Tower of Fire (Parallel Magic Book 3)

by Emma L. Adams

  Miles and I crept towards the back door out of the Order’s headquarters, which opened into a yard filled with boxes and the occasional cage. I found myself wondering if any contained vampire chickens. If they did, they’d make a handy diversion if we needed one.

  There were two guards outside and nothing more, so Miles and I found a spot behind a stack of boxes and settled in to wait for the elf trader to show up. The guards, both shifters, were more interested in smoking some kind of pipe which emitted puffs of purple smoke—presumably pillaged from one of the boxes—than looking out for trespassers.

  “He’s got to be coming through the node,” Miles whispered. “Pity we don’t have one of those neutralising cantrips to turn it off.”

  “True.” I perched on the low wall behind the boxes. “There are other nodes he could use instead, though. Personally, I think our best bet is to ambush him outside the doors and make sure the vampire sees us do it. That ought to lure him out into the open.”

  “It’ll also draw the Order’s attention, whether we’re visible or not.”

  At that moment, Dex flew back over the fence to join us. “I saw an elf approaching the Order’s place.”

  “All right.” I leapt to my feet, keeping an eye on the guards to make sure they hadn’t noticed the sprite’s arrival. “Dex, can you tail him? We’ll have to make sure the vamp doesn’t slip away with the artefact.”

  “I have a few ideas,” said Miles. “I’ll cause a diversion out here.”

  The clicking sound of a cantrip sounded, and a blast of light shot up in the air. The two guards near the building let out exclamations of shock, but I was already entering the back door of the lobby at speed.

  At the same time, the elf entered via the front doors. He couldn’t be mistaken for human, with his elegantly carved features and his silky dark hair tied into a ponytail. I slid a cantrip into my hand and ran into the elf’s path. The cantrip froze him mid-motion, while several people ran for the door at the back, presumably having seen the ruckus Miles had caused outside. Which was precisely the plan.

  “We’re under attack!” someone shouted.

  Still invisible, I grabbed the elf’s arm while he was frozen and felt Miles brush past my side as he took the elf’s other arm. Together, we yanked him across the lobby and out the back door into the yard.

  The two guards startled at the sight of the elf being pulled along by two invisible attackers. I let go for a second and flames leapt from my hands to the pile of boxes in front of me. Several other flashes and bangs echoed throughout the area, suggesting Miles was dipping into his cantrip stash as well. As the guards looked wildly around for the source of the ruckus, I gave the elf a shove in the direction of the cages, which burst open, causing a fresh cacophony of noise to reverberate throughout the back yard.

  I spun back to the lobby and spotted the vampire from earlier among the crowd who’d come to see what was going on. He wasn’t holding the artefact, so he must have left it in the room he’d vacated. Quick as a flash, I darted back into the lobby and around the corner towards the office I’d seen him in. The door was wide open. Yes.

  I ran in—and froze. A man wearing a pressed suit, with neatly trimmed grey hair, had remained behind, apparently oblivious to the chaos erupting outside. When he rotated to face my direction, his glasses were balanced on the end of his nose, giving him a deceptively calm appearance. “Going to show your face?”

  How the hell did he know I was here? I’d hardly made a sound, and the door had already been ajar.

  “It’s no use pretending,” he added. “I assume you came for this?”

  A glow came from his hand when he held up the stone from the auction, which cast a greenish light around the office. The vamp must have told him about being tailed, so he’d known we were coming. But who was he?

  The door moved behind me and someone else rushed into the room, forcing me to step to the side. “Mr Holland, there’s a fire—”

  “Let the guards deal with it,” he said. “We expected this. I have it under control.”

  Holland. This was the guy who the spirit mages had placed in charge of the Order’s base, but he wasn’t a mage himself, as far as I knew. What the hell did he want with the elven artefact? Nothing good, I assumed.

  I gave the room a quick scan, from the leather-backed seat to the metal filing cabinets behind the wooden desk. No obvious traps, nothing magical. Yet Holland didn’t seem to be afraid of me despite his own lack of magical advantages.

