The BETA Agency

by Maxwell Coffie

  “This is why he doesn’t break his seal,” Po said, beside me. “His bane, the Rage, triggers when he does. Now, he’s going to go on a rampage if I don’t stop him.”

  She stood up, and unclasped her instrument from her belt. The stub in her hand lengthened into a rod: Levina. She released another object from her belt, and gripped it tightly. It was a syringe, filled with a silver substance.

  “Powerful tranquilizer,” she explained, squaring her shoulders, and taking a deep breath. “Well, here I go.”

  She leapt into the fire.

  I could only stare into the inferno, powerless.

  “Don’t worry,” Kay said over my shoulder. “She’s done this before.”

  “Kattie,” I realized. “Where’s my sister?”

  I tried to get up, but Kay wouldn’t let me.

  “Imp will find her,” he said, and Imp nodded, before disappearing into the confusion.

  I looked around Kay’s body, at the raging mountain of fire. Waves of heat radiated from the flames, barely bearable even at my distance from them.

  Kay looked worried after throwing a look back.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Fire should be dyin’ by now,” he answered. “I don’t know what’s goin’ on—“

  A body smashed into the building behind us, and then toppled to the sidewalk, covered in scraps of plaster and fragments of concrete. Kay rushed to the body, and turned it over. It was Po. He looked up at me.

  “Incoming!” he cried, throwing Po over his shoulder, and flitting at me.

  The pillar of fire missed us by units, crashing against the building behind us, and reducing its lower outer walls to nothingness. More screaming, as the building came toppling down. Kay’s fingers lit up bright orange, and a shield encased us, saving us from tons of thundering debris.

  There was only darkness for a while. And then, the smoke and dust started to clear. Kay’s shield disappeared.

  There was so much smoke. It was hard to breathe. But now, the flames had completely disintegrated the temple walls, and I could see King.

  I trembled.

  His eyes flashed like lightning, his skin gleamed like bronze, and from his back stretched wings three times his height, made entirely out of roaring fire. He lifted Aiden, and brought it down. An arc of flames rolled out from the tip of his blade, and came roaring our way.

  Kay put up another shield of light, and the flames rolled harmlessly off it; engulfing us but not consuming us.

  “Is she going to wake up?” I asked, looking at Po’s limp body.

  “Doesn’t look like it,” Kay admitted, blocking off another pillar of fire.

  I swore. “What do we do?”

  “There’s another way to stop this,” Kay said. “But it depends on whether or not his memories have reverted. Does he remember that you’re not Fey?”

  “I don’t know. He didn’t call me by any names when we were inside. Why does that matter?”

  “Because Fey’s the only one who’s ever been able to use this method.” Kay looked at me. “If he thinks you’re Fey again, this could work.”

  I looked at the man in the flames roaring, screaming, hurting.

  I turned back to Kay, and nodded. “Let’s hear it.”

  CHAPTER 72

  I took one step. And then another. And then another.

  The wall of flames drew nearer with every step. I broke through them, and my feet sunk into what was left of the temple walls: white hot embers and glowing ashes.

  I stepped further through the flames, unharmed. King was a few feet away. He met his eyes with mine.

  “King,” I said, as gently, as reassuringly, as I could. “It’s me, King. You don’t have to be afraid.”

  He pointed Aiden at me, and fire poured forth. I flinched, even though the flames bounced off the Glass Pyramid spell Kay had created around me. My breathing was heavy. The spell was keeping out a lot of the heat, but it was still sweltering inside Kay’s mana pyramid. Fear was a poison, rushing through my veins and pounding in my ears.

  But, I stepped forward.

  King’s attacks grew angrier, and shorter in between. With every burst of fire, I stopped. With his every scream, I shuddered. I prayed that Kay’s shield would not give.

  “King,” I tried again, a little louder. There was a tremble in my voice. “I’m here, King. I need you to calm down.”

