The Pursuers

by Sarah Jaune

Thane studied him, his eyes suddenly shuddered. He glanced away and ran a hand over his short, black hair. “Yeah, he does. Cole and Naomi are friends, you know?”

  Eli nodded. “Go on.”

  “Anyway, Beth sat up waiting. Then she heard a noise at their back door, and she went to investigate. That’s… that’s about all we managed to get out of her. Naomi woke up during the commotion and went out to investigate. She found the aftermath. She went immediately for the police and Cole. What Cole found when he made it back to their house was the man they had been looking for had smashed his way into Naomi’s house. He was a bloody mess on the floor.”

  “Daggers,” Eli breathed out as he tried to picture the scene. “Where was Beth?”

  “She was curled up in the corner, sobbing,” Thane said as he hurled the piece of metal back out into the field. “They couldn’t get anything out of her. The police tried to talk to her. The man was so badly beaten that they weren’t able to question him. She’s this tiny thing, so unbelievably beautiful, Eli. I wasn’t there but they told me that she looked at the police with tears and told them she didn’t know what happened, and they let her go. They let her get away with it. It was so easy for them to dismiss it as a strange coincidence, maybe even thinking someone else beat the man. Beth stayed in bed for almost a week before Naomi got word to me. I abandoned a search to go back and see her.”

  Eli closed his eyes in horror. “What did she say when you saw her?”

  “She doesn’t remember,” Thane replied with just a hint of exasperation. “She nearly killed the guy, but she doesn’t remember any of it happening. She was so scared that the magic took over to protect her. It almost never happens, because they aren’t really in danger, but when it does, she’s all instinct. It’s like the magic overwhelms her good sense, and she can’t control it.”

  Eli couldn’t imagine his sister doing that. Well, if he was honest, he could imagine it, but not to the point where he could picture her in that big of a rage. If someone had broken into his house, he’d have taken the intruder out quickly, restrained him, then called for the police. It would have been that simple. “Maybe Beth should have been with a different foster family and not with Naomi.”

  Thane shook his head. “Beth needed your big sister in order to make it through, maybe they needed each other. They were with a foster family until Naomi turned eighteen, and then they moved out on their own. She’s working on it, Beth is. That incident with the robber really freaked her out. They were close to moving again, but in the end the police let it go like Beth had just had an adrenaline surge and that’s how she was able to win. She’s started meditating, and such…”

  From the way he said it, it seemed clear to Eli that Thane thought the meditation would be a waste of time. “It helps me.”

  “Yeah?” Thane glanced at him curiously. “Maybe I should give it a go.”

  “You seem fairly grounded,” Eli said as he turned back to continue to walk back towards the jeep.

  Thane snorted out a laugh. “Man, I have been homeless for years. After you’ve lived on the streets for a while, things really start to prioritize. What my father did to me? That was on him. I deserved better than that and living on the streets, being hungry half the time, that was better than living in my father’s home. My education was earned through the fire. If I didn’t learn to control myself, the people on the street would make sure I was no longer a problem.”

  It was a cold way of looking at it, but Eli could appreciate just how valuable that would be. He didn’t know if he really approved of Thane and Beth, but he knew, even though it was a bitter pill to swallow, that he didn’t have a say in the matter. Beth was her own person and he hadn’t been in her life for six years. Thane seemed to be a good guy. The next few days would tell the tale if he was or not.

  “It looks like rain,” Thane commented as he pointed towards the sky to their west.

  Eli flicked his eyes up but didn’t see rain. What he saw were thick, black clouds.

  Thunderstorm.

  He started to run.

  “Hey!” Thane yelled as he caught up to him. “What’s up?”

  “Ivy is afraid of thunderstorms,” Eli told him as the jeep came into sight.

  What he saw was Ivy shaking as she stared at the black clouds and Claire tugging at her hand.

  Eli skidded to a halt next to her and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight. “It’s okay, we’ll go find shelter. I’m here.”

  She was too far gone to reply.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Claire asked him, clearly panicked.

  “She’s afraid of storms,” Eli explained quickly. “Can you throw our stuff into the jeep? We need to find a building to hide out in.”

  Thane rushed up behind them as Eli guided Ivy into the jeep. Somehow, she managed to squash herself on the floor of the jeep, curled into a ball like a cat as she buried her head in her arms.

  Thane stared in stunned disbelief as Eli quietly closed the door and gathered up the rest of their things. “That’s… bad.”

  “Her crazy, stupid mother made her stand in thunderstorms as a toddler,” Eli explained bitterly as he threw their few belongings into a bag. “It’s the only thing that scares her. Come on.”

  They drove up the road as quickly as they could, passing a few rundown shacks, but nothing that looked as though they could hide from the storm.

  The clouds kept coming, racing them to their goal.

  “We were in a tornado a few weeks back,” Eli told Thane as he turned down another road that would take them further east.

