“Is there wood over there?” he asked. Cassie nodded and scrambled over to grab some. Kai pulled one of the foxfire balls down to rest it on the old chair fragment and after a second it caught, blazing up yellow and hot. Cassie fed a few more pieces onto the small blaze and settled back onto Kai’s leg.
“That’s amazing,” she said. He just closed his eyes and worked to keep his breaths slow and even. They sat like that, curled around the heat from the small fire for what seemed like hours. The smoke filtered up to the ceiling and crept along it to the trap door they both had been shoved through. Neither spoke, but Kai’s mind worked furiously in spurts, with long stretches of blank staring in between.
“We need to get out of here,” Cassie finally said. “Get word back to someone. Dad should be up soon, if he’s not already, and he’s going to freak out.”
Kai looked over at her. She was still leaning on his leg, trying to make sure he wasn’t still in danger of bleeding to death. With her other hand she was playing with something.
“Cassie,” Kai’s eyes were glued to that hand. “Is that the necklace I gave you?” She glanced down at her hand like she had no idea what she held.
“Yeah,” she said. “I guess I didn’t realize I was fidgeting. It’s really cool, Kai,” Cassie held it out to look at it in the firelight. “One of my new friends at school said that it’s a coyote tooth. I guess that its sort of symbolic to some people because of that guy from the folklore. Where did your dad get it? I hope he… I’d hate to think some poor coyote was hurt to make some jewelry”
Kai just smiled and looked up at the tooth dangling from the leather string. He could feel the magic in it and knew it for what it was. “No. No animals were injured. When I said it was from my father, I meant it literally.”
“What?” Cassie scrunched up her face, trying to figure out his meaning, then her eyes flew wide and her mouth gaped open. “Holy shit. But I thought– I mean. Woah. Will he come save us?”
“He probably won’t. He doesn’t like to get directly involved in things anymore. Said once he learned his lesson. But he can tell Sebastian or your dad where we are, definitely.”
Kai felt the ground beneath him, cold, but cold from its proper place in nature instead of from any evil. He felt the heat from the fire and smelled the thin smoke that rose from it. He felt the warmth and steady light that had been pouring out of Cassie this whole time, that he only now saw, finally. The tooth she held glowed as well, like a small star point of light, and Kai smiled.
“So what is this going to do? How will this help us get out of here?” Cassie asked. She held the tooth cupped in her hand between them.
“We’re going to summon a god. Or maybe just send him a message, more likely. Here’s what you need to do,” he said.
24
Kai,” Cassie’s voice drifted to him from somewhere, faint as smoke on the wind. Kai’s mind drifted on the breeze and he relaxed in the freedom.
“Kai!” Stronger this time, she called to him. There was an urgency to her call, something that made him try to turn his attention to her, but the freedom of the wind he few on was so attractive.
“Kai, someone’s coming!” Cassie’s voice pulled at him now, dragging him back into his body.
Everything was in pain. His leg was screaming and his whole body was stiff. Something stabbed him in his palm. Then he heard what had made Cassie so nervous. Footsteps by the trapdoor. Cassie grabbed his hand. She was shivering, and her eyes were wild.
“Come on, Kai, wake up! Someone’s coming, and I don’t think it’s your dad.”
“I’m awake,” he whispered. He waved his hand over the fire and it sank into the ground, cold and dead. He pulled the foxfire back into himself as well, leaving them back in the darkness of the earth.
“Stay quiet, Cassie. No noise. It’s the warlock, probably come to check in on his new weapon. Help me sit up, please.” She shivered and pressed against his side to help support him when he struggled to lever himself into a sitting position.
The footsteps banged right next to the door, and the warlock’s voice rose in the drone of a chant. Kai did feel a slight tug in the back of his mind, but it wasn’t anything like the compulsion he suspected the warlock was attempting. It was more of an awareness, and Kai realized the wight poison had finally released its grip. The tug in his mind was the last of the poison reacting to the warlock’s spell, and that was it.
