Outlier: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Sentry of the South Book 1)

by Annabel Chase

Peter stiffened. “What makes you think I don’t belong anywhere?”

  “I’m just kidding,” I replied. “You seem to belong everywhere. The human world. The Obscura. Our quadrant.”

  “That’s my easygoing personality,” he said, his expression brightening. “Now don’t talk to anyone and try not to look like you’ve never been here before. The merchants have a sixth sense when it comes to newbies.”

  “What will happen if they figure it out?” I asked.

  “It’ll make it that much harder to get in and out of here quickly,” he replied. “And I think we both know time is…how’d you put it? Of the essence.”

  I inched closer to Peter as we emerged from the alleyway. The market was far more frantic than I envisioned. A circle of albino bats flew overhead and stalls of different colors, shapes, and sizes greeted us. A strange mix of odors filled my nostrils—pungent, sweet, and even nausea inducing.

  “Snake oil,” a satyr called from a nearby stall. “All varieties. Guaranteed to treat whatever ails you.”

  Somehow I doubted that.

  Peter placed his hand on the small of my back and proceeded to guide me through the maze of the market. I mentally ran through the few phrases of the shaded tongue I could remember. It didn’t help that most of them involved directions to the bathroom and the total cost for my purchase.

  A stall on the corner drew my attention. “An egg dealer?”

  Peter nodded. “That’s Kai. He trades in gryphon eggs, phoenix eggs. You name it.”

  “That’s illegal,” I said in a low voice.

  He steered me to the right. “Welcome to the Obscura, princess.”

  We ducked into a nameless shop with an image of a broken pint glass with drops of blood on a board outside. The interior was crammed with shelves of kitchenware—cups, plates, glasses, pots, pans, and utensils. An elf stood behind the counter, reading a magazine called Rare Finds and Where to Find Them. He set it aside when he spotted Peter.

  “Hey, Stuart,” Peter said. “I come under the rose.”

  “Oh, please, Peter,” the elf said, with a dismissive wave. “When do you not?” He glanced at me. “Is the shaded tongue for your friend’s benefit? You haven’t used it with us since you were a rich face.”

  Peter jerked toward me. “That means wealthy and handsome.”

  The elf guffawed. “Like Hades it does. It means a face full of angry red pimples.”

  Peter’s cheeks colored. “I’m showing her the ropes down here. Can’t have her think it’s easy to navigate this place or she’ll end up in trouble.”

  “Fair enough.” The elf paused. “What are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you this week.”

  “Same here,” Peter replied. “Is Farley around?”

  Stuart inclined his head. “In the dungeon.”

  “Just where I need him.” Peter threaded his way through the rows of kitchenware.

  I stopped to examine a teapot with a broken lip. “Why is everything in such poor condition?” I asked, and reached to touch the pot.

  Peter slapped my hand away. “I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” he said.

  “Why not?”

  “Because they bite,” he said.

  I stared at the innocent-looking items in front of me. “What do you mean?”

  “He means they’re enchanted,” Stuart interjected. “You hold that pint glass up to your lips and it’ll bite you. I’m not talking a friendly nip either.”

  I glanced around me. “Why would anyone buy such a thing?”

  “Revenge, general violent tendencies.” Peter shrugged. “Who knows? There’s a market for it, that’s all I can tell you.”

  “Paid for my two kids to attend university,” Stuart said proudly.

  “That’s…great,” I said.

  Peter slipped behind a partial wall and opened a refrigerator door.

  “Are you raiding his fridge?” I asked, casting an awkward glance over my shoulder. “We can stop for food if you’re hungry.”

  Peter clasped my hand and grinned. “In case I haven’t mentioned it, I’m having a good time with you today.”

  “It’s not a…” I stopped as he pulled me into what I assumed was a refrigerator.

  It wasn’t.

  “Date,” I finished. We were inside a completely different room, surrounded by bubbling and smoking potion bottles. The dungeon, presumably, except it wasn’t a dungeon at all. It was a lab.