  He roared, unleashing a barrage of brilliant fire upon me. Again. And again. And again. And again. And I lost count. And I closed my eyes. And I waited for it to end. I didn’t move. I waited for it to end.

  I opened my eyes again. Now, he was out of breath, glaring at me. I could smell burning hair. My burning hair. There were cracks in Kay’s pyramid. King lifted Aiden one more time.

  I was going to die.

  So, I ran towards King, caution be damned. And when I reached him, Kay dropped the shield, as we had planned. One moment I was protected by walls of light, the next, the walls were gone, and I was utterly vulnerable.

  I threw my working arm around him, and shushed into his ear. “It’s okay,” I cooed. “It’s okay.”

  He roared.

  I had swaddled myself in a protective layer of mana, but now, I could feel the fire from his body eating through it. Still, I didn’t let go.

  “I’m right here,” I whispered, just like Kay had taught me. “It’s alright.” I shushed. “I’m right here.”

  I could feel him buckling. I didn’t stop. I kept shushing, and stroking his hair. Suddenly, I wasn’t doing what Kay had taught me. I was just…doing.

  My cheek, chest, and hand started to burn from the heat. I did not let go.

  “That’s right,” I breathed, when he dropped to his knees, and I could cradle his head on my breasts. “Everything is going to be alright.” I put my lips to his forehead, and they burned, hissing against his skin.

  The last flame in his hair flickered, and died.

  “I’m right here,” I whispered, and pushed the needle of my syringe into his neck.

  King’s eyes fluttered, and then closed.

  “I’m right here,” I breathed. “I’m right here. Right here. Right here. Right here.”

  I didn’t stop whispering those words, till the fire was gone, and all that we remained were ashes and the shadows.

  I laid him on the floor, and stepped back, quivering.

  The night was oddly silent.

  “Miss Everglade,” a voice croaked in the ashes. Gingerly, I turned to see the charred remains of the Puppeteer’s last body, crumbling to dust. The mouth on the corpse twitched into a smile. “It was a pleasure.” As it uttered those words, its tongue, and then its face, and then its body, collapsed into a mass of swirling cinders.

  I fell to my knees.

  Kay came over, and hoisted King onto his free shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, and then headed for the sole ambulance waiting on the street.

  I looked at the man in the driver’s seat. It was Imp. He winked at me.

  Kay jumped into the back of the ambulance. Just as he closed the doors, two real ambulances and three fire trucks arrived on the scene, sirens blaring. Imp’s ambulance purred to life, and with a limp wave, he drove off.

  Kattie was waiting behind the ambulance.

  She started towards me. I trudged out of the ashes to meet her. My working arm found hers, and we pulled each other in close. As I pressed her against my chest, I realized that she was crying. My sister was shedding real tears.

  “It’s over,” I whispered, as she cried. “It’s all over.”

  CHAPTER 73

  It was Thivember 14th, and I was staring out at the city, through my bedroom window. The streets shimmered with freshly fallen snow, even beneath the muted winter light. And from the shops below, came the soft sound of aerophone music, only just discernible through the window glass. The winter festivities were coming. More importantly, the opening match of the hoverball season was about to commence.

  “Arra, it’s about
to start,” Kattie called from the living room.

  “Coming Kattie,” I called back, and then said to the window, “Mirror.”

  The glass darkened, till I was looking at a reflection of myself. It was almost three months since the face-off with the Puppeteer, and I was through healing. Well, physically anyway.

  Face-off, I thought, as I reached for a pair of surgical scissors from my bedside. Ha. Wasn’t even trying for that one.

  I touched the bandages on the right half of my face, and started to cut. The dressing came away to reveal fresh, healed skin. The rubriq was still there though. After all the burns I’d received, the corrective surgeon had suggested taking off the rubriq.

  I had politely declined.

  I cut off the dressing on my chest and shoulders too, then winced when I threw them into the waste bin. My elbow was supposed to be healed, but it still hurt every now and again.

