by Kristen Pham
Valerie wanted to argue, but she couldn’t. She knew what it was to live with immense guilt. Sanguina was asking not to be buried alive by hers. Valerie nodded once, and Sanguina’s face relaxed.
A flash of light darted through the leaves and coalesced into words before their eyes. Cyrus’s message was clear.
Dulcea’s on her way. Get ready.
Gideon, Valerie, and Sanguina all climbed awkwardly into the callbox. They were uncomfortably close, standing toe-to-toe. It would have been easier to travel from a callbox in Silva, but Valerie wanted to be close to Dunsinane in case the magic didn’t work. If she and Gideon ran, they could still make it to the Black Castle in time to extract Dulcea.
“I must admit, I don’t think even Reaper would have imagined this method of entry into his land,” Sanguina said. “How long do you think we’ll—”
Before Sanguina could finish her sentence, Valerie had the sensation of being yanked by the back of her neck. Her entire body was like elastic, bending in ways she didn’t know it could. Then there was a jumble of colors and light, and she toppled onto the ground inside the Black Castle.
A relieved Dulcea helped Valerie and Gideon stand.
“They sent me around back. We’re in a storeroom underground, I think,” Dulcea said.
Next to her was a cart that was filled with a black substance that seemed less like something solid and more like a vacuum that absorbed the light near it. Valerie shuddered at the sight of it.
“Was anyone suspicious of you?” Gideon asked.
Before Dulcea could answer, the door to the storeroom opened, and Tan stormed in.
“Seize them!” he said, and five Fractus poured into the room.
Two had eyes that were entirely black, like the warriors from Elsinore, and the other three were wielding staffs that shot lightning.
“Dulcea, down!” Valerie commanded, and Dulcea dropped to the ground without hesitating.
Valerie’s blade connected with a dark weapon wielded by a stout woman in armor from Elsinore. The woman was creepy, her eyes black slits as she directed her power at Valerie. But with Pathos in front of her, Valerie’s magic continued to blaze within her, untouched by the darkness pouring from her attacker. Cyrus’s light spell was working.
Without the advantage of ripping away Valerie’s power, the woman was still a match for her. It took all of Valerie’s concentration to ward off the woman’s increasingly frantic blows, but at last, Valerie saw her opening.
In a deft move, she flicked Pathos across the woman’s wrist, making her drop her weapon. Valerie followed up with a kick to her chest, and then an elbow to her head, and she dropped to the ground.
Next to her, two of the Fractus wielding staffs had been disarmed and dispatched by Gideon. But in the melee, the other Fractus with darkness in his eyes had the presence of mind to yank Dulcea off the ground and lay his weapon against her throat.
“Drop your weapons or she’s dead,” the man said.
Gideon and Valerie obeyed without hesitation, and the other conscious Fractus yanked Gideon’s hands behind him. The Fractus holding Dulcea loosened his grasp on her by a hair, and Dulcea turned and head-butted him.
The man staggered back, and Valerie leapt on top of him, jamming the heel of her hand into a pressure point on his neck. At the same time, Gideon had thrown the Fractus who was tying him up over his back and onto the ground.
Tan had hung back in the shadows, but Valerie grabbed him before he could squirm away.
“Is this who you really want to be?” she asked him.
“Let me go or knock me out, but don’t make me listen to your preaching,” he spat at her.
Valerie granted him his wish and knocked him unconscious with a blow that she knew would leave him with a nasty headache.
It was quiet. Dulcea, Gideon, and Valerie looked at each other, breathing heavily. Dulcea was scratching a nick on her neck that was bleeding lightly.
“Everyone okay?” Valerie asked, and Gideon and Dulcea nodded.
“Do you think anyone else knows we’re here?” Dulcea asked.
“Tan must have recognized you when you drove up. But something tells me if he’d told Reaper we were here that more than six Fractus would have come to take us down,” Valerie said, and Gideon nodded at her words.
“It does not matter. The plan doesn’t change,” Gideon said.
“We don’t leave without Kanti,” Dulcea agreed.
Valerie wished they could send Dulcea back to the callbox, but only the objