Consort of Rebels

by Sadie Moss

  Corin ran a hand through his short blond hair. His eyes were a bit glazed over, and he looked exhausted. None of us had gotten enough sleep the past few nights. “Didn’t we already decide they wouldn’t take your word for it? You can tell them exactly what Rain told you, but it’ll just be your word against his.”

  “No, it won’t! I saw something. I must have. When I was a kid!”

  Several blank stares greeted me, but Jae’s green eyes glittered with interest. “Saw what?”

  That gave me a moment’s pause.

  “Well, I don’t know, exactly. I don’t remember. But that dream I keep having about my father—the one where he gives me the ring with the magic suppressing spell on it? It must be based on a memory. And in one of the versions of that dream, Rain was there. When he captured me, Rain told me he shared his plans with my father. I think I saw something, some part of that exchange. That’s what my fucking brain has been trying to tell me all this time!”

  Akio sat up gracefully, swinging his legs off the couch. “No offense, kitten, but how does a memory you think you have help us prove anything?”

  I shot him a triumphant smile. “Because we know someone who can access forgotten memories.”

  Marielle Arcand definitely remembered us.

  At least, her frosty expression made me assume so. The first time we’d come here, she’d been coolly polite, but her demeanor today could best be described as “coldly rude.”

  “Oh. You.”

  That was her only greeting as she let the door slam shut behind her. She stalked across the pristine lobby toward us, and Jae took a step forward, his posture defensive—as if he needed to protect me from this waif of a woman. Then again, she was one of the most powerful witches in the Capital, and she didn’t like me at all. So maybe I shouldn’t scoff at his protectiveness.

  He might’ve also been extra jumpy because we’d left the other three members of our team at Beatrice’s. We’d decided it was safer, since Akio was now openly known as a Resistance member, and Fen and Corin probably were too. But not having them with me made me feel like I was missing a limb.

  “Yeah. Us.”

  I matched her tone, squaring my shoulders. I would’ve been able to look imperiously down at her if she hadn’t cheated by wearing four-inch stilettos that elevated her to my eye level. Her black hair was pulled back in a slick bun again today, and she was even thinner than I remembered.

  Marielle sighed, rolling her eyes elegantly—however the fuck that was possible. “What do you want?”

  “We need another memory potion.”

  She arched a brow, pursing her red lips. “Having fun digging up the past, are we?”

  I scowled. “Yes. We are. And we can pay, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “It’s not,” she said shortly.

  Dear gods, give me the patience not to drop-kick this fucking witch.

  Ratcheting up my inner calm, I slipped my hand into Jae’s, trying to absorb some of his tranquil energy. “Well then, will you help us or not?”

  Marielle regarded me in silence long enough for me to notice her receptionist smiling smugly from behind the counter. What that woman had against me, I didn’t know. Except maybe that I’d dared to bring a Blighted man into this upscale establishment last time I came.

  Before I could start a fight with the smirking receptionist, Marielle nodded sharply.

  “All right. But my fee is tripled.”

  My heart almost stopped. Six thousand dollars? Shit. I didn’t have it. I could cover maybe four, but my last visit here had put a serious dent in my nest egg. Beatrice had plenty of money, but I didn’t know how to access it, or if she’d even left it to me. So much had been going on I hadn’t sorted any of that out.

  “I…” I tried to hide the flush creeping up my cheeks. “I don’t—”

  “That’s fine,” Jae said smoothly.

  Squeezing his hand, I shook my head, but he squeezed back harder.

  “It’s fine, Lana. I shouldn’t have let you pay last time. I have family money that I wish I didn’t. This will be the best thing I’ve ever spent it on.”

  My pride wanted to argue with him, but my practicality wouldn’t let me. We needed this potion, and we needed it now. And somehow, the idea of letting someone else help me wasn’t nearly as terrifying as it’d once been. I knew the lengths I’d be willing to go to for my four, and it seemed unfair not to let them do the same for me.

