Hexing

by Ciara Graves

  I started to say no, but that’d be a lie. I had felt it. A deep connection and almost an understanding of Rori and Chas as we fought—or attempted to fight—together. “Yeah, I did,” I finally admitted.

  “You’re worried about Rori.”

  I shrugged. “I am. I’m worried about all of us, actually. I came here knowing I would have to serve at some point, but this is beyond what I anticipated. Especially in my first month or so here.”

  “Moran was right when he said he cares about those under his command. He won’t send us out until we’re ready.”

  “And what if we’re never ready? What if the war grows worse, and desperate times, and all that shit? You can’t stand there and tell me he’ll hold back just because we don’t think we’re ready.”

  Chas’s face grew set with a dark expression.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck as we stood in silence, listening to the leaves rustling behind us. After a while, he said he was going for a run in the woods, and he’d see me tomorrow for our training. I watched him go and stayed at the edge of the trees for a long time.

  Eventually, I sank down to the grass and shut my eyes, reaching for the storm that was constantly brewing within me. Linking my power to Chas’s had felt odd, and I needed to get my balance back by being out here. But as I shut my eyes and reached for that storm, I pictured the three of us caught up in a battle we had no chance of winning.

  Chapter 11

  Chas

  I growled as Moran came after me again and slammed my paws onto the mats hard.

  Green moss erupted and shot toward him, trapping his feet within its hold.

  I roared for Brogan to make his move, and lightning crackled around me, then it shot out toward Moran. He raised his hands and easily deflected it, but it had given Rori a chance to get behind him. She raised her staff high in her left hand as her right shot out toward Moran—who was now our captive.

  Ice formed at his feet and moved up his body, trapping him. But just as it would’ve pinned his hands to his sides, Rori faltered, and her power cut off, as if someone pulled the plug on her.

  She cursed.

  Moran easily broke out of the ice and swung his arm, catching her in a whirlwind that sent her flying across the room.

  Brogan yelled in fury, his hands shooting toward Moran. The drain of his magic on mine pulled me out of bear form abruptly. The endeavor backfired on both of us. We fell to the floor, sucking in breaths as our power dissipated violently, leaving us weakened.

  Moran stepped out of the moss and moved closer, preparing for the move that would leave us both bruised. Again.

  But just as he made ready to attack, Rori screamed a battle cry and threw herself at Moran. She smacked him in the back with her staff.

  He grunted, whirling around, but she ducked under his arm and slammed her staff into his knees. They fought hand-to-hand as Brogan and I struggled to regain our footing.

  Moran was twice her size, but she held her ground, for a while at least. When she started to lose ground, she slammed her staff to the floor and a wall of ice formed, blocking Moran from reaching her.

  “Now or never,” I muttered to Brogan.

  He nodded, and we hefted ourselves up.

  The strain was too much, but this was the first time in the last three weeks of these damned sessions that we had Moran on the defensive. Mostly.

  I opened up to my power connecting with Brogan’s, and together, we attacked Moran again. The wave of living moss and vines coupled with lightning struck Moran in the back, and his body convulsed from the hit, paralyzing him.

  “Rori! Trap him!” I yelled to her. But there was no reply. “Rori?”

  The ice wall cracked down the center, and a strange darkness seeped out, spider-webbing through the rest of the ice, then shattering completely.

  Behind it, Rori stood holding her staff. Her hair had gone completely white. Her ice blue eyes glazed over, then darkened to a strange shade of violet. Suddenly, she collapsed to the floor in a heap.

  Moran was the first to reach her, lifting her up and tapping her cheeks as Brogan and I rushed to her side.

  “What the hell happened?” Brogan snapped.

  Moran ignored his question. Placing his hand against Rori’s forehead, he whispered quietly. When her eyes still didn’t open, he turned to me. “Fetch Sister Agnes. Quickly.”

  I did as he asked and sprinted from the dome to one of the soldiers outside. I gave him the order, and he set off to track her down while I returned to the scene inside.

  Brogan was holding Rori in his lap, and the strangest punch of jealousy made me bare my teeth. Then I got a hold of myself and returned to Moran, who stared at her with a worried frown.

  “What was that—with the ice?” I asked. “I’ve never seen that before.”

  “I have,” he replied.

  Brogan’s head shot up.

  Moran nodded. “Once. A long, long time ago.”

  “Is she sick?” Brogan asked, smoothing his fingers over Rori’s now white hair. “She said there was something wrong with her powers. Is it the Cleansers? Are they doing this to her?”

  Moran shook his head. “No. This is something else.”

  “What?” I demanded hotly. “What is happening to her?”

  Doors opened behind us.

  Before he could answer, Agnes appeared, silver hair flying out behind her as she ran to Rori’s side. A bright, white healing light surrounded her and Rori as she laid her hand on her forehead. Rori’s eyes fluttered open for a moment, but then they shut again. She trembled in Brogan’s arms.

  “She needs to rest now.” Agnes glared at Moran.

  “Is she going to be alright?” Brogan asked.

