly on the table.”

  “I appreciate the special treatment.” I flipped my axe in my hand then tucked it back in its sheath. “Okay then, how about hand-to-hand combat? We do that all the time.”

  Blue paused for a second before nodding. “Fine.” She lowered her hood and I leaned my sheath against a bale of hay.

  “Landed shots or takedowns?” she asked.

  “Takedowns,” I responded. It made more sense to keep track of points that way. We hardly ever landed a clean shot on one another—we were too familiar with each other’s movements.

  “Fine,” she said again. She backed up so there was a good amount of space between us. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  Without another word, Blue broke into a running leap—coming down at an angle with her right fist barreling into a hook punch. I blocked it with my arm then jutted my hands low to block the knee she’d tried to ram into my chest.

  I returned volley toward her face and she blocked. We exchanged a series of unapologetic moves and countermoves until she whirled around and tried to nail me with a spinning kick. I grabbed her leg out of midair and redirected her force, throwing her to the side. She landed roughly on the grass and grunted.

  “That’s one for me,” I said.

  Her grimace melted into a look of fiery ruthlessness as she got up. She charged, throwing her body into a downward spinning axe kick that I could barely block. She continued to spin into a lower leg sweep that drove me back even farther. A split second later she rose and came at me with a right roundhouse kick. I redirected it, but she rushed in and punched me in the chest. It was a lot—Blue was not a light hitter—but I recovered quickly and launched a kick of my own. She stopped it. I swung. We exchanged a few more blows until I was able to grab her arm mid-punch and use that momentum to flip her forward. She flopped onto the grass in front of me.

  “That’s two,” I said.

  The resoluteness in her expression only hardened. She leapt back to standing. As she attacked again, I saw the corners of her mouth creep up with each strike. Mine did too. Every punch, every kick, and every block sped my heart and melted the awkwardness between us.

  I grabbed her wrist. Like a dancer she spun around me to evade my next blow and kicked me behind the knee. I tumbled forward but rolled into a crouched position. In the blink of an eye, Blue was bearing over me. I barely lifted my arm in time to block her.

  Instead of going in for the counterpunch, I rammed her with my full weight as I rose. She was shoved back and I went in for a punch, but she redirected my strike and swiftly followed up with a kick to my chest. I caught her foot again. This time she didn’t let me take her down. No sooner had my fingers wrapped around her boot than she was thrusting away into a double back handspring. I had to let go or r
isk getting kicked in the face. I pursued her, planning to rush in and strike her when she’d landed. I realized too late she wanted me to pursue her.

  She didn’t finish her second back handspring. I was inches from her when she landed, only instead of righting herself she redirected her momentum and shot straight into me—a full body slam. I grunted as I hit the ground.

  Blue stood over me with a smile. It was wickedly confident like she tended to be. “Get up, Jason. I’m not done with you yet.”

  In that moment I realized that while it hurt to have exposed my feelings and not have them reciprocated, I wasn’t going to let that keep me down. I knew she had feelings for me, but I couldn’t force her to act on them. She would have to decide if that was what she wanted. I would have to respect the time she needed to reflect. In the meantime, it was reassuring to know we would always have this. That our friendship could survive change, and we could recover from any blows that came our way.

  Piano music floated down the hall. Maybe “music” wasn’t the right word. The notes only flowed smoothly for a few seconds at a time before a notably wrong key got played.

  I entered the music room. Kai hovered behind Mauvrey, who sat at the bench of a solid gold piano. The pulled back, floor-length curtains cast the shining instrument and both girls in sunrays.

  The music room had bookshelves like a library, but I suspected these texts contained sheet music. Various other instruments were positioned around the room, including a cello, harp, flute, drums, and several guitars. I wondered if all the Darling kids played an instrument. There were enough of them to form a family band, even an orchestra.

  Daniel sat on a couch in the corner, reading a regular book. He looked up when I entered. “What’s up?”

  “I could ask you the same question,” I said. “I was surprised when Chance told me this is where you guys were. I thought Mauvrey was going to rest more before diving in.”

  “Believe me, I tried to stop her,” Kai said.