by A. J. Macey
“Thanks, Tor,” I whispered. It was nice seeing him take over and be the rock Caspian might have been missing after all this time. He gave me a smile but turned his focus back to his brother.
“Hey, breathe with me,” Torryn said, crouching down in front of him and squeezing his knee. They took a few deep breaths together before he spoke again. “We have to be strong for her, but don’t you doubt our girl, she’ll be fine. And when we get her back, I’ll even refrain from hurting all the councilors. I’ll save one just for you, little brother.”
Caspian snorted through his tears, wiping them away, his voice hoarse when he spoke.
“I just hate this. She’s never given a break! There’s always someone wanting to use her, and we couldn’t keep her safe. How will we keep her safe our whole lives if we’re always hunted? I mean... I’d choose to be with her no matter what the danger was, but what kind of life is that for her... for us?”
“We won’t be hunted our whole lives, Cas. We’ll survive this, take down this damn council, and make this a world we can live in without fear,” I promised, reaching up so my hand could trail soothing circles over his back.
“I agree with Drayce. We’re going to be fine after this is all over. That... and I’ll end Tallis just for fun, but that was a given,” Torryn joked, winking at me. “Now, let’s go get our girl.”
“I’m sorry, guys.” Xan’s choked up voice came from the door, nearly making me jump out of my skin. Kye and Xan had both come in quietly, leaning against the wall by the door.
“Nope,” Kye started, leveling him with a serious look. “Don’t do that. It was something that could have happened with all five of us there. It’s. Not. Your. Fault.”
Xan nodded but looked unconvinced. In fact, this was the most vulnerable I’d ever seen our artfully composed companion. Fuck the council for doing this to her... to us.
“I agree with Kye. This is their fault, not yours or ours. We can talk about our plan on the way to the portal.” I stood, scanning the room for forgotten items. The others followed before shoving everything into Torryn’s spelled bag, which he flung on his back before making sure we had our IDs. Once everyone had their familiar in hand, properly disguised, he led us outside with Mr. Stripes and Ruby in tow.
“Should we take one of those or walk?” I asked, pointing at the yellow cars driving by.
“A taxi?” Torryn asked, laughing at my complete lack of Aureus lingo. “Nah, we’re better off walking. We’d have to separate, and I’m not into that today. Plus, most human public transit doesn’t allow pets. We also don’t know that we won’t be followed.”
At the mention of being followed, we fell silent, walking quickly back the way we had come. This time, however, it was still daylight, meaning there was a huge crowd milling around outside, not just security. We joined the mass of people, trying to blend in as we moved through the courtyard.
“Fuck, look,” Kye hissed, cocking his head to the side. My eyes moved in the direction he was gesturing, finally landing on a middle-aged woman with a no-nonsense haircut. Her clothes were more of the Aureus style than the usual enforcer robes, but the enforcer patch was still in place.
Weird, do they have enforcers permanently stationed here?
“She hasn’t seen us. Come on,” Caspian urged, leading us in the opposite direction. Before we could get five steps away, Torryn growled, and Xan cursed as they looked behind us. I dared a look back, breaking into a run when I saw her start toward us, holding something on the side of her ear and muttering into it.
“Go!” I yelled, urging Xan forward since he was in front of me. A startled yelp behind me had my blood running cold. I turned to find a large hand clamped around the collar of Caspian’s shirt, Coral making squeaking protests in his hands as he clutched her close. For the first time in a long time, I lost my cool, my laid-back demeanor dropping in the face of losing another of my coven.
“Let. Him. Go!” I growled, keeping my voice low enough not to startle the crowd of humans. I forced my power to flare as a gust of wind picked up around us, the static in the air letting the human guard know I wasn’t playing around. He flinched, but his grip held firm until Xan’s hand shot out, a flicker of flame licking over the guard’s skin, giving him no choice but to drop Caspian with a startled yell. We ran without hesitation, Torryn rushing ahead and searching his bag. He pulled out the imprinted gel handprint he’d conjured from the panel when we got here. Pressing it to his hand, he opened the door to the mausoleum was while Xan made sure we were all ready and waiting.
