by Ioana Visan
“Would you?” Fabian gave her a long, pensive look.
“Just show me how.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Nothing’s happening,” Alise said after several minutes.
Rafe ignored her accusing tone. “Well, there’s one thing we know for sure…” He sighed. “He got in.”
“How do you know he didn’t end up somewhere else?” she asked. The Wizard could have blasted Vale off into space for all she knew.
“Because if he could let us know what happened, Vale would have done it by now. The only explanation is that he’s trapped.”
Or dead. But Rafe didn’t look too worried.
“So, what are we doing now?” she muttered and shifted her weight, feeling restless. The air burned, and they weren’t getting any answers by waiting here. She needed to do something. Cassie had to be dying of worry and fear by now as she didn’t handle stress well.
“I’m thinking…,” Rafe said, standing there like a marble pillar, unaffected by the heat.
“You’re obviously not trying too hard,” she said sarcastically.
“If you have any ideas, be my guest,” he replied with the same tone and waved a hand at her in invitation.
“Actually, I do.” She took a long look at the building with narrowed eyes. It was massive, sporting the typical architectural style from the beginning of the past century. Taking it down would be like attacking a castle. She didn’t want to ask for someone else’s help—the kind of help that was going to cost them a great deal—but she had no choice. “Come on. Let’s go.” She turned on her heels and started for the car.
Rafe was instantly by her side. “Where are we going?”
“To see someone. But I can’t introduce you in those clothes.” She glanced at the Guardian’s leather gear. “He’ll freak out.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Rafe looked down at his jacket.
“You look like you’re about to beat somebody up,” Alise said. “I’m surprised no one has called the police.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. So you’re taking me shopping?”
“Yep.”
“Then you’re paying,” he said, not a hint of humor on his face. “This should be interesting,” he added a moment later.
More like a big pain. She sighed, but since it needed to be done, she settled for giving him directions to a fashion boutique on Stephan the Great Avenue. Rafe followed her lead, more or less, but without protesting much. Once she began picking out new clothes for him, he started complaining.
“I don’t like these pants. They have holes in them.”
She looked at the pair of jeans she was holding out for him to try on. “They’re the latest fashion. And you need to blend in.” Like he could ever pass unnoticed with his height, broad shoulders, bright blond hair, and strangely-colored eyes.
Reluctantly, Rafe took the jeans and muttered, “I still don’t like them.”
Alise shooed him into the fitting room. While he changed, she tossed him a shirt through the curtains. At least it was white, the color he seemed to favor.
“I feel naked,” he whined when he stepped outside, carrying his old clothes in a bag with the boutique’s name on it.
The salesgirl gazed at him from the counter with longing eyes and let out a dreamy sigh.
Alise gave him an up and down look and smirked to herself. “Believe me, you’re not. And I wouldn’t complain if I were you. Those clothes cost half of my paycheck.” They’d probably be stained with blood soon anyway.
“You get paid that little?”
“You try to work in this economic climate and see how well it goes,” she huffed.
“Don’t you miss being able to make clothes out of thin air and not need any money?” he teased her.
She gave him a pained look. “Not really,” she said, although he could see right through the lie. Once a Fairy always a Fairy, no matter how hard she struggled to adapt. “Now drive.” She pushed him towards the car.
Rafe got into the driver’s seat and turned on the engine. “Where to?”
“Take the second left and go until I tell you to stop.”
A moment later, he said, “Okay. Who are we going to meet?”
“Someone who can help.”
“This someone better be a powerful Wizard,” he muttered.
“He’s not a Wizard,” she said. Something better. She smirked to herself.
Rafe glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “What’s the plan?”
There was a cruel smile on her face when she answered, “We blow them up.”
Chapter Nineteen
They drove on the main road until they left the city. Dealerships, warehouses, and small private residences gradually replaced the blocks of flats and smaller buildings, everything mashed up together like a badly constructed puzzle.
When they arrived at a large yard with a variety of ornamental plants displayed in front, Alise said, “Here.”
Rafe pulled the car over in front of the open gate, and they got out. “What’s here?” he asked.
“The firm I do the landscape design for buys all the plants we need from here.”
“That’s good to know, but it’s not what I meant,” Rafe said.
Alise smirked. “Like I said, here’s our supplier.”
She led the way to the greenhouse in the back of the yard, set aside from the main building where the offices were located. “In here.” Alise opened the door and stepped inside.
“Come in! Come in!” a voice welcomed from a distance while they advanced between the stalls loaded with exotic plants.
“This reminds me of home,” Rafe said. “Does he fly around and spit out poison, too?”
“Be nice and try not to scare him,” she said.
“Who? Me?” Rafe put on an innocent smile that morphed into a feral grin, showing his teeth.
Alise rolled her eyes. “I mean it,” she hissed as they walked between the rows of pots and plants. Tiny, colorful winged creatures swarmed around them, and she had to fight the impulse to bat them away with her hands.
