by Avery Cross
For dead men, these two were strong. I shut my eyes, forcing my body to relax the best I could.
I pulled on my power, feeling it cover me like a thin layer of water, before with a yell, I forced it outward, taking the two dead with it, and sending them flying into the nearest stack of shelves.
Lunging to my feet, I whirled around just in time to see Carter and Briar squaring off, her back to the table and the files we needed.
She had a split lip, and as he threw himself at her again, she blocked his attacks until I reached them and wrapping my arms around his middle, then tossed him to the side.
“Get the files and go,” I ordered, not looking if she listened or not.
Carter was back on his feet, his bones creaking and cracking as he ambled back toward me, a devilish look on his face. “You… will not stop us… you are too late…”
I pulled on my power again and hit him with it square in the chest.
He absorbed the attack, barely flinching.
Panic grew in me as I hit him again and again, backing up as he continued to move closer.
The two undead had found their feet and were back at his side.
I shook out my hands and tried again, but nothing was working, and as a last resort, I threw up a shield.
Carter pushed against it, and I winced as it shattered.
He was only a few feet away.
I renewed my attack, decking him in the jaw.
It snapped easily. He grabbed his head and shoved it back in place with a disgusting, wet cracking sound, as I watched, horrified.
“You will die,” he rasped, and pulled out a blade.
I swore I spotted a hint of regret at what he was about to do, but then it was gone, and he sneered, flashing that blade.
I was reaching back to grab a chair, anything to defend myself with, when Briar called out, “Get down.”
I dropped to the floor a second before a burst of fire shot across the table and struck Carter in the chest. He was a fire summoner himself, and I expected him to merely catch the flames and extinguish them, but instead, he yelped in alarm as the fire spread across his clothes and his dried skin. He spun around, trying to put them out, but instead, managed to catch the other two on fire.
The three undead torches shrieked as the flames swiftly consumed them.
Briar raised her hands, drawing to pull the fire back to her, but the flames refused to obey her.
Carter flung himself onto the table, and it caught fire in seconds.
Another undead crashed into the shelves nearby, and the boxes went up in flames. Black smoke filled the room.
I hacked, covering my face with my shirt as I fumbled in the haze for Briar’s hand.
“The files,” she gasped, trying to reach them, she snatched a few in her hands, and then I was dragging her away before the flames consumed everything down here.
We stumbled through the library, the smoke chasing us, the flames devouring everything in their path. They roared as if alive, and when I chanced a look back, there amid the flames was a robed figure.
I blinked, and it was gone. I had to have imagined it, but then we were at the stairs, the fire nipping at our heels. It spread unnaturally fast, and we barely made it to the next floor before Briar collapsed, coughing violently as she fought to get back to her feet.
I tried to pull her up, but the room spun around me, and the smoke made it nearly impossible to see or breathe. I dragged her a few more feet before I could go no further and crashed to the floor.
The flames were going to reach us, and that would be it. They’d find our charred remains and never know what happened…
I jolted awake, gasping for air, and ready for a fight. Two strong hands grabbed my shoulders, and I flailed, trying to get free, until a familiar voice sternly told me to calm down and see where I was.
I blinked a few times, eyes sore, and each breath a new form of torture, but the infirmary slowly came into focus. I was spending way too much time here this year.
“Headmaster Hooke?” My voice came out rough and pained.
“Yes, right here,” he assured me as I relaxed a bit. “You two are very lucky.”
“Lucky?” I frowned at his words.
He moved to the side.
That was when I saw her. “Briar.”
She was in the bed next to mine, still unconscious, and aside from a split lip, and a few small bruises on her face, she looked perfectly fine.
“The fire.” The events of the last few hours rushed back to me. “There was a fire and Carter was down there. He attacked us again, him and two undead. Hooke, you have to believe me,” I whispered, knowing how crazed I sounded as I grabbed his arm. “They came after us and the files. Did you find the files?”
Hooke sighed as he gently pried my hand loose. “Zachary, I am sorry, but I think our young Miss Shroud here tricked you into chasing something that was never there. I knew of her troubled past, her tendency to lie and rebel against the system and I had hoped you would help her see her true potential. She has done all of this, a broken person crying for attention.”
I shook my head, leaning away from him. To hear him talk like that about Briar when she’d come so far.
“No, she didn’t I’m the one that found those files. I saw Ivan talking to the robed man with the tattoos—”
“That man,” Hooke interrupted me, “works for the government. He’s been on the hunt for those who practice dark magic, such as necromancy. Those tattoos are fake, Zachary, and he was only here to ask Ivan questions about the future graduating class. Yours. He’s looking for recruits to aid him in his future endeavors. There was never any coverup.”
This wasn’t right, none of it was. I knew what I heard, what I’d seen. “Then explain the files/ And tell me why there’s one of Briar’s sister or whoever down there. Tell me.”
