by Ciara Graves
The three days after Moran told me who my dad really was passed in a blur.
I fell into our new routine of training only at the outpost, of living with Brogan and Chas. Chas, who I’d apparently known as a kid because his parents and my dad had been friends. Had kept the truth from Mom all that time to keep us safe.
And then I wound up being a mage anyway.
The garden, the trees dying after Dad left, I wanted to blame that on his being a mage but wasn’t sure how that would even happen. I’d gone to Agnes last night and asked her more about my father. All she’d told me was that we were very much alike, and he was one of the greatest frost mages she’d ever witnessed.
“And he was strong,” she’d added quietly. “So strong, each time he had to go on another mission and leave you both behind.”
“What do you mean? He never told Mom anything,” I’d argued.
“And that was the hardest part. Leaving and knowing he might never come back. He was an exceptional man, Rori, and one day you’ll have to forgive him for leaving. He didn’t want to, not that last time.”
“He didn’t?”
“No,” she’d replied. “He told Moran they needed more information before heading in, but Moran was desperate. Sent them in anyway. And he’s regretted it ever since.”
I had no doubt he did, since Brogan’s uncle and my dad was killed. Then Chas’s parents having to go into hiding before they too were finally hunted down and murdered. If his mom hadn’t hidden him away, Chas would’ve been slaughtered, too. This group of people who hated us so much, they’d been getting away with destroying our kind for over a decade.
But no more.
When I looked at Moran now—really looked at him—he had a deadly determination in the set of his jaw to put an end to this madness. The glint in his eye told me he expected us to be able to do it, to be the ones to stop this fight before it did turn into a full-blown war.
But I was still in a battle with myself. Angry at everything in my life that had been a damned lie—
“Rori, move damn it!” Chas shouted.
I turned around, then dropped to the floor at the last second. The fireball shot over me, and I shook my head, trying to get back into the present moment.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
I glared at Chas but didn’t say anything. I gripped my staff firmly as I faced down our enemies for the day—Blade and Agnes. Moran was too busy dealing with incoming intel to be the one training us. Hiding away was more like it. As much as he looked at the three of us as if we were going to be his saving grace, I thought I caught a sliver of fear in his face when his gaze landed on me. As if, out of the three of us, I would be the one to snap and go after him.
He was right about that.
Blade yelled as he launched a wave of fire toward us.
I blocked it with a wall of ice.
“You with us today? Or what?” Chas growled.
Blade’s fire worked at melting down the wall.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Physically, but mentally you checked out the night Moran told you the truth! Snap out of it!”
I wanted to scream back at him, but the fire suddenly exploded through my ice wall.
Brogan stepped up to shoot lightning toward our targets, making them duck behind several barricades that had been added to our makeshift battlefield.
“Both of you get it together,” Brogan urged. “This is not the time to argue.”
“No. It’s the perfect time to argue,” Chas roared back. “If she can’t get it together and get over it, then we don’t stand a chance! We’re all going to die!”
“Don’t you dare put that on me!” I yelled, standing toe-to-toe with him.
“It’s the truth, isn’t it? You know how dire the circumstances are and you knew who our parents were! This is our destiny now. Our legacy. Accept it and move on!”
I opened my mouth to bellow—
A blast of holy light drove us all apart and threw me across the floor.
I screamed curses, at the end of what little patience I ever had to begin with, and slammed my staff into the floor once I regained my footing.
Frost shot out from every direction as my power surged, covering the floors and walls, the barricades, reaching for friend and foe alike. It struck Chas, and he growled as it tried to creep up his body.
Then I ran out of strength and slumped on my staff.
“You just attacked me!”
“Good,” I snarled. “I’m sick of you acting like this is okay. Nothing about this is okay. None of it!”
A green and blue vortex swirled around his hands as he stalked toward me. “I am sorry you had to find out about your dad this way. I am. But you have to get your shit together. This is your life now, Rori. This is where you belong.”
“Maybe I don’t want this life.” I shook my head, feeling more frost stretch up my arms to my shoulders, as if it could keep away the harsh truth he threw at me. “Maybe I wanted to be normal! And not a soldier! I can’t kill, I can’t be like the man I never even got to know!”
“You should be proud to follow in his footsteps,” Chas said firmly, squaring his shoulders. “I am.”
“And you want to follow them to their deaths, is that it?” I laughed bitterly, tossing my staff to my other hand. “You and Moran deserve each other. You don’t care about us! About what we’re ready for! I can’t do this!”
I’d been falling apart, piece by piece, since Moran announced the truth about who I was. But now, the rest of me crumbled. All the strength went out of my limbs, and I held myself up with my staff feeling as if nothing would ever be the same again. it wouldn’t. I was going to be thrown into a war I wasn’t ready for. Violence, pain, killing? I was not that type of person, wasn’t strong enough to survive it. Surely Moran and the others had to see that?
“Rori,” Chas called out.
I glanced up, hardly able to lift my head.
Agnes and Blade had stopped their assault and stood off to the side, watching.
Chas continued, “You are the daughter of Trevor Griffith, a frost mage of extraordinary power and strength of will.”
