Tower of Fire (Parallel Magic Book 3)

by Emma L. Adams

  I looked dubiously at the vampire chicken. “You think this will work?”

  Trix, as promised, had offered to give me lessons in magic. Since I was also playing security guard in every moment of spare time I possessed, that meant I had to take said lessons while standing outside the gates, trying to ignore Ryan’s comments from the sidelines. Since neither the Order nor their elf trader had elected to show their faces, I could do worse than learn how to enact a mind-control spell on a vampire chicken. A wyrm was a bit much for a newbie, so I’d need to start with a smaller target.

  I crouched beside the fowl as it pecked at the ground as if in the hopes of finding sustenance in the swampy earth. “Come here.”

  The chicken didn’t so much as lift its head. So much for that idea. I even had my cantrip turned off, so my ears were on full display, but my elfin appearance didn’t seem to encourage the bird to obey my commands. Probably it’d got used to the freedom after spending the night roaming around the Death King’s grounds. Even the liches seemed to avoid it for some reason. Maybe it’d tried to bite one of them at some point. I’d crashed out as soon as I’d gone back to my room after my midnight shift and Ryan had practically had to break my door down to wake me for my second shift at noon, so I couldn’t say I’d paid close attention.

  “Try again,” Trix said. “Get closer.”

  I reached out a hand, and the chicken bit me on the wrist. I bit back a yelp and stifled the impulse to conjure a warning flame to tell it not to screw with me. Mercifully, the neutraliser cantrip had also stopped working at some point in the night so at least I had my fire magic back.

  Ryan laughed, and I shot them a glare. “Very funny. I’d like to see you try taming a vampire chicken.”

  “Most of us have more sense,” they remarked. “I appreciate the free entertainment.”

  “I’m only here because I’m not allowed to move from this spot.” I scowled at the chicken. “Do as I say.”

  “Ask nicely,” said Trix. “Like this.”

  He approached the vampire chicken and dropped to one knee, whispering words I couldn’t make out. The chicken waddled over to him, happy as anything, and let him stroke its feathered head. The elf made it look so easy.

  “Now you try,” he said.

  I remained in a crouch and lowered my voice to a non-threatening whisper. “Come here.”

  The chicken didn’t move. I suppressed my frustration and tried again. On the third try, the vampire chicken turned its head. Yes. That’s more like it.

  “Come over here,” I said coaxingly.

  The chicken approached at a waddle. I moved my hand in case it tried to bite me, but it halted placidly at my feet.

  “Good job,” said Trix. “You’ll be riding that wyrm in no time.”

  “Maybe I should start with the zombie horse first.” I looked around for Neddie. “If he bites me, I can test out my healing abilities, too.”

  All elves had some level of resilience, but I wouldn’t mind knowing how much of mine came from my elf side and how much from the Family’s meddling.

  “Pretty sure you got in enough practise when you were blown up by the fire mages’ inferno cantrips,” said Harper, floating over to join us. “In case you’ve forgotten.”

  I pushed to my feet. “Wish I could use my healing skills on other people.”

  If I could, Tay wouldn’t have died, but bringing another person back from the brink of death might be out of reach even for the elves. Besides, while I’d left the Akrith securely stored in the castle, I hadn’t the faintest idea how to use it. After its spontaneous explosion on my flight from the Order, it’d remained dormant.

  I turned back to Trix. “Have you spoken to Drina since last time?”

  “I haven’t,” he said. “I went to look for the elf trader you mentioned, but I couldn’t get near the Order. I don’t know how Drina will react when I tell her one of the elves betrayed us.”

  “You’re lucky you weren’t caught,” I said. “Would Drina know why the Akrith reacted to me the way it did? You said there was a chance it had more power inside it than the others?”

  “I think it does,” he said. “That’s why it’s a good thing that we got it away from the enemy. If the Family was able to find a living elven tree, then that Akrith would doubtless possess enough magic to allow them passage into our realm.”