He scratched at his forehead as if trying to decide how best to approach me. Like I’d gone insane. “Zachary, there were no files. We found nothing but you two trying to make your way back up once the lower level caught fire. It’s clear to me what happened down there. As far as her sister,” Hooke said, confirming at least one suspicion, or so I thought, “I have no idea who you’re referring to. There is no other Shroud here, and I do not recall another female student who looked like her.”
Hooke had been Headmaster here for years. He would’ve been around when that girl was… Bethany. That was her name. Bethany Morris. I glared at him. He knew, he had to know, but the only thing I could glean from him was worry.
“You and Miss Shroud were nearly killed in a terrible accident caused by her,” Hooke continued, even as I shook my head. “Whatever you two have going on is not good for her. It seems to set off abilities she is not able to control, and until such time as she can, I am ordering the two of you stay far away from one another. You are no longer her mentor, Zachary, or her teacher. And you can certainly not be with her.”
“But Carter,” I whispered, clinging to that last bit of hope, “he was down there.”
Hooke pointed across the infirmary and there lying in bed, appearing to be fast asleep, was Carter. “He has not left the infirmary since coming here after Miss Shroud attacked him. I’m sorry, but nothing you’re telling me has any merit, and I must say I am disappointed in you. In both of you.”
“No,” I whispered in disbelief. “No. He was there, I know what I saw.”
“This semester has been difficult for you,” Hooke said calmly. “I’m going to suggest you take some time to rest your mind and give you an exemption from finals. You can make them up next semester.”
I held my head in my hands. What was happening? This was wrong, all wrong. We’d had the files, I saw the one for Bethany Morris myself and the fire, Carter… but Hooke refused to listen. And my ranting about it more would only make me sound more unstable.
My chest grew tight when I looked at Briar. He was going to keep us apart because he thought she caused this mess. She started the fire, but it was to
save our lives, not because she lost control. The robed man… he was down there with us, I saw him.
“Get some rest,” Hooke told me. “When you feel up to it, you may return to your quarters.”
Numbly I nodded, focusing instead on Carter. His aura came into view, but my abilities were shaky from being so weak, and all I managed to glimpse was a bit of orange. Normal. It appeared perfectly normal. Hooke promised he would check in with me later and I waited until he was gone before I got up and went to Briar’s bed.
“We’ll fix this,” I whispered as I kissed her forehead. “I’m going to tell my brothers everything, and somehow, we’ll prove what’s really going on here.”
I took her hand, holding it until Maggie saw me and told me to get back to my own bed.
She closed the curtain between us, so I couldn’t see Briar anymore, and I spent the next few hours sulking in my bed before exhaustion won out and I fell back asleep.
Chapter Eighteen
Briar
There were voices around me, some yelling.
I thought I heard Zach, but then they were gone too fast for me to be certain. My body felt heavy, and breathing was hard, just like when Carter had choked me.
As his name floated through my mind, an image of him covered in fire hit me and I sat upright, staring around the infirmary warily as my eyes adjusted to the gloom.
“Zach?” I asked, my voice coming out in a croak. “Zach!”
Panic struck me when he didn’t reply, and I started to climb out of bed, ready to go find him, when the curtain around my bed opened, and Headmaster Hooke stood there.
“Where is he? I have to see him.”
“He is in his quarters, resting,” Hooke assured me, stopping me from going anywhere.
“Is he alright? What happened? The files, did you see the files?” I remembered grabbing them, including the one with my lookalike.
Hooke’s eyes darkened, and my gut plummeted to the floor.
“Where are the files?”
“Please, return to your bed. You need to rest. You’ve been through quite the ordeal.”
“You’re not answering me,” I yelled.
“There were no files,” he snapped, then sucked in a breath as I flinched. “My apologies, Briar, but there were no files. All we found was you and Zach escaping a very large, very dangerous fire that endangered the lives of every student and staff member within the library.”
I blanched at his outburst and shook my head. “It wasn’t our fault. Carter, he was there, and those things were with him,” I protested, but Hooke was pointing at something across the infirmary.
“Carter has not left, just as I told Zach. I don’t know what you two have been doing down in the archives, but it ends. Your association with Zach ends.”
“Wait, what? Why?”
“Because it is clear your relationship with him is making you very unstable and as powerful as you are, I cannot risk anyone else’s well-being.”
“I don’t understand, this has nothing to do with that.”
“Clearly it does. The incident with Carter happened while you were with Zach and now the library was caught on fire? A fire that was completely out of control by the time help arrived.” He pointed at me harshly as he glowered. “I have never once had to do this to a student, Briar, but you are on probation, and you are no longer to see Zach regarding anything. He is not your mentor, and Professor Woods will continue to teach you. You will not socialize with Zach, nor be in the same room with him, if it can be helped. Do I make myself clear?”