“Welcome, Mr. President,” the automated voice announced as the door swung open. Kye was the last one through, shooting a shroud of shadows along the building so it would be harder to find us. When the door was closed, we booked it across the hallway, into the elevator, and down to the portal room.
The portal stood before us, the polished stone dark without a hint of magic coming from it. Oh, gods... did they shut down the portals?! Before I could fully panic, Torryn stepped forward, muttering a spell under his breath and pressing his hand to the top of the stone. So much power was flowing through his hand that a pale blue glow was emanating between the stone and his touch.
As we watched him, the tension in the air was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife. Caspian reached for my free hand, wrapping his warm fingers around mine. I could feel a slight tremble in them, so I squeezed back harder before leaning over and giving him a quick kiss.
“We are going to get her, and we are going to be fine, Caspian. I promise.”
As the portal flared to life and we stepped through, I just hoped it was a promise I could keep.
Aris
I didn’t know how much time had passed since Altermin had left, the sickening sensation of dread having long since solidified in my stomach as I sank to the ground. With our spiteful guests gone, my adrenaline faded, leaving my mind fuzzed over in a thick blanket of static. For a few moments, none of us talked, which I guessed was a good thing since I couldn’t seem to focus on anything in particular.
“Aris, honey,” reached me from outside my cell, the tinkling melodic voice sounding as if it was far away. “Aris.” This time, the voice was more forceful, filled with a slight command that helped me focus. The feeling of a wet wool blanket over my mind disappeared, my sight refocusing to realize Lyra was kneeling at the door of their cell.
“Lyra,” I murmured, the word sounding confused as I still struggled to shake the shock from my system. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, honey, don’t apologize.” The longer she talked, the easier it was for me to focus. “This is not your fault! The only ones to blame are the corrupt men of the council.”
“No offense,” Gabriel added at the end of his wife’s statement, looking at Edmund next to them. The ex-councilman waved away his apology, unable to respond as Lyra continued.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her eyes looking over me.
“Uh, yeah. Just some drownstool dust, plus a couple hits from Delilah and the enforcers when they took me. The guys are safe.” I looked between the two sets of parents. My cheeks burned, awkwardness making my stomach flip flop as I finally talked to them about their sons. “We were actually enjoying our time in the world we were in. They were worried about you.”
“We worry about them, too, but we’re glad to see you’re all okay,” Josephina explained. A bit more color had returned to her pale cheeks now that she had eaten a bit. The blanket wrapped around her thin shoulders no doubt helped her coloring.
“For now,” I murmured, my eyes drifting to the empty stone stairs Altermin had ascended not that long ago. The sound of the door opening was grating on my nerves, my worn and tired body no longer tingling with adrenaline, despite the fear that surged. Thankfully, it was Brynn and Sebastian carrying a blanket and a set of dishes for me.
“We had been following that vlog. Have you seen it, Aris?” Josephina asked as Brynn and Sebastian neared my cell. I nodded before giving the duo a smile, hoping t
o make up for Councilman Altermin’s utter rudeness earlier. “I was trying to keep tabs on what could be going on with you all.”
“Trying to figure out who Indigo could be?” Gabriel asked Josephina. “Us, too. We only got to see the first two of the updates before being arrested. What else was posted?”
They continued to talk, but when Sebastian slid a piece of paper over with the dishes, I was no longer listening. My lips curled down, curiosity growing as I picked up the crumpled note. Glancing at him and Brynn, I found them watching me with eager eyes. As soon as I had it open, my eyes scanned the single line.
Heard Indigo was coming from Aether Academy
It was almost simultaneous, my gasp and the realization of who Indigo was. Now that I knew where the transmissions were coming from, it was so obvious. Despite the disguise she always wore during her vlogs, I knew I had seen some familiarity in her features. As soon as I pictured her, my memory took away the disguise, letting me see what ‘Indigo’ really looked like. A sense of hope shadowed the fear, determination building as I looked at the rest of the room, who had grown quiet at my gasp. If anyone would be willing to help against the council, it’d be this witch.
