The Villain Keeper

by Laurie McKay

  Caden nodded toward the teachers’ table. “We have another source of information.”

  Tito’s eyes followed his.

  “Do you think Mr. Rathis was telling the truth? He knows where she is?”

  “I do,” Caden said, and his stomach turned at the words. “I’ll go to him. We’ve no other option.”

  Detention was held in the math classroom. Caden sat in the middle front desk—Jane Chan’s old desk. She’d etched a tree into this one as well. For his part, Rath Dunn was gleeful that Caden wanted to deal. “Let us come to terms, son of Axel.”

  Caden feared the wolfish smile on Rath Dunn’s face, the amused sound of his words. Whatever Rath Dunn asked for, it would come at greater costs to Caden than charming a dragon. Caden thought back to the strange vials in Rath Dunn’s desk. The only thing Caden thought they could be were ingredients for a spell. Perhaps Brynne could figure it out. Magic could be strange at times.

  Caden looked up at Rath Dunn. “What are your terms?”

  “Well, well, well. What do I want? I still need that perfume. And I’m quite curious about your brothers. About Chadwin, in particular.”

  The name spoken aloud was a worse sting than the blood dagger. Caden was assaulted by memories. Chadwin happy. Chadwin laughing. Chadwin lying still with a dark blade sticking from his back.

  His fears were replaced with hot anger, and he pounded the desk with his fist. “My brothers are none of your concern, tyrant.”

  Derek, who had been successfully ignoring them to this point, looked up from his notebook. His mouth hung open. His pencil was gripped tight in his hand.

  In front of Caden, Rath Dunn had gone still. He looked ready to strike out. For a moment, Caden feared he would do just that, but Rath Dunn was not one to do anything rashly. With jaw tight, he straightened to standing. “Watch your manners, prince,” he said. “If you don’t want to tell me about dear Chadwin, you can get me the perfume. Or just let the little enchantress die. I’m giving you lots of options here. The choice is yours, but time is ticking by.”

  As Caden considered, he knew he couldn’t aid the infamous villain in the creation of any spell, and trying to charm Ms. Primrose when she was so hungry seemed foolish. But telling Rath Dunn anything current about his family and their tragedy felt like a betrayal. Caden’s stomach felt heavy and his chest tight. Rath Dunn was an entire realm away from Caden’s family. The danger to Jane Chan was near, was soon.

  “Have you made your choice?”

  Caden looked down at his desk. He looked back up and squared his shoulders. “What do you want to know about Chadwin?”

  Rath Dunn stalked in front of him. He placed his palms on the desk and leaned into Caden’s space. Likely remembering Caden’s flinch at the name, he said, “Chadwin’s dead, isn’t he.”

  Caden’s throat felt tight. He nodded.

  “Tell me how and who and when.” He leaned in close and grinned. “I want details. And, in exchange, I’ll tell you who took Jane.”

  The room was silent. Caden could hear the rain falling outside; some of it hit the window with a clink. Soon it would turn to ice and snow. Caden didn’t want to speak of Chadwin’s death—not to Rath Dunn, not to anyone. “I know who took her,” Caden said. “I want to know where she is, exactly where to find her. Tell me that, and it’s a deal.”

  Rath Dunn raised his brows. Slowly, his sneer turned to his predatory, relaxed smile. With a dramatic flourish, he raised his hand. “I’ll draw you a map,” he said. He leaned in toward Caden as if they were sharing secrets. “Now, talk, prince.”

  Caden spoke the words as evenly as he could. “He was stabbed in the back, in the north corridor of the Winter Castle.”

  “Stabbed with what?”

  Caden felt the words catch. “A rigging dagger.”

  Rath Dunn seemed to contemplate that; he seemed to enjoy it. “Such blades are jagged,” he mused. “The mortal wound must have hurt. It must’ve taken time to do its duty. Was that so?”

  Caden hugged his arms to his chest. Yes, the wound would have hurt. Yes, Chadwin was stabbed in the night and not found until morning. Maybe, had he been found earlier—

  Rath Dunn slammed down his hands on Caden’s desk. “Who killed him?”

  Caden jerked and glared up at him. It sounded like that was what Rath Dunn really wanted to know, and it was information Caden didn’t have. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t? Interesting,” Rath Dunn said, and his eyes lit up. “Were your other brothers in the castle that night?”

