Withhold

by Andrea Pearson

  After five minutes, Jacob looked up. “Keitus has all of my world now. The Fat Lady is still alive. The Makalos are fine—having all of their magic again is really helping them, and they’ve been able to seal off their village.”

  “What are Keitus’s forces doing with the people?” Dmitri asked.

  “They’re fighting and killing anyone who resists, and accepting volunteers for their army. Those who don’t fight or volunteer are frozen in place. That’s what happened to the Fat Lady.”

  “Frozen?” Arien asked.

  Jacob nodded. “But not like ice. They turn green and the air leaves their bodies.”

  “How do you know they’re still alive?” Hayla asked, her hands resting on her stomach.

  Nicole’s heart went out to the woman—she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to face this sort of trial while pregnant.

  “Because I can see it in their eyes,” Jacob said. “The monsters are searching through those who are frozen and selecting big, strong fighters. They unfreeze them and try to get them to join Keitus.” His eyes narrowed. “They’re murdering anyone who doesn’t help.”

  “What’s Keitus going to do?” Nicole asked. “I mean, he’s already got everything he wants, right?”

  Coolidge shook his head. “What would anyone do with massive amounts of power and wealth? Amass more and more of it. There’s no end to the reach he’ll have, and who knows how many inhabited planets are in the universe that he can take over.”

  Nicole nodded. “I know, but eventually, he’ll have everything. What I want to know is what happens then, when there isn’t anything left to conquer?”

  Coolidge ran his hands down his face. “He’ll have to fight to maintain that hold. It’s not going to be easy for him.”

  “But with all the power he has . . .” Jacob said. “I mean, he rivals the Great Ones now.”

  Nicole felt like crying again. “Power . . . I still can’t sense my powers.” She turned to Jacob. “They haven’t come back yet!”

  She sank to the couch as she remembered what Onyev had said about Shonlin. Had Keitus discovered the weakness yet? While Nicole was compromised magically, and she definitely would consider this being compromised, Shonlin would be weakened, surely granting Keitus access. He was too powerful now for a weakened Shonlin to withstand any sort of attack. She had to do something about this!

  “Wait. What’s going on?” Coolidge asked.

  Nicole quickly updated him on what happened in the forest.

  He shook his head. “This is not good. He took your magic.”

  “Keitus was very mad at me. Why didn’t he just kill me?”

  No one responded. Probably because no one knew the answer.

  Queen Arien gave a little shriek, staring out the window. “Clouds!” she said, motioning frantically.

  Chapter Eleven

  Everyone rushed to join her, and Nicole was dismayed to see the sky filling with thunderheads that had a greenish tinge to them. Coolidge’s phone started dinging repeatedly, and Austin’s rang. He answered it, put it on speakerphone, and set it on the table in the middle of the room.

  “Dad, you okay?” he said.

  “Good, you’re safe,” Dave said. “Yes, we’re fine, but your mother and I were worried. Huge amounts of magic are trying to break into our place. Is that going on in Seattle?”

  Austin shook his head, glancing out the window. “No, not here. How long since that started?”

  “About five minutes ago. We wondered if it was something special for us, then realized it might be connected to Keitus.”

  Nicole bit her lip. Why had Keitus attacked Austin’s parents place first? Yes, they were more powerful. But wouldn’t Keitus have been drawn to a place where more magic was gathered? Like the university?

  She turned to Jacob, grabbing him. “We have to get Lizzie. Now. I don’t care what she’s doing. We have to bring her back.”

  Jacob nodded. His eyes glazed over for a moment, then he returned and said, “She’s in English class. Let’s get her.”

  Coolidge jumped to his feet. “I’m coming too. We have to warn the university.”

  Jacob opened a link to Lizzie’s classroom. They barged through the door, rushing into the room, interrupting the discussion. The teacher was annoyed at first until she saw Coolidge.

  “What’s going on?” she asked him.

