Maid of Ice

by Shona Husk

  Archie kept her mouth closed, but she didn’t need to speak as it was clear from the set of her face she was unimpressed.

  Heat blossomed on Alina’s cheeks. She was being judged and failing. She hated that, but she knew she was unprepared when it came to magic. “Sorry about that. I’m still trying to get the hang of it.”

  “Your mother did you a great disservice not teaching you while you were a teen.”

  Alina was well aware of that, now. Her mother could’ve given her the choice, but back then her life had been all about competing with no room for anything else. She quite liked this extra time she had on her hands, and while she knew it wouldn’t last as she’d have to finish her degree and get a job, right now it was what she needed.

  Even though she now had ice, the actual reading part was still hit and miss. Sometimes she saw flashes of the future and sometimes she got nothing.

  She was sure it was the fear that made that image form first on the surface of her puddle. There he was, gun in hand. “Damn it. Will is still there and he has a gun.”

  “Hmm.” Archie didn’t glance up from her copper disc.

  “What?”

  “There is too much death.” Archie dropped her circle and put her copper disk away.

  “Whose?”

  “It doesn’t matter. We have the power to change course. What else do you see?”

  Alina snapped her attention back to her ice puddle. “Just Will and the gun, the same as always.”

  “You need to let go of that fear to get past it.”

  That was easy for Archie to say, but much harder to do.

  She wanted to know what was in store for her and Finley, but the image didn’t change. She scowled until she was sure her brain was going to start sweating out of her forehead. Maybe there was nothing to see in her future except Will.

  What about the Keeper? What could she learn about him?

  The ice became dark and she shivered as though a cloud was blocking the sun. The cold crept up from the ground, reaching for her. The Keeper knew they were coming.

  Chapter 23

  Finley closed his eyes. He didn’t need to watch Alina and his mother do their thing. They’d tell him if they saw something important. Or something that involved him. That was what he was really interested in. He wanted to know if he was going to live or die. One of them had to be able to see that. He suspected there were too many possibilities for anything to be clear.

  If his magic had been working he’d have been able to listen to who was approaching, or reach out to tap Will on the shoulder with a gust of wind. Instead he was a dead weight as they prepared to do something that was quite possibly suicidal. The Keeper couldn’t eat them, but it could still kill them. That thing could be insane after sleeping alone for centuries with only its own thoughts. It might be super pissed about the state of the world and destroy the Albah all over again.

  He swallowed, his throat dry. It was always dry now.

  While he still felt thirst, his appetite had vanished. He should be hungry, but his stomach ached and burned. Maybe the original iron wound had become an ulcer. How long until his stomach ruptured and he dissolved himself in stomach acid? He should be thinking of ways to outsmart Walter, so no one had to enter the tomb, not imagining different ways to die.

  After several minutes, he came up with exactly nothing. Instead of thinking about what was going to happen, his mind kept drifting to the way Alina had said yes. He’d have to get her a ring. He didn’t know what she liked.

  He opened his eyes to see Alina walking over. “Hey. See anything good?”

  “Nothing useful. Your mom got some stuff.” She scuffed her shoe in the dirt and stared at the ground. “Will is coming here with a gun, just like I saw at the ice rink, and the Keeper is expecting us. I don’t know how. It was just a feeling I got.”

  “They’re both useful things to know. Help me up.” He hated being dependent, but he was starting to struggle. He wasn’t going to be walking out of here unless something miraculous happened. Did Walter hand out miracles as well as magic and medicine?

  “No, your mom wants you looking weak.”

  “Archie, just call her Archie. She gave birth to me but she isn’t my mother. My mother was killed by Guardians over twenty years ago.” That Archie had come back into his life now, when it was on the line, just meant her timing was great. It didn’t mean she cared, or that she loved him, even if she did love his father.

  Was there a way for them to get to know each other if they survived this? A few days ago, he’d have laughed off the suggestion. Now he might like the chance to get to know his birth mother.

  His father wasn’t arriving until tomorrow. His father was supposed to be here for the waking. Alina’s mother had changed their plans. He wasn’t ready for any of this today. He wanted to see his father again, talk to him again. Would he be on the plane already, crossing the ocean? Finley couldn’t leave a message that would only worry him, but this couldn’t be over without him saying good-bye. He wasn’t ready for this to be over yet either.

  “Why does she want me to be weak?” That wasn’t a very good plan.

  “Better to negotiate. I don’t know what she’s seen, but if what you’ve told me is right, all she’s seen is the most likely path. If there’s anything in there she didn’t like I guess she’s going to try to change it.”

  “Which means risk changing those bits that are good.” That was the trouble with seeing the future. It wasn’t fixed and could be messed up. Sometimes it was better not to know. It was better to expect to die and be surprised by surviving.

  “Yeah.” She lifted her head and watched something behind him.

  “Is it a snake?” That would be perfect, getting bitten by a poisonous snake when he was already dying.

  She shook her head and he did his best to turn around. Not a snake. Kirin. Kirin was no longer a skinny little squirt. He was a scruffy young man who’d apparently never heard of razors and enjoyed the extra ventilation in his ripped pants.

