by Jayne Faith
“Scared?”
She nodded.
“I want to tell you for certain that everything will be fine and there’s nothing to worry about,” I said. “But I don’t know that, and you’re old enough that I don’t need to feed you the lies and stories I would tell you if you were a few years younger.”
She straightened, taking on that look I’d seen before, the one that said she appreciated that I didn’t treat her like a child. “Is there going to be a war against the Watchtower?”
“Not exactly. But if things go the way I intend, our world is going to change.”
“And if they don’t go as you intend?”
“People will probably die. It’s possible I may not survive,” I said frankly.
Her eyes filled with worry, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my side.
“The only way to bring change, to make things better, is to take a risk,” I said, leaning my cheek onto the top of her head. She smelled of soap, and her hair was still slightly damp from her shower. “The bigger the change, the bigger the risk that must be taken.”
“Why does it have to be you?” she asked, and there was the threat of tears in her voice. “You’re responsible for all of us. Can’t it be someone else who doesn’t have anyone to take care of?”
I turned to her and took her face in my hands. “Listen to me, Nadia. I will do absolutely everything in my power to make sure the good guys win because, no, there is no one else who can do this. If I fail, there won’t be another chance for a very long time. I have too many people in my life who I love too desperately to let that happen.”
“You’ll do it,” she said, her fear hardening into determination. “I know you will.”
I gave her a smile. “Thank you for your confidence in me.”
“Someday I’m going to be like you.”
“How so?”
“I’m going to help people. Kids.”
“You have a good heart, and I’m sure you’ll do great things,” I said.
We sat together, curled up on the sofa with the lights turned out, and chatted about other things—school, Chelle’s condition, the other girls—and I found I was truly grateful for the company. After a while, we fell silent. Not long after, Nadia’s slow, even breathing indicated she’d fallen asleep.
I must have nodded off, too, because my eyelids flew open when a soft tap came at the door. By the faint light coming through the thin curtains covering the one window in the living room, it was past dawn.
I moved carefully so as not to disturb Nadia, took a deep breath, and went to the door.
Chapter 19
EDUARDO WAS DRESSED all in black, including a black knitted hat that hid all of his hair. The whites of his eyes were practically the only thing that might give him away in the dark of night. I let him in, and he glanced at Nadia still sleeping on the sofa.
“Lorenzo has been home for two hours,” Eduardo whispered. “He drank enough to kill two mortal men, so I figured I’d better give him that long.”
“At least he managed to make it home,” I said wryly. “He must have left at least a few brain cells unpickled.”
Eduardo gave a slight nod, but I could tell his thoughts were already jumping ahead. “Are you ready?” he asked.
A sudden spike of adrenaline washed away any lingering sleep from my brain as I fully remembered what awaited me.
“Yes,” I said. “Maybe fifteen minutes to put myself together, and then I can leave.”
“I’ll accompany you to a place near the Watchtower, as we discussed. I’ll remove your warlock charm, and that alone should be enough to attract the attention of the closest Hunters. Once I’m sure they’ve taken you into the House of Light, I’ll go rouse Lorenzo. Just like we talked about.”
He gave me a smile, and I could tell he was trying to instill confidence in me, but his eyes were tense and his voice strained.
Part of me was already second-guessing the entire thing and wishing we could scrap the plan and start over. Maybe go to Lorenzo again and try to persuade him to do things my way. But I knew we had to forge ahead.
I drew a deep breath. “Once the witches are free, I’ll go straight for the Watchtower. If I can’t get in, I’ll let a Hunter capture me. Tell Lorenzo that’s where he’ll find me, and he’d better move fast if he doesn’t want me to mess up the curse-breaking since he refused to tell me the rest of the steps.”
I grasped his arm. “Thank you. For everything. If not for you, there would be no hope of saving the witches and Hunters, and I don’t think I could go through with breaking the curse. I can’t imagine living with myself knowing I’d helped kill all those people. Lorenzo may be the agent of God, but you’re my savior.”
He looked down modestly, and his dark skin flushed a little over his cheeks. “It’s my honor to be able to help.” He gave me a tiny bow.
When he smiled, I remembered with surprising clarity what he’d looked like as a young man, before the Watchtower had forced him into service. He’d been handsome, strong, and charismatic. The years serving the Demon Lord had probably aged him more than a life outside the Watchtower would have, but I still saw that young man in his face. My chest suddenly clenched as I thought of my mother. I could only hope that she had fared half as well as Eduardo in terms of retaining so much of who she was before.
Eduardo left to allow me to get ready, promising to return in fifteen minutes to go with me to the House of Light. I snuck through the bedroom full of sleeping girls and changed into a clean dress. In the bathroom, I twisted my hair up into a knot on the top of my head, securing it with several pins.
Out of habit, I brushed my fingers down my thigh, feeling for my little knife before remembering it was gone. I no longer had that weapon, but I had the pouch full of items that Eduardo had brought. I strapped the miniature crossbow to my wrist, and then laid the tiny arrows on the bathroom counter alongside the shell that held my dried blood. With slow care, I wetted the needle tip of an arrow under the faucet, allowed a drop of water to fall onto the blood, and then dipped the arrow into it. I coated the rest in the same manner, hoping I’d put enough on to kill the Demon Lord.