  “This one won’t be a tornado,” Thane assured him. “These sorts of storms are common here in the south. This is just a regular storm. I can feel in my blood when it’s going to be worse.”

  Eli quirked an eyebrow. “Say again?”

  “It pulls at me,” Thane explained as he turned to Claire. “Do you ever feel like that?”

  She shook her head as she continued to watch the sky from the back seat, next to Ivy. Claire, at least, wasn’t fazed by any of this. “What about over there?” she pointed down the road, through the trees.

  Eli saw it. The house was not in bad shape, but that also meant it was probably inhabited. “We can check.”

  He turned left down the dirt driveway and up to the one story, clapboard house that looked like it was painted with rust. “Stay here, I’ll go look,” Eli told them as he exited the jeep and ran up to the front door.

  He knocked, waited. Knocked again. He tried the knob and found it turned easily, opening under his touch. “Hello?” Eli called out as he stepped into the tiny house. It was no more than two or three rooms with a small loft above them. Out back was a covered porch that could be accessed through the kitchen.

  The place had some furniture, but it had the definite air of neglect. It smelled stale, as though the door hadn’t been opened in months.

  There was dust on every surface.

  “Hello?” Eli called out again, but heard no reply.

  This would have to do. If someone came, they could easily claim to just be riding out the storm.

  Eli went back out to find Thane standing by the car, waiting. “It’s empty,” he informed him. “I’ll get Ivy if you can get the stuff.”

  If Thane thought that was weird, he didn’t say anything. The sky around them was darkening fast, and they had minutes before the rain would pour down. Eli pulled open the back door. “Claire, can you grab a blanket, please?”

  “Sure,” she smiled as she reached for the one they kept behind the back seat.

  Eli crouched down and cupped Ivy’s chin, trying to see if she was with it at all. Her green eyes met his. The terror he read there was heartbreaking. “We’re going inside. Can you walk?”

  Ivy nodded, which was a relief. She was aware of herself at that moment. She took his hand and let him help her to her feet. She buried her face in his chest and let him lead her into the house, where he sat her on the couch.

  Eli took the b
lanket that Claire held out and wrapped Ivy up in it, despite the heat. She was shaking head to toe.

  Claire sat down on Ivy’s right side and hugged her. “It’s okay.”

  Ivy let out a tiny laugh that might have been a sob.

  Thane came in with the backpack and a basket of food. “It’s going to be a fast storm, Ivy. It should be done with in less than half an hour.”

  She nodded and Claire stood, moving over to the table where Thane set the basket.

  Eli sat next to Ivy, and she turned her eyes back to him. “I need to get over this,” she told him quietly.

  “You will at some point,” Eli replied confidently. Before this storm, he’d never have believed it, but she was definitely not as panicked as she’d been a few weeks back.

  “I can’t fall apart all the time,” Ivy sighed heavily.

  Thunder cracked outside and Ivy jumped so badly she practically landed on him.

  Eli put his arm around her shoulder and held on. “Slow and steady, right? You’ll get there.”

  Ivy shook her head and pulled her arms from the blanket.

  “What are you doing?” Eli asked as she rose on unsteady legs.

  Thane and Claire turned to watch her as she made her way towards the back door that led onto the screened in porch.

  Eli stood and followed her, unable to believe what he was seeing.

  Ivy pushed open the screen door with a pale, trembling hand and stepped out into the humid air just as the rain let loose, sending the water thundering down over them, shrouding the small house in the chaos and deafening blare of the wild storm.

  He thought for sure she’d stop there, stop before she hit the door that opened into the rain, but her feet kept moving her.

  “Ivy!” Eli’s heart tripped over and he sprinted after her, nearly stumbling on the broken back step. He hit the porch just as she pushed out into the rain.

  Eli ran after her, ready to pull her back in as she stepped into the rain and stared up at the dark sky.

  Her face was still full of fear. Her eyes were still wild and somehow greener in the dark, roiling light that swirled around them, but she held her hands up to the rain.

  It was only then, as rain soaked him, and he slipped to a stop next to her, that he saw she wasn’t getting wet.

  “Ivy?” Eli asked again as she turned to stare at him. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded and took his hand. Her dry skin felt oddly cold despite the oppressive heat of the day.

  Ivy smiled.

  Eli couldn’t help but laugh in admiration as he walked back into the house with her, hand in hand.

  He had seen a lot of brave things in his life. Eli had done a lot of things that he was proud of and that had seemed brave at the time. He’d never seen anything like this.

  The moment they were back on the porch, Ivy hugged him hard. “Thanks.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he reminded her. “That was all you.”

  She laughed in relief, but still jumped when another peel of thunder roared around them. Ivy shook her head. “You did more than you know.”