  “Farley,” Peter called. “I need a favor.”

  A gnome’s head popped out between two potion bottles. He wore goggles that nearly covered his entire face. “Peter, hello there. You’ve brought a friend.”

  “This is Dani,” he said. “She and I have a deal that involves procuring a bottle of Amplexudo. Can you help me, buddy?”

  Farley flipped up his goggles. “That’s one request I don’t hear very often anymore. It seems to have fallen out of fashion.”

  “All the good ones do,” Peter said.

  “What does it do?” I asked. I hadn’t wanted to know—not really, but now that we were here, I felt obligated to ask.

  “It’s known as the loving embrace,” Farley replied. He stepped out from behind the row of bottles. “Very intense. The closest you’ll ever feel to the gods.”

  “How much does it cost?” I asked.

  Peter put a hand on my arm. “It’s a favor, princess. You’re helping me. This is my way of helping you.”

  “Peter and I will make our own arrangement, as per usual,” Farley said. “Let me package that up for you. Don’t want to spill a valuable drop.” The gnome clomped over to another workstation and prepared the potion for transport.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Peter asked gently. “This stuff is strong enough to kill someone. That’s one of the reasons it’s illegal. Lots of accidental deaths when it was at the height of its popularity.”

  I flinched. Of course I didn’t want to enable her, but she was my grandmother and it was her dying request. What kind of dutiful witch would I be if I said no?

  Farley handed me a white parcel adorned with a curled turquoise ribbon. It looked like a present from a fine jewelry store.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  The gnome smiled at me before turning to Peter. “I’d advise you not to dawdle here. I hear there’s a reward for your capture.” He managed a small smile. “Though it wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “There’s no reward,” Peter said emphatically. “The sheriff and I reached an understanding.”

  Farley replaced the goggles on his face. “Well, I’m afraid word hasn’t reached the market. I heard your name mentioned only an hour ago when I nipped out for tea.”

  Peter blew out an annoyed breath. “Thanks for the warning.” He seemed to sense my apprehension. “Not to worry, princess. We’ll go straight back the way we came. No one will be the wiser.”

  Famous last words. We only made it as far as the wooden board outside the building when we were accosted.

  “Peter Zilla,” a voice rumbled.

  My shoulders sagged. So much for a clean exit.

  Chapter Ten

  We whipped around to see a troll standing in front of a fruit stall. His bumpy skin had a green tint and his belly strained against the thin fabric of his shirt.

  “Lyle,” Peter said, hooking his thumbs through his belt loops. “Didn’t expect to see you in this section. Thought you’d been banned.”

  The troll stomped closer. “Since when do I listen to orders? Heard an interesting piece of information yesterday. Want me to share it?”

  Peter adopted a casual tone. “You finally figured out how to lose that stubborn ten pounds?” Peter’s gaze dropped to the troll’s burgeoning belly. “Nope. That can’t be it.”

  The troll’s wide nostrils flared. “Heard the sheriff’s office is hunting for you.” He looked around. “Must be a nice reward for your capture.”

  I moved to stand between them. “He has a reprieve,” I said. “The she
riff’s office has called off the search, so your efforts would be in vain. You’d get nothing for your trouble.”

  The troll surveyed me from head to toe. “And I’m to take the word of his latest conquest? Do I look like a damn fool to you?”

  “Conquest?” I repeated with such ferocity that I was fairly certain the ground shook, although that part was probably my imagination.

  “We’re business associates,” Peter said. “And we’re trying to complete a transaction, so we need to be on our way. Nice to see you, Lyle. I promise to keep your little breach of the rules to myself. No reason to turn on each other.”

  The imposing troll blocked our path. “The thing is, Zilla, I may have told a few friends already, and they won’t be anxious to see you leave without confirming your story.” Several rough-looking paranormals stepped out from behind nearby stalls—a dwarf, a satyr, a centaur, and a minotaur.

  “You and your merry band need to find another hobby,” Peter said. “I’m not going to fetch you any reward. Like the pretty lady said, my warrant is officially on ice.”