I slipped the arrows into their places on the wrist crossbow, and then pulled my sleeve down to hide the entire contraption. Last, I secured the drawstring bag in a hidden pocket inside my skirt.
I shut off the light and went out to the living room, where I took one last look around the flat before I went out into the hallway. I didn’t want to chance Nadia or one of the other girls waking before I left, as I wasn’t sure I’d be able to leave without bursting into tears.
Eduardo arrived a minute later, and together we went downstairs and out onto the street.
It felt bizarre to walk through The Colony as if it were any other day. As I watched people go about their early-morning business, it was almost as if I were viewing from afar. Spying on a society that existed somewhere else. When we passed the market and I glimpsed Amy’s stall, now empty, reality slammed back down on me.
Rounding a corner ahead of us was a trio of Hunters, their blank but somehow still menacing faces making my heart skip a beat as always.
I glanced at Eduardo, and took comfort in his steady presence.
The House of Light came into view, and my stomach clenched. It was actually a beautiful building, pristine white and in the shape of pointed hoods or graceful sails, depending on how your imagination interpreted it. But it housed witches who awaited their summons to death by the command of the Demon Lord.
“Have you ever done it before?” I whispered to Eduardo.
His eyes flicked down to mine. “Done what?”
“Removed a warlock charm?”
“No, but I’ve seen it once.”
“What will happen to me?”
“You’ll probably feel dizzy and nauseous for a moment,” he said. “But it should pass quickly. The biggest danger is flinging magic where you don’t want it because you’re not used to controlling
so much.”
I wasn’t sure how I could possibly prepare myself for it, so I just nodded and kept walking.
The House of Light was positioned on one end of the Harbor, which was always busy. The sculpted structure seemed to be an island unto itself, though. Partly because of how it was perched on the edge of the pier and appeared to jut out onto the water a bit, but more so because an invisible cloud of dread seemed to hang around it and emanate out from it. People never loitered on its steps or passed too near it, even though there was an open promenade with a beautiful view of the water.
“Plenty of Hunters around,” Eduardo mumbled. He said it casually, but his eyes were darting around just like mine were.
“How about over there?” I lifted my chin to indicate a lamppost that marked where the promenade to the House of Light began. It was the invisible line that people of The Colony were wary of crossing.
The only people on the promenade at the moment were a few pairs of Hunters. At least they weren’t dragging any women into the House. The sight would have rattled me, and I didn’t need any more rattling.
We turned on the walkway leading up to the promenade. My breaths were growing shallow and my pulse began to race. I forced my hands to unclench at my sides.
Twenty more feet. . . A dozen. . . We stopped three feet away from the lamppost.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Do it.”
“Take a deep breath,” Eduardo said.
With blurring swiftness, he pulled his fist out of his pocket and threw some granular substance at me. Some of it hit the back of my hand with a mild stinging sensation. At the same time, he rapidly spoke the words of a spell.
A lightning bolt of pain shot down from the crown of my head, through my brain, and down my spine. My back reflexively arched backward, and I ground my teeth to keep from screaming.
In the next second, the pain was gone. Wind seemed to roar in my ears, and electricity filled my veins. Everything burst into vividness—colors, sounds, sensations, even my own emotions. I felt like I’d been sleepwalking through my entire life, and only now was I fully awake.
I turned to tell Eduardo how it felt, but he was gone. Then I noticed the shouts and the men pounding toward me. The Hunters. My magic was now full power, and they’d taken notice.
I let out a whimper as everything inside me screamed at me to run, run, throw myself into the sea if I had to. But I stiffened my legs and held my ground, and tried to calm the torrent of magic that seemed to be trying to blend my insides to a pulp.
I searched for Eduardo as I waited for the Hunters to bear down on me. But I didn’t see him. That was good, I reminded myself. He needed to hide nearby so he could help the women I was going to set free.
Rough hands grabbed my upper arms from behind, forcing me into an off-balance stumble.
“I knew there was something different about you.” Hot breath puffed the words against my ear.
I knew the voice. It was Gerard, the Hunter who’d attacked me and caused Amy’s capture.
Shackles tightened around my wrists, their cool metal digging into my skin. Surrounded by Hunters, I was pushed forward into a march. The House of Light was directly ahead. I tried not to hyperventilate as I walked across the promenade. The distance felt like a hundred miles, and yet too soon I was being shoved through heavy double doors and into the stuffy darkness within.
I was inside the House of Light. Taken as a witch. I could hardly believe that I’d done this deliberately, but there was no going back—I had to succeed now. If I didn’t, my heart would be ripped from my chest to feed the gluttony of the Demon Lord.
My thoughts flew to the items I had concealed on me. I tried to reach for the pouch. But of course my wrists were chained together behind my back. Only two Hunters had accompanied me inside. If I could break their spells, they could be allies instead of jailors.
We appeared to be standing in a sort of lobby area, and the Hunters were dragging me toward the wide, curved staircase to the right.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded.
The Hunter on my left roughly shook my shoulder. “Shut up, witch.”
