A stray person or two seem to be hurrying off to one of the buildings that make a U-shape around the courtyard we’re standing in.
“This is the Alliance Academy,” Caiden explains as he sweeps his hand toward the buildings. “Most just call it the Academy, but I thought you’d like a quick peek at it.”
“Alliance?” I ask curiously. “That implies a formalized organization runs this?”
“Of course,” Caiden says lightly, but doesn’t offer an explanation.
He leads us up wide steps, through double doors, and into one of the buildings. It’s a large hall of sorts, with gray marble flooring, and to the left and right are groupings of furniture, a few of which are occupied with what I assume are Academy students.
The most obvious thing I notice is that the majority are in their teens.
“What’s the age range of those attending the Academy?” I ask Caiden as we walk straight through the large hall, which narrows to a corridor leading out of the back of the building. There are doors on both sides of the hallway, a few of which are open, and I’m not surprised to see they are classrooms. I would have expected part of the training here is learning, not just fighting.
“We take children as young as twelve,” he says. “The kids can’t run the gauntlet, though, unless they’re eighteen or they get special permission.”
“Twelve,” I exclaim, cutting an alarmed look to Carrick. “Isn’t that a bit young?
Caiden laughs as he stops, turning to face me. “We’re not sending them off to war at that age, Finley. Most of the younger kids are primarily doing book learning, not only of alternate realms, fae, daemons, and such, but the subjects they’d ordinarily take back home if they were in school.”
“Why would anyone let their child come here to study and eventually learn to fight evil creatures?” I ask curiously.
“It’s generational, mostly. Many families have long, distinguished lines of annihilators.”
Now that’s interesting. “But what about kids who don’t come from those types of families? And do you take adults into the program?”
“We do accept kids who aren’t from annihilator families. Often, orphans and such back in the Earth realm who might have a better life here. And yes, we do take older people.” He says that last part with a knowing grin.
I shake my head with a laugh. “I’m not joining your Alliance.”
“Damn right you’re not,” Carrick mutters his agreement.
Caiden leads us to another set of double doors that take us back outside. We step out onto a large veranda with a stone balustrade at the perimeter that has another set of steps down to a green field.
It’s rectangular like a football field but with no painted lines and no goalposts. There are bleachers on the long ends, though, so it seems to indicate it’s for some type of sport. I immediately see Priya, Titus, and Zora in the middle of the field. Priya seems to be giving Zora some instruction on how to hold a rapier sword.
Caiden, Carrick, and I trot down the steps toward the field, and I can’t help but ask, “When is the next quidditch game played?”
Caiden frowns over his shoulder. “Quidditch. What’s that?”
When I snicker, Carrick slaps me on the butt in warning to stop teasing someone who probably doesn’t understand Earth realm pop culture.
“Never mind,” I reply apologetically. “It’s a set of movies about a magical school with a game called quidditch.”
“It’s actually a set of books,” Carrick intones, having been relatively quiet since we left the gauntlet. “The books were then made into movies, but they weren’t nearly as good as the books.”
My jaw drops as I stare at him in shock. “You read the books?”
He shrugs casually with a smile, a look that is really quite good on an all-powerful demi-god who could crush bones with a snap of his fingers. “I’m multi-dimensional.”
“We actually use this field to do weapons and magical training. We have indoor facilities as well.”
Caiden halts us at the edge of the field as Priya has her own rapier in her hand and she’s showing Zora some striking maneuvers. He advises us, “We always start with rapiers since they’re lighter and more maneuverable, especially if someone doesn’t have the strength for heavier weapons.”
I watch as Zora takes the instruction and exhibits particularly good technique, but she gets winded pretty quickly. My circumstances were so different when I started training, as at least I was proficient in mixed martial arts and was in really good shape.
Priya takes it easy on Zora, and that’s got nothing to do with Priya being a woman. I know if it was Titus training her, as he did me, he’d recognize as I do… Zora’s capacity is going to be limited because she’s starting with no experience at all.