  “I’d like to see his head on ice,” the centaur said. The evil intent in his voice sent a chill up my spine.

  “I don’t even know you,” Peter said, waving his hand at the centaur. “At least Lyle has a good reason to want to betray me.”

  The troll narrowed his beady eyes. “We agreed never to discuss it again, Zilla.”

  Peter wore a mock innocent expression. “Oh, that’s right. Then I suggest you let us go now, or I may need to rehash past events.” He cocked his head, waiting.

  The troll seemed ready to call it a day when the centaur clopped forward. “I don’t have any past dealings with the fugitive, so I think I’ll stick with the current plan.”

  “Princess, we might need a little magic to get us out of here safely,” Peter said under his breath. “I’d suggest avoiding your specialty, though. As you can see, the stalls are flammable and really close together.”

  Yes, fire was definitely a bad idea here.

  “I thought you came prepared,” I whispered.

  “I’d rather not pull out the big guns for these guys,” he replied.

  “What’s in the package?” the satyr asked, eyeing the parcel in my hand.

  My grip tightened on the parcel. No way was I handing over my grandmother’s potion. I moved to put the package out of reach just as the satyr lunged for me. I wasn’t expecting it—wasn’t ready.

  But Peter was.

  He tackled the satyr to the ground and held his head in a viselike grip. “Now would be a good time to impress me with your magic, hot stuff,” Peter said.

  I remained calm, despite the terror threatening to build inside me. Action under duress. We couldn’t outrun this group—okay, maybe the troll, but not the rest. I thought of the flying deer we’d spotted on the way in and a plan quickly formed.

  “Now means now, princess!” Peter called from his place on the ground. The other paranormals seemed on the verge of piling on. If that happened, I wasn’t sure what I’d do. Brute force wasn’t my area of expertise.

  I called to my magic and felt it rise within me. I didn’t have a lot of experience with this particular spell, but I’d successfully done it once or twice when I was outside in the garden and too lazy to go back to the house to retrieve it.

  I held out my hand and visualized it. The smooth handle and the bristles made from stiff grass. The exhilaration I felt when I rode it. According to my grandmother, attaching emotion to the object made the spell work faster.

  As usual, my grandmother wasn’t wrong.

  The broom materialized in my hand and I straddled it. “Peter, come on!” I yelled.

  He leapt from the ground straight onto the back of the broom and held onto my waist. As we shot into the air, he leaned forward to call out directions.

  “Bank left!”

  I narrowly missed a stall overflowing with genie lamps. “That’s barbaric and inhumane!” I yelled over my shoulder.

  “Why do you think they’re here?” Peter called back. “This is the Obscura, remember?”

  “Hey!” a stallkeeper yelled as we blew past. We may have knocked over a few of his baskets, but I wasn’t about to stop to apologize.

  My hair streamed behind me and I could only imagine the trouble Peter was having keeping the long strands out of his face. It wasn’t as though I’d planned this flight.

  “The centaur’s behind us,” Peter said, and my stomach plummeted. I should’ve known he’d be the one to keep up.

  A divide appeared in the distance. “Which way?”

  “Right,” he said.

  We almost reached the intersection when the minotaur stepped out to block our path. I jerked up the handle just in time and we skimmed the top of his horns as we soared overhead.

  “Not this way,” Peter insisted.

  “I know!” I had to get around the ridiculously large minotaur before I worried about correcting our path.

  I didn’t see the two fairies until each one had a grip on either end of the broom. They forced us to the ground before I had a chance to conjure a spell.

  “We heard there’s a reward for your capture,” the one fairy said. He was as muscular as his friend, with equally impressive wings.

  “There’s no reward, you morons!” I shouted.

  The centaur came galloping up. “We had him first.”

  The fairy gave him a look of disdain. “You look empty-handed to me.”

  Slowly, I reached for my wand.

  “I’m afraid you’re all out of luck,” a familiar voice said. “I’ve been tasked with capturing them both. Everyone step aside or there will be more than one arrest taking place.”

