“How could a human with no power possibly be useful to you?”
“Knowledge,” says Zell, his eyes gleaming. “I always knew there were certain fae with additional abilities. As you may have been able to figure out, I’ve been searching for them for years. What I didn’t know about was the griffin symbol the halfling Tharros created, and how its power was connected to these special fae. That’s what Drake found out amidst all his mixed dealings in the fae realm.” Zell sighs happily. “And everything has fallen into place perfectly since then. You can’t deny that this was all meant to be.”
“What was all meant to be?”
“Why, that you and Nathaniel would end up on my side, of course. When I started out, the only person I was searching for was Angelica Ashwood. Nathaniel was only a means to get to her, and you just happened to be there at the same time. But then it turned out that Nathaniel actually had magic, and, in addition to that, control of the weather. And you, the girl I thought was just a regular trainee in the wrong place at the wrong time, turned out to be the very person my spy within the Guild had heard about: the guardian who can find people.”
Spy within the Guild? “And you think this means that I should willingly stick around to help you?”
“Of course. That’s what Nathaniel decided to do after my darling protégé Scarlett managed to summon him. Surely you see how this can’t all have been a coincidence. Just look at how you walked right into my home without me having to lift a finger to get you here.” He frowns. “What exactly are you doing in my dungeon anyway? You clearly didn’t come to hand yourself over.”
“I . . . had an assignment.” Zell raises one eyebrow. Damn, I should have said that with more conviction. “How did you know Nate and I were in Creepy Hollow that first night?” I rush on. “Angelica said she put an enchantment on you that was supposed to prevent you from finding him.”
“She did, but as is the case with many of Angelica’s complex enchantments, it didn’t quite work the way she planned. I tried all kinds of location spells, and nothing worked. When one of them eventually did give me an answer, I realized it was because Nathaniel was in the fae realm. I suppose Angelica didn’t count on that happening. I realized he was at the Guild, so I just had my spy inform me when he left, and I waited for him in the forest. Simple.”
“Actually, it seems like a lot of effort just to get one measly metal disc that will give you a bit of extra power.”
“One measly metal disc?” Zell frowns and tilts his head to the side. “You don’t know what I’m really after, do you?”
“I would if you just told—”
“Enough!” He holds his hand up. “I know what you are trying to do, young trainee. Distract me by getting me to tell you everything I plan to do, after which you hope to escape and take your information to the Guild. But that isn’t going to happen. This is the point where we stop talking and I lock you up in one of those cages next door.” He pauses. “Unless, of course, you’d like to try and stop me?”
A whip and sword blaze into existence in my hands. “Hell, yeah.” He doesn’t think I’m going down without a fight, does he?
His lips twitch slightly. “Well, you might like to know that I have some . . . energy reserves.” He reaches into a pocket and pulls out the griffin disc. Then another, and another, and another. Oh, crapping crap. There’s more than one of those things? Angelica omitted that little bit of information. Zell’s grin is triumphant. “It’s going to be a long, long time before I run out of power.”
He hits my shield with a blast of magic. I strengthen the shield, letting my whip and sword fizzle into nothing. I’ll never get close enough to use them. I probably won’t even be able to shoot an arrow, because the moment I drop my shield Zell will hit me with something.
Think, think, think. Magic continues to pummel my shield, and I’m losing power just keeping it intact. I take note of what’s around me. Table, papers, chandelier, broken glass. I can use them all if I’m fast enough. I slowly move away from the door, hoping that Ryn doesn’t do something stupid like come running through it.
Abruptly, I drop to the ground, let the shield vanish, and send the shards of glass speeding through the air toward Zell. He freezes them in midair just in front of his face. Dammit. The glass tinkles onto the ground as I roll behind the table. I send a gust of air around the room, stirring up the papers stuck to the wall. The gust becomes a gale, and the papers detach. They fly madly about, mixing with the swirl of papers blown off the table.