  “Seriously?” My heart sank. “Why would an elf work against their own people?”

  Trix’s mouth pressed together, his unhappiness returning. “It shouldn’t be conceivable.”

  “Maybe it’s a one-off,” said Ryan. “Most of the vampires probably don’t understand why another vamp would work with the Order, either, but if the vamp in question is power-hungry like the dude who invented those lich-killing cantrips, then they might not give a toss what happens to the other elves.”

  “Not the elves,” Trix said firmly. “We don’t care about power. Not in the way humans or vampires do.”

  I had the impression it wouldn’t be much use arguing with him on that point. “I can’t say I know what his motives are, but he must be selling the artefacts to someone in particular, whether it’s the actual Family or an intermediary. If we track him down, we might be able to thwart their attempts to get more of those Akriths. As a bonus, we’d find out what the Family said to convince him to join them.”

  It was a safe bet that we wouldn’t be able to get away with another stealth mission to the Order, but the elf didn’t work for them directly. He most likely lived here in the Parallel. Too bad we couldn’t ask the vampires who’d run the auction, because I’d turned one of them to ashes and probably got myself blacklisted from Arcadia’s auctions for life.

  “He can’t be local,” said Trix. “I’d know if he lived in Arcadia, but I’ll ask Drina if she can put word out among her contacts to track him down, unless you want to come with me to speak to her again.”

  “I’ll have to wait for the Death King to let me off duty.” At least we’d had no more incidents with lich-killing cantrips in the past day. Maybe the Family had been watching the situation at the Order instead.

  Ryan shot me a frown. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  “Looking at you like what?”

  “Like if you smile nicely enough, I’ll agree to cover the rest of your shift so you and Trix can go and pester the elves.”

  “This is my normal face.” I folded my arms. “Just because you insist on glaring at everyone—”

  “I’ll take over your shift,” said Harper.

  “No chance,” I said. “You know what those cantrips can do to liches.”

  “You think I’d let that happen to her?” Ryan said.

  “I didn’t imply you would.” Damn, I was tired. I’d barely snatched a few hours of sleep in the past two days. We really needed to sort out the security situation at the castle. “All right, if you want to take solo guard duty while we go and visit Drina, then by all means, go ahead.”

  “I’d prefer you to wait until our shift’s over so I can come with you,” Ryan said, “but I’d rather not go near those plants again.”

  “Drina will be more likely to talk to Trix and me alone,” I said. “Actually, I’m not sure she’ll want to talk to anyone except Trix, but if we need some brute force, we know who to call.”

  “Fine,” Ryan said. “Go on, before I change my mind.”

  “We’ll be back later,” Trix said to the Air Element. “Within the hour. Promise.”

  I waved goodbye to Harper, and then I followed the elf to the node. It wasn’t like I didn’t trust Ryan’s skills, but the recent events had made me twitchy, and it was hard to guess where the next attack would come from. The Order, the vamps who ran the auction, their elven allies… but as usual, all the roads led back to the Family.

  Once we were in Arcadia, Trix led the way to Drina’s house again. I was prepared for her wild collection of plants this time around, but I had to walk sideways through the door to avoid getting speared by a partic
ularly spiky one.

  “Back again?” She stepped back to allow us to enter the room. “Good, you left your grumpy friend behind. Did you find what you were looking for?”

  “Yes, but there’s a slight issue,” I said. “We had to chase down the vampire who won the Akrith at the auction, and he took sanctuary in the Order of the Elements’ base while they waited for a trader to show up. I managed to cause a diversion—”

  “I didn’t ask for your life story,” she said.

  “The trader buying from the vampire was an elf,” Trix said.

  Drina stared at him for a heartbeat. “Impossible.”

  “It’s true,” I said. “I saw him myself.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “Because I believe her,” Trix said. “He was one of us, Drina.”