After a couple more steps, they ran into an old man in a faded gray lab coat bent over a small hydrangea bush. Half the leaves had lost their color and hung limp against the green ones. He murmured something in a soothing voice to the suffering plant and sprayed some liquid on it. Small black eyes blinked behind oval-shaped glasses when he looked up.
“Miss Alise, what a pleasure to see you here,” he said. “What can I do for you? A special order for your firm … or have you changed your mind about my offer?”
“Hello, Mr. Elronicus,” Alise said with a pleasant smile. “No, I’m not buying—” she shook her head, “but my friend here is interested.” She nodded towards Rafe, who maintained a laid back, vaguely curious expression on his face.
“Oh…” Elronicus’ eyebrows rose up his wrinkled forehead. “All right. I’ll see what I can do.” He removed his gloves and stepped away from the table. “Meantime, could you take a look at this, Miss Alise, as a personal favor to me? I’m running out of ideas with this little thing, and I so hate to see them suffer, don’t you?”
He walked away, and Alise moved into his place. “Of course.” She placed her hands on both sides of the bush, her palms open and facing the leaves without touching them.
Rafe waited for the old man to walk away then whispered, “What exactly am I interested in?”
“Energy … magic … power … you name it,” she answered quietly, her attention focused on the plant that, little by little, was regaining its vigor. “He’s a dealer. He crossed over sometime between the wars, and he’s been dealing ever since. The whole plant business is a cover-up. He tries to sell me some each time we meet.”
“And you haven’t taken any? Not once?” Rafe sounded incredulous.
“Oh no, I’m not touching it. That stuff is addictive.” She shook her head with determination. “It doesn’t take much to get hooked on it, and he’s the only dealer in town. I’m not
dedicating my life to him.”
“So, you won’t, but I will? Nice.”
“You can handle it,” she said without looking at him.
“I hope your paycheck can cover it.”
“Oh, he doesn’t take money. He works for favors.” She grinned wickedly. The favors would be his.
Blooms started to appear behind the leaves, and when the first one opened, Rafe moved her hand away, saying, “Enough.” She needed to save whatever magic she had left, so she didn’t protest when Rafe pulled her away from the table.
Elronicus returned, both hands glowing as he held them out, palms up, as if in offering. Bolts of light pulsed above them. “I took the liberty to bring you two. I thought you could handle it.”
Alise bit back a smile as she gave Rafe an I told you so look. Focused on the bolts of light, Rafe paid no attention to her. She could bet he had never seen that much magic concentrated in one place. She hadn’t, either. When he grinned, she knew what he was thinking. Yeah, they could definitely blow up the place with that!
Rafe ran his fingers through the light. Nothing happened. He grew bolder and, at the old man’s nod, took it in his hand. It didn’t stay there long, slowly disappearing inside his palm. The sun on the back of his hand flared brighter than ever and faded just as fast. Then it was all over, as though it had never happened.
At Elronicus’s shake of the head, Rafe changed hands and repeated the procedure with the other one. When he was done, he stared at his hands as if amazed they could enclose that much power.
“I take it you are pleased with the result, sir?” The old man smirked.
“Indeed I am.” Rafe nodded.
“Good. I’ll take a favor in return … at my discretion, of course.” Elronicus glanced at the hydrangea plant. “Oh, it was blue. How lovely!” He brought his hands together. “Thank you, Miss Alise. You always do wonders.” He offered no favor in return.
“Thank you,” Alise said, and signaled to Rafe that it was time to leave. “We’ll probably have another contract for you in the upcoming weeks.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Elronicus said. “It’s a pleasure to do business with you.”
They left the greenhouse, hurrying as much as they could on the narrow path between the potted plants that seemed to have multiplied during their short visit.
“How does it feel?” Alise asked once they were back inside the car.
“Fantastic. I feel like I can blow up the whole world,” Rafe said, his fingers gripping the steering wheel.
“Well, try to hold it in until we get to the right place, will you?”
Chapter Twenty
Vale had been awake for a while. He had pretended to be unconscious then stopped bothering when it became clear no one was paying any attention to him. He heard voices, one of which he recognized. Cassie was there, and not too far from him. At least he had ended up in the right place. Since she sounded relatively fine, he decided to stop worrying about her and worry about himself instead.
His blades were still attached to his belt, but the chains prevented him from reaching them. He flexed his muscles to test their strength. He wasn’t going to be able to escape without help. Not when he could barely move, even without the restraints. He felt weak and sticky from the dried blood. Too much blood. Guardians weren’t supposed to bleed that much. Their wounds closed faster than anyone else’s.
But, then again, they weren’t supposed to fight alone, either. The Guardians worked in pairs for a reason. A team of two could handle most of the threats, while three of them were practically invincible. Still, Rafe had sent him into battle alone, preferring to stay back with the Fairy. Vale resented him for that. It was better to focus on something else rather than on the various parts of his body that hurt. Also thanks to Rafe, he didn’t have the healing stone with him. Not that he would have been able to use it, given the way he was pinned to the wall. The chains were most uncomfortable.