At least I think that’s the case.
She never told me she was in any secret fight club in the Underworld, but I can just tell by her red face, sweat-soaked clothes, and the slight droop to her shoulders that she’s exhausted already.
Zora manages to defend three successive strokes from Priya as she had been taught, and Priya stops, praising her. “Very good, Zora. You are a very quick learner.”
Looking our way, Priya gives a jerk of her head that says it’s okay for us to approach.
I smile teasingly at my sister, nodding down to the sword in her hand. “Not bad for a newbie.”
Zora frowns. “Newbie?”
Ducking my head apologetically, I explain, “Just a nickname for someone who is new to something.”
Zora glances down at the sword and grimaces. “I felt clumsy the entire time.”
“You weren’t,” Priya assures her, and then looks to Titus.
He steps up to Zora, takes the rapier. Bending slightly to catch her eyes, he says, “You did very well for your first time ever handling weapons or defending yourself from attack.”
Zora offers a small smile to Titus, but then glances around at the group. “What Titus and Priya aren’t saying is that I’m a hopeless cause if you want to turn me into some sort of warrior in the next two weeks.”
“We don’t expect that,” Carrick assures her. “You just need some basics to protect yourself if it comes to that. Your powers are going to be your best weapon.”
Zora nods, but I can sense she’s disappointed in herself. I want to get her alone, so maybe we can talk it through. I don’t ever want her thinking we are setting expectations on her.
“You want to do any training?” Titus asks me.
“I’d like nothing better than for you to kick my butt all over this field, but I’m exhausted after running the gauntlet.”
“How did you do?” Zora asks, and I take joy in the excitement in her tone. Because that’s genuine interest in me. Something one sister would want to know about the other.
“I made it through with a few bumps and bruises,” I inform her proudly.
Caiden laughs, smiling at Titus. “She defeated Truwila in less than two minutes.”
There’s pride in Titus’ expression as he looks to me for confirmation, and I nod with a grin.
“She tried to negotiate with her,” Caiden informs him, and Titus raises an eyebrow for the rest of the story.
“Negotiations failed quickly,” I mutter. “Went ahead and trapped her in an iron-laced butterfly net and put a shield around it so she couldn’t attack me with magic.”
“Brilliant,” Titus exclaims with a hearty laugh.
With a sigh, I roll my neck and envision an extremely hot shower. Perhaps I can talk Carrick into joining me. “What are the plans for the rest of the day? Are we going to move into working on Zora’s magic?”
Priya shakes her head. “Actually… we’re going to do that tomorrow when everyone is fresh.”
Carrick reaches out, taking my hand to capture my attention. “I have an idea.”
Hot shower with me? “What’s that?”
“I think you and Zora should take the rest of the day off and just relax down on the b
each,” he says, glancing over to Titus and Priya for their affirmation.
“Absolutely,” Priya exclaims. “There’s a wonderful restaurant called Cafe Syreni that makes the best burgers in the entire universe. No joke. You two should have lunch and spend the afternoon lounging like lizards on the hot sand.”
I glance at Zora. “What do you think?”
She looks almost apologetic. “Amell used to tell me tales of beaches and salty water where you’d float. I’d love to see it if it’s not too much trouble.”
“No trouble at all,” Priya says. “I’ve got bathing suits you can borrow.”
“You good with that?” I ask, turning to Carrick. Because as much as a shower with my beautiful man is like one of the best things I could ask for, time with my sister is honestly just as good.
“I think it’s a great idea,” he assures me. “And Titus, Priya, Caiden, and I are going to go over some planning for the ritual.”
“Planning?” I ask with a frown. “Shouldn’t I be there?”
“Probably.” Carrick takes my hand, gives it a squeeze. “But I think it’s more important you and Zora go hang out. You’re not going to miss much anyway. We’re going to talk about drafting some annihilators to join the battle.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” I exclaim, looking from Caiden, to Titus, to Priya. “Thank you.”