  “Things that aren’t good.” He turned to the classroom. “Pack your stuff and go. Earth is about be taken over by an evil and very powerful being. You have minutes, maybe less, to get somewhere relatively safe.”

  Lizzie joined Nicole up front as people began jumping over chairs and desks to get out of class. Everyone recognized Nicole and her group. She ignored the stares they received from students as they rushed past.

  Coolidge turned to Jacob. “Take us to the university president’s office.”

  Jacob nodded, the key still in hand. He created a link and opened the door. Coolidge didn’t wait for anyone else before striding through. “Get in touch with the president of the United States—someone with more authority than us. Tell him earth is about to be attacked.”

  The university president, Professor Garcia, stared at Coolidge in shock. “What are you talking about?”

  Nicole’s heart sank in dismay. They hadn’t passed along a warning in a very long time—not since their initial meeting with Professor Smith months and months ago. She’d never once believed it would come to this. How much time would they lose over people not believing or being caught off guard?

  Coolidge didn’t have time to explain. At that moment, a huge magical pulse swept through the room, slamming into everyone. Screams echoed in the hallway. Professor Garcia opened a drawer and pulled out a cell phone. He pushed a single button and placed the phone on the middle of his desk, turning on it to speakerphone.

  “Payne here,” a man said.

  “Give the phone to the president.”

  There was some shuffling in the background, then someone said, “Yes?”

  It was a curt, abrupt voice, and Nicole recognized it immediately.

  “You might want to listen to this.” Garcia nodded at Coolidge.

  Coolidge placed both hands on the desk, leaning over the phone. “I don’t have much time, Mr. President. You need to get a message out to as many people and countries as you can. Earth is about to be attacked by an immortal being named Keitus. He is powerful—rivaling even the Great Ones who visited last year.”

  Nicole heard what sounded like the snapping of fingers, then the president said, “How will the attacks come?”

  Coolidge glanced at Nicole and Jacob.

  “They’ve already begun,” Jacob said, his voice deeper than usual with the intensity of the situation.

  “Watch the skies,” Nicole said. “The sun will be covered first.”

  “With greenish clouds?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s already begun here. What can we expect from this attack?”

  “Demons, and lots of them,” Nicole said. “They’ll kill or freeze those who oppose them, and recruit any who want to help.”

  The president cursed. “Why weren’t we warn—”

  The call was dropped.

  No one said anything. Nicole’s mouth went dry. She thought they would have more time than this.

  Garcia turned on the TV and began flipping through channels. Reporters were freaking out. Some stations were completely gone, and others were full of confused people who weren’t sure what was happening. One station had been reporting on another event when demons began attacking there, so they had first-hand footage and were playing it over and over again. Those videos showed people scrambling, running, and screaming.

  “How do we stop this?” Garcia asked. Then he shook his head and raised his hand, stopping any responses from coming. “Coolidge, this is your area. I’ll grant you access to all of the university resources and any equipment or funds you might need. But I must take care of my teachers and studen
ts.”

  Nicole saw the wisdom in that. He had to start with his stewardship before worrying about the rest of the world.

  “What’s our game plan?” she asked as she and the others rushed through Jacob’s link back to Coolidge’s house. She’d considered bringing up Shonlin, but couldn’t do it. Who knew what sort powers Keitus had? The chances that he could hear any and all conversations were high. There was no way she’d put Shonlin in that much jeopardy. She so wished they’d had more time to plan for this.

  “We need your magic back,” Coolidge said.

  Relief rushed over her. She hated that Shonlin was weak while she didn’t have her powers, and it really was imperative that they get things figured out as soon as possible, but she hated not being able to explain this to the others. “I definitely agree that it should be on our list, but why is it the first thing you bring up?”

  “We need your help,” he said. “You’re more powerful than the vast majority of Aretes out there, and we lost a lot of our Silvers last year when the Great Ones came.”

