“All right,” he said. “I’ll do it.”
We sat in silence for a while, waiting for Lex to return. It was possibly the most amicable Adair had ever behaved towards me in our lives. We’d never been close even while growing up, more rivals than caring siblings, and while his cruelty had more often been directed at other people than at me, I’d never been able to trust him. Putting my faith in him at a critical moment like this was a weird feeling, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.
When footsteps came down the corridor again, I caught Adair’s eye and gave a brief nod.
Lex approached Adair’s cell first, seeing he was awake. “Adair.”
“Hey, Lex,” he said.
“So it’s true,” she said. “Roth tells me that Bria led you astray.”
“Did she hell,” said Adair defensively. “I was trying a new strategy and you two both screwed it up for me.”
“Excuse me?” she said. “A strategy for what, exactly?”
“To get back at the elves, of course,” he said. “And to get close to Bria. I almost pulled it off, too, but Roth attacked me with his magic and then you locked me in a cage without even asking me any questions. I thought you had more faith in me than that.”
I could almost believe the act, which said volumes for how little I trusted his word, but Lex was eating up every word of it. Unlike me, she’d never had any reason to doubt him until today.
“You attacked your father in front of the elves, Adair. What did you expect him to do?”
“I did it because she was there.” He jerked his head in my direction. “I faked surrendering to her to manipulate her into bringing me to the Elders, since Roth ruined my first shot by breaking me out of the cage before I had the chance to lay a hand on them. Then he went and did the exact same again.”
“What did you expect?” she said. “You didn’t tell Roth or me a word of your plans.”
“You disappeared,” Adair said defensively. “And I tried to tell Roth, when he broke me out of the elves’ jail the first time. Ask him. He refused to listen to me.”
“I will,” she said. “If you’re lying to me, you’ll be sorry, Adair.”
And with that, she walked out of view. I waited for a few long seconds to ensure she was far enough away not to hear us before asking, “Is it true? Did you tell Roth you were planning on betraying me?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “Comes in handy when nobody expects you to keep your word.”
“Guess so.” I’d better hope he does keep his word this time. Or we’re both screwed.
19
Lex returned within a few minutes and approached Adair’s cage once again. “Roth confirmed you did tell him you intended to betray your sister.”
“I’m glad you both trust me,” Adair said, sarcasm dripping from his words. “Can you get me out of this cage now? I’m no use to anyone in here.”
“Only if you promise not to run off alone this time,” Lex said. “You can’t go around forming your own plans without asking permission from either of us and expect not to end up in trouble, like you did with the elves the first time around.”
“No need to rub it in,” said Adair. “I’m not sitting in a cage while you two get to take part in the spirit mages’ war.”
“Didn’t I tell you to stay out of the spirit mages’ petty arguments?” she said. “They’re welcome to finish one another off. Our goal is to clean up the aftermath.”
So much for loyalty. She might have allied with the spirit mages at the time of the last war, but everything the Family did was in their own self-interest. Question was, where was Roth? Was he still stalking around the elves’ realm, terrorising them?
Adair stepped out of the cage, casting a brief glance in my direction. “What about her?”
“Since your sister hasn’t seen sense yet, she’ll be staying there until she does,” Lex told him.
“All right.” As she led the way out of the corridor, his gaze connected with mine, and he gave a slight nod before walking after her.
I can’t believe I’m depending on Adair to get me out of here.
I couldn’t trust him entirely, but I’d give him a little time to keep his word before devising a backup plan. Not that I had many options, so I settled for pacing in circles around my cage. Within a few minutes, more footsteps came from down the corridor. I halted my pacing as Adair rushed in, breathless. “I shook her off. We’ll have to move fast.”
“Only if you get me out first.”
He held up a hand, revealing my pendant and the gleaming cantrips concealed inside it. “There’s an unlocking spell in here, right?”
“Should be.”
He found the right spell and unlocked the door to my cage. I stepped out and extended a hand for the pendant.
“Not going to thank me?” He pressed it into my palm.
“Only when I’m safely out of here,” I whispered. “Where is Lex? And Roth?”
“Roth isn’t here,” he said. “As for Lex, she’s talking to her team of assassins outside. I’m supposed to be minding my own business.”
“Okay.” I opened the pendant and retrieved an invisibility cantrip, which I used on myself. “Will they come looking for you?”
“Nah, Lex just told me to stay back here and not get in their way.”
“Can you make sure she doesn’t follow me to the mine?” I asked. “I might need a diversion if it turns out the Akrith is hidden in there.”
“All right, but you know she and Roth will probably rip my head off if they find out I’m deceiving them.”
“Welcome to the world of espionage,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Outside, the sky was overcast, and there was no longer a spell concealing the rebuilt house where we’d been held captive. Behind, a huge chunk of gleaming golden metal lay half-submerged in the ground, and I trod in that direction, towards the maze of tunnels which had once comprised the mine. The earth mages must have spent weeks transporting all that material to the warehouse, but at the moment, the place looked out of use. My heart dropped. Had they already removed the Akrith from its hiding place? Had Roth been carrying it when he’d gone into the elves’ realm? Their cantrip scheme had reached its end, and with the spirit mages’ next power-grab on the horizon, for all I knew, they were willing to risk even their precious stolen artefacts to ensure their victory.