Zell lets out a shriek of rage and begins wildly firing magic beneath the table. I scramble over to the wide central leg and sit with my back to it while I conjure up an invisible bubble of protection around myself. Once I’m completely shielded, I crawl out. In the midst of the tornado of papers, I jump onto the table. “Come and get me, you little faerie freak!”
He jumps up a second later, and a jet of green flames hits the shield right in front of my face. Concentrating on holding the shield in place and keeping the wind going, I jump. I flip backward through the papers and land on my feet. Drop shield, stop wind, shoot at chandelier. My flash of magic hits the chain attaching the chandelier to the ceiling. Zell looks up just as the mass of metal, candle and flame smashes down on him.
He lies still beneath the wreckage. Flames lick the pages on the table and begin to consume them. I run back to the room with the cages. “Did you find her?” I call, trying to figure out where Ryn is.
I get a number of shouts in response. Looking up, I realize many of the prisoners are awake. They talk over one another. Some begin to swing their cages.
“Who are you?”
“Can you free us?”
“She’s here to hurt us, don’t talk to her!”
I look from one desperate face to the next. How can I possibly save all these people?
“Violet, over here.” I run in the direction of Ryn’s voice. After passing a number of cages, I see him. A small figure in a nightdress is wrapped tightly in his arms, and an empty cage swings back and forth. Calla clings tightly to her brother while he kisses her forehead and then buries his face in her hair. He whispers something to her, and in that moment, watching the two of them, I feel utterly alone.
Ryn looks up; his eyes meet mine. “What happened?”
I clear my throat. “Zell’s down, but not for long. We have to get out of here now.”
He nods. “Cal,” he says gently. “This is Violet. She’s going to help us get out of here.”
The little girl turns her face toward me, and all I can feel is surprise. I was expecting someone who looks just like Ryn, but she couldn’t be more different. Her hair is dark blonde with streaks of honey, caramel and gold. Her eyes, currently wide with fear, are gold too. Almost luminous. I’m left with the feeling that she may possibly be the most beautiful faerie child in existence.
As we run for the other room, the prisoners cry out for our help. “I’m sorry,” I shout, unable to look any of them in the eye. “We can’t stay any longer or we’ll be trapped here too. The Guild will send people to rescue you, I promise.”
We hurry into the other room and run past the table—just as the mangled chandelier comes flying toward us. Calla screams. I turn and throw up a shield, then groan and collapse onto my knees as the force behind the chandelier threatens to overpower me. Zell gets to his feet on the table. “I don’t care if I have to break every bone in your body, Violet. You will not get away from me this time, and you will not take that girl.” He pushes his hands forward as though doing a press up against the air, forcing the chandelier even harder against my shield. Dammit, he’s so strong!
Behind me, Ryn is speaking to Calla, asking if she knows how to open the stone door.
“Yes, it’s—it’s that stone there. No, the next one. You have to pull it.”
“Ryn,” I gasp. “I can’t . . . hold him off . . . for much longer.” I hear the rumble of the stone door sliding open. Perhaps Ryn and Calla are already out, running for their live
s, leaving me here to fight Zell. But then I feel Ryn’s hand on my arm, pulling me onto my feet.
“You have to take Calla, okay? I’ll keep Zell busy so you have time to get away.” He holds his hands up and adds his shield to mine.
“What? Ryn, we can’t leave you—”
“Go! You’re exhausted, Vi. I’m not. I can do this.” He focuses his attention forward, his eyes narrowed.
“Ryn, he’ll kill you. It’s us he wants, not you.” Without looking away from Zell, Ryn pushes me backward. I stumble on my heeled boots, losing hold of my shield as I catch myself against the wall.
“Go!” he yells once more.
I grab Calla’s hand and run.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I sneak Calla out of the kitchen door and into the gardens. Wisps of cloud move slowly across the moon, but the stars are bright, and it’s light enough for us to see our way. “Do you have one of those metal bands on your ankle?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “They were still making a small one for me.”
“Okay, so you have to be very careful not you use any magic, all right?”
“I-I’ll try.”