  Caden kept his voice steady. He didn’t like this conversation or what Rath Dunn implied. His brothers were honorable men. Elite Paladins. One day, Caden would follow in their noble footsteps. None would have hurt Chadwin. None. “Valon, Maden, and Jasan were there. As was I.” He raised his chin. “Now, tell me where the lunch witches keep Jane Chan.”

  Rath Dunn laughed out loud. “Witches?” he said. “Is that what you call them?” He shook his head as if amused by Caden’s ignorance. “Now, now, prince, don’t insult them. They’re ancient youth stealers, skilled in the darkest ritual magic. I’d guess Ms. Jackson’s nearly a millennium old. When they drain the girl, the old ones will regain their youth. It’s elegant when you think about it.”

  Still, the information felt incomplete. “Why Jane Chan? Why not another student?” Caden demanded. Even as he spoke, he still felt shaky from talk of Chadwin.

  “Does it matter?” said Rath Dunn. “You didn’t bargain for that information.”

  Caden took two breaths and looked down at Jane’s desk. There was the tree that Jane had carved. Suddenly, he noticed something he hadn’t before. In the corner, scratched into the desk, were letters that Caden recognized—but not from this world. From his own. Next to the tree was a word written in Elvish.

  It was the Elvish word for mom.

  Caden felt Rath Dunn looming over him. Rath Dunn swept his hand across the desk and rubbed his thumb over the Elvish word. “I hadn’t noticed that before. That girl was always writing in Elvish.”

  “What?”

  “Surely you’ve figured it out by now.”

  Caden thought. The magic trap. The enchanted necklace. The vial in Rath Dunn’s desk labeled “Tear of Elf.”

  The Elvish word written on Jane’s desk, next to the great Walking Oak.

  “Jane’s mother was one of the banished?” said Caden. “She was an elf?”

  Rath Dunn sneered like it was insulting to group Jane’s mother with him and the other villains. “No, I don’t know how she got here. But, yes, her mother was indeed an elf. Jane Chan has more life force than most. Who better to devour than a half elf?”

  “Her magic already drained her life force. She’s enchanted metal. She has self-drained,” Caden said, realizing that she must have done it on purpose. Had she suspected she was in danger?

  “Yes,” Rath Dunn said. “She’s quite clever, Jane. Still, even as she is, half elf and enchanter, she has more than enough to revitalize them, more than any fully human child.” He peered down at Caden. “Though I have to say, she’s disposable to me. The lunch witches can do what they like with her. I’m not impressed with her talent. I’m impressed with power and skill, not novelty. Whoever destroyed my door is much more interesting.”

  “So you say,” Caden said.

  “So I do,” Rath Dunn said with a mocking lilt in his tone.

  The image of the vial in Rath Dunn’s drawer flashed again in Caden’s mind. He felt anger boil inside him. “You are involved with her disappearance. You have her tears in your desk. I gave you the information I have. Now tell me where she is!”

  Rath Dunn raised a brow. He looked to the broken door then to his desk and back to Caden. “I never said I wasn’t involved,” he said slowly and coldly. “I said I didn’t take her and I didn’t have her. But I did need her tears. I’ve got what I needed.” He sneered. “She did cry quite a lot.”

  It was fortunate Tito was not in the room to hear that. Thou
gh it would have been foolish, Caden felt certain Tito would have attacked. Caden tried to concentrate on the moment. He needed to know where Jane was.

  “In the future,” Rath Dunn said, and his voice was a growl, “stay out of my things.”

  Caden was disturbed by his chilled smile. “Where is she?” he said.

  Rath Dunn walked to the white board. “You see, son of Axel, I keep my deals. Remember that.” He drew a detailed map using green dry erase markers for trees, blue for water, and black for roads and buildings. Near the edge of a blue line he added a giant black X. “Just beyond the city limits, near the River Arts District, that’s where the girl is kept.”

  Caden peered at the board and tried to commit the map to memory. With quick pen strokes, he also sketched the information into his notebook. When he glanced back up, Rath Dunn had added two red stick figures near the X.

  “What are those?” Caden said.

  “The beasts that guard her.”

  The ice dragons. “Such creatures can’t be controlled.”