  Nevertheless, this was my shot. Flames leapt to my palms and I directed them at the guy blocking my way out of the room. He stumbled back with a yell as his shoes caught fire, but even that didn’t coax Mr Holland to move. Putting on a burst of speed, I zipped behind him and reached for the stone in his hand.

  A clicking sounded and an unseen blow hit me like an invisible wall. Reeling, I stumbled back to find myself visible again, while the flames in my palm went out in the same instant.

  Holland reached into his pocket and retrieved a gleaming cantrip. “Neutraliser. Very handy. They can even turn off nodes, did you know? The only thing they don’t work on is certain artefacts like this one.”

  Shit. A neutraliser cantrip. I’d seen them before, when my own allies had used them to turn off the transporters in the citadels, and the node linking Elysium to London. I hadn’t known it was possible to use one to cut off someone’s magic altogether.

  “What do you want with the elves?” Trying to squash my panic, I prepared to make another grab for the Akrith the instant his attention slipped. “Who are you giving that artefact to?”

  “Someone willing to help us further our goal of uniting all magical beings on both sides of the nodes.” He lifted the stone into the air, out of my reach. “I wouldn’t try challenging me. You won’t get very far.”

  “Maybe not, but I’ll take my chances.”

  Launching forward, I punched him in the nose with one hand and grabbed for the stone with the other. His brief lapse in attention was all I needed to snatch the Akrith out of his grip, and since the neutraliser hadn’t affected my elven speed, I was out of the room a second later, shoving the guard who was still trying to extinguish his flaming shoes into Holland’s path.

  More guards converged on me when they saw me running, no longer hidden by an invisibility spell, but I streaked past them at top speed. I veered towards the back exit and tucked the stone into my pocket, keeping one hand on it as I ran. Hands grabbed for me, but the guards all seemed to trip over thin air or catch on fire without getting close to me. Sending a silent thanks to Dex and Miles, I leapt over a stack of boxes and ran out the yard—only to find my path barred by more armed guards. All of them held cantrips in their hands, glowing with runes lighting up on their surfaces.

  Flashes of light shone as the cantrips flew left and right. I dodged the first few and ran for the fence, but my steps froze mid-motion, my limbs refusing to obey my commands. Someone grabbed my arm, while a fist in my ribs knocked the breath from me. Another grabbed for the stone in my pocket—

  That’s when the stone exploded.

  The next few moments felt like a dream. Light burst out of the stone, piercing the heavens, while the nearest guards flew into the air as though propelled by an invisible force. Even the vampire, who’d crept in behind me, shouted in alarm as he was flung backwards into a stack of boxes. The spell freezing me to the spot wore off in an instant, while I clung onto the blazing stone and staggered to the side, eyes screwed up against the glow.

  Then Miles had my arm and we were running, leaping over the low wall out of the yard. Everything slowed to a blur of brightness and noise, and I was hardly aware of reaching the node before we fell through its white torrent. We landed in the swamp, a wave of water crashing over our heads. The cold, filthy water effectively brought me back to alertness.

  “Shit.” I pushed to my feet, spotting Miles lying sprawled in the mud, fully visible. He must have dropped his cantrip. “Did anyone follow us?”
>
  “No.” He sprang upright, breathing hard. “I think we left Dex behind, but he was having too much fun setting boxes on fire for me to get his attention.”

  “Great.” I pushed a handful of sopping wet hair out of my face, feeling unexpectedly energised, as though the stone had given me a boost of energy on top of blasting those guards into the air. “What did that stone do? Did it have some kind of defence mechanism on it?”

  The stone looked totally harmless now, as though nothing had happened at all. The glow had dimmed to a pale green, the same colour it’d been at the auction. Yet it’d unleashed some kind of power which had knocked everyone back, even the vampire.

  “I don’t know, you tell me,” said Miles. “It’s an elven artefact. Makes sense that it’d have some unusual magic. Which would explain why you carried me halfway around the Order’s building to the node in about five seconds.”