  “Glamorous life you have,” Kirin said. “Walter is about five minutes away. I see you’ve got looking pathetic nailed. Good acting.” He gave Finley the thumbs-up, Alina a wink and then walked to Archie.

  “That’s your half brother?” Alina’s gaze was still on Kirin, now talking to Archie.

  “One of them.” He wouldn’t have recognized Kirin as his brother if he’d fallen over him in the street. “So what now? What plan does Archie have beyond me being weak?”

  “We wait. Walter needs to heal you before we go on.”

  Being healed would make going to the tomb easier. “You know where the tomb is?”

  “No, but once we are moving, we’ll be able to follow them.” She jerked her chin at his family. “I don’t know what they’re planning. Archie didn’t tell me.”

  “Less chance of screwing up if we don’t know.” Though it would be a good idea if Alina knew where the tomb was just in case.

  “Maybe.” But Alina didn’t seem convinced.

  Archie and Kirin took their things and vanished into the forest. They wouldn’t be far away, but he couldn’t see them. Their earth magic hid them from view and it would take a magic user who was searching specifically for them to find them.

  Even though he knew that, he still felt like lame bait left for the vampire to feed on. Not that a vampire could drink his silver-laced blood.

  Alina wasn’t wearing silver. None. That was an oversight. He tugged off his ring. “Here. You wear it.”

  “You need the protection. You have no magic.” She tried to hand it back to him.

  “You’ll be talking to Walter.” He pressed it into her hand. “I’ll get you a better ring later. I promise.”

  She smiled then tried it on her ring finger. It was too big, so she slid it onto her thumb just as Walter walked into the clearing.

&n
bsp; * * * *

  Walter wasn’t sweating at all. But he was wearing long sleeves and a hat as though he was worried about sunlight. Alina stood a little straighter, while Finley slouched a little more.

  “Is this it?” Walter glanced around as though expecting a grave marker or some other sign.

  “Not yet. There is no trail the rest of the way, but Finley can’t go any further.”

  Walter stared down at him. “We’ll leave him here and collect him on the way back.”

  “Heal him first. I’m not leaving him alone.” If Will found Finley like this, there was no telling what he’d do. Maybe Will was coming after Finley with the gun.

  “And who exactly are you?” Walter was her grandfather but she could find nothing in him that she knew. He was a stranger. An undead doctor and Finley’s only hope.

  “His girlfriend.” Her grandfather didn’t know who she was. Had he ever seen her skate? Or had he stopped caring? It was probably better that he didn’t know she was his long-lost granddaughter.

  “No, what are you?” He sniffed. “Your blood isn’t human.”

  She resisted the urge to step back when he stepped closer. “I’m Albah. You aren’t the only doctor who fixes ears.”

  Though he had fixed hers many years ago. Had he fixed all of his family’s ears so they could blend in better?

  “There are those who follow the king who change the way they look?” His eyebrows drew together as though he found the idea incredulous. Then he glanced at Finley whose first visit had been about getting his ears done. Walter’s frown deepened.

  “Guardians make us do things we don’t like.” She was lying with every breath and she didn’t think she was a good enough actor to pull it off. But admitting to being his granddaughter right now wouldn’t be a good idea. Telling Walter that Finley and she had been searching for vampires and their maker probably wouldn’t sit well either.

  “But you know where the Keeper rests? How do I know you aren’t lying?”

  Archie had warned her this wouldn’t be easy and she understood why. They could’ve carried Finley the rest of the way, but Archie didn’t want to give up the Keeper’s location if she didn’t have to. Once his location was known there’d be no going back.

  “Can you not feel it in the ground? It’s waiting for us.” She had to fake being an earth elemental user. She couldn’t feel it in the dirt, but in the water held in the ground. A vibration. A knowing. She didn’t know what else to call it. She hadn’t been taught the words to explain her magic. That extra sense she’d always had but had never known how to use.

  Walter stood still, his head cocked as though his was listening. His magic was different. It was magic that kept him alive. How easy would it be to unravel that magic so he died? What had Finley said? Albah magic doesn’t work on vampires and vampire magic doesn’t work on Albah.

  Even if she’d been a better magic user, she couldn’t have used magic to kill Walter.

  That Walter couldn’t use magic on her didn’t make her feel any safer.

  There were still a hundred other ways to die. And if Walter struck then no one was close enough to help her. Then there was Will who was on his way and her misdirected mother out there wandering around searching for the tomb to stop the raising of the Keeper.

  Walter turned to Finley. “Did you bring her here so you could make the change? You would have no use for her anyway. Some desires fade with blood magic.”

  Finley lifted his gaze, his expression pained. She was convinced. Did that mean he’d been masking his real pain and he was worse than she’d thought? Which one was the act?

  “I don’t want to be Albanex. That wasn’t the agreement.”

  “You want to age? That’s not good in your business.”

  “There is more to my life than business.” Finley glanced at Alina. “Just get the iron out.”

  Walter smiled at Alina, and his voice became more melodic. “What about you? You could become immortal with his blood, save him any more pain. We could tear open all the tombs. Usher in a new age where the Albah are worshipped for their magic.”