We creep along in silence while I try to figure out what to do next. When we round a corner and come upon a row of carriages and those long black cars with the stretched middle part, it seems to me that the best way out of here is probably the same way we came in.
I open the back door of the nearest car and Calla climbs inside. I get in after her and close the door as quietly as I can. The light inside the car fades out, but not before I notice the dark patch of blood along the bottom of Calla’s nightdress. “You’re hurt,” I exclaim. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I’m not,” she says. “It isn’t my blood. I . . . I did something bad.” I can just make out the tears welling up in her eyes. Oh, flip. What am I supposed to do with a crying child? I have no idea what to say! Her lip starts wobbling. “Is Ryn going to die?”
“What? No, of course not.” I take Calla’s small hand in my own. “He’s a really good fighter. He’ll get out of there.” He damn well better get out of there.
“But we just left him with that bad man.”
“Yeah, we did . . .” Something I’m feeling intensely guilty about. It’s not what I’ve been trained to do. Guardians fight together. “But I can’t leave you alone, Calla.”
“What if I promise to stay right here? Will you go back and get him?” Her gold eyes beg me.
“Okay,” I say. I’ve barely got any energy left, but I agree with Calla. We can’t just leave Ryn down there.
I climb out the car and head back to the kitchen. I shouldn’t have waited so long. I should have just hidden Calla outside and gone back to the dungeon immediately. Ryn could be dead by now because I wasn’t there to help him.
I’m almost at the kitchen door when a shape detaches itself from the shadows and staggers toward me. I form a fist, pull my arm back, and—
“It’s me,” says Ryn.
“Jeez, Ryn. How about you say that before you come lurching out of the shadows like some kind of zombie.”
“Why aren’t you . . . gone?” He stumbles like a drunk person.
“Why do you think, idiot? I came back for—Whoa.” I catch him as he sags against me. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Glass,” he says. “In my . . . back.”
I hold onto his arm and turn him. Moonlight glints off the shards of glass protruding from his back. “Seriously, Ryn? Did you have to go and get yourself shot with poison?”
“I was trying to . . . piss you . . . off.”
“Well, congratulations. You succeeded.” I half drag him to the car, not allowing myself to panic yet.
Calla opens the door. I try to get Ryn inside, but he collapses before he’s all the way in. I climb over him, grab his arms, and pull. Calla gets his legs inside, pulling one of his shoes off in the process. She closes the door—a little too loudly for my liking. “What happened?” she whimpers. “What’s wrong with him?”
The light fades out again. “Dammit, why won’t that stay on?” I put my hands over the light and feel around until I find a switch. When I can see again, I sit down, pop open the compartment at the bottom of my shoe, and take out my miniature emergency kit. And then I remember that in order to enlarge it I have to use magic, which will set off that blasted alarm. I press my lips together to stop myself from swearing out loud.
I breathe in deeply, noticing the smell of stale cigarette smoke. “He’s been poisoned,” I tell Calla. “See the glass in his back? It’s got poison on it. And I basically can’t do a thing without magic. I can’t send my own power into his body to help him, and I can’t use anything from my emergency kit because it’s currently the size of an acorn. I guess I could wrap fabric around my fingers and try to remove the pieces of glass, but the poison—”
The car door opens. A man with a weird hat pokes his chubby face in. “What is going on in here?” Before I can get across Ryn’s body to knock the man out, Calla grabs Ryn’s shoe and whacks the man on the head. He jerks away with a cry. I jump out after him and force him—with some difficulty—into the front seat.
I whip my stylus out of my boot and point it at him in a manner that’s meant to be threatening. “Are you the driver of this thing?”
“Y-yes.”
“Well then.” I press the stylus against his thick neck. “Drive.”
“Y-you can’t hurt me,” he stammers. “I know you can’t use magic here. There’s an alarm or something.”
