Dawn of the Mages (The Magic Wakes Book 2)

by Charity Bradford

  "He's one of them too!" The second shopper pointed. "Get him."

  "What?" The man pushed at those who tried to grasp him by the wrist. "What do you think you're doing?"

  "Run! Get help!" Talia yelled.

  One of her captors twisted her arm behind her. "Shut up."

  "Leave her alone." The green-eyed man lunged.

  Someone shoved Talia free of her abductors. Another person elbowed her in the ribs. The crowd continued to grow. They came from the zipways and stores. Talia tried to push her way free of the throng. Someone grabbed her by the hair and jerked her back.

  "Ow!" She clawed at the hand.

  The mob moved as a group. Talia fought to stay on her feet until the person let go of her hair. The man with green eyes came close. One eye swelled, and blood trickled from a small cut near his eyebrow.

  "You okay?" he asked.

  Talia nodded, but the man had already been swept away from her. Hands were everywhere. Tugging, shoving. Feet trampled her toes. She took another elbow to the back and stumbled.

  More hands grabbed her before she fell. They wrapped around her neck pulling her back up. Talia gasped for breath. She yanked at the arm, but it wouldn't budge.

  "Let me go." Sparkles cluttered her vision.

  "He's got her!" someone shouted.

  A moment later she landed on her hands and knees. All she could see were legs. Everywhere she looked. A kick connected with her ribs. Scrambling to her feet, she held her side tight and tried to find the cloak button.

  The belt was gone.

  A chant started. "Stop the mages! No Magic. Down with the mages."

  She could no longer count the number of people grabbing for her. People wrestled with each other. Some to protect her, others to harm her.

  Landry! She cried out in desperation. He'd been right. Why hadn't she listened?

  The mob surged again.

  She could now make out another group of voices. "Let her go. Give her to us."

  Talia pushed and shoved. Anything to keep the hands off her. Three men attacked at once. One lifted her off her feet. They yanked her in two directions. Her scream of pain melted into the sea of voices.

  "She's mine!" The men fought over her.

  Talia jerked free from their hold, but the third guy gripped her tight pulling her backward. Talia kicked and thrashed. Nothing she did made a difference. There was always another set of hands waiting to grab her.

  "Royalists!" The shout swelled until it echoed off the buildings.

  Talia's moment of relief evaporated with a strong electric current forcing her head back. She barely registered the sound of a nose crunching behind her. Her body stopped shaking and she sunk to the ground.

  Every part of her hurt. Head, arms, legs, torso.

  "Thank goodness." Landry knelt beside her.

  "What happened?"

  "We used the crowd controller." He pushed a strand of hair from her forehead.

  "Oh." The memories flooded back. Her helplessness. The aches and pains real evidence that he'd been right. She wasn't safe.

  Her fingers found the necklace. Somehow it had survived the ordeal. She rubbed the smooth side of stone then traced the metal edge that connected the two halves. She stared at the ground. Waiting.

  Landry didn't say anything. He simply ran his hand up and down her back.

  "Aren't you going to yell at me?" she asked softly.

  He lifted her chin so he could see into her eyes.

  "I'm too relieved to have you back safe and sound." He crushed her into his chest.

  It hurt, but she didn't want him to let go. Right, wrong, and I told you so's didn't matter. Talia closed her eyes and relaxed against him.

  Ryce had failed again.

  Why was it so hard to get close to Talia Zaryn? Until today, she'd had Royalist guards with her, making it impossible to get near. This had been his chance.

  Except, he lost control of the emotions. He snapped the breadstick in two and tossed it on the table. The commotion outside had almost died down, thanks to a few Royalists patrolling the streets.

  He should have spoken to her, but he had wanted to make an impression. Wanted to give her a reason to like him. To trust him. His idea had been a good one, but he used too much emotion from the vial. The anger and mistrust caught fire and spread quickly.