I turned back to Adair, seeing him watching the gates at the front of the estate. When I reached his side, I spotted Lex and her army heading towards the glowing node nearest to the Family’s estate.
Is this it? Were they going to join Roth in searching the elves’ realm until they found the Elders and wiped them out for good?
“The Elders’ Akrith isn’t in the mine,” I whispered to Adair. “Did they take it somewhere else?”
“Might have,” said Adair. “I don’t see them carrying something that valuable to the battlefield, though.”
“What if they think it’d assure their victory, though?”
“Not really their style. They’re too dependent on its power to take the risk, I reckon.”
True. I was surprised he’d noticed, but then again, he was observant. And smart, even if he didn’t always act like it. It was kind of nice to have him on my team, even temporarily, rather than being on the receiving end of his mind games.
A flash of light drew my eyes back to the node. At first, I assumed the army was marching through to Elysium, but when the light blazed a familiar orange-red colour and a hot breeze rushed over me, I nearly tripped over my own feet.
“Was that an inferno cantrip?” I squinted at Lex, who’d crouched down near the blast of light. “What’s she doing?”
Adair hissed a warning, but I’d already broken into a run towards the entrance to the estate. From there, I sprinted out into the wasteland and halted near Lex. Several round stones lay on the ground at her feet—or their charred remains did, anyway. Holy shit, she set them ablaze. I’d assumed the Akriths were all but impervious to damage, but
the inferno cantrips had even burned through the elf-built machinery in the citadels. They’d scorched the Akriths until they were little more than rubble.
“The hell happened here?” Adair caught up to Lex, careful not to look directly at me.
Her gaze passed right over my invisible form. “I thought I told you to stay in the house.”
“I saw a fire,” he said. “What’s this?”
“These are all the Akriths we were able to procure from the elves,” she said. “I decided it was easier to cut off their realm again rather than risk them forming allegiances with the other elves in the Parallel behind our backs.”
Oh damn. If the Family alone controlled the means of getting in and out of their realm, then it was a safe bet that the elves would have difficulty giving us any help during the upcoming conflict.
Adair frowned. “You don’t have every stone in the Parallel in your possession, do you?”
“Of course not,” she said. “But I doubt the elves will be able to replenish their own before the battle is over. We win.”
But I still have my own Akrith. I’d given it to Miles before my capture, and now it might be my last remaining connection to their realm. Assuming they didn’t wipe out the tree, too.
“Wow,” said Adair. “I thought you wanted to convince the elves to fight at your side. Isn’t that the whole reason you were hunting the stones down in the first place?”
“I underestimated how keen the Elders would be to avoid detection,” she said. “Roth and I decided it was a waste of our time and resources to break past those pesky defences of theirs. Since our abilities are less effective on them even with their own Akrith on our side, it’s better that we leave them alone.”
Since what?
“Right.” Adair’s expression and tone betrayed nothing, but he must have made the same observation as I had. “Do you want me to help?”
“Not yet,” she said. “I’ll call you when you’re needed. Go on, get back into the house.”
Adair made for the ruins of the estate again, as did I, since I couldn’t think of anything else to do. When I was sure the two of us were alone, I swore under my breath. “I should have known they wouldn’t make it easy for the elves to contact one another.”
“Don’t you have one of those stones?” he asked. “I did, but Lex took mine, and I assume she destroyed it along with the others.”
I do. “That depends on how close the enemy’s got to the Death King.”
“You go back and warn your allies, then,” he said. “I’ll find Roth. If he isn’t in the elves’ realm, he must be somewhere else. I can get him to hand over the Elders’ Akrith. I bet he’s the one carrying it.”
“But…”
“You don’t really trust me, do you?” Adair said.
“I…” I didn’t. I couldn’t switch loyalties that fast, and besides, there were years of resentment and rivalry and fear that couldn’t be bridged in such a short time. “I don’t trust him not to see through the act and use his power on you again.”
“You’d be surprised,” he said. “Okay, Lex might have a few questions for me if she goes back to the jail and finds you aren’t there…”
“There is that.” But he was right—I needed to fetch my own Akrith if I wanted any chance whatsoever at warning the elves of the Family’s latest scheme. “Try not to give me away, all right?”
I sprinted downhill, leaving the Family’s estate behind me. I had to wait for Lex to turn away before hopping into the node and reappearing in front of the Death King’s castle. When I reached the gates, it hit me that something was notably different about the swampland. For one thing, nobody stood on security duty. In fact, I didn’t see anyone in the grounds at all, dead or alive.
Heart sinking, I ran through the gates, relief washing over me as I spotted Miles hovering near the fence. When I turned off the invisibility cantrip, he immediately ran over to my side and wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug. “Shit, Bria. What happened?”
“The Family captured me.” I squeezed him back. “Adair helped me escape, would you believe it? But what’s going on here?”