“You think magic is the only thing I can do with this stick?” I lean close to his ear. “Trust me. Things are going to get extremely uncomfortable for you if you don’t do exactly what I say.” He swallows, does something with a key near the steering wheel, and the car purrs to life. We follow the paved path to the front of the house, around the circle, and down the driveway. The gate is open, but one of the guards stands in front of it. He holds a hand up.
“Slow down,” I tell the driver. “Slower . . . slower . . .” We’re almost at the gate. The guard, looking bored, moves toward the driver’s window. “Now go!” I slide back in the seat as the car jumps forward and passes beneath the glare of the stone dragons.
We’re free!
“Keep going. Don’t slow down unless you want to feel pain.” I write a doorway onto the window and climb through it, arriving a second later in the back seat of the car. Calla is holding Ryn’s arm to her chest, tears streaming down her face. Without warning, he sits up and pulls her into a hug. I suck in a breath of surprise. But then his form flickers and he’s lying on the floor of the car again.
Calla’s eyes meet mine. “I-I’m sorry. That was me.”
“Oh. Okay.” That was certainly weird. “Um . . . you keep holding onto that arm, and I’ll take this one.” I grip Ryn’s lifeless hand, then open a doorway on the floor near his feet. I widen it so that three of us can fit through. “Okay, come around this side.” She moves, never letting go of Ryn’s hand. “Now we’re going to jump in at the same time and pull him with us. Ready? One, two, three!”
We disappear into the darkness. I focus my mind on the largest couch in my sitting room, and a moment later all three of us bounce onto it. Calla topples off, and Ryn’s legs stick over the end in what would most definitely be an uncomfortable position if he were awake to feel it. I push the table out of the way and drag him onto the floor, making sure to keep him on his stomach so the glass doesn’t press into his back.
“All right, Calla.” I remove my emergency kit from my shoe and transform it back to its normal size. “You need to stop crying so you can help me, okay?” She nods, but looks terrified. “You see these?” I hold up a bottle of flat green squares no larger than my pinkie nail. “You need to put one on his tongue every few minutes. They’re going to speed up his body’s healing process.” They won’t do the job nearly as well as my own magic would, but I don’t have much to give him right now, and Calla needs something t
o focus on to keep her calm. After emptying some of the squares onto my palm, I pass the bottle to her.
I fish around in my kit and find a small tweezer. While Calla seats herself by Ryn’s head, I set about the painstaking task of removing the shards of glass. After every few pieces, I pop a green square into my mouth and let it dissolve on my tongue.
When I’ve finally removed every piece of glass I can see, Calla has fallen asleep, and my body has begun to replenish its store of magic. Time to share. I remove Ryn’s jacket with difficulty. When I get to his shirt, I don’t bother. I slide my finger from his neck down to the bottom of his spine, neatly slicing his shirt open. Pulling the pieces of fabric aside, I see numerous blue-tinged wounds covering his back. I gently place my hands over his skin, take a deep breath, and try to relax. I also try not to think about the last time I did this—for Nate. He must have already decided to betray me at that point.
Pushing aside my anger and hurt, I concentrate. I can feel the magic leaving my body, like trails of rainwater escaping off the tips of leaves. Slowly, the blue fades away and the wounds begin to seal themselves up. I don’t stop until I’ve almost completely exhausted myself.
I remove my hands. Ryn’s back seems perfectly healed, but I don’t know what’s going on inside him. I can’t do any more though. With an enormous yawn, I collapse onto the floor beside him and fall asleep.
*
There is a bird chirping in my ear. A really irritating bird. I swat sleepily at it, knowing it’s only Filigree in one of his most annoying forms: the I-will-chirp-at-you-until-you-wake-up form. I try to turn over and find myself lying on a hard surface. That’s when I remember what happened the night before.
I sit up and run a hand through my hair. I feel like I’ve only been asleep a few hours. Looking around, I find Ryn sitting up against one of the couches. He’s watching Calla as she sleeps. He also happens to be shirtless. “Whoa, this isn’t the Training Center, you know,” I tell him. “There’s a certain level of clothing etiquette in this house, and you’re currently violating it.”
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