  In the end he couldn't even get close enough to rescue her.

  She'd been swept away with the crowd, and his chance to feel real power evaporated. At least he now knew that the Royalists were trying to keep her safe. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. It shouldn't be this hard to have a conversation with someone. His frustration bled into anger.

  "This is her fault. She should have answered my messages." He slapped the table. She had been hiding all this time. If she wouldn't help the mage he'd have to do it for her.

  I'll claim her power for my own.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  "There's a lot of tension on the streets. It's not as bad as the rural areas of Algodova, but it's growing." Landry closed his eyes and let the summer breeze calm him down. "Today was--"

  "Hey, nothing happened. You got there in time and Talia's safe." Stefan rested a hand on Landry's shoulder.

  Landry shook his head. How could he make Stefan understand? This wasn't simply about unrest in the city. His wife's life depended on him. "I could have lost Talia today, and things are going to get worse."

  "I'm sorry, I really am, but in order to keep her safe we need to focus on the problem in general. Who's the most agitated? The mages or non-mages?" Stefan pointed to the chair.

  Landry sat with a sigh. If sticking to facts would get the job done, he'd do his best to stay focused. "It's hard to tell. There are more non-mages than mages, so number-wise I'd have to say non, but the debates are equally heated. The attack on Talia has those with magic rallying to her side."

  "What's being done about it?"

  "Mediators are doing the best they can for the short term. Talia and I have a few more details to work out for the long term."

  "At least she's speaking to you again."

  Landry tried to let the humor rolling off of Stefan calm him down. Talia had barely spoken to him during her week of confinement. Landry hadn't pushed her either. He understood how independent she needed to be and he hadn't been able to give her a good reason to stay at the palace. If only that gut feeling had been wrong.

  "She's still pretty quiet," Landry admitted.

  "Give her time. She knows you were right to look out for her." Stefan moved from leaning against the wall to sit as well.

  "I know. She's more embarrassed than anything. Plus, she's not used to being wrong."

  The patio door opened and a secretary joined the two men. He carried drinks and datapads. "Your Highness. Colonel."

  "Thank you. How are we progressing on the Memorial?" Stefan took one of the drinks.

  "Everything's on schedule. The personal invitations to the families and net stations have been sent. The Memorial itself has been designed and the construction phase is underway," the secretary reported

  "Good, good." Stefan nodded his head. "Anything else?"

  "I've also compiled the latest net intel. Communications asked me to go over it with you immediately. They suggest an increase of crowd control be arranged for the event."

  "Why the extra show of force?" Landry moved to sit on the low wall his cousin had just vacated. He tried not to be disappointed at how quickly Stefan moved on from Talia's near miss. Maybe that would change when Stefan fell in love.

  "Oh, it's not for show. They're afraid we may have protestors." The man loaded a page on the datapad and handed it to the King.

  "Protestors of the Memorial?" Stefan quirked a brow.

  "No, protestors of the mages." The man's gaze darted to Landry.

  "Looks like you were right again, Landry." Stefan put down the drink and looked at the pad. "This is the information?"

  "Yes, Sir." He handed a datapad to Landry.


  Landry scanned the page. The number of people complaining or making threats toward the mages had tripled over night. "Things are moving faster than I anticipated. Talia and I may need to leave for Orek earlier than planned."

  "Let's get the council up and running first. Then we can talk about your trip."

  Talia tossed and turned. No matter what she did, she couldn't get comfortable. It didn't help that Landry snored beside her. He had come to their rooms late in the night. Shadows lined his eyes, and a strained expression had set in.

  "Lights, thirty percent." She sat up and watched him sleep, determined to find a way to make things right between them.

  His brow knit as he mumbled in his sleep. Sweat dotted his forehead. She reached out to brush back a lock of hair.

  He jerked awake. "What happened?"

  "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

  "Is Adriel okay?"

  "Who?" She reached out to touch him again, but he grabbed her by the wrist.