My mouth worked, but no words came out.
He said he believed us, but he lied. He lied right to our faces and now, when we were almost killed, and our proof destroyed, he blamed everything on me and my emotional instability.
I stared at Carter, asleep in his bed. It couldn’t be him. We saw him in the library… he should be dead. But there he was, as if nothing ever happened. I reluctantly climbed back into my bed as Hooke stood by, arms crossed, and pissed off.
I considered glaring right back at him, but there were worse things he could do to me, like throw me in the crypt, or kick me out of Academy completely.
“You came to us a troubled young woman,” he went on, “and it seems so far we have failed in getting you over wherever you’ve come from, to see who you can be. You cannot be a rebel here, or a troublemaker, else probation will be the least of your worries.”
I believed him, too, but didn’t back down just yet. “Can I ask you one question, please?” I asked quietly.
He nodded, grinding his teeth.
“The tattooed guy we saw watching us in Silent Heights, and Zach saw here, who was he?”
“He works for the government as I explained to Zach,” he said shortly. “He seeks out those who use dark magic, nothing more. He is not a necromancer and to suggest such a thing could be going on under my nose is beyond disrespectful.”
I hung my head, biting back my angry retort.
“Now then, you will remain here until Maggie says you are free to go. You are not to go near Carter, and when you do leave here, I will give you a few days to recover, but then you are back to your studies,” he informed me. “I’ll be keeping a close eye on you, Briar, and one mistake, one mess up will land you in a very difficult situation.”
“You’ll kick me out?”
He shook his head, and I gulped.
“I’m afraid one as powerful as you cannot simply be thrown back into the world. Not when you have no control over your abilities.”
I gripped the blanket in my fingers until they ached. “Then what?”
“I’m afraid that will be up to another to decide,” he said, and the infirmary door opened. “General Morris has come to investigate the incidents here.”
I sat up straight at that name, as the man he called General Morris marched inside.
He was tall with broad shoulders, wearing a black and red military uniform with a sword strapped to his side. His hair was black, just like mine… and those eyes… they were dark with flecks of gold.
Just like mine.
“General Morris, this is the young lady involved in the fire and the astral projection incident I reported,” Hooke explained as the man, potentially my father, stopped at the foot of my bed.
I held my breath, waiting for some sign of recognition, for him to say he was my dad, but when those eyes turned on me, a shiver shot down my spine. Those eyes were cold and hard and told me he cared nothing about who I was.
“I see. You’re sure she’s the one?”
“Yes, she is. Her abilities are strong and unique.”
“Very well then. I will remain here on campus to observe her behavior.” He discussed my future with Hooke like I wasn’t even there. “If she gives you any more trouble, she will be removed and taken to a more secure training facility.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I snapped. “You can’t just take me away.”
“You’ll find that I can,” General Morris stated. “I suggest you watch yourself very closely over the next few months.”
“And what if I don’t?”
His lip twitched, obviously not used to being challenged. “Then I will find a use for you in the military much sooner than you expected. Our researchers are always looking for those gifted with certain rare… talents.”
A weapon. He wanted to use me as a weapon. I saw the excitement briefly cross his face before it was back to being carefully blank.
Zach had said astral projecting into someone’s mind hadn’t been done in a long time, decades, if not longer, I think. So much for staying under the radar and finding a way not to go into the military.
Now they might just take me whenever they damned well pleased. Fear bubbled up in me, and I wished Zach was here.
But now I couldn’t even see him or talk to him. He was one of the only reasons I’d managed to get this far, and now Hooke was taking him away.
Hooke and General Morris started for the door, speaking more about
the fire and what happened with Carter. I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but I had to know.
“General Morris,” I called, and they both stopped. “Do you have any children? A daughter maybe… or two?”
Hooke gave nothing away, but General Morris’ hand tightened on the hilt of his sword as his entire body went rigid. “I beg your pardon?”
“I said do you have any children?”
His intense glare should’ve scared me more, but underneath it all was a hint of regret.
My heart leapt.
He recognized me, I knew he did.
I waited, praying he would just come out and say it and maybe this whole situation would have a silver lining, but then he shook his head and clenched his jaw.
“I have no children, and you will not ask me personal questions like that again. Do we understand one another, Miss Shroud?”
I said nothing, didn’t even nod. He pivoted sharply on his heel then he and Hooke were gone. I slumped back against my pillows, rubbing a hand over my face. How had it come to this? When I first arrived at Academy, I thought I knew what feeling lost felt like.
Now, I was beginning to understand I knew nothing and my life was about to get even more complicated than I ever imagined.
I hope you enjoyed Catacombs!
Look for the next book in this series!
Academy of Ancients Series
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Copyright © 2018 by Avery Cross
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