“It’s not good,” he said. “The Death King? He’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“Not just him, but all the liches, too,” said Miles. “Every single one of them. The enemy used some kind of spell that targeted every lich in his territory and made them start to… disappear.”
“They vanished?” No. That couldn’t be possible. “Even their King?”
“No, he went to search for a solution,” said Miles. “Liv did, too. He ordered us to stay behind, and he took every one of the liches with him.”
No way. “Do you have the Akrith I gave you?”
“Yeah, but I assumed it wasn’t safe to go back to the elves’ realm,” he said.
“It isn’t, but Lex destroyed all the other stones she had in her possession using an inferno cantrip,” I said. “Worse, I’m pretty sure Roth ran off with the Elders’ Akrith himself. Adair’s gone to track him down, but I doubt he’ll be able to overpower him.”
“Adair? You mean your demented brother?” he said. “Is he still pretending to be on our side?”
“Believe me, I’m confused, too,” I said. “But he faked surrender to get Lex to set him free, and then stole my pendant back and let me out of my cage without alerting Lex and Roth.”
Miles blinked. “What does he have to gain from that?”
“Perhaps he was telling the truth when he said the elves made him realise how fucked up what Lex and Roth did to both of us actually is,” I said. “Not that they’re in any way discouraged. They think they’ve already won.”
Trix ran out of the castle and brightened at the sight of me. “Bria! There you are. I thought the Family caught you.”
“They did, but I escaped,” I said. “The bad news is that they destroyed all the Akriths they could get their hands on.”
“Not this one.” Miles pulled the gleaming stone out of his pocket. “Just tell me what to do.”
Trix’s brow wrinkled. “Bria, did you have a plan?”
“Not much of one,” I said. “Lex let something interesting slip when I was eavesdropping on her and Adair. She said her and Roth’s abilities don’t work on the Elders, or certainly not as effectively. Even with their own Akrith at their command.”
“Oh, I know that,” said Trix. “But in order for the Elders to stand a chance of overpowering them, they’d need to confront the Family in the elves’ realm, which is only possible if they walk in willingly. And someone would need to take the Elders’ Akrith away from them, too. From what I heard, it sounds like Roth took in as much of its power as possible before launching his attack on their realm.”
“Evil bastard,” I said. “I think he’s carrying it himself, but I’m not sure he went. Lex implied she cut off the elves’ realm to prevent the elves in the Parallel from forming alliances with them, so she must believe there’s still a fighting force left among their number.”
“Yes, you’re right,” said Trix. “The Family might have taken the Elder’s Akrith, but their very realm is weaponised against those who wish them harm. No matter how hard Roth searches, he will not be able to find the Elders’ hiding place. He was only able to attack the guards and the refugees from the warehouse because he took them off guard.”
Good to know. Too bad that in order for my plan to work, there was a good chance we needed to get the Family back into the elves’ realm and hope it didn’t end fatally for everyone.
“You should know… your friend Drina was there as well,” I told Trix. “In the elves’ realm. I think she must have been taken to the warehouse, after she was captured.”
“I thought so,” he said. “I hope she’s okay.”
“She was alive, the last I saw,” I said. “Adair seems to think he can convince Roth to hand over the Elders’ Akrith if he catches him by surprise with his persuasive magic, but it’s a major risk to take. I don’t think he’
s in the elves’ realm at the moment, but we can’t afford to lose too much time.”
Miles held up the Akrith. “Are you sure you want to go back there?”
“I am.” I watched the light spinning around the stone’s surface for an instant. “I’ll see if any of the others are still willing to fight. Miles… can you wait here this time? We don’t want the enemy mounting an attack on the castle when our backs are turned.”
“Not many of us left here anyway,” Miles said.
“I’ll come with you, Bria,” said Trix. “The Elders will listen to us.”
After what the Family had already done, I had my sincere doubts we’d be able to find them at all, but I had to try. Miles didn’t look happy, but he nodded and handed me the Akrith. “Please don’t get captured again.”
“I’ll try not to.”
After leaving him in the castle grounds, Trix and I headed through the node and landed outside the warehouse before walking over to the sprawling form of the elves’ tree. To my relief, Lex was nowhere in sight, but she’d had an army of assassins to wrangle into line the last time I’d seen her. Besides, there was no reason for her to come back here now she’d destroyed all the Akriths aside from the one Roth himself carried.
I pressed the Akrith to the tree, and light flooded my sight before the path of the elves’ realm extended in front of us. Trix and I stepped forward, and he exhaled in a pained noise when he saw the blood streaking the paths, though the bodies had been cleared away since my last visit. I looked around for any signs of the elves and saw two figures patrolling among the trees. The same two guards who’d escorted me to see the Elders pointed their weapons in our direction when they saw us. We were back to square one, apparently.
“Hey—don’t worry, we’re not here to attack you,” I said. “I need to talk to the Elders.”
“That’s what you said before, yet you brought those Vetran here,” spat the male elf.
“I didn’t bring them with me,” I said. “Roth and Lex captured me and dragged me to their prison, but I escaped. I need the Elders’ help if I want to stop them from causing you further harm.”
Tower of Fire (Parallel Magic Book 3) Page 19