  She looked at me with surprise that mirrored my own. I couldn’t deny I was startled at Trix’s support, since we didn’t know one another that well, but it said volumes for the elves’ general loyalty towards one another. Maybe that was why Trix simply couldn’t see an elf betraying the others, and Drina held the same viewpoint.

  “If there’s an elf trader aiding the enemy, they’re bound to be easy to track,” Trix continued. “Nobody else will want to be associated with them. As soon as we ask for their name, someone will tell us.”

  I doubted it would be that simple. “He might be based in Elysium. That’s where the Family has the most allies.”

  Drina blew out a breath. “That’s quite the trek. I can’t say I have any close friends over there either, but I can ask my contacts and see if they have anything to share.”

  “That would be appreciated,” said Trix. “Bria, do you want to go look for the trader in Elysium?”

  “I’m not entirely sure he’s there, but it’s worth having a look around.” The Family hadn’t been seen in Elysium since the battle with the Houses, but I wouldn’t put it past them to get one of their illegal cantrip schemes off the ground again while my back was turned. With elven artefacts as an added bonus.

  Besides, even if the elves weren’t typically fond of power, the Houses definitely were. Maybe even enough to risk allying with the Family again.

  10

  In the end, I opted to go to Elysium alone. Perhaps it wasn’t a wise idea, but it was about time I got over my reservations and spoke to the Houses again. Finding our elusive elf trader would be a bonus, but I’d wait for Drina to ask her contacts before I jumped to any conclusions. Despite the elves’ obvious loyalty to one another, I couldn’t discount the possibility that more of them might be working with the enemy.

  The House of Fire’s plain brick facade looked the same as it always did, not at all like it’d recently had its doors blasted or had been bombarded by so many lethal cantrips that the House had lost a huge chunk of their numbers. The door opened after I knocked, and I found myself looking up into a familiar face. Harris had survived, apparently, and was as flat-faced and greasy-haired as ever.

  “You again?” he said. “Does the Death King want to ask another favour, by any chance? If he wants to volunteer to come and help us rebuild our headquarters, then he’s welcome to.”

  “You wouldn’t dare say that to his face,” I said. “Besides, the fact that you locked up his Fire Element hasn’t endeared you to him. Also, your headquarters look perfectly fine to me.”

  “Thousands of mages are dead,” he snarled. “Thousands. How many did the Death King lose?”

  I leaned back out of range of his stale breath. “Most of the Death King’s people are already dead, in case you’ve forgotten. Anyway, have you seen any elves in the city lately?”

  “Any what?”

  “Elves. You heard me.” This was probably unwise, but from the way my temper was rising, the odds of getting a second chance to talk to the Houses were plummeting by the second. “There’s an elf suspected of being involved in trading with the Family. You know those illegal cantrips? That and worse.”

  “What does that have to do with us?”

  “Zade worked with the family.” I named the former jailor who Tay had killed to prevent him from bringing the enemy’s forces into the Houses. Her plan had succeeded in the short term, but in the end, the enemy had wormed its way into the Houses’ ranks anyway.

  “And your friend killed him,” he said. “I remember the sort of people you associate with.”

  “Look, you know perfectly well she was trying to save the city from a massacre that you could have prevented yourselves if your head wasn’t jammed so far up your own arse that you haven’t seen the sunrise in years,” I snapped. “Get over yourselves and consider the bigger picture here. It wasn’t just you who was under attack, it was the whole city, and it’d have been worse without the Death King’s involvement.”

  “The Death King did nothing for us,” he retaliated. “He let us get slaughtered.”

  “He was trying to keep his own people safe at the time,” I said. “Besides, you turned down his offer of help. I tried to get through to you, countless times. Maybe if you’d accepted the offer instead of locking me in jail and treating me like a criminal, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  His face flushed with anger. “You expected me to take you seriously after that speech?”

  No, but it felt good. “I don’t know why I bothered coming to talk to you.”