  “Wait, I did?” I hadn’t stopped to consider how he’d kept pace with me throughout my wild flight from the Order, but there was no other explanation. “I was too busy trying to get away to pay attention to anything else.”

  “Who was that elf, though?” said Miles. “I didn’t think any of them would be working with the Order, not when the people in charge seem perfectly happy to let the Family capture and kill their fellow elves.”

  “I know.” Some of the buzz of our victorious escape died down. “I have no idea who he was. Maybe Trix knows.”

  I squelched through the mud towards the grounds of the castle, earning a bewildered stare from Cal and Felicity. Especially when they saw Miles in the same state, trailing behind me.

  “What in the Elements’ names were you doing, mud-wrestling?” Cal said.

  “Nothing so exciting.” The sound of squawking drew my attention to a spot near the stairs where the vampire chicken hopped in circles around Trix. “There’s a sight you don’t see every day.”

  “Are you going to explain why you brought that thing here?” Felicity asked.

  “He’s a present for the Death King,” Miles shook his head, sending swamp water everywhere. “Did you let Trix in?”

  “He said he was waiting for you.” Cal rubbed his tired eyes. “You’re taking over from us at midnight, by the way.”

  “I can hardly wait.” I walked over to the elf and the vampire chicken, which hissed at me when it saw me approach.

  Trix beamed when I pulled the stone out of my pocket. “You found it?”

  “After a fashion,” I said. “The vamp who won the auction gave us the slip and hid inside the Order’s base back on Earth, but we staged an ambush and stole it back when a trader came to meet him. You should know, though… the trader who wanted to buy the Akrith from the vampire was an elf.”

  “An elf?” said Trix in scandalised tones. “Why would an elf work with the Order?”

  “I haven’t a clue,” I said. “Maybe they offered him a cut of the profits.”

  He shook his head violently. “No. The elves know the Order is under the influence of the spirit mages.”

  “Or blackmail was involved,” I suggested. “We didn’t get the chance to ask who the elf was working for, but if the Order let him in, he must be one of their allies.”

  “I’m going to the Order’s headquarters, then,” he said. “Liv won’t like it, but I want to know who he’s working for.”

  “I wouldn’t go near them,” I warned. “They’ll be on high alert for a while. Our priority was getting the stone by any means possible. We barely made it out without getting locked up, and it’s thanks to the stone itself that we did.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Trix.

  “It… well, the stone kind of exploded,” I said. “It gave off a flash of light which pushed away all the guards who were trying to grab us, so we ran for it while we had the chance.”

  The elf’s eyes widened. “The Akrith… exploded?”

  “Looked that way,” I said. “I was kind of hoping you might be able to explain why, because I’m lost. Holland shut off my magic with a neutraliser cantrip, so I can’t have been the one who turned it on.”

  “The Akrith must have a significant amount of the elves’ power still inside it.” His mouth pulled down at the corners. “No elf would willingly hand it over to the enemy. There must be a misunderstanding.”

  “Didn’t look that way to me,” said Miles. “Sorry, mate.”

  Without another word, Trix marched off, looking more annoyed than I’d ever seen him. I hoped he was going to speak to his elf allies in Arcadia and not on his way to the Order, considering the chaos we’d left behind us.

  “Poor guy,” I said. “I have a feeling we might have to go back to his ally in Arcadia again. Maybe she knows who the elf we saw at the Order is working with. I’m not going back there anytime soon.”

  “Nor me,” said Miles. “I was already on the Order’s shit list by virtue of being born a spirit mage. That’s why I didn’t use my spirit magic during our escape, only cantrips.”

  “You didn’t want them to guess your identity?” I said. “Or… you wanted to make sure none of the other Spirit Agents took the blame? I did say you didn’t have to take the risk for me.”

  “I know you did,” he said. “Bria, we should talk.”

  My throat went dry. “Those words usually don’t mean anything good.”

  “Ah, shit,” he said. “That’s not what I meant, Bria.”

  I did my best to ignore the swooping sensation in my chest. “Then what did you want to talk about?”

  His mouth parted. “Do you see us having a future after all this?”