  My heart soared when I saw Gray and Warden Armitage. I quickly realized that I needed to keep up the ruse, so I said nothing.

  “Not wardens,” Peter grumbled. He had no idea these were our rescuers.

  The fairies refused to release the broom. “This is the Obscura. You have no jurisdiction here.”

  Gray flashed his fangs. “Then I guess there’s no one to stop me from draining you dry. Fairies are, after all, magically delicious.”

  Warden Armitage stepped between them and brandished his wand. “I haven’t had a chance to use this today. Makes me grumpy when I don’t get to use my wand.”

  “You and me both,” Peter muttered.

  The fairies dropped the broom without a word and fluttered off into the crowd.

  “Come on, you two,” Gray said, extending a hand to me. “You’ve wreaked enough havoc for one day.”

  The wardens escorted us to the opening of our tunnel. Peter had been visibly relieved when I’d explained that they weren’t there to capture us.

  “How did you know we were here?” I asked.

  Gray smirked. “How do you think?”

  “I told Bryn not to tell anyone.” Though now I was glad she had.

  “She was worried about you running off to a dangerous place with this guy,” Gray said, inclining his head toward Peter.

  “Like she didn’t do the same with you,” I pointed out.

  “That was different,” Gray countered. “I wasn’t under suspicion of a felony.”

  I glanced at Peter. “He saved me,” I said, remembering the lunging satyr.

  “What did you need to come down here for anyway?” Warden Armitage asked.

  I couldn’t tell him about my grandmother’s potion. “We were looking for evidence to clear Peter,” I said.

  Warden Armitage studied the druid. “And did you find it?”

  “Not yet,” Peter replied, “but we will.”

  “Chancellor Tilkin gave us one week,” I said. “The clock is still ticking.”

  “Us?” Gray repeated. “Why do you feel obliged to help this guy?”

  “Because he’s helping me,” I said, without elaborating. “And because he’s innocent. Isn’t that part of an AMF agent’s job? To protect the innocent?”

  “Fine. Head home w
hile the path is clear,” Gray advised.

  “You’re not coming with us?” I asked.

  “We need to go clean up your mess,” Warden Armitage said. “Next time you decide to take a walk on the wild side…” He gave me a sharp look. “Don’t.”

  Peter and I made our way back through the tunnel without encountering anything remotely scary. Inwardly, I was grateful for the reprieve. The day had been eventful enough.

  “What secret did the troll want you to keep?” I asked, as we emerged from the duct and into the abandoned factory.

  Peter appeared mildly embarrassed. “I may have attracted the interest of his ex-girlfriend…while they were still dating.”

  “You dated a troll?” I had nothing against trolls, of course, but it was hard to imagine Peter going for the green and bulky type.

  “She’s not a troll,” he replied. “Yvonne’s a succubus. Lyle was top of one of the Obscura food chains at the time, and she’s attracted to power. Big time.”

  I laughed. “And yet she went for you?”

  Peter’s weak laugh mingled with my own. “Go figure, right? Anyway, Lyle’s never forgiven me, but he’s too proud to admit that a lowlife druid smuggler stole his girlfriend.”

  “Are you still together?” I asked, not that I cared. I was just nosy.

  He seemed taken aback. “Together? No, of course not. Yvonne moves on pretty quickly. So do I, for that matter.”

  “Good to know,” I said. “Well, thank you for your help today. It’s been interesting.”

  “That’s what I strive for—to keep things interesting. Too bad you drove the truck or we could take the broom back.”

  “I figured you’d had enough flying for one day.”

  “Are you kidding? It was the most fun I’ve had in ages.” His expression soured. “But I feel lousy for enjoying it when I need to focus on finding Fraser.”

  “We’re going to find him,” I said. “I said I’d help and I never fail.”

  A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “No one could ever accuse you of low self-esteem.”

  “Good,” I said. “I’d never want them to.” I headed for the truck. “I have class, but I’ll meet you in a couple of hours, okay? We’ll regroup. Figure out our next step.”