“And how do you know that, huh? How do you know he wasn’t weak, like me?”
“I know,” Agnes said, stepping forward. “I know how much he sacrificed for our families and friends, to keep us all safe. But he struggled, too. He did. He was kindhearted, a good person, just like you are. And every time he came back from a mission, it took him days to pull himself together enough to return home.”
I shut my eyes, remembering what details I could about Dad’s face. His eyes had been ice blue, just like mine. But I’d have sworn I remembered a tinge of violet in them, now and again. Sometimes he looked sad, too, and I would go sit on his lap to try to cheer him up. We’d sit in the garden for hours, he’d tell me about the flowers and trees, talking about the cycle of life and death and how much power it held. I never understood his words then, but now they struck me so hard it was like someone had shoved a blade through my chest.
I gasped and sank to the floor, unable to hold myself up any longer.
Arms caught my fall.
Tears of ice glided from my eyes as my staff slipped from my fingers. I turned my head, expecting to see Brogan, but instead, my eyes locked with green ones.
Chas looked back at me intensely, holding me in his lap, on the floor. “I know you think I’m taking this lightly,” he murmured, “but I’m not. Honestly, I’m terrified of what’s going to happen once we leave this outpost.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
A shadow loomed over us, then Brogan sat down beside us. “Same. I’m a legacy, and though my uncle was an Elite, I go to sleep at night fearing I’ll never be what he was.”
“You’re not alone, Rori.” Chas helped me sit up so that we formed a small circle. “We’re in this together, from the start until whatever—whenever.” His hand found mine as did Brogan’s.
�
��And if I fail you both?” I asked quietly. “If I can’t be like my dad?”
“Don’t be. Just be you. But you have to stop doubting yourself,” Brogan said. “Been telling you that since day one. Feel the power that’s inside you. You’re damned strong. You just have to let yourself believe.”
I hung my head, squeezing each of their hands in turn. The connection I sensed the first time Moran threw us together had grown stronger, especially now that I was starting to remember parts of my past. Especially involving Chas. As for Brogan, I’d felt close to him from the moment I fell into his lap. Fate, some would call it.
I rested my head against Brogan’s shoulder and closed my eyes, letting myself be in the moment with them. Our knees touched, and despite the cold that I’d grown accustomed to within me, a strange warmth rose, bursting out of me. There was a murmured gasp behind me.
I opened my eyes. “What the hell?” I was startled by the sight.
“Yeah. Definitely, what the hell,” Chas agreed, eyes wide. “Think Moran was right after all.”
Brogan merely nodded, seeming at a loss for words.
The floor beneath us had become a mix of bright, green moss dotted with white and purple flowers. The blooms were dusted with frost, and there was a fine sheen of ice beneath the moss. Behind us, dancing in an evermoving circle were violet and blue lightning strikes. The lightning was soundless but protected us. Our three abilities had combined in a perfect moment of unity.
“Well, now,” Agnes announced as she and Blade stood close by, watching the spectacle. “I’d say you three deserve the rest of the day to yourselves.” She smiled proudly and walked out of the room.
Blade followed, leaving the three of us alone.
Curious, I reached out and let the lightning struck my palm. I flinched, but there wasn’t any pain, just heat, and the sensation that this came from Brogan. His presence was here just as Chas’s was. Even if I closed my eyes again, I still felt them.
“You really think we can pull this off?” I kept my eyes closed.
“Don’t have a choice,” Chas replied.
The serious tone in his voice threw me off. “Meaning what?”
Chas swallowed hard and abruptly stood, breaking the circle. “I found out about my parents a few months ago. In my rage, I might’ve done something stupid.”
“And that would be what?” I asked slowly, not liking how he’d turned his back to us. “Chas?”
He hung his head, hands on his hips as he muttered, “I swore an oath on my druidic powers to avenge my parents’ deaths.”
“Are you insane?” I shouted.
At the same time, Brogan groaned in annoyance.
“I was pissed, alright?” he growled, whirling back around. “I just—I did it without thinking.”
“Clearly,” Brogan said.
“At the time I was alone,” Chas went on. “I had no idea this would happen, that we’d be compatible. I want them dead. I want them to pay for what they stole from me.”
“Now if we don’t succeed… if we do fail, you lose everything,” I whispered. “Chas, how could you do that to yourself?”
He shrugged, backing toward the door. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? You just added more weight to this burden we’re already carrying. Now, we have to hunt them down and kill them before we lose you.” I had no idea how any of this was going to be possible. “You don’t even know who they are or where they are!”
“I know, alright? I know, and I’m sorry, but it’s too late now. I can’t take it back.”
“We’ll figure this—,” Brogan started.
Chas turned around and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Brogan sat up straighter.
“I need time to think. I’ll see you both later,” he mumbled.
And then Chas was gone.
I started to go after him, but Brogan grabbed my hand, stopping me. “Give him time.”
“We can’t let him lose his powers. That oath—”
“We won’t. But we can’t do anything about it now. Damned fool made an oath. Nothing can break it. Only fulfilling it will take care of it.”