  I was about to go to the living room, when I received a message on my cell-comm. The text said:

  Come to the rooftop. Bring a sweater.

  There was no name, and the caller ID was blocked. But, I had a hunch.

  I grabbed my sweater, and headed for the roof. “I’ll be right back,” I said to Kattie, before closing the door behind me. After climbing three flights of stairs, I arrived at the roof access door.

  Evon was waiting in front of it.

  I stopped.

  “Hello Arra,” she said.

  “You’re back.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Why? I’m back on my sleeping pills. I exercise. I eat right. I’m happy. Why are you here?”

  She stared at me. “You tell me.”

  “You’re not coming back, Evon. I’ve made peace with that. I don’t need these hallucinations anymore,” I said. Then, it hit me. “But that’s why you’re here.” In spite of myself, I felt a wave of sadness. “You’re saying goodbye.”

  “You’re moving on,” she said, with a small smile. “I would’ve been proud of you. You should know that.”

  There was a lull, as I absorbed the happiness her words brought me. Slowly, I smiled. “Thank you. I know you would.”

  The image of Evon faded away, as I took my final steps up and through the door.

  Sol King was standing at the edge of the rooftop, in a winter coat and earmuffs, hands pocketed, staring up at the skies.

  I stopped. “Sol.”

  He turned around, and he smiled, in that wonderful way that made his orbs twinkle. “Domestic life never suited you.”

  My heart sunk for the briefest moment.

  “Kidding,” he said. “I know it’s you, Arra.”

  “Don’t do that.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I never pegged you for the earmuff type.” I smiled. “You look ridiculous.”

  “When your hearing is permanently damaged from the cold, find me and tell me that again.”

  We grinned at each other.

  “So, it’s permanent this time?” I said, holding my breath. “You remember everything? You’re cured?”

  “Well, it’s been three months, and I haven’t lapsed.” He shrugged. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “No, you won’t lapse,” I said. “I know it. You’re cured.”

  “I appreciate that.” He walked up to me. “In fact, that’s largely the reason I’m here. I wanted to tell you thank you. For joining the agency.”

  “Oh big deal. Ended up being a bigger bother than help anyway,” I said, laughing a little.

  But King didn’t laugh. “You’ve got to know that’s not true.” And then he waited for me to say something but I could only shrug. “You came,” he said, “and you rescued me.”

  My smile faded. I looked away, and cleared my throat. “I have something for you.” I reached behind my neck, and unclasped the engagement necklace that still hung from it. I placed it in his palm, and he squeezed the linked rings.

  “Thank you,” he murmured.

  “So um,” I said, “will I see you again?”

  “Not for a while. I’ve decided to go around the world, do some healing on my own.”

  “Sounds like plan.”

  He nodded. “And I suppose you won’t be coming back to the Beta Agency?”

  “Kattie and I decided to start our own P.I. firm.” I smiled. “Everglade and Everglade. How does that sound?”

  “Like I would hire you in a heartbeat.”

  He closed the distance, and put his hand on my face. “Take care of yourself.” To my surprise, he leaned in, and melted his lips into mine. I was too startled to react at first. But then, I closed my eyes, reached for his face, and kissed back.

  I felt my rubriq begin to burn, and in moments, my entire body pulsed with fire and electricity.

  I could not feel the cold.

  After the shortest forever I had ever experienced, he pulled away, and the last thing I felt was the heat of his mouth on my forehead. When I opened my eyes, he was gone.

  I was alone.

  I heard the access door opening behind me.

  “What’re you doing here?” I heard Kattie ask behind me.

  I wiped a tear, before turning around to face her. “Saying goodbye.”

  “King?”

  “King.”

  Kattie looked around, as if hoping to spot the man I’d just been with. “Match is about to begin,” she finally said. “You ready?”

  I stared at the skyline one last time. Then, I took her hand. “Yeah, I’m ready.” We walked back into the building.

  THE END

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