  “Thank you, Jae.”

  Impulsively, I tugged on his hand and leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek, so close to his lips I felt his breath as he inhaled.

  His clean scent filled my nostrils, what I imagined an ocean breeze might smell like. I felt more than heard the hitch in his breath, and I had to drag myself away from the warmth of his skin, the slight roughness of his stubble.

  When I turned back to Marielle, she looked even more annoyed than she had a minute ago. I guess public displays of affection were beneath her too.

  Without another word, she turned sharply and led us to the back, through the hallways bathed in red light, to a small room with a cauldron hanging from the ceiling.

  “You want another potion like the first?” she asked, pulling items out of the cabinet and arranging them on the small workspace. She lit the flame beneath the cauldron using her magical fire starter then shot a glance at me.

  “Yes. Except a more powerful one, if that’s possible.”

  “How so?” She turned to face me, her expression less hostile now that I was offering her an interesting challenge.

  When I explained what we were looking for, she considered for a moment then nodded. “I can do that.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. There were dozens of ways this plan might fail, but at least we’d passed the first hurdle.

  Marielle set to work on the potion, grinding up several ingredients with a large stone pestle before dropping them into the cauldron. Jae and I watched her in absolute silence as she began to stir and chant in a low voice. As tempted as I was to fuck with her just to see if I could make actual steam come out of her ears, we needed that potion more than I needed to indulge my petty childishness. Besides, I had enough challenges to overcome without adding “getting hexed by a witch” to my list of problems.

  It took all my self-control not to start fidgeting as minutes ticked by and the stirring and chanting went on and on. Had it taken this long last time? Probably. I’d been antsy then too, but I’d also been distracted by the news of Rat’s death. Now there was nothing but Jae’s hand in mine, the sound of Marielle’s spoon scraping the bottom of the cauldron, and her low voice intoning words I couldn’t understand.

  By the time she finally finished, I had teeth marks embedded in my lower lip. She used a long tube to extract the liquid from the cauldron, pouring it into a small vial before stopping it up with a cork.

  Jae handed over a black credit card, and Marielle smiled genuinely for the first time since she’d greeted us. Once she’d processed his payment, she dropped the potion into my waiting palm.

  “A drop in each eye, two drops in the ears, the rest in your mouth,” she instructed me.

  “Really?” I grimaced. I’d gotten a whiff of the thing while it was brewing, and it had not smelled potable.

  She scowled. “If you want it to work, yes.”

  My stomach dropped. I’d gotten much more comfortable with magic since discovering it was a part of me, but twenty-four years of old habits were hard to break. The idea of ingesting something made of magic sent a nervous chill skating over my skin. What if she’d brewed it wrong?

  “It won’t kill you,” Marielle snapped, correctly interpreting my silence. If she was slightly less hostile, her words might’ve been easier to believe.

  Still, I closed my fingers tight around the potion and nodded. “Thanks.”

  The witch waved her hand at us in a clear dismissal, and Jae ushered me through the door and back out to his car. As he pulled away from the curb outside M
élange, I pressed the stone on my earring to activate my communication charm.

  “Did you get it?”

  Corin’s voice sounded in my ear so quickly I was sure he must’ve been waiting for my call.

  “Yeah. We just left Marielle. We’re on our way to the palace.”

  “Not without us, you’re not.”

  “Corin—”

  “No, Lana. It wasn’t worth us coming to get the potion with you, but if you’re heading into danger, we’re all going to be there.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense! The palace is the least safe place for you to be right now.”

  Even as I spoke, I noticed Jae turn the car away from the palace—and toward Beatrice’s house. I shot him a glare, but he avoided my eyes.

  “It won’t be much safer for you, but you’re going anyway. So are we.” Corin’s voice had taken on the stubborn edge that meant his mind was made up. I knew that tone well. He might be the only person I knew who was more pigheaded than me.

  “Sorry, killer,” Fenris threw in. “But you only get twenty percent of the vote, and I think you’re outnumbered on this one.”