At least it wasn’t Gerard. He’d remained outside, thank God. I had grave doubts that restoring him to his old self would be much of an improvement, based on his reputation and his treatment of me. I suspected he probably wasn’t a good man even before the Watchtower had taken him.
I really needed to get the damn shackles off so I could get on with rescuing Amy and the other women being held here.
The Hunters manhandled me around the staircase to a door. They opened it, and unceremoniously shoved me inside. It was a tiny space, nothing more than a closet. I stumbled into the wall, hitting my shoulder hard. The only thing in the room was a sink set very low to the floor. This probably had been a janitorial closet at one time.
As soon as I regained my balance, I began struggling to pull my hands around to one side so I could get at the pouch. I couldn’t reach it with my wrists still shackled. The Hunters talked outside the door, so I went and pressed my ear against it while I worked up the fabric of my skirt, trying to pull the pouch around to within reach of my fingers. I thought about trying something magical, but the only thing I knew I was good at was commanding water. That wasn’t going to help me free my hands or get at the items I needed.
“. . . this one has full magic,” said one of the Hunters. “We need to tell the boss right away.”
“Yeah, but we can’t just leave her here,” said the other. “She’ll use her magic to break free.”
“You stand guard and I’ll go report it.”
“And let you take all the credit? I don’t think so.”
There was a short burst of cursing. “Fine. We’ll both go. But we can’t leave her unguarded. We’ll have to . . .”
I lost the rest of his words, but a few seconds later a key slid into the lock, and then the door opened.
One of the Hunters stepped partway inside. He pointed at me, and his eyes went white. I tried to gather myself to reach for my magic, but fumbled, too slow and unskilled after a lifetime of only occasional use. A jagged yellow-white bolt of lightning magic sizzled from the end of the Hunter’s finger, through the air, and hit me between the eyes.
The painfully bright light stole my sight as the worst pain imaginable exploded through my head. That was the last thing I remembered before I blacked out.
Chapter 20
WHEN I CAME to, I was no longer in the closet. It was pitch black, but I could tell by the way the sounds of my slight movements carried that I was lying in a larger space than before. Other than that, I had no idea where I’d been moved.
My head throbbed with the aftereffects of the Hunter’s lightning magic, and it grew worse when I tried to sit up. Sucking in a groan, I kept still and tried to take stock while I waited out the pain in my temples. Hands still shackled. Crossbow still on my wrist, though useless with my hands cuffed behind my back. Pouch still secured inside my skirt. I let out a relieved breath. At least I had that going for me.
A vertical strip of light appeared off to my left, and there was a faint creak of hinges. I froze, my eyes widening as I tried to make out who was coming in. In my periphery, I saw three sets of bunk beds lined up along the wall.
The face of the person coming in was cast in shadow, but the silhouette was female. The woman slipped inside and the door closed.
“Victoria?” whispered a voice I’d know anywhere.
“Amy?” Her name came out as a half sob.
My eyes were adjusting to the dark, and I saw her hurry across the room. She dropped to the floor next to me, her hands searching my head, face, and back.
“Did they hurt you?” she asked.
“Not really,” I said. “Just hit me with lightning magic. How did you know where to find me?”
“They might keep us captive, but they can’t keep us from talking to each other,” she said.
My heart clenched as I took in how she already ident
ified herself as a prisoner, but I didn’t have time for sorrow.
“I have to get these cuffs off,” I said, speaking rapidly. “Eduardo removed my charm so I have full power. I’ve got the Underground’s magic for freeing Hunters, and I have the means to kill the Demon Lord. I need to get into the Watchtower.”
“Vicki, you’re already in the Watchtower,” she said, helping me up to a sitting position.
“Oh shells, no.” I shook my head vehemently. “I’ve got to get all the women out of the House of Light before I go after the Demon Lord!”
“Shh!” She clapped a hand over my mouth. Her pale hair swung as she looked back at the door.
I moaned. I couldn’t help it. My plan was going up in smoke. Eduardo was probably still waiting out there for me to free the women from the House of Light. He was waiting for that signal to go get Lorenzo.
“I have to get out,” I said. “I can’t do it this way. Lorenzo is supposed to come, but not until the women and the Hunters are safe. He wouldn’t tell me all the steps to breaking the curse. Eduardo doesn’t even know I’m in here.”
I knew I wasn’t making much sense. My head was reeling, but also oddly frozen. I needed to think.
“Calm down, Vicki. Someone could find us any minute.” Amy placed her hands firmly on my shoulders. “What can I do?”
I took a long breath. “I need to get out of these shackles.”
“I don’t have a way to remove them. But you have your magic. Can’t you do something?”
I licked my dry lips. I really only knew water magic. I probably had other abilities, but I didn’t have time to experiment with them.
“I can command water.” I reached for the power that seemed to be buzzing around me ever since Eduardo had removed my charm.
“Okay,” she said. “Water corrodes metal. What about using magic and water to rust the locking mechanism?”
Suddenly I became acutely aware of the water surrounding us. The sea out there beyond the walls of the Watchtower. The waves lapping at the shores. The ever-present moisture in the air. My heart began to pound. We were literally surrounded by water.