  “They can’t,” Rath Dunn agreed. “But they can be caged, directed, put into the right places at the right times. They can be kept hungry.”

  Caden added two stick figures to his sketch.

  Rath Dunn looked at his notebook like he was evaluating his work. “Good enough,” he said. He stalked over to Caden, and Caden knew his next words would hurt. “Your people,” he said, “they sing songs of your brothers?”

  Caden prepared for the pounce. “They are heroes.”

  Rath Dunn stood and cleared his throat like he was going to recite poetry. “King Axel and his seven sons, strong and brave, protect the Winterlands, through all her days.” He laughed a weird, impish laugh and leaned back toward Caden. “You’ve heard that.”

  Of course Caden had heard it. He, above everyone, knew his brothers’ hearts, his brothers’ bravery. While they lived, Razzon would flourish. They would protect the kingdom. Even if Caden wasn’t included in the song. “All in the Greater Realm know of my family’s honor.”

  “That song will cease, I’d bet. With Chadwin dead.” Rath Dunn sounded cruel when he said it. “Murdered at the castle, stabbed in the back. That sounds like a betrayal most foul.”

  “If there are traitors in the kingdom, my father and brothers will defeat them. They will catch Chadwin’s killer.” Caden glared up at him. “They defeated you.”

  Rath Dunn’s face lit up like a sun. He laughed, this time almost giddy. His emotions were so quick to change, so strange and sudden, Caden was beginning to feel dizzy in his presence. Or maybe the dizziness was a result of such close proximity and such long exposure to the blood dagger.

  “You don’t see,” Rath Dunn said.

  Caden fidgeted, and he felt his anger spike. “See what?”

  Whatever emotion flashed on his face, it wasn’t anger. “If I were looking for the traitor,” he said, and his words felt like blows. “I’d look at those who know the castle well. Those who were already in it. Who had spent their lives there. Growing up competing for their father’s affection.” He smiled. “Tell me, Caden, which—Valon, Maden, or Jasan—do you think most likely stabbed Chadwin in the back?”

  “None would do that,” Caden said, but his voice sounded weak.

  Rath Dunn pulled his blood dagger from his red dress coat. He let it glint near Caden’s neck, the metal now dark and stained. “You think not?” he said. “Maybe soon I’ll get to speak to one of them.” He moved so Caden could feel his breath tickle his ear and spoke in low, gleeful tones. “We’ll talk more if you survive this rescue attempt. And I hope you do. I have time yet to kill you. I’d like to enjoy it.”

  From the corner, Derek was watching. His gaze was locked on the dagger, his notebook sitting forgotten on his desk, his hand gripping a cell phone.

  For the first time since detention began, Rath Dunn’s attention slid to Derek. “No cell phones allowed,” he said. Then, with a burst of unexpected speed, he stabbed the blood dagger through the X Caden had drawn in his notebook, through the notebook itself, and into the desk. A second later, Rath Dunn was in front of Derek, Derek’s cell phone in his hands.

  Rath Dunn looked at it and shook his head. “Nine one one?” he said. He slammed the phone on Derek’s desk, much to Derek’s obvious distress, and only inches from Derek’s notebook. “Next time you fear me, I’d advise you to run.” Before Derek could say or do anything, Rath Dunn came back and retrieved his dagger. He glanced out the window. “Enjoy the snow, boys.” He turned on his heel and walked out. “Detention’s over.”

  The quiet that followed was loud but didn’t last long. With a crude curse, Derek picked up his notebook and shoved it into his pack. He zipped up his jacket like it was his greatest enemy. The cell phone looked broken, and he picked it up gingerly. When he turned to look at Caden, he seemed furious. “Stay away from me, Goodwill,” Derek said.

  Caden had no problem with that. He disliked Derek, but then he hesitated. He could dislike someone and still not want him or his mother devoured by Ms. Primrose. And wasn’t 911 the emergency number Rosa had mentioned? It seemed Derek was trying to help him.

  “Wait,” Caden said.

  Derek’s eyes were full of distrust. “What?”

  Caden stood and gathered his things. His time was limited. There was only so much he could spare for Derek. “Tell your mother to stop harassing Ms. Primrose. If she doesn’t, I fear she will kill you both.”