He cracked an eye open and peeked between the locks of hair that had fallen over his face. His left eye refused to open more than a few millimeters. He hated being weak. He hurt, and his stomach twisted to the point of throwing up. Despite the pain, he couldn’t allow it. The smell of pork roast didn’t help. Pork roast?
Vale’s vision cleared enough for him to see the two figures seated at the table, having what appeared to be a delightful late afternoon lunch. The image would have been perfectly fine if it hadn’t included Cassie and some guy who gave off strong vibes of magic overload.
“Don’t mind us. Make yourself comfortable,” the man said, not bothering to look in his direction, though clearly addressing him. The Wizard. Boy, wasn’t he glad they had finally met?
Cassie didn’t acknowledge his presence, either. He should have known. Humans couldn’t be trusted. They had no honor code. He didn’t know why he’d thought this one was any different.
Wincing, Vale tried to move to an upright position. He was pleased to discover the chains allowed him to sit up, so he rested with his back propped against the wall, the chains becoming instantly tight. He lay his head back with a sigh. This was going to be a pain.
“Your friend is surely taking her time getting here,” the Wizard said conversationally while cutting the food on his plate.
“I asked her to come, and she said she would,” Cassie said. The fork trembled in her hand a little. “She just needs to convince the Guardian that there is no other way. I trust her. I know she’ll come.” Her pleading hit a desperate note that took Vale by surprise.
“She better come, or our deal is off.” The Wizard’s voice was calm and collected, like he was talking about the weather.
Cassie’s entire body shook at that thought. “She will…,” she whispered.
The girl lowered her eyes, played with her food for a little while, then looked up again. Whatever she saw above the Wizard’s left shoulder—Vale didn’t see anything, other than the cracked wall behind the man—made a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. She bit on her bottom lip and quickly looked away to preserve her composure. Interesting.
“When she gets here, will Gorem come for her?” she asked.
“Why? Are you eager to meet him?” The Wizard’s patronizing tone didn’t promise anything good.
“No, not really,” Cassie mumbled. “He scares me. Look at what he did to Alise.” A hint of outrage slipped into her voice.
He waved a hand dismissively. “There are worse things than that.”
“Worse than torture and murder?” Cassie’s eyes opened wide.
“Ask him.” The Wizard nodded at Vale, and they both stared at him.
Vale could think of a few things that were definitely worse than torture and murder, but Cassie didn’t need to hear about it. She looked scared enough as it was. He settled for straightening his head and stared at the Wizard.
Wizards were vain and cowardly at the same time. They rarely killed, unless they were forced to, so Vale felt safe … for the time being. Not safe enough to ask for some water, though. The Wizard probably would have given him poison just to watch him suffer.
Cassie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Once again, she diverted everyone’s attention by saying, “When he has her here, is there a chance Gorem will let her go?”
Vale would have liked to know that, too, even if his best guess was no.
“His plans are … complicated,” the Wizard said, and Vale noticed he never called Gorem by his name. “Either way, you can count on never seeing her again.”
It was a bleak prospect as far as Alise’s future went, but he wasn’t surprised by it. The Fairy was better off dead. In fact, she should have died years ago. Vale was curious why she hadn’t, and part of him wanted to track down the Centaur who had helped her and look into it. Rafe had expressed the same concern, and he might do it, too. If he did, Vale would be right beside him, despite the issue involving the healing stone. Some things were worth knowing and, by nature, Guardians were curious creatures. It helped knowing stuff oth
er people didn’t. Unfortunately, the same concept applied to Wizards.
Seeing Cassie’s shoulders drop and the girl lower her head made his fists clench tightly. He didn’t particularly care for the girl, he found her mostly in the way, but his protective nature revolted against what the Wizard was doing to her. If only his hands had been free … just for a little while. He would show the bastard what those who hurt the innocents deserved. But it was not too late. Wizards and Guardians had a similar life expectancy. There was still time.
Cassie seemed distracted, staring blindly at nothing. While the Wizard moved to the window to look outside, a cold gust of wind passed over Vale. After centuries of experience, few things could startle a Guardian, but he still had to stifle a gasp of surprise. Underneath his clothes, his wounds were slowly healing on their own. If he hadn’t known better, he would have sworn there was a healing stone nearby. Yes, there definitely was.
Wincing because the healing stone’s effect was weakened by its presence not quite in the same timeline, Vale realized he had another problem. He needed to find a way to let Rafe know that Nate had escaped the golden cages and was wandering around not far from there. He groaned inwardly. They were in deep trouble. The Council was not going to like this.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Ready?”
Alise drew in a deep breath. She wanted to say no. Hell, she wanted to scream no. Her entire body tensed, ready to bolt. She wanted to run and hide—a healthy impulse. Still, she was standing there, in front of the back entrance of the university, contemplating entering. She had to be insane. Along with her wings, Gorem must have taken her brain, too.
She remembered the pain, the horror, everything. So why was she doing this? For Cassie? The same part of her that was terrified hoped Gorem would be there so they could end this once and for all. She looked at Rafe, who stood shaking slightly beside her. Guardians’ bodies weren’t designed to hold that much magic. They had to make their move soon.