Still, he was in no shape for a fight. His leg was shredded, he was pretty sure he had some cracked ribs and probably a concussion, and after everything else his body and his soul had been through in the past few days, he was surprised that he was still upright at all.
“Kai…” Cassie whispered and pressed against his arm. Her fear was almost tangible in the pitch darkness. He reached his hand out and wedged her slightly behind his shoulder, putting himself between her and the door.
“I’ll keep you safe. I promise,” he said. Before the words were even out of his mouth he felt a surge of power rise up in him. It hit him so fast and with such strength that he gasped and had to squeeze his eyes shut against the dizziness.
The door opened and a piece of metal dropped down, bouncing and ringing when it hit the packed earth floor. Another fell, tossed slightly to the side, then a third, in the other direction. Kai grinned. A wise precaution. If I thought I was about to drop into a small room full of enemies I’d toss in a ward first too.
The warlock dropped into the space now, landing lightly on his feet. It was only about a five-foot drop, Kai realized. If he could stand, he could easily lift Cassie out and then hop up behind her. Well, that was a problem for later. Right now, the warlock crouched and glanced around the space, looking for the darkest corner of the room. His eyes landed on Kai and Cassie and he froze.
“Well,” he said, shaking himself slightly. “I have to admit I didn’t think you’d last this long. From what your brother told me he’d overheard, you were about done before you even rolled out of bed this morning. I figured all alone down here you’d be done in an hour, tops.”
“My step-brother is misinformed on a number of levels and seems to actually understand even less,” Kai said. He kept one arm out in front of Cassie, and she crouched behind him. He could still feel the warm glow that was radiating from her, and it seemed almost like magic was spreading through him from where her hand sat on his shoulder, helping him stay steady and upright despite the pain. “I’m not alone down here. I’m never alone, even if I don’t really notice it half the time.” Kai huffed a laugh at himself and watched the warlock’s face as confusion swept over it briefly.
“Doesn’t mean you can get loose of here, though. And I can wait. You’ll turn soon enough. I mean look at you,” the warlock sneered, but Kai heard the uncertainty now.
“I doubt it, actually,” Kai shrugged. “I mean sure, I’m in fairly rough shape, but I think the poison’s finally run its course. Do you mind if I ask you something? It’s been one of the big questions since last month, and although I’m pretty sure I have it answered now, I’m going to ask you anyway. Was it Eric that hired you to harass the Village?”
The warlock snarled at him. Then he huffed out a laugh of his own.
“Sure, why not? Even if you don’t turn, you’re going to die down here anyway. Yeah. It was Eric. You may have screwed up my last assignment with that Sarah chick, but this one’s a winner now. He got what he wanted from me, and my paycheck is waiting.” The warlock grinned, his stringy hair glinting in the light from the trapdoor. Kai realized that it wasn’t sunlight now, but from a lamp. It must be dark out. Kai nodded gently.
“Well that’s enough question and answer time for you. You get to stay down here and know that I’m out there, working to take out your precious apartment. Do you have any idea how hard it was to lure and enslave that many wights? You people destroyed years of my work. Years!” The warlock smiled and looked almost feral. “I’m going to head out now. Hope you enjoy the dark, because you’ll be here for
the rest of your life. Not that it will be very long.” He started to straighten and reach up to the trapdoor, but Kai waved his hand and dozens of ice blue flames danced into life around the walls of the room. The warlock stopped and gaped at them.
“But how can—” his eyes darted around the room, bouncing from flame to flame to Kai and back. “You’re just a half breed! Eric said you were strong but not even a full paranormal! Your mother’s only half!”
“You have no idea who I am, do you?” Kai asked softly. “Eric never told you the whole story, I can tell. I admit that I have been weakened recently. I was wounded and my soul was battered. I almost forgot myself. It was Cassie that reminded me, actually. Just now.”
“Me?” her surprise made him glance over his shoulder and wink at her.
“Yeah,” he said. “Do you remember what I told you, way back at the pool party? We were talking about the different kinds of magic.”