“It’s part of our job,” Titus says in that low rumbling voice. “To keep evil at bay. But I’m doing this for you first and foremost.”
“And there will be plenty who will want to help,” Caiden affirms.
“Then it’s settled,” Priya says and then moves to Zora. “Come on. You and I will fly back to our house. I’ll grab some bathing suits for you and Finley. We’ll see you all there.”
I watch with just a tinge of jealousy and a whole lot of pride in Zora as her wings fan out and she takes to the air with Priya.
They’re barely fifty feet in the air before Carrick is taking my hand and bending distance back to Titus and Priya’s house.
* * *
“Okay,” Zora says from the lounge chair beside me. “I’m going to amend my list of greatest things about being out of the Underworld and put burgers at the top.”
“Priya wasn’t lying,” I agree, rubbing my hand over my stomach, which is clad in a tasteful one-piece black bathing suit. “That was, without a doubt, the best burger I’ve ever had.”
“Mmmm,” Zora agrees, and I let my head roll on the chaise lounge to see her eyes closed and a serene smile on her face. Priya lent her an ocean blue one-piece. I have to admit, with her white hair, that is most definitely her color. It heightens the blue in her tri-colored eyes.
“What else is on your list?” I ask my sister.
She opens her eyes, rolling her head to give me a lazy sort of smile. The sun is warm on our skin, our bellies are full, and the sound of the waves lapping at the bay shore is relaxing. “Greatest things about being out of the Underworld?”
I nod, rolling on my side to see her.
Zora lets out a tiny sigh, eyes roving over the cloudless sky for a moment before she brings her gaze back to me. “The openness. Just endless sky and earth. The caverns in the Underworld are huge and I never felt constrained until I got here. I can fly up thousands of feet, and the only thing I’d hit my head on is a cloud.”
“I can’t even imagine living in a place without sunlight,” I murmur.
“Amell sometimes simulated it for me with magic,” Zora says with a fond smile. “But he didn’t do it justice now that I’ve seen it.”
“What else?” I ask.
For the next half hour, Zora tells me all the things she’s come to love since we helped her escape. It includes, among other things, cotton sheets, orange juice, croissants—of course—hot running water, the sounds of city traffic, the television show Schitt’s Creek, although she readily admits she doesn’t get some of it, Chris Hemsworth, bubble gum, body lotion, good hair products, and Chapstick.
When she throws her legs over the side of the chaise and pulls out a tube of Chapstick from the little bag she’d brought to the beach, I laugh. She rubs it on her lips before tossing it back in the bag.
Zora crosses her arms across her thighs, leaning slightly toward me. “Want to know the biggest conclusion I’ve come to?”
I push up to one elbow, nodding.
“I’ve seen enough to know I don’t ever want to go back to the Underworld.”
It’s not her words but her tone that has me sitting up, planting my feet into the sand. Our knees almost touch. “Why would you even think about going back?”
Zora looks out over the bay. “I don’t want to assume that you want me to stay. I’m grateful for all you’ve done, but… I’m really not sure what you want with me.”
My hands snag hers roughly, causing her head to whip back to me. “You’re my sister. My twin. When I brought you out of the Underworld, it was forever, Zora. Your home is with me now. Well, me and Carrick.”
“Until you die,” Zora points out.
“And then Carrick will take care of you,” I assure her. Carrick had promised me long ago that he’d get her out of the Underworld if I died before we were able to. I know he’d make her life good after I was gone.
Zora’s expression turns troubled, and she shakes her head. “I don’t know how to be a sister. I don’t know if I say the right things. I don’t know if I’m likable.” Zora pulls her hands from me. “In fact, I’m fairly sure I’m very unlikable. I don’t even really like to be touched, Finley, and I hate small talk. I only know to trust myself. I don’t understand the relationship you and Carrick have, and it’s not that I don’t understand it… it seems odd, weak, and overbearingly complicated. Affection makes me uncomfortable, and I don’t like talking about things much deeper than burgers, because I’ve never talked about deep things before. I have nothing to offer you at all.”