I looked at the doors, wishing we’d known about all of this, including our connection, sooner. Maybe we could’ve stopped him from making this mistake, but Brogan was right. Too late to do anything about it now except hunt down the damned Cleansers and get our revenge. I gulped, still unable to picture myself killing someone.
Suddenly, Brogan was pulling me toward the doors.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To go have some quiet time out in the gardens. I would like to work on my totems for a bit in a more open atmosphere and the fresh air will be good for us both.”
I leaned into his side as we walked, leaving the outpost and heading back toward campus and the gardens there.
When was the last time Brogan and I had an afternoon like this to ourselves? We’d been so caught up since the training started and we’d moved to the outpost, there hadn’t been a chance for us to pick up where we left off.
An afternoon alone with him would be just what I needed, I hoped, to help get me out of this funk I found myself in.
Chapter 14
Rori
Sweat beading his brow, Brogan grunted from the effort. The totem pulsed with dark green energy pulled from the earth.
I held my breath.
He stepped back, shoulders sagging. The totem remained, tall and strong, filled with power.
I let out a cheer from where I lounged, nearby in the soft grass. “See? Told you you’d get it.”
“’Bout damned time,” he mumbled. “And it’s only, what, attempt number fifty?”
“Close.” I smiled. “But you did it. At least one of us can cross off an accomplishment for the day.”
The totem remained for a few more seconds, then it collapsed on itself, and the magic returned to the ground. It had been a simple totem, meant to give temporary peace of mind to those near it. I felt more clearheaded than I had before, but as I glanced around campus, hoping to catch a hint of Chas, the calm sensation quickly disappeared.
It had been hours since we’d seen him, and the night was quickly settling in around us.
“You could give it another go,” Brogan suggested, following my worried gaze. “And I’m sure he’s fine, running around in the woods somewhere, trying to clear his head.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I turned back to my current task, trying not to worry about Chas, and cringed, shaking out my hands. “And if it hasn’t happened yet, I don’t think it’s going to.”
“Maybe.” Brogan came closer, wearing his charming smile of his that made my breath catch, remembering the few kisses we’d shared so far. “You just need the proper motivation.”
“Proper motivation?”
“Yeah. Something to give you a boost.” He helped me to my feet and then walked behind me. He reached around me and gently took my hands, holding them out before me. “May I?”
Struggling to find the words, I nodded. His chest was hard against my back, and he was taller than me by a few inches. I fought the urge to lean back and rest against him, soaking in his warmth as the evening turned chillier. Not that I wasn’t used to being cold, but any excuse to be closer to Brogan at that moment would’ve been fine with me. His hands slowly moved mine in random patterns until I was laughing along with him, feeling the tension of the last few days leave my shoulders.
“See? Feeling better?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “A bit.”
“Just a bit. Well, that’s not good enough.”
He turned me around in his arms, so I faced him, and his hands rested on my hips instead. Mine found his shoulders.
He lowered his head, and when his lips found mine, I sank into him, letting myself enjoy the kiss I. His arms formed a protective cage, and I loved when he hugged me to him as the kiss turned intense.
I smiled against his mouth. We broke apart
, my cheeks flushed.
His eyes glimmered with delight. “How about now?”
I scrunched up my face, then I stood on my toes and pulled him back down for another kiss.
Frost seeped from my hands to his back, and he shivered.
“Oh, sorry,” I mumbled.
He shook out the frost that covered his hair now, too.
“No worries. And now?” He arched a brow.
“Let’s find out.” I turned around and shut my eyes.
Commander Blade told me at the beginning of my training, that a familiar would come to me when I was truly open to being a mage and the burdens it entailed. I thought when I arrived I was ready, but it wasn’t until this moment I sensed who I truly was meant to be. Now I knew who my dad was, knew a bit more about where I came from. I had a purpose here, and though I wasn’t sure how well I’d actually do in fulfilling that purpose, I felt I was right where I belonged, with Chas and Brogan.
I had no doubt Brogan was to thank for helping me get to a better state mentally after all that transpired the last few days. His warmth centered my racing mind.
I waited for that moment when my power rose within me. The marking on my hand pulsed in time with the beating of my heart.
I didn’t have to open my eyes to know my mark was glowing white and blue. Moran hadn’t told me what my dad’s familiar was, not wanting to influence my own. Though I wasn’t sure I was ready to find mine yet, having one around would be helpful when it was time for our first battle. My gut knotted at the notion, but I pushed my anxiety aside and refocused my energy on finding the magical being that would be by my side forever.
A familiar could appear in any form. The trick was not to imagine anything in particular and to let it take shape.
The ground shook, followed by the sound of an explosion.
My eyes shot open. Brogan cursed as he steadied me against him, a second explosion nearly sent us to our knees.
“What the hell is that?” I looked around.
A siren wailed, coming from the buildings behind us.
“I don’t know,” he said, holding tightly to my arm as if he was ready to protect me. I heard yelling across the campus as recruits ran back toward the buildings. Commanders belted out orders, but we were too far away to hear them clearly. The outpost’s emergency lights flared to life.