  CHAPTER 18

  A PLAN

  Another bolt hit close outside, deafening them. Ivy jumped again and grabbed his arm, squeezing it hard as she stared outside. “I…”

  “Progress, right?” Eli reminded her as she stepped towards him for another hug. “This is better than the last time.”

  “You can do it,” Claire told her as she came over to turn it into a group hug.

  Thane grinned at the three of them and shook his head. “Only another ten minutes and it’ll be over with.”

  He was right. Ten minutes later the sun was out again.

  They sat around the kitchen table, eating and chatting about nothing in particular. They waited until they’d finished eating to talk about the real issues.

  “What happened to you?” Eli asked Thane after they’d cleared everything up from lunch.

  “I was stupid,” Thane admitted reluctantly. Claire giggled, and he ruffled his sister’s hair. “Yeah, I know you think I’m always stupid.”

  “Sometimes,” Claire said as she stood. “I’m going outside, okay?”

  All three of them exchanged uneasy glances. “Stay close,” Thane told her.

  “I will,” Claire promised as she skipped outside.

  “I’d have been nosey at her age,” Ivy commented as the backdoor slammed and Claire’s dark head could barely be seen above the porch railing.

  “Not that one,” Thane shook his head. “It was like she was born outside.” He took a deep breath and stared down at his calloused hands. “I arrived in New Orleans and started asking around for a job. That zone is a little different. There isn’t an office to report to if you need work. You have to find it on your own or bribe the right people. The wealthier citizens have access to job placement, but if you’re on the poor side of the street, you’re on your own.”

  Ivy whistled in understanding. “I guess that means that getting a job with the Overseer would be next to impossible.”

  “You said it,” Thane said in exasperation. “I was looking for anything just to start fitting in. I was expecting this to be a long assignment. I managed to find a job picking up trash. I found a back room to rent, too, on the poor end of town. I don’t exactly blend in, you know, but I was able to keep my ear to the ground with that job and go around the town, scouting out the Overseer’s house some.”

  “What did you learn?” Ivy asked as she leaned her elbows on the table.

  “Nothing good,” Thane said heavily. “Really, nothing at all. No one talks about the Overseer, which isn’t unusual, but visitors arrived a few weeks ago, and that’s when I knew we were in trouble.”

  “Who was it?” Eli questioned as he swatted at an errant fly that buzzed around his ear.

  Thane’s smile was nothing short of dangerous. “My father and brother.”

  Eli and Ivy stared at him. “Excuse me?” Ivy blurted out, stunned.

  “My father and my older brother,” Thane confirmed to them. “They stayed for two days and then left, but orders started coming in to town to prepare for a large party. Thankfully, they didn’t see me. I understood then.”

  Eli’s stomach twisted at the sour expression on Thane’s face. His eyes, already dark, went almost to black. “What’s happening?”

  “A wedding,” Thane informed them bitterly. “To my brother.”

  Ivy sat back in her seat. “That’s a bad thing?”

  “That’s a very bad thing,” Thane confirmed for her. “My brother is psychotic. He’s the reason I ran so young. He tried to kill me several times. I was a threat to him, you see. I was a threat to his easy ascension to the seat of power in the Miami Zone. My father was always pitting us together, trying to see who would end up stronger. I had more magic than Price did, and he knew it. He knew that in a magical fight, I would win.” He paused and smiled sheepishly. “That sounds like boasting, but it’s the truth.”

  Ivy held up her hands. “I don’t know your brother, but I’ve never seen anyone with as much concentrated power as you, not in one specific power. I believe you.”

  “I do, too,” Eli said. He knew all about families setting their children against each other. It ensured that the strongest, and the meanest, child became the Overseer. Do that for generations and the people in charge were downright vicious.

  “If my brother is set to marry the oldest child here in New Orleans, she has to be warned,” Thane explained urgently. “She can’t walk in and expect it to be all happy days. Some women don’t care. Sometimes they’re just as mean as the men, and if so, great, but I can’t live without at least giving her a chance to get out.”

  “Do you know how long we have?” Eli asked him.

  Thane shook his head. “I asked the wrong guy the wrong question, and that’s how I ended up under arrest. I went quietly to jail, on some trumped up charges, and sat in my cell, plotting how to escape without them suspecting. My first meal came and tha
t’s all I remember. They must have put the drugs in my food.” He snorted out his disgust. “I know the girl’s birthday was later in October. Someone mentioned that to me in passing. She’d be eighteen then, so able to get married.”

  “We’re almost to the end of October,” Ivy told him quickly. “But we have a couple of problems.”

  “We have more than a couple of problems,” Eli retorted quickly.

  Ivy shot him an annoyed glare. “Can I go on?”

  “Sorry,” he grinned sheepishly.

  “The first is that if your family sees you or Claire,” she told Thane, “then the whole thing is blown. You can’t be the main part of trying to get the kids out. The second problem is we’re on a very tight deadline. The third is, of course, we have no way in.”