  Nicole only nodded in response. With her luck, if there was a resolution, it would be a long and painful one. She sensed the sphere in her pocket, ready for her to use at any moment. How was Shonlin doing now?

  “Jacob, take me to Onyev,” Nicole said. “I’m not sure he’ll be able to help, but I hope he can.”

  “Okay, but before we go,” Jacob said, “let me check and see how everything is going.”

  Nicole agreed and sat on the couch to wait. It didn’t take long. Jacob returned, his expression grave. “The Fire Pulser’s world has surrendered. Renforth’s too. And here, Aretes are losing—there aren’t enough of them. All of Europe is enslaved now, and Africa and Asia look to be following soon.”

  He looked up at Nicole and their friends. “It’s really, really bad out there.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Nicole felt tears prickle the backs of her eyes. How could they possibly win this battle? She knew Europe didn’t have many Aretes to begin with, but things were going faster than she’d expected.

  Austin gave Nicole a quick kiss, then Jacob took her hand. Everything flashed around them, and Nicole found herself outside Onyev’s place.

  Once she’d located him, Nicole explained what was going on.

  He shook his head, his brow furrowed. “Things are turbulent for us here, but now they feel small in comparison to what you’re going through.” He paced, hands behind his back. “I’m glad you came to see me. I’ve sensed weakness in Shonlin over the past few hours, and now that you’re here, I understand why.”

  “He stole my magic, and we don’t know how to get it back. Or even if we can. And I didn’t know what to tell my friends—I suspect that Keitus can hear our conversations. I couldn’t talk about my connection to Shonlin and risk him gaining access to the knowledge there.”

  “I appreciate that.” Onyev sighed. “Let’s hope the loss of your magic isn’t permanent. We’ll find out soon enough.”

  He tapped his cheek, still pacing, a distant expression on his face. He began mumbling to himself, saying things Nicole didn’t understand—possibly words in other languages. Finally, he turned to face Nicole.

  “There is a potion that might work—the Dramocia. It consists mostly of metals. Metals are usually dangerous, but in this potion, they work to expel the toxins Keitus put inside you. Do you know someone who can help you get special ingredients? And we’ll need a way to record them. I’ve never written them down.”

  He turned toward the door, presumably to call someone in to write the ingredients, but Nicole put up her hand and stopped him.

  “I’ve got something here.”

  She pulled out her phone, glad she left it powered off through everything. The battery was still at eighty-percent.

  Onyev dictated the ingredients as Nicole wrote. She had him spell out a couple of them. When she’d finished, she looked over the list. Four metals, three of which she vaguely remembered from her high school chemistry class.

  Rhodium. Ruthenium. Osmium. Clarion.

  “Does clarion come from Eklaron?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Onyev said. “It’s incredibly rare.”

  Naturally.

  “The only known mine is thousands of miles from here—on the other side of the planet.”

  Nicole got her feet and began pacing. “Do we just mix everything together?”

  “Yes.” Onyev lowered himself to the bench. He looked tired. “Find someone skilled in creating potions.”

  “I’m not sure where someone like that would be.”

  “Eklaron has many.”

  Nicole chewed her lip. “That’ll be a problem. Keitus has taken over Eklaron already.”

  Onyev looked stricken. “Shonlin . . .” he whispered. “Do what you must, Nicole. You know the stakes.”

  She couldn’t help but wonder why Onyev gave her the sphere if it was so imperative that it be kept safe. She was grateful he trusted her so much, though, and had a feeling the sphere would come in handy.

  Nicole returned to Jacob and told him everything—the sphere, her theory about Keitus being able to hear them in the present time, and how her powers were tied to Shonlin.

  “We have to get the Fat Lady,” Jacob said once she’d finished. “She’s the best potions master I know. Actually, she’s the only one I know.”

  Nicole rubbed her eyes. “I was worried you’d say something like that. She’s kind of stuck right now.”

  “Yeah.” A troubled expression crossed Jacob’s face. “And we can’t rescue her without having a place to take her.”