  Derek just looked confused. “She’s an old lady.”

  Caden pointed to the doorway by which Rath Dunn had exited. “Rath Dunn—Mr. Rathis—is dangerous and evil. You’ve seen it. Even he fears her.”

  Derek appeared unsure. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I got detention because you threw spaghetti on me. My mother won’t stop until she gets justice.”

  Caden wasn’t sure what to do with that. He ignored his building headache and tried to concentrate. He needed to get to that X on the map, but honor dictated he at least try to save this unfriend, too. “Fine,” he said, an idea forming. “Then tell your mother that I apologized and admitted fault.”

  “Here’s the problem, you haven’t actually—”

  “I apologize and admit fault.”

  “All right,” Derek said, and smirked, “and since you’re all looney tunes and worried about someone killing my mother, I’ll accept.” He glanced toward the door like he feared Rath Dunn would come back, and Caden could tell beneath his bravado he was shaken. It seemed to make him more obnoxious, for he added, “But you and Tito nonbonito best stay away from me,” he said, and hurried away.

  Caden’s hands shook, more from the earlier memories of Chadwin and the accusations about his brothers than anything else. He took a deep breath. Right now, he had to get home and get to that X. There would be time to figure out how to keep Derek from being devoured later. There would also be time to discover what Rath Dunn was plotting with his strange drawer of ingredients, and the information he needed from Caden. At night, when all was quiet, he could continue to mourn for Chadwin. But this day, at this moment, he had a half-elf enchantress to save.

  Caden’s pocket, the one containing his phone, began to shake. Truly, he preferred the loud music to the buzzing. Any person who’d ever felt the debilitating sting of a Razzon crater wasp would feel the same. He answered it.

  “Did he tell you where she is?” It was Tito.

  “He drew me a map.”

  Moonrise was no more than two hours away. They would have to move fast. Caden heard Tito exhale a shaky breath; heard Brynne’s musical voice in the background; and heard the comforting, unmistakable, and majestic neigh of Sir Horace.

  “Meet us behind the cafeteria,” Tito said. “We’ve got your horse and we’re almost there.”

  Caden, though, glanced down the long hall to the twin front doors. “Rosa waits out front.”

  “Yeah, about that.” Tito paused. There was a sharp edge to his voice. “Brynne tried to magic her. Rosa is pi—”
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  There was the sound of scuffling. “She’s fine.” Now it was Brynne speaking. “Her will is strong. He’s angry because he was forced to sneak out of his room with your rope.”

  Tito’s voice returned. “Look,” he said. “I told Rosa about Jane. Any help we can get, right? Anyway, she said she’d send the police to check it out but . . .”

  “They are neither prepared nor know where to look.”

  “Yeah.” Tito paused. “And, um, sorry, bro, but I think Rosa’s putting you in counseling next week. She’s making me go, too—it’s not that bad.”

  From what Tito had told Caden of counseling, it was something he neither wanted nor needed. “Why?”

  “She thinks you’re a destabilizing influence.”

  “My influence is nothing but honorable and good.”

  From farther away, he heard Brynne again speak. “We’d be there sooner if the beast would let us ride him.” There was a snapping sound. “Ow. It tried to bite me.”

  She must have used all her tricks to get Sir Horace to follow them. “Put Sir Horace on the phone,” Caden said.

  “What?” Tito said.

  “Do as I say, Sir Tito.”

  The next thing Caden heard was the mighty snort of his horse. He explained quickly to Sir Horace that he was not to bite Brynne or Tito. “You’ve followed them thus far. They’re friends.”

  “You done?” That was Tito, not Sir Horace.

  “Yes.”

  “Good,” Tito said. “When we find Jane, we’ll text Officer Levine and Rosa the location. It won’t matter if they believe us or not. They’ll come to get us either way.”

  “A wise plan,” Caden said. Any moment, Rosa would come to find him. “You understand, however, Rosa will be furious.”

  Caden didn’t care much about her wrath but Tito did. He heard Tito exhale. “Not if we find Jane.”

  Caden took the back exit. He adjusted his coat and held his damaged notebook to his chest. Outside, the air chilled. The snow plunged from the sky in stinging sheets. It was difficult to distinguish the snow-covered trees from the white sky, white ground, and white-covered building tops.