  That might have been the case once, but now? She’d watched one too many movies where the freaks got studied in secret labs to want to even entertain that thought. Maybe if there were more Albah and they were more centralized they’d have political clout, but as it was they were desperately clinging on to a crumbling cliff face.

  Someone should’ve done something generations ago. But back then there’d been no Internet and they probably hadn’t known how bad the situation was. Guardians had been able to kill without anyone connecting the dots.

  If she was immortal, she’d be able to see what happened to the Albah far into the future long after she should’ve died. The temptation was there for just a heartbeat. She didn’t want to be immortal and alone, hunted by the Guardians and Albah.

  “I will take you to the Keeper as agreed. But I will not become one of you. Heal him.” She tried to keep her voice level, but she was starting to panic. Her heartbeat was too quick and her hands were sweaty. If she got too panicky her magic would do something to ruin the charade that she knew what she was doing.

  Finally Walter nodded and took a step toward Finley.

  “Don’t touch him.” Will walked into the clearing and leveled the gun at Walter. Why couldn’t he have been a few minutes late? “You’re safe now, Alina. Come with me, away from these freaks.”

  “You must be the food.” Walter’s grin became predatory. While Alina knew vampires didn’t actually have fangs, that didn’t stop her from expecting to see them.

  Finley swore.

  Will’s eyes widened as he if sensed the threat from Walter. “You stay back. I just came to get Alina.” He held out his free hand. “Come on.”

  He really thought that she’d go with him after what he’d done to Finley. Her gaze darted between the three men, but she didn’t move.

  “Are you pleased with your work, Will?” Finley said. “Have you achieved something great in wounding me? Who will be your next victim?”

  “Are you a vampire yet?” Will swung the gun around to Finley.

  “No. But he is.” Finley pointed at Walter.

  His aim shifted to Walter again.

  Walter stared at Will, lifted his hand and curled his fingers ever so slightly. Alina felt the pull within her. Something dark and old. Then Will clutched his chest.

  “Your spleen has ruptured. You’re dying. Do you like the feel, Albah killer? Does it hurt?”

  All Will could do was grunt as he dropped to his knees. “Do something.” He stared at Alina pleading for her to help him, but she couldn’t heal.

  She shook her head. “Only male Albah can heal, and when you poisoned Finley with iron, his magic died.”

  This time, Will looked at her properly and she knew the moment he realized what she was. Her roots were showing and her eyes were the same bright blue as Finley’s and Walter’s.

  “God. You’re one of them. You brought me here to die. You monster.” He tried to crawl away.

  Walter grabbed Will’s ankle. “You struck first. If you didn’t want to fight, then you shouldn’t have thrown the first punch. There are two things I can’t abide by. One is people who cannot look in the mirror and see the truth about themselves. That would be you. And two, cowards who won’t finish what they started. Also you. Take some responsibility for your life.”

  Will fired the gun. The crack of the gunshot echoed through the forest. The bullet went through Walter’s head.

  Blood and brain matter hit Alina. It was cold, black blood instead of hot and red. Her stomach heaved and she barely had time to turn before throwing up.

  When she turned back, Walter was dead. Really dead. The gaping hole in his face wasn’t magically healing. She’d thought vampires needed staking, or beheading, all ways to kill from an age b
efore guns. One bullet to the brain was apparently all it took.

  It would be all that was needed to kill Finley and herself too and Will was still holding the gun.

  * * * *

  The gunshot had filled Finley’s ears. Walter’s fall to the ground had happened as though he was falling through syrup. Finley had expected the doctor to get up. He was a vampire. Surely one bullet couldn’t stop him. But the doctor lay there unmoving. No blood seeped from the wound the way it should. Walter was now just a long-dead corpse. The magic that had animated his body had been stopped by a single bullet.

  Finley couldn’t breathe. His one chance of living…

  He was going to die all because Will, the stupid, selfish, little shit, had killed the one person who could help him. If he’d still had magic he’d have used the air to compress Will until he fit in a matchbox.

  “Alina, help me get out of here or your boyfriend is next,” Will ordered as though he was still in control.

  Alina didn’t move. She was wiping her mouth with a shaky hand.

  “I’ll shoot him!” Will screeched, clutching his chest with his free hand. How long until he passed out from blood loss?

  “Do it. It will be less painful.” Finley was a dead man unless he managed to get to the Keeper’s tomb and convince a man who didn’t speak English and who hadn’t seen daylight in too many centuries to heal him. He didn’t like his chances.

  Alina walked to Will. He reached out a hand. Alina took it then stomped on the hand that was holding the gun and followed up with a kick to the face. Finley had expected her to use magic. Instead she’d done something for more practical. Something Will hadn’t seen coming.

  Will screamed and then went limp. Alina checked his pulse. “He’s alive.”

  Kirin appeared next to him with barely a rustle.

  “Where were you?” Alina’s eyes flashed with silver.

  “Keeping your mother occupied so she doesn’t come and interfere. She heard the gun and started coming this way. Archie is already at the tomb in case your mother manages to turn herself around and tries to kill the Keeper.” Kirin glanced at Will and then Walter. “That didn’t go to plan.”