  “Given a few days, yes,” Agnes said, not taking her gaze from Moran. “A word, Commander Moran, if you don’t mind.”

  He ground his teeth but inclined his head. “Chas, Brogan. Get her back to her room, please. I expect the two of you to be here tomorrow.”

  I helped Brogan hoist Rori into his arms, and the three of us left.

  Rori murmured something but remained unconscious as we walked from the dome toward the gate leading back to campus. Neither of us said a word and ignored everyone around us as we hurried back to the dorm and then up to her room. Carefully, I searched her pockets for her key—then I stopped.

  “I can’t use it. Only she can,” I reminded Brogan.

  “Try it anyway,” he said, still clutching her firmly in his arms.

  I did as he suggested and when the door unlocked, I frowned. “That’s not possible.”

  “Maybe it is,” he muttered as I opened the door and the three of us entered. “Maybe we’re all more connected than we realize.” Carefully, he laid Rori on her bed and kissed her forehead.

  My gut twisted at the sight, and I forced myself to stay by the door, leaning against the wall. as he sat on the edge of her bed, watching over her.

  The last two weeks had been beyond intense, even compared to the training I endured while growing up here. It had brought the three of us closer together, but at the same time, we still hadn’t made that genuine connection. There were walls up for all of us, ones that were not going to come down easily. It still bothered me that Rori seemed so familiar, but I couldn’t place where from. Or that Brogan and she had essentially turned into a couple so fast. That made me tense without even understanding why. Rori was attractive, and I liked her spirit, but I hardly knew her well enough to be as jealous as I was of how she turned to Brogan for comfort after our hard sessions of training. Or how I constantly saw them together.

  “Have you ever seen this before?” Brogan asked, tearing me from my confused mess of a mind.

  “I’ve met frost mages before, not many, but a few, and I’d never seen a shadow like that appear,” I replied. “Or how her eyes turned violet.”

  “And her hair,” Brogan muttered, running his fingers down her long braid. “It’s not supposed t
o stay like this, is it?”

  “I’ve never known it to stay that way.”

  He held her hand, squeezing it as if trying to wake her up faster. “Moran was different today.”

  I crossed my arms, trying to look anywhere but their hands. “He’s worried.”

  “About us?”

  “No. Well, partially, but mostly because of the reports that came in this morning.”

  “That bad?”

  “Five Vanguard went missing,” I informed them, since Moran hadn’t given me orders not to tell Brogan or Rori about it. “Two more were found dead.”

  “Where?”

  “Hundred miles from here. But it gets worse.” I swallowed hard. “Another druid was found, his magic corrupted. He nearly killed the entire household before they were able to get him under control.”

  “Does Moran really think he can keep this quiet forever?” he muttered. “Someone’s going to find out eventually.”

  “I know, I’ve told him as much.”

  “And Agnes? What was her issue with him?”

  I smirked. “Agnes is probably giving him shit now for pushing the three of us too hard,” I said, though felt it was more than that. I glanced at Rori’s left hand, but the back was still blank. At some point, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be.

  Moran let slip just a few days ago that she was the reason we would not need a fourth member to our group. I wasn’t sure how that could be possible, seeing as if she was a hybrid she would have to eventually choose. The look in his eyes said he was up to something.

  None of that mattered. We all saw how well it went today. Her magic was going to start fighting against itself if she didn’t learn the truth about who she was. And pushing us to be compatible with each other was either going to make it come out violently, or the next time, Rori might not merely collapse.

  Moran was playing with fire, and he damned well knew it.

  I growled.

  Brogan looked at me.

  “What?” I muttered.

  “Nothing, just… it’s nothing.”

  His hand tightened around hers again, and I forced myself not to growl again.

  Brogan was one of the least fake people I’d ever met. I should be happy for the two of them, seeing as we were all going to be very close, if Moran continued to push our training. But all I could think of was what if that were me holding Rori’s hand, me sitting by her side and smoothing her hair back. If mine were the first face she saw when she came to. I wasn’t sure what made me do it, but I walked closer, around to the other side of her bed.

  “You care for her,” I whispered to Brogan, not wanting her to overhear us talking about her.

  “I do,” he said without hesitation. “She’s not like anyone I’ve met before.”

  “True. She’s not,” I agreed. My gaze roamed over Rori’s face, peaceful while she slept. There were a few faded bruises along her arms, matching those that we all had from our training. I blinked and imagined us in a real fight. Imagined one of us hurt or bleeding. One of us getting killed.

  I had grown up here at the outpost. A long time ago I had accepted this would be my fate. But Rori and Brogan, they hadn’t. The notion of either of them not coming back alive from a mission tore at me, more than it should have considering I’d only known them for a few weeks.

  I knew the secrets Moran kept from them, but was it really enough to make me feel such a strong pull to them?

  I reached out and held Rori’s other hand, wishing she had not wound up in this situation. There was no escaping it now. Moran knew we were compatible. It was on his face each time we fought.

  I silently made her a promise that I would not let her fate be the same as that of my parents. I did the same for Brogan. None of us chose this life, but unless we tried to run, we were about to find ourselves up to our necks in trouble. And running would only make things worse. I held Rori’s hand tighter.