“Time to get out of here.”
November 30th
Saturday Right After Midnight
Aris
Brynn and Sebastian had just left with a murmured promise they’d try to clear a path outside the door. Their plan was to lure the two guards away from the dungeon’s entrance long enough to get out. The four others were talking over each other, trying to get an idea of what was going on, but I was focused. If I was going to get out of this place, I needed my powers. Scanning the small cell, I looked for anything I could use to get these stupid cuffs off.
Nothing. Not a cursed thing.
My lips pursed as I shoved down the speck of irritation that started to grow in my chest. I had to be stronger if I was going to hold our little group together. Inspecting the metal device, I looked for anything that stood out. Simple, shiny metal, the runes engraved into them acting as a guard to keep my power contained inside my body. There was nothing on them to tell me how to pick the lock or break them, but I noticed they weren’t nearly as tight as they could have been.
“Aris! What the Goddess are you doing?” Edmund asked in surprise, his eyes wide as I put the middle of the cuffs against the cold iron bed leg. Sitting back, I put one battered up pink converse covered foot against the metal and started to tug. The circles slowly but surely moved up my hands, the edge starting to dig in about halfway up to my thumb at the fleshiest portion of my palm. My jaw clenched as pain erupted across both hands, not wanting to give them any reason to doubt me.
I can handle a little pain if it means getting the hellsticks out of this place.
“If I could just get it past this bit,” I grumbled under my breath. The pain grew the harder I pulled, but I pushed through. Tears burned my eyes, and when I thought I couldn’t handle anymore, I took a deep breath and gave a final yank.
My scream was muffled as I smashed my lips together, shoving my mouth against my leg. The tears fell in steady streams from the burning that radiated through my hands. The sharp stinging worsened with any movements of my fingers or wrists, but thankfully, I had the cuffs off. Blood pooled slightly on my skin before dripping to the stone floor beneath me, my hands scraped and raw where the cuffs had dug in.
As I took a few breaths, letting myself adjust to the pain, I realized I hadn’t noticed how much of a damper the cuffs had on my powers. The runes kept everything contained inside the witch who wore them, but it wasn’t just sealed away. The powers became muted, fizzling out until they were almost non-existent to the prisoner who wore them.
At the lack of cuffs, my powers burst through me. The rush of magic was such a gut-wrenching wave, sorrow built within me. The relief of having it back was so strong, I was nearly unable to stand it. Such an important part of me had been smothered, a piece of my very soul practically ripped away from me.
“Aris!” The fear in Gabriel’s voice pulled me from my emotional reverie. Looking over, I saw all the parents watching me with wide eyes and slack jaws. “Hells bells and tarot tells, you’re going to give me a heart attack, kid,” Gabriel huffed. His statement reminded me of Kye, making my heart ache at the thought of my guys, but I couldn’t focus on that right now.
Push it aside, Aris. Keep moving.
“Sorry,” I muttered, a groan working its way through me as I tried to move my fingers. An extremely painful sensation radiated through my wrists and arms. It felt like a band of tiny needles repeatedly piercing my skin, but when I tried to bring my powers to the surface, it worked immediately. The soft glimmer of water that bubbled across the tips of my fingers made me smile.
“Perfect.”
“You’re bleeding, honey,” Lyra said with a frown.
“I’ll bandage it up in a moment,” I told her, my tone and smile soft, hopefully to help with her maternal worry. “Councilman Eideann—”
“Edmund, please,” Josephina cut in, her gaze cutting to her husband who wisely didn’t argue, despite his hard-set jaw and narrowed eyes telling me he wasn’t necessarily happy about it.
“Do you know the best way to get out of these cells? Like, could you describe what the key looks like or if it would be better to soften or melt the bars to make them moldable?” I tapped the door to emphasize my point despite the pain.
“Uh, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the key. If I have, it was very briefly,” he explained, looking almost embarrassed. I held back a remark that he should be embarrassed. The councilors should know what was happening under their noses.