I take in a breath and let it out, not attempting to take her hands again. “You have the world to offer me, Zora. You’re my sister, and I love you. I need nothing more than for you to be here, safe and happy.”
“I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help against Kymaris,” she says, worrying at her lower lip with her teeth while ignoring my statements of sentiment. “I didn’t do well at all today.”
“Your magic is what we’ll focus on,” I assure her. “If you can create wings to fly, your magic is powerful, Zora. We’ll get it figured out, but it might take time so don’t get frustrated. God knows it took a while for me to figure mine out.”
“But your magic is from an angel,” Zora points out with a hard look. “Mine is from a deranged Light Fae prince who is twisted dark and evil. I’m not sure that’s something we want to mess with.”
“Maybe not.” She makes a damn good point. “But we’ll be careful and test it slowly. Regardless, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I didn’t bring you here to help fight. You don’t even have to be anywhere around when this goes down. We can have you stay in Faere with Nimeyah or I bet you could even stay here in Semper Terra.”
“No, I want to be there,” Zora says adamantly. “I want to see Kymaris taken down.”
I grin. “Now that is totally my twin talking. I’ve always had a bit of vengeance inside of me. Wanting to see someone get their due when they’ve wronged me.”
“That bitch is the reason I was taken,” Zora snarls, and her eyes flash with fury. She’s breathing hard as if her emotions have winded her. “She’s the reason I was raised in Hell when I could have had this. She has to be defeated.”
“She will be,” I promise gently.
Zora gazes out over the bay, taking in breaths to get herself calm. Her hands are shaking, and she grips them together hard.
“Zora,” I say softly to get her attention. She doesn’t look my way, but her body jerks slightly from my tone. “How bad was it there? The truth.”
Because for all that I’ve learned about the worse-than-third-world conditio
ns and funky animals to eat, it hasn’t really told me anything about why Zora is the way she is.
Slowly, Zora swings my way, and I can see the doubt warring in her eyes. Should she give me the absolute truth? Zora hates being thought of as a victim because any time I make faces of sympathy when she tells me things, it makes her bristle, and she’ll immediately denounce her life as being a hardship.
But I know I’m missing so much of the story.
I have a feeling, if she tells it all to me, that I’ll probably end up wishing I’d never known.
Zora brings her feet back up on the chaise and lays back, closing her eyes. I study the odd but beautiful bright white of her eyelashes as they lay against her skin. It’s a clear sign she doesn’t want to talk, but then… she starts talking.
“My earliest memory is after I’d learned to walk. The Dark Fae couple I stayed with hated me trying to get into everything. If I tried to climb on a chest, they’d knock me off it. If I tried to leave my pallet on the floor and climb on their bed, they’d push me off. After a while, I learned to just stay on the floor. For meals, they would toss scraps down to me.”
Okay, it’s going to be way worse than I expected. But if she’s brave enough to tell it, I’m brave enough to listen. I mimic her actions and lay back on the chaise, face to the sun, and I close my eyes as I listen.
“I learned to talk by listening to them because they never engaged me in conversation. I didn’t really understand who Amell was when he came to visit, but when he did, they treated me differently. The female would pull me on her lap, and I’d struggle to get away because touch was so off-putting to me by that time. Amell eventually started talking to me, correcting my speech if it was bad. He’d ask me questions about my life with them, and I told him the truth. It was at that point when things changed for the better. I didn’t have a pallet on the floor anymore, but rather an actual bed, and I sat at the table for meals. I assume Amell threatened them, but that was about as good as it got. I was a lowly human to them, and, as I told you before, that’s all they ever called me until Amell gave me a name. It was the first time I had some identity.”
It’s no wonder she’s so averse to affection and why the concept of love is confusing. Her formative years had been totally fucked up.
The Rise of Fortune and Fury Page 15