“Sort of.”
“What the hell are you on about?” the warlock shouted. He was fumbling in his pocket for something.
“I wouldn’t,” Kai said.
“It’s not like you can stop me. You’re weak and wounded and I’ve got a ward up. You can’t hurt me, but I can sure as shit hurt you,” he snarled back, pulling a gun out. It was shaking slightly. Kai raised his hand again and the man yelped as a ball of fire surrounded the gun. It landed on the floor and the fire followed it, creating a small dome over top to keep it out of reach.
“How the—”
“I was trying to answer your question. But you know what? I don’t think I’m going to bother. You’re far too much of a danger to the world at large,” Kai narrowed his eyes at the man and concentrated again. The two men locked eyes and minutes stretched.
Kai had never tried to enter the mind of another person. It was far too private a place for him to barge into and trying this with a conscious human being was difficult for anyone to achieve successfully, but then Kai was drawing on a power that was far greater than either of them, and he had a very specific goal which simplified things somewhat. He didn’t care about messing with the man’s memories, or altering his reactions to anything, or do anything with the things that made the warlock who he was, all of which were what the consciousness worked so hard to protect.
Instead Kai was looking for a connection, and the warlock’s mind did not concern itself much with fighting that. The defenses were few and weak enough once he found what he sought. Kai was surprised at how easy it was to find what he was looking for and to pull the plug on any future plans the man might be forming. It was like putting up a permanent detour in his mental traffic flow. Nothing would get down that particular mental street again. He blinked, finished with his task, and the warlock crumpled to the ground and lay there unmoving.
Kai shuddered. Being in the mind of the warlock was a foul experience and he felt dirty for it. He felt Cassie’s hands tighten on his arm, waiting for the man to get back up, but nothing happened.
“He’s pretty much done now, Cass,” Kai said, slumping over. His body was worn out and his mind was exhausted. Everything hurt, but he actually welcomed the pain now. He felt like he’d earned every injury he had, but he also knew there wouldn’t be any more coming.
“What did you do?” she whispered. Kai frowned and closed his eyes.
“I confused the paths his mind would have to take to use any magic. I basically took away his ability to cast any spells or even detect magic when he gets near it,” Kai answered quietly. He took a deep breath. “I wasn’t really sure I could do that.”
“So… how did you get through his wards like that?” she asked. “And how…”
“I’ve spent most of my life trying to avoid tapping into the magic I got from my father. It’s wild and I always thought it was unreliable, but it’s very closely tied to nature in a complicated sort of way.” Kai patted the ground he sat on and a grin broke out on his face. “Dirt floor.”
“What—” A crash shook the house above them.
“Cassie! Cassie, where are you?” Marcus bellowed. Kai wondered if the man had knocked down a wall to get in.
“Dad! We’re down here and Kai’s hurt! Get an ambulance, it’s really bad!” she shouted back. Marcus’ tall form hurtled through the small trapdoor and blurred over to them, wrapping Cassie in a fierce hug, causing Kai to fall back to the floor with a grunt.
“Dad, seriously,” Cassie objected, but Kai saw her hug Marcus back.
“Doc!” Marcus bellowed again. There was the sound of feet and Kai knew his people were here. They were all safe now.
Kai knew the moment that Doc started lecturing him about running off on his own that he was going to be okay. She let Sebastian take a turn yelling at him when she ran out of verbal steam and turned to concentrate on cleaning his leg. Kai lay back down on the floor and let her fuss while Marcus made a series of phone calls, ending with one to get the police and some ambulances up the mountain. Kai smiled when he realized that the man was doing all that while not letting go of Cassie, who was pale and quiet and leaning into her dad.
The ambulance techs were professional, but they all pointed out how insanely lucky Kai must be to have any leg left at all. The police let Sebastian give them Kai’s particulars and promised to follow up with him later when he was well enough to answer questions and give a statement, and Kai just shrugged, letting the human authorities do their work. It was no longer his concern now.