“Okay, molding the bars it is,” I murmured more to myself than anything. Kneeling down by the door, I held my open palms on either side of two bars and let the fire within me burn bright.
“I thought you were a Mixta,” Josephina gasped, her expression lighting up with happy surprise as she watched me work.
“I am,” I told her. “I’m also a conduit, and your sons are two of my tethers. With our bond came extra powers. Funny how I didn’t become valuable to the council until that happened, huh? Once a mixta has the power to become someone respected, someone who can make a difference, the council only sees the opportunity for a new commodity to use as they wish. Well, not if I have anything to say about it,” I told her with a conspiratorial smile.
Heating the metal of the bars was slow going, and when I tried to bend them by pushing the thin mattress against it, they wouldn’t give. By the fourth time, I had nearly set the mattress on fire, so I worked on coming up with another plan as I heated them.
“Can you use all the elements or just fire?” Gabriel asked with a head tilt, watching me work.
“All of them on top of my previous power,” I explained, and with that simple answer, it was as if a lightbulb went off in my brain. I didn’t need the mattress or anything else to move the bars once they were heated. Despite the sweat beading on my brow, I pushed more power into what I was doing. A deep, radiating whine sounded, giving me hope. By the time I finally had the bars bent enough to fit through, a drop of sweat trailed down my temple. Once the bars cooled with a blast of cold air, I slipped through and knelt in front of Lyra and Gabriel’s cell.
The metal gave way easily once I had perfected how long to heat the bars before pulling with my telekinesis. As I worked on Edmund and Josephina’s cell, Lyra and Gabriel slipped out from the cell, their bound hands making it difficult to maneuver. The slight thud in my head that had started a few minutes ago grew to a sharp ache, my body slowly wearing down the more I pushed myself. It had been a long time since I had used my powers this much, and my stamina was draining quickly.
Definitely need to practice more.
“Alright, let’s go,” I told them. “Bring the blankets, we’ll need them until we get a fire going or some of the warming leaves.”
“Warming leaves?” Lyra questioned, tightening the blanket around her shoulde
rs.
“I’ll tell you guys about them after we’re clear of the city.”
“So, what’s the plan now? Just waltz out of the building?” Edmund asked, his chiding tone unappreciated. A grin threatened to curl when he grunted, thanks to Josephina’s sharp elbow hitting him in his side.
“Do you know the best way to get out of the building? I can get us past the guards, I just need a direction and any heads up on where there could be enforcers or workers.” I held back the retort I wanted to give him for not trusting I could do this.
Ever since we met, everything I said or did was never good enough, so once again, I’m being treated like a lowly Mixta… well, I’ll show him what this Mixta can do.
I mean, we were about to just waltz out of the building, so his concerns were warranted… I guess. Shoving the trickle of doubt away, I started up the stairs, splitting my attention between not tripping on the uneven stone steps and listening to Edmund’s directions.
Brynn and Sebastian kept their word—the hall at the top of the stairs was empty and quiet. Going left at Edmund’s cue, I scanned around us, listening for anything that could tell me we were about to run into an enforcer or other council employee. Our progress was slow and steady—we didn’t want to rush and risk getting caught—but the turtle speed wasn’t doing anything for my tired and drained body. The adrenaline that started to grow the farther we got through the building seemed to chase away the lethargy, but I knew it was using what little energy I had left. Once we were safely away from harm, I would crash.
“There will probably be an enforcer around this corner; it’s a small side entrance to the building,” Edmund whispered. “No one uses it much since it’s not close to any of the main rooms. The cuffs only dampen power, so they won’t set off any alarms, and they won’t be able to track us.”
Nodding to acknowledge I’d heard him, I slowed before stopping, tilting forward enough to allow me to see around the rough stone and down the short hall. One enforcer, standing stoically with his crystal staff. Now, how the fuck do I get us out of here? I didn’t ask out loud, no doubt, Edmund would have given me flak about my lack of a plan and probably given us away to the guard.