  She gasped and shot upright suddenly.

  “Rori.” Brogan reached to help her sit up. “Can you hear me?”

  She nodded, giving her head a shake. “What happened?”

  “You don’t remember?” I asked, ready to let go of her hand, but she held on, and I sat down on the other side of the bed, closely watching her blue eyes for any sign of the violet hue returning.

  “No, I mean—I know we were training with Moran… and I attacked him with my staff, but after that, it’s all fuzzy,” she murmured. “Did I get hit in the head again?”

  I exchanged a look with Brogan, neither one of us sure how to answer her.

  “Not exactly,” he finally said. “Your power knocked you out.”

  “Really?” She grimaced, squinting, trying to remember, then shook her head. “Don’t remember that at all. Great, that’s great. Did we beat Moran, at least?”

  “Almost,” I told her.

  Her icy eyes turned to me. For a second, I was caught off guard, not even sure why, but before I could ask her if she’d ever seen a darkness seep into her ice before, a siren wailed from outside. I shot up and rushed to the window.

  “What is that?” Brogan asked. “Chas?”

  “Emergency siren,” I told them both, watching as recruits and commanders alike poured out of the buildings. “Something’s happened. Protocol says to report to the auditorium. Can you walk?” I turned back to Rori and Brogan.

  She was already swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

  Brogan helped her upright.

  She took a few steps, her legs shaking so much they gave out. “Damn it.”

  “We’ve got you,” I said.

  Brogan and I got her out of her room and into the hall. The stairs were slow going, and the persistent wailing of the siren only made it harder to focus on getting to the main floor without falling over each other.

  Sister Agnes and Blade stood outside the auditorium doors. They saw us and reached out to help.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked Rori.

  “Better, I think. You were there?’

  “Afterward,” she said, her lips pursed. “Get inside, the three of you. We will be having a talk after Moran has finished explaining what’s happening.”

  “What is happening?” I asked her quietly.

  “Inside, Chas. You’ll all know soon enough.”

  “What do you think happened?” Brogan asked me over Rori’s head.

  “If Moran is ready to tell the entire campus about it, it can’t be anything good,” I grunted.

  The three of us managed to get into the auditorium, taking up three seats in the very back row. A few students shot us curious glances, but then Moran was up on the stage with Headmistress York, both wearing grim expressions. The siren shut off and Moran approached the mike.

  “Here we go,” I whispered to myself, knowing everything was about to change. Again.

  “If everyone could settle down, please?” he requested, and the few whispered murmurs stopped immediately. “I would like to tell you the siren was for a drill, but I regret to announce, that was not the case.”

  Rori held my hand and Brogan’s, her eyes fixed on Moran.

  “Exactly forty-two minutes ago, one of the magic communities located in Wichita, Kansas, was attacked.” He paused. “By persons unknown.”

  At his words, several panicked cries went up in the crowd, a few students started crying, others looked around worriedly as if expecting an attack.

  “Settle down.” Moran waved for silence. “This campus and outpost are heavily warded and guarded against any attack. The chances of our being hit are slim. However, that does not mean I do not want each and every one of you to be vigilant in the days to come. This attack won’t be the last against our kind.”

  Fear filled the air.

  I wondered what Moran was playing at, making an announcement like this. He knew damned well who the enemy was, so why didn’t he just say it? Cleansers, that’s what those bastards called themselves. Idiots who wanted to rid the world of magic-users. Though they were so
mehow using magic to do it. The irony of it.

  “I must also ask that you are all wary of your powers moving forward,” Moran went on. “Corruption can spread easily. If it is allowed to fester here, it could do formidable damage. But,” he held up his finger, “I do have good news. A new Elite Guard team is being trained as we speak, and I have no doubt that before long they will be able to go out into the world and aid in bringing in those responsible for these atrocities.”

  “Is he talking about us?” Rori hissed. “He’s not. Right?”

  But I didn’t answer. Instead, I glowered at the stage and Moran, hoping he felt my growing anger at what he was about to do to us.

  “Brogan, Rori, and Chas. If you will please stand.”

  I ground my teeth. I didn’t want to but found myself rising along with the other two anyway, knowing it wasn’t worth the fight it would start to remain seated. Everyone turned to stare at us, a few whispering behind their hands as they appraised us; the first Elite Guard team in years to come from this facility.

  “Seeing as how times are changing, these three will be removed from campus and take up new residence at the outpost,” Moran added.

  The three of us looked at him wide-eyed. “

  There, their training will continue. Keep in mind, I will be on the lookout for any other recruits who show promise of joining them. For those of you who have family in Wichita, the commanders will see to communications with them. Everyone else, please feel free to check in with your families and friends back home. Let them know you are safe, and there is no cause for alarm.”

  “Bullshit,” I muttered darkly. “There’s been cause for alarm for the last fifteen years.”

  “Wichita isn’t that far from here,” Brogan said. “And why isn’t there more call to action against whoever did this?”

  “I don’t know, but I doubt the regular government’s thrilled,” I said sarcastically.