  “Well, Jae is on my—” I started, but cut off at the slight shake of the mage’s head.

  “We need to stick together, Lana. I bought some potions and enchanted weapons Corin and Akio can use if it comes down to a fight.”

  Damn it. My stomach twisted, worry for my four just barely edging out my desire to have them with me. I wouldn’t change our situation for the world, but sometimes I hated having four pieces of my heart exist outside my body. It was nerve-wracking as hell.

  I sighed. “Fine. But if you come, then we stick together. We all go, we better all come back.”

  “We will.” Corin’s voice was firm.

  My heart squeezed painfully. If only that was a promise I knew he could keep.

  Chapter 11

  Jae didn’t drive directly up to the palace, as he had on numerous other occasions. Instead, he left the car several blocks away, and we approached on foot. Peacekeepers lined the palace grounds, directing curious residents of the Capital onto the sweeping front lawn before the palace.

  It was packed with people. The only areas that were free of crowds were the large fountain in the middle of the lawn and the angled roads leading up to the palace entrance. The roads were currently blocked off. Three red banners bearing the emblem of the Order of Magic hung from the balcony that spanned a section of the palace above the grand entrance doors.

  We pushed our way through the crowd, which grew even thicker toward the front. I stayed close to Corin, worried that the people around us might notice a Blighted man in their midst. But there were so many different kinds of magic mingling in the air it was hard to pinpoint their exact source, so his lack of magic was much less obvious. The size of the throng made it easy for us all to disappear.

  On the balcony, Theron Stearns stood next to Rain. The two men were backed by the remaining five Representatives, and Jonas Nocturne stood off to one side. Whether he was there as part of the ceremony, or in an official capacity as the Minister of Justice, I wasn’t sure. Given the size of the crowd, I guessed it was the latter. He was likely on duty, coordinating the activity of the Peacekeepers and palace guards.

  The Secretary General’s voice was magically amplified to carry over the entire crowd as he expounded on Rain’s years of service to the country, his dedication to magic, and his efforts to improve life for the Gifted.

  My heart pounded dully in my chest. Yeah, that sounded about right—plus or minus a little genocide.

  Akio took the lead, somehow managing to part the crowd for us without shoving and elbowing people aside like I would have. When we were nearly to the cordoned off road, and as close to the front of the palace as we were going to get, I slipped the potion out of my pocket.

  A drop in each eye, two in the ears, the rest in the mouth.

  I swallowed. There wasn’t a single part of Marielle’s instructions I liked.

  “Here goes nothing.” I looked at Jae. “You ready with the amplification spell?”

  He nodded grimly, his green eyes serious.

  Popping the cork out of the small vial, I held the bottle over my eye, trying to ignore the dark red color that was reminiscent of congealing blood. I tipped a drop into my left eye, then my right.

  It burned.

  My vision swam, everything around me turning a hazy red color. Quickly, I tilted my head and applied drops to both ears. The liquid slithered inside my ears, seeming to worm its way deep into my skull. I threw back the remaining liquid like a shot of whiskey.

  But godsdamn—whiskey never burned like this. My eyes stung, my ears felt muffled, and the liquid coated my tongue, tasting like copper and some pungent herb I couldn’t identify. It slid down my throat, leaving a scalding trail in its wake.

  I opened my mouth to curse, but all that came out was smoke.

  It poured from my eyes and ears too, thicker and darker than the wisps of smoke that had come from Gerald, rising high into the sky above me. My knees gave out, and I felt strong hands grab me from behind, supporting me as my body sagged and my head tilted back.

  Disorientation flooded me. I wasn’t sure I was still breathing. I couldn’t feel air entering my lungs, just smoke pouring from me in an endless stream.

  “Lana.” Jae’s voice came from a world away. “Did you see your father with Rain that day? Did you see Rain confess his plans to steal magic?”

  And I remembered.