The ride in the ambulance, the trip to the operating room, the wonderful feeling of surrender when the anesthesia kicked in and the gentle darkness of sleep took him. He knew he was finally safe this time and went willingly.
25
They were all arrested, and that’s that then?” Sarah asked.
She didn’t sound convinced that it could be that easy. They were back home now, hanging out in Kai and Sebastian’s living room, and Kai was glad of it. He’d needed surgery to repair the shredded mess left of his leg, and he had three cracked ribs and a slew of other injuries so they’d kept him in the hospital for over a week. Doc and Sarah smuggled in some healing supplies of their own to make sure that he would be able to walk, but still. The doctors were all impressed that he’d come away from the bear trap with so little damage until the police investigating the whole mess told them that the trap had been heavily modified.
The hospital had finally released him that afternoon, and there had been a small party waiting to welcome him home. Now, though, it was just his family and close friends left. Jennifer had sent Judah and Asher to pick up some pizzas for dinner, and they were still rehashing the grand adventure while they all waited.
The cops couldn’t quite follow the reasoning behind it, but since the hunters had led their defense with ‘But they’re all monsters! All of them!’ it seemed clear to everyone that the kidnappers weren’t going to be making a lot of sense. Kai and his friends knew, though, that the trap was modified because the warlock had wanted to make sure Kai would be incapacitated as himself but mobile as a wight. And as it was, Kai would likely have a limp for the rest of his life.
Nicole Jones had visited him, somewhat nervously, to see if she could get a quote for her story, and Kai apologized for getting so angry. She said that she completely understood now that she knew about Cassie and Marcus being targeted by murderers. That was the story everyone was primarily going with, after all, that all of this was tied in to the murder of Cassie’s mother and the club shooting in Florida, and that Eric had gotten involved after the vandalism.
He gave her the quote she wanted for her story (carefully written by Doc and Jennifer beforehand) and then they actually chatted pleasantly for half an hour or so about this and that going on in the area, and her life as a reporter, and the stress of managing an apartment complex. All in all, it was a good visit, and Kai was glad he’d been given the chance to make amends. It made him feel much lighter.
“Well, there’s going to be a long legal process, but basically, as far as we’re concerne
d, yes,” Jennifer nodded. “Kai and Cassie are going to have to testify and all that, though. And Marcus, too, once they make the connection to the club shooting.” Marcus didn’t raise his eyes from his beer bottle but nodded once.
“I still can’t believe that Eric…” Sebastian’s voice cracked and Sarah put her arms around him. He bent his face to her hair and shook his head.
“He’s not talking, of course. His lawyer is at least that smart. Still, the police are working under the theory that he had something to do with the vandalism at the clubhouse,” Jennifer said. She shook her head and dragged in a deep breath. “I personally suspect that he did it himself. He could easily get in and out and around the whole complex and nobody would have even blinked. He wanted to drive a spike into community cohesion.”
“He wanted to drive a spike into Kai’s cohesion,” Sarah said, indignant. “He was trying to take everything he loved away from Kai, including his friends and his family and his self-confidence. I can’t believe you’re related to that jerk.” She turned her head and buried it in Sebastian’s shoulder. Seb squeezed her shoulders and lowered his face to her hair. Kai could see his hand shaking.
“I guess he’s been resentful for a while,” Kai said. He knew exactly what Sebastian was feeling. The betrayal cut deep. “His mother started trying to drive a wedge between us before you were even born. I guess it worked better than we knew. God, poor Dad. He’s devastated.”
“Yeah. He and Mom are barely leaving their hotel room. They almost couldn’t bring themselves to visit you after the surgery, they’re so embarrassed. I don’t know how we’re going to get past this. He’s so angry at his ex-wife for poisoning their son against us, and he’s ashamed of Eric for listening to his mother’s trash talk. Mom says he can barely bring himself to face us but he wants to be here for us. It’s such a mess.” Sebastian looked like he was about to break into tears and a heavy silence fell over the group.
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