  "Who are you?" His eyes narrowed as he dragged her from the bed in an iron grip. "Where are Adriel and my wife?"

  "Your wife? You were married before?"

  He twisted, pulling her closer and sending pain shooting up her arms. "Answer me."

  "Landry, you're hurting me!" she cried out, gasping for air.

  His eyes widened. He dropped her arm like she'd burned him.

  "Talia?" He ran one hand through his hair and turned toward the wall.

  He didn't know me. The realization didn't calm her.

  "Landry?" She stepped closer.

  "Give me a minute." His hands clenched and unclenched at his side.

  She wished she could reach into his mind and see what bothered him. Her stomach quivered. Did he know her now? Another step forward and her cheek met the warmth of his back. Her breathing matched his until he turned to hold her.

  His eyes held the same tortured appearance they'd had when she almost died at the hands of a Dragumon. The corners of his mouth stretched tight while one side of his jaw ground his teeth. With a sigh he leaned down until their foreheads touched. His eyes closed.

  "I'm so sorry." His whisper fanned her face.

  "What happened?" she whispered too, afraid anything louder would scare him away.

  "Jaron's memories can be so real. His wife. His son. For a moment--" He swallowed and lifted his head. "Talia, if I can't get his memories under control I'll go crazy."

  "How bad is it?"

  He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Crawl back in bed."

  "Talk to me. Let me help." She switched to telepathy. "Don't shut me out."

  "I won't. Come back to bed." He led and she followed. "Until you said my name, I would have sworn I was him."

  "Why didn't you tell me about this?" She curled up beside him.

  "You haven't been talking to me lately."

  Talia considered him. "You should have mentioned these dreams."

  "They're not simply dreams. Sometimes they happen when I'm awake. It's like the memory surrounds me and everything else disappears. I didn't want to tell you because they're about another woman."

  "Jaron's wife?"

  "Yeah. When I'm in his memory I feel his emotions. It's confusing. I feel like I've betrayed you even though I haven't done anything. And then you've been pushing me away."

  "I'm sorry. I'm not used to someone worrying about me and telling me what to do. It doesn't matter. We need to worry about you right now."

  "I thought I could control them." He sighed.

  "Is there a trigger? Something that brings this on?"

  "Maybe, but I'm not sure. It happened for the first time when we needed a way to fight the Dragumon. You remember, at the cave."

  "You knew how to fly Jaron's ship before that."

  "That was different. I understood that stuff without thinking about it. The vision of how Jaron's homeworld fought the Dragumon appeared in my mind when we needed to find a weakness. Almost like asking a question and receiving the answer via net feed directly to my brain."

  "The first time was need based. Something's been bothering you. Could that have brought on this dream?"

  "Why would I keep dreaming of his wife and child?"

  "You tell me." She squeezed him tighter.

  "I don't know."

  Talia saw the tension in his body. Heard the defensiveness in his tone, and chose not to push. "Maybe we need to teach you how to lock the memories away. Sort of like you block me from your mind."

  "Yeah. Let's get through the Memorial first."

  CHAPTER NINE

  The skylanes emptied before twelve rising, and an eerie stillness settled over Joharadin. Spouses, parents, and the children of those who died defending Algodova from the Dragumon gathered in the field west of the city to participate in Stefan's Memorial to the fallen. Hundreds of thousands more watched it on their viewscreens at home.

  Talia shivered as people walked across the field, reverently avoiding the scorched patches that refused to grow grass even a month later. They headed for the chairs around the Algodovan flag.

  So many people representing too many dead. She sat on the stand. Landry fidgeted beside her, his knee bouncing up and down.

  Royalist soldiers patrolled the grounds. At first she figured they attended out of respect, but they scanned the crowd with more than a passing glance. Twisting slightly in her chair, she pressed her knee against her husband's. Their minds connected instantaneously.