  “Honestly?” I struggled to put my whirling thoughts into words. “I never thought about the future. I try not to look beyond the present. It’s better for my sanity that way.”

  “Oh.” He gave a tight nod. “Understandable.”

  The disappointment in his voice prompted me to add, “But I do like you. A lot. If there’s a future after all this, I’m all for it.”

  “Of course.” He stepped forward and kissed me goodbye. “I’d better go update the others before Shelley sends a patrol after me.”

  He left for the node, while I couldn’t help feeling I’d messed up in a major way. Even if I’d only spoken the truth, and I hadn’t wanted to lie. With the Family still alive, I didn’t dare plan for a future they might snatch from my grasp.

  9

  “Well done,” said Liv. “You’re officially ahead of me on the Order’s most wanted list. And trust me, that’s saying a lot.”

  “I’m honoured,” I said.

  After Miles had left, I’d returned to let Liv and Devon know we were alive after our flight to the swamp and to check the Order hadn’t shown up at their house. I’d wondered if they might have assumed we were working together, given Liv’s tenuous history with the Order, but luckily, it seemed they’d left her alone.

  Dex zipped overhead as Liv and Devon hammered at their gaming controllers, blowing up something onscreen. “Hey, you should take it as a challenge.”

  “I’m sure I’ll piss them off again soon,” Liv commented. “It’s pretty much a hobby of mine. Anyway, you had a legitimate reason to break into their headquarters.”

  “I hoped we’d just find the stone in the retrieval unit, but that would be expecting too much,” I said. “Instead, this dude called Holland had it.”

  “That would explain a lot.” Liv’s knuckles whitened as she clenched her fists around the controller. “Holland is the guy calling the shots—in that Order branch, at least. He used to be chief interrogator before he started working with the very spirit mages he used to lock up and torture.”

  “Fucker,” said Devon. “He’s part of the upper room now. What does he want with the elves?”

  “I wish I knew,” I said. “The elf he was selling to… he was still at the Order, last I saw. We’d need to ambush him if we wanted to find out what his motive is.”

  And why he’d effectively sold out his entire species. What in the world had t
he Order offered him in exchange? Or had he intended to smuggle the Akrith back to its original owners?

  “Might have to put one of those neutralising cantrips on the node, just in case,” Devon suggested.

  “I didn’t know you had many of those going spare,” I said.

  “We don’t,” said Devon. “We have to keep putting them in the citadel to keep Hawker and his mates from reactivating the transporters linking up the citadels again.”

  “Holland used one against me,” I said. “How long will it last?”

  “A few hours at most,” said Devon. “They belonged to the Order to begin with, before I stole one to learn how to make my own. I’ve been making more, but I can only craft one at a time.”

  Liv wore a thoughtful look on her face as she pounded the buttons on the controller. “Did the Death King approve of your plan?”

  “Of course he did.”

  “At least then he’ll have your back if they march over to the castle to find you.”

  “Do they normally send people to the swamp?” I doubted it. The Order might talk a big game, but their defences left much to be desired.

  “Depends how badly they want that artefact.”

  “Not like they can even use it,” I said. “I’m heading back to the castle. Dex, are you coming?”

  “I think I’ll stay here for a bit,” said the fire sprite.

  “All right.” I waved at Liv and Devon. “Be seeing you.”

  By now, I’d got the hang of pinpointing the node running through the middle of their house, and I hopped through to land in the swamp again. Cal and Felicity stood by the gates dressed in their armour, both of them looking exhausted.

  “You have five minutes before your shift,” Felicity told me.

  “Great.” I heard a squawking noise from nearby. “Didn’t Miles take the vampire chicken back?”

  “Apparently not,” said Cal. “Better hope the Death King doesn’t mind.”

  It wasn’t my problem if he did, and he’d have bigger problems if the Order opted to come after me for swiping the artefact from under their noses. Or maybe they’d send the elf trader instead. I wouldn’t deny I’d be interested to speak to the guy, if just to know who he was… and what had made him turn against the others.