by Sonya Clark
Pressure erupted behind her eyes, bands of pain wrapping around her head. Her heart rate shot up and her breaths came short and uneven. Sensory overload was on the way if she didn’t manage to ground, and quickly. She fought the instinct to curl her hands into fists and cut her nails into her palms. It wouldn’t be enough, for one thing. Mostly she just didn’t want to do it anymore. She was so damned tired of hurting herself. She nearly panicked, not sure if she could figure out how to ground without pain, but then an idea leaped to mind.
The solidity that lay deep below everything else, even the tangled chaos of emotions, could help her. She reached for it, pushing through everything else plus the screaming in her head. It hurt and for a moment she could see nothing but a white glare and spots dancing in her vision, but finally she landed there, in what felt like the center of a heartbeat.
The pain in her head stopped. Sensations returned to manageable levels. She took a deep breath and blinked. The world looked the same as before, bright winter day, bare trees, passersby with their heads down. Lizzie stayed on the bench for some time, thinking. Breathing. Feeling magic swirl and eddy around her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“It is too fucking early in the morning.” Vadim shivered in the cold air.
“Stop complaining. This is fun.” Infectious excitement bubbled out of Lizzie. Vadim found it charming but he wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Your idea of fun and mine are vastly different. Shall I tell you mine?”
“I’m looking forward to meeting your friends.”
Vadim grinned. “I’m not a young man, you know. I need my beauty rest.”
The route to the meeting point in Rockenbach had been surprisingly crowded for so early, and during the holidays to boot. The subway trains had been full of Normals. Foot traffic was heavy too.
Once every year the sun rose in perfect alignment with the canyons created by the high-rise buildings along a street that traversed nearly the entirety of New Corinth. For years, small groups of Magic Born had spread across the city to witness the event. Many of the old, agricultural-based sabbat celebrations had fallen out of favor with those living in the city. Corinthhenge was an urban sabbat that had gained traction, especially with the more religiously minded.
Beyond using it as an excuse for his nightshade habit, Vadim wasn’t much for religion. He hadn’t planned on attending the henge this year but Lizzie’s interest had him looking forward to it. For her, he dragged his ass out of bed way too early, then through the cold streets of New Corinth to get to the meeting place in time to watch the sun rise.
For the past several days he’d spent as much time as possible with her, but there was still business to attend to in FreakTown. With the ID badges, he and Tuyet had been able to do their part in moving the group of unregistereds and their families through the underground. Once everything was in place, it had happened quickly. Just last night he’d received word the group had successfully been put on a ship to Brazil, on their way to freedom.
He’d been able to receive that communiqué because of the work he’d done rebuilding the underground’s communications network in the darknet. New bank accounts, new chat rooms and email, new emergency methods of contact since they’d had to burn the old. Exhausting, meticulous work, but necessary. Others were exploring the possibility of new routes out of the country even though that information wasn’t stored online.
Plus there were preparations for if—when—the ordinance passed. Extra stores of food, medicine and other supplies were being arranged. No one was prepared to talk about what to do if the law went national. Many of the underground leaders outside New Corinth found it hard to believe that such a law could pass even in just one city. No matter what Vadim told them, they didn’t want to think it could happen. Sometime after the new year, they would all find out one way or another.
Lizzie said, “Are there always this many people?”
He shook his head. “Lot more Normals this year than usual.”
“But there’s always some?”
“Mostly in the Rock but it looks like they’re coming from all over this morning.” He took her hand and pointed at a small group at the end of the block. “They’re here already.”
Lizzie said nothing, trepidation crossing her face. She hesitated only a moment though, then followed.
Nate greeted them first, raising his cup of coffee. “Early enough for you?” He laughed.
Vadim made the introductions. Tuyet greeted Lizzie with as much friendliness as could be expected from her. Calla, on the other hand, remained cool and reserved. Vadim gave her a baleful look. She stuck out her tongue and snuggled closer to Nate.
“How much longer?” Lizzie looked composed, if a bit nervous.
“Couple minutes,” Tuyet said. “Listen. Hear the drums?”
More and more people poured into the street. Windows opened in the buildings, residents stepping out onto tiny balconies or merely leaning out to watch. Despite the noise of excited chatter, the constant beat of drums could be heard. Vadim knew the drum circle was only blocks from the main entrance to FreakTown and that they were using a very subtle amplification spell to send the sound across the henge path.
More subtle magic gradually dimmed the streetlights. Vadim added his own will to the enchantment. It was a huge risk, especially now, but he’d not been able to talk the elders out of it. In truth, he hadn’t tried very hard. It seemed as though everyone was in the mood to push the limits.
Darkness claimed the street. To the east, the first rays of color already bled into the sky. The drums grew louder, the rhythm more insistent. An eerie silence swept through the crowd as they waited, watching. Vadim squeezed Lizzie’s hand.