  The memory slammed into me with the force of a speeding car. Then it continued through me, flowing out of my body and into the smoke swirling above my head. I saw the scene play out in my head as I heard it magically amplified all around me, drowning out Theron Stearns’ words.

  My father stood with his back to me as I peered around the door of his study. A younger version of Rain paced before him, his eyes burning like fire, his movements erratic.

  “Think of it, Dominic! Where will it stop? If this continues, in just a few generations, everyone will have magic. And what will magic be worth then? Absolutely nothing!”

  My father shrugged his broad shoulders. “I see your point. A lineage of pure magic means less than it used to. But there’s nothing to be done about it, Rain. This is the way of the world.”

  Rain’s face lit up with manic excitement, and he grabbed my father by the shoulders. “It doesn’t have to be.”

  The older man chuckled uncomfortably, brushing the grasping hands off his shoulders and stepping back. “What do you mean? What grand theory have you cooked up this time?”

  “Not a theory. A plan. And I’ve finally found a way.” The frenetic energy Rain had been giving off stopped, his focus seeming to narrow down to a pinpoint as he grew unnaturally still. His careful mask of sanity and civility slipped, and for a moment, I could see the monster inside. “We’ll take magic away from those who don’t deserve it, and give it to those who do.”

  His words hung in the air for a moment. My father let out another choked laugh as tension stiffened his shoulders. “You can’t be serious, Rain. You can’t take magic away from people who were born with it. And who would decide who ‘deserves’ it?”

  “I would. And I can. I will.” Rain’s voice was soft, his body like a statue. “Help me, Dominic. I’m almost ready. I just need—”

  “Rain, be serious! What you’re talking about is dangerous. Insane. Not to mention impossible.”

  “Not impossible. I’ve found a way.” Rain slipped a hand into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and withdrew a small glass orb, no bigger than a marble. Inside, a pure white light glowed. I could feel the power contained in that tiny ball of light even from where I hid behind the door, peering through the crack in the hinge.

  Silence fell. My father reached out toward the orb, but then arrested the movement. “Is this…? Have you truly…? What have you done?”

  “This is magic.” Rain’s chest rose and fell rapidly. “This is one man’s mag
ic, harvested from his body and contained in its purest form. Once I replicate the pull on others, I’ll be able to redistribute the power as I see fit. Will you help me?”

  “No,” my father murmured. Then he repeated more forcefully, “No, I won’t help you.”

  Rain blinked. “I… thought you understood.”

  My father scoffed. “I understand your frustrations. I understand wanting to prize and value magic, to preserve the bloodlines of pure magic users. But this? This is unconscionable. This is theft of a person’s very essence. I cannot—”

  There was a crack, and a harsh blast of wind threw him backward. It pinned him to the bookcase, sending bits of paper flying. Before my father could fight back, Rain swept from the room.

  I ducked behind the door as he passed then darted into the study, fighting the wind that still howled in the room. A moment later, it cut off abruptly, and my father stumbled forward. He caught himself in a crouch and stood slowly, a dark look overtaking his features.

  Anger. And fear.

  Until that day, I’d never seen my father afraid.

  A noise escaped me, halfway between a squeak and a sob, drawing his attention. His jaw tightened, and he reached for the tungsten and copper ring on his pinky finger, pulling it off and clasping it between his palms, muttering the words to a spell.

  Shouts and screams filled the air, and I looked around, wondering how so many people had gotten into our house.

  No. Wait.

  They weren’t here.

  And neither was I.

  I blinked and gasped, drawing a heaving breath into my lungs. Smoke still hung heavy in the air above me, and the shouts and cries were coming from the crowd around us.

  Akio and Fen were behind me, holding me up. My feet were still on the ground, but I wasn’t supporting any of my own weight. Red still tinged my vision. Nausea roiled my stomach.

  I looked over at Jae, almost choking on my words. “Did… did it work?”

  He nodded, his mouth set in a grim line, and we all turned toward the balcony where the Representatives stood.