  In answer, he closed the door in my face. That went well. Shaking my head, I rounded the corner and debated checking in with one of the other Houses instead. Felicity had spoken to the House of Water already… and then there was the House of Earth, who’d dealt with the worst level of corruption in their ranks and were justifiably most likely to have links with the elf who’d betrayed the others. Then again, so were the illegal cantrip traders. Come to think of it, they might still be in the city. Miles would know.

  Mind made up, I headed in the direction of the Spirit Agents’ house. As I neared the street’s end, the sound of shouting rang out from near the house. Then a blurred figure jumped down from the rooftops and another ran atop the fence circling the Spirit Agents’ garden, both of them clad in dark clothing and carrying knives.

  Assassins. It seemed the Family had already launched a direct attack on the Spirit Agents. I sprinted around the corner towards them, fire igniting in my hands.

  “Hey!” I yelled, taking aim with a bolt of flame, which knocked the nearest assassin off the fence before he could leap into the garden. He tumbled back and landed in a crouch, and I ran up and kicked his knife out of reach before he could grab it again. I caught up and slammed my foot into the back of his kneecap, prompting a shout of pain.

  Then I went for the second guy, only for a blurred light to shoot out of the garden and slam into him. Several transparent spirit mages floated out of the house and shot spirit magic from their hands, knocking two startled assassins off the rooftops.

  “Get away from our house!” Miles’s voice sounded from nearby. I assumed he’d been one of the spirit mages who’d astral projected outside of the house to fight off the intruders. A wise idea, because it both kept him out of the line of fire and helped with his advantage over the attackers, who didn’t have magic of their own.

  A knife whipped past, missing me by inches. For an instant, my body froze as a thought sprang to mind, unbidden. This is how Tay died.

  Anger sparked. I would not let the same happen to Miles or the other Spirit Agents. I spun in the direction the knife had flown from. A fireball grew in my hand, and I positioned myself in front of the fence around the property. If anyone tried to get close, they’d get caught in the inferno.

  “They’re running!” Shelley yelled from somewhere nearby.

  Brightness shone as several bolts of spirit magic knocked two of the assassins into the road. I shot a fireball at them from the inferno coalescing in my hands, and they fell back, writhing in pain. Tate, Shelley and Miles ran out of the house, chasing down the remaining interlopers, but it was obvious they’d got away.

  “T
hey’ll be back,” said Miles. “Dammit. We can’t stay in the house now the Family has made an open attack on us.”

  “Come to the Death King’s castle,” I said. “Pretty sure there’s room for all of you in there, and it’s safer.”

  “No,” said Shelley. “We’ve fought for this place for years. It’s ours.”

  “I know we have,” Miles said, “but they targeted us at home for a reason. Besides, everyone in the Houses already knows where we live, and it’s not exactly a secret that we’re opposed to the Family’s bullshit.”

  “Exactly,” I pressed. “I wouldn’t want to give this place up either, but the Family only sends out those assassins when they mean to keep striking until you’re dead. They’ll send a new batch soon. They won’t do anything to the house if you aren’t there.”

  “I agree with her.” Tate nodded to his sister. “We can come back when it’s safe, right, Shelley?”

  “All right,” Shelley relented. “We’ll stay in the castle, but only if the Death King agrees to pay our expenses.”

  “Will he go for that?” I asked Miles.

  “Maybe, with conditions,” Miles commented. “If there’s something he needs from us… like more security guards, for instance.”

  “You think the Death King’s going to ask us to take over guarding the castle?” said Shelley.

  “I was going to volunteer anyway,” said Miles. “Come on, look at the state of Bria. She needs some sleep.”

  “Do I really look that bad?” I pretended to sound insulted.

  “Yes,” said Shelley. “I know he only has the four of you on guard duty at the moment.”

  “In fairness, he didn’t expect to be targeted by people who can kill what’s already dead,” added Miles. “We can help him out. We’re all stronger when we’re in the same place.”

  “Not to mention safer.” They’d had a damn close call. If they hadn’t been spirit mages, they might not have been able to drive off the assassins the way they had.