As the sky grew brighter, energy passed through the crowd in waves. Vadim felt it all the way to his bones, an intangible power comprised of magic and something more, something earthier. Many nights on the dance floor at Sinsuality, especially esbat nights, he’d felt something similar. A sort of collective energy created by the atmosphere and the emotions of the crowd, it had the power to change an ordinary night into something ethereal, unforgettable.
The orange ball of the sun broke the horizon line. Shouts went up as people raised their phones to the sky, as if urging the sun higher while recording the event. The drums intensified. Here and there, Magic Born stepped into the street itself, which was thankfully devoid of traffic. Some stood alone. Others moved in small groups, spreading out in what would appear to be random spots to Normals. Vadim couldn’t remember which elder had proposed the standing sigils—it might have been Murphy. It wasn’t his thing but it had a certain elegance he could appreciate.
Here and at other places along the sun’s path, Magic Born were right then creating sigils by standing in patterns. Inspired by Norse runes, Celtic ogham, various other traditions and belief systems and their own designs, the symbols represented variations on a single theme. Hope. As the sun rose higher and washed over each group forming a sigil, a spell would be cast. Hope for the Magic Born. Restoration of their place in society. Peace with Normals. They couldn’t paint these symbols on the concrete like they would inside FreakTown because of the prohibitions against magic off zone, so they created them as best they could with lines of standing people.
Way too crunchy granola hippie for him to participate in, but Vadim watched with an open heart. Nothing else had worked in the over fifty years since the first Magic Laws were passed. Who was he to discount something like this?
Calla walked into the street and raised her coffee cup to the rising sun. Nate followed, then Tuyet. Vadim glanced at Lizzie. She nodded, so off they went.
A melody spread through the crowd as the sun rose higher and higher. Snatches of lyrics reached him, as did a memory of his mother singing the same song at a henge during his childhood.
Lizzie leaned closer. “What
are they singing?”
“It’s an old henge rite song. I don’t remember the name of it, just some of the words.”
“‘Here Comes the Sun’,” Tuyet supplied. “That’s the name.” She added her voice to the song.
More of that unfocused energy rippled over the street. Vadim watched people as he sang. Every Magic Born within sight showed signs of being affected, some more than others. Surprisingly, some Normals were affected, as well. Troubled, nervous faces slowly relaxed. Body language changed. Laughter rang out as excited conversation returned. He saw Normals and Magic Born talking together, laughing together, shaking hands.
Vadim needed a drink. A little hope, he’d always thought, was such a dangerous thing.
Lizzie stepped away and moved to a spot by herself. She took off her gloves and raised a hand as if she could feel an air current. The unsteady push of her will popped in his awareness moments after it happened. The spell being cast by the standing sigils and the rising sun intensified. Magical energy rose in a wave and quickly spread through the street.
He rushed to Lizzie’s side and took her hand in his. Tuyet covered her back. Calla pulled Nate along and they completed a tight circle around her.
“What was that?” Lizzie shook. “I didn’t mean to do anything.”
“It’s okay,” he said. Keeping his eyes on Lizzie, he asked Tuyet, “Did anyone else see where that came from?”
“I don’t think so. I think we got to her fast enough.”
Meaning hopefully anyone nearby who felt that would assume it had come from either him or Calla. “Let’s get out of here. Without trying to look like we’re in a hurry. But, you know, hurry.”
Nate and Calla left first, arm in arm, heading up the street toward FreakTown. With a nod at Tuyet, Vadim led Lizzie to the nearest subway station. She was silent until they finally returned to her house on the other side of town.
“Can you tell me what that was?”
“Crowds can create an energy all their own. A witch with the right kind of power can channel it.” He sat on the sofa and rubbed his temple. She’d estimated they had a month before the ordinance came before the city council. With luck, debate and revenue studies could hold off an actual vote for another month at least, possibly a little longer. Even with the best-case scenario, there wasn’t enough time for anyone to teach her how to utilize empathy magic. And that was if he could find someone in FreakTown with the requisite abilities whom he could trust.
“Do you think I can do that?” She curled onto the couch next to him.
“It would take a lot of training and practice but yeah, based on what I felt this morning, I’d say yes.”
“Is that something that could help us? If I could influence people?”
“It’s not about influencing people. Channeling power, it’s—” He stopped, not sure how best to explain. “It’s something you do for big spells, really big stuff that needs a lot of power to work. I don’t know of it being used here in my lifetime. Or anywhere.”
“Is it hard to do?”
“It’s tricky. Takes a lot of finesse. Very fine control.” He sat back and pulled her closer. “We don’t have the kind of time we’d need for you to master it. I’m not sure I can even teach you something like that.”
“There’s got to be something I can do. I can’t stand feeling useless.”
“I’ve been thinking about what comes next.” He didn’t meet her eyes when he said it.
From her silence he could tell she knew what he meant so he continued. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to do anything about Carger soon enough, so I think you’re going to have to just vote for the damn thing.”