  "Why are you nervous?" she asked. "Is the dream still worrying you?"

  "No, I'm fine. We picked up chatter on the nets about a protest today."

  "Why would anyone protest a memorial?"

  Landry's wall grew from their mental ground until Talia found herself alone in her head. She reached for his hand and squeezed while looking deep into his eyes.

  "Tell me." She focused all of her will into getting past his barriers.

  He sighed and his knee stilled, but his thoughts remained locked away.

  The sudden stop of motion from his leg drew Stefan's attention. "Don't worry. Everything's under control."

  Her gaze darted to Stefan. "What's he not telling me?"

  Stefan looked from her to his cousin. "You'll have to tell her sooner or later."

  "Later." Landry squeezed her hand and nodded toward the man standing at attention below the flag. "It's starting."

  The lone musician raised the horn to his lips and played the Algodovan anthem at half speed. The usually light melody floated a haunting dance across the field. Talia closed her eyes and let it wash over her. She allowed herself to forget Landry kept secrets from her and mourned for the lost lives.

  When the last note died, Stefan talked about honor, love, and sacrifice. His tribute to the Royalist soldiers bordered on poetic. Her attention shifted to Landry when he jerked beside her. His energy flowed outward, causing the hairs on her arms to stand up. His jaw clenched moments before he stood and whispered to his cousin.

  Stefan nodded. He waited until Landry sat before continuing. "We have constructed a Memorial with the names of all who sacrificed for our freedom along with the unfortunate from the cities who lost their lives." The King pushed the lever to reveal the Memorial. "We honor the fallen. Thank you for coming today."

  He returned to his seat and the crowd dispersed in groups. Some paused to drop flowers or wreaths at the base of the monument, others left as quickly as possible. Landry watched everyone. Talia considered the fully armed soldiers. Each one as focused as her husband.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Ryce hurried away from the field. His frustration and anger boiled. King Stefan hadn't mentioned the mages once in his speech. The Royalists acted like they defeated the Dragumon on their own. Talia Zaryn sat there and let them get away with it. At least she hadn't smiled. Maybe it bothered her as much as it did him?

  No. She's with the Royalists, not the mages.

  The edge of the city grew closer and Ryce slowed to a walk at the start of a zipw
ay. He twisted his hands and fought back the scream that threatened to escape.

  He clenched his hands into a fist. The mages would be recognized. Until then, he would keep drawing attention to them. The air cooled as the suns moved below the highrises of the city around him. The streets filled quickly once the Memorial service ended. Ryce searched for the right environment to start another riot.

  Stepping off the zipway he moved down a side street where the sound of bar music floated on the air. He pulled a vial of malice from his pocket. This time he'd make sure everyone noticed the mages.

  The transport carried a squad of Royalists, but Talia and Landry sat in silence. She considered the news Landry had finally shared with her. After the last attack on her, she had become the main focal point of all the contention. Non-mages blamed her for the secrets and unrest.

  The mages rallied to her side. Exposing themselves to their communities by defending her actions on the day of the unbinding and every day since. It unnerved her to know people she'd never met discussed her all day long.

  She grasped Landry's hand. "We need to get the council started immediately."

  "I agree."

  An alarm sounded, followed by the crackle of the COM. "Sector 45C--Bar brawl spread to the street. Pedestrians joining in."

  Landry answered. "This is Colonel Sutton. We are minutes from the location and will handle it. Out." He removed a High Energy Plasma weapon out of a locker and strapped it to his hip before grabbing a CC2 off the wall. "Talia, promise you'll stay inside."

  "I thought you didn't like using the crowd controller?"

  The other men checked their weapons.

  "It's a last resort, but it came in handy when I couldn't get to you the other day. Stay inside." He kissed her on the forehead. "I mean it."

  Landry led his men out the door. Talia heard the rumble of angry voices. She joined the pilot up front where she could listen to the COM chatter.

  "What's going on?" she asked.