  Nicole nodded. Where would that be? They wouldn’t have access to earth much longer, and only Nicole could enter Shonlin. Actually, all of Eklaron was off limits. She briefly thought about Renforth’s planet, but as Jacob said, it had already been enslaved. What else was there?

  “Oh, I know!” she said.

  “What?”

  “Anna Morse’s dimension.”

  Jacob’s face lit up. “Good idea. He hasn’t touched it yet. Probably because he already pretty much owns it.”

  Excited to have a plan, they returned to the present time and their friends. Without telling anyone what was going on, Jacob opened a link from Coolidge’s place to the bone dimension. He put a finger to his lips and then motioned for everyone to follow him through.

  They set up camp in the place where Keitus had stayed for so long, where they found the core he’d used to prevent Jacob from spying on him. It was in a corner of the old abandoned cabin.

  Austin chuckled. “How about we use his magic against him? Stop him from listening in on us?”

  “If we can,” Coolidge said. “It might not function for us.”

  Lizzie put her hands on her hips. “Even if we get it to work, if he thinks to look here, he’ll stop us immediately. Don’t forget he’s got the talismans, which give him the power to weaken and reveal. Let’s just hope he won’t think about checking here at all because if he does, we’re toast.”

  “We need to be constantly moving to prevent anything from happening,” Coolidge said.

  Everyone agreed to that.

  Nicole leaned against the doorframe, facing her friends inside the cabin. “For reasons I can’t explain, our biggest priority needs to be to rescue the Fat Lady.”

  “But how?” Austin asked.

  “The same way you got the first talisman,” Coolidge said. “Jacob puts up a bubble, and everyone sneaks around inside it while he uses his ability to see emotions and figure out where all of the ‘bad guys’ are.”

  Jacob held up a hand. “Seeing emotions only works if they belong to intelligent beings. Unintelligent beings can still be enemies, but I won’t see their emotions.”

  “That’s good to know,” Coolidge said.

  “So, I’m game,” Austin said. “Who’s going?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  After more debate, it was decided that Nicole, Azuriah, Austin, and Coolidge would form the team.
Azuriah volunteered to take Jacob’s spot. They’d need him to watch and open a link once they finished. If he was with them when they were attacked, he wouldn’t be able to get them out. Instead, Azuriah would do the bubble thing.

  Lizzie, Dmitri, Arien, and Aldo would stay behind and quietly scout out new campground spots.

  Nicole gave her best friend a hug, holding her tightly. “Austin proposed to me,” she whispered. “I said yes, and we were going to get married this weekend, then Keitus attacked and spoiled our plans.”

  Lizzie pulled back, hands on her friend’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her usual bounce and cheer gone. “Please, please be safe. I want to come to your wedding.”

  Nicole half smiled, her body tired, her mind exhausted. “Are you guys going to split up to search for camping spots or stick together?”

  “I’m going with Aldo. He and I decided to look for places near where anything bad has happened to us—it was my idea. I figured those would be the last places Keitus would think to look.”

  Nicole hugged Lizzie again. “Genius idea. I’ll be praying for you.”

  “Same.”

  Nicole joined the others and watched as Jacob pulled the key out of his pocket. He turned and asked if everyone was ready.

  “Don’t forget to watch each other closely,” Coolidge said to those staying behind. “Remember that the Croents can take on the shape of loved ones.”

  “In case anything happens and you aren’t able to regroup with us,” Lizzie said, “what do we do once this is over?”

  “Gather as many people together as possible to attack Keitus,” Coolidge said.

  Nicole shook her head, motioning at Jacob to stop in case he was about to open the link. “No—that’s a bad idea. He’s way too powerful. We have to communicate with the Great Ones. They’re the only ones who can stop him.”

  Most disagreed with this plan, especially Austin, and they all started arguing with her. Only Lizzie and Jacob thought she might be right, but even they were doubtful. Azuriah didn’t care what they did as long as it got them somewhere.