“Vadya.”
His heart lurched every time she called him that. “It’s okay. Just do it and move on as quickly as possible. You and Mendoza sit down and craft some sort of statement about how your hands were tied by public opinion or some such, I don’t know. You’ll figure it out.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “It disgusts me.”
“I know.” He smoothed her hair and brushed her forehead with a kiss. “But until I can deal with Carger, I don’t know what else to do. Afterward, I see two possibilities. It’s entirely up to you which you want to pursue.”
“Is one of them a life of leisure? Because I’m likely to lose my seat after voting for this. Unless Jennings and his followers decide to start rigging elections too.”
“I figure Carger is going to try to manipulate you further inside this group, so he can get you elected to higher office and have himself a nice little puppet. You can go along with that as much as you’re comfortable. It would potentially be a good source of information for us.”
“I’d thought of that. Honestly, I don’t know how good at it I would be. I don’t know how long I’d be able to hide how I really felt.”
Doing something to get Carger off her back had to be a priority. Tomorrow he would start digging for information, see if he could find some dirt on the political operator. Surely someone in that line of work had plenty of nasty secrets hidden under their nice clean resume. “The other possibility I considered is working with some people Tuyet knows.”
“What sort of people?”
“There’s some people who live in Rock. It’s not really organized yet but I think that will start to change when this ordinance passes.”
“What do they do?”
“So far, just talk. And some of them have noticed things.” This was the potentially delicate part, but he didn’t want to leave anything out. “Look. Here’s the thing.” He took a moment to work out how best to explain. “The part of the internet that most people see is very controlled, very regulated. As far as information, everything. But if you know how to do it, you can get to the darknet and it’s a different story there. A lot of it’s bad, plenty of it is downright crazy. But some of it’s very useful for people like me. It’s how we communicate, zone to zone.”
“The ones who can do what you do.”
“Yes.”
“Trancehack?”
He nodded. They’d talked about a great deal over the past few days, including his unique magical abilities. “There are plenty of Normals in the darknet too. They talk about the rumors of how to get out of the country. Pass along information about who to contact and where. They also talk about the fact that if you look at public census records, it’s pretty damned obvious that the richer families somehow have fewer Magic Born children.”
She edged away and sat up, arms crossed and brows knitted together. “So it’s out there.”
“There’s a lot of unhappiness out there about the Magic Laws. It’s just sort of free-floating and nonspecific. There’s people that don’t want to give up their kids. People that want the laws gone for economic reasons, so that sanctions are finally lifted. People who see it as a class issue because of the rumors of rich families buying fake DNA tests.”
“This ordinance could prove to be a flash point.”
“Yes.” He idly picked up the empty wine bottle they’d left on the end table the night before. “That it could.” He twirled the bottle and waited for the realization to hit her. He knew it would. She was too smart.
It took only seconds. “You want it to pass.”
“No, I don’t. But if it does, I’m going to work with people to make sure we use it to our advantage. We’re going to do our best to force people to face reality about just how fucking barbaric these laws are.”
She moved to his lap, straddling his thighs, and took the bottle away from him to return it to the table. “What’s your endgame, Vadya? Because it sounds like you have one.”
“I don’t have any kind of plan. I just know this isn’t sustainable. More and more people are coming to the underground to get out. More and more people are not having kids because of the risk of losin
g them. How long is this supposed to go on before the Magic Laws collapse under their own weight?” He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Blowing up buildings isn’t the answer. We need to be working with Normals. The first step in that is to find the ones we can make common cause with. Good people, like Nate Perez, who aren’t afraid of us. Who think we’re worth something. At least worth treating like human beings.” He looked away, surprised by a sudden burst of shame. It had been decades since he’d felt that way.
She rested her hands on his shoulders, fingers caressing his nape. “Looking to add revolutionary to your long list of impressive achievements?”
Warmth curled through him, chasing away the bad stuff and leaving him oddly light. “I always fancied myself a street fighting man.” That was a lie but it sounded good and it made her smile. “I don’t want to talk about this stuff anymore.”
Her smile widened. “That’s just what I was thinking.”
“Got something in mind, Councilwoman?”
“I have several things in mind.” She slid forward. Tremors of desire rocketed through him.
He slid his hands up her thighs and around to cup her bottom. “All dirty things, I hope.”
A curl of magic shimmered in the air as she doused the overhead lights and replaced them with soft witchlight. The confidence she displayed with these casual demonstrations of magic thrilled him. What a witch she would be, if given a chance to flourish.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about our first night together.”
He grinned. “That’s certainly something I like to think about.”
“And about how you’ve treated me like I’m made of glass since then.”
“That sounds like a complaint.” She was right though. He’d been uncharacteristically gentle with her since that first night. No—since the first time he’d witnessed her self-harm.
“It’s not a complaint. I just...” She looked away, biting her lip.
“Tell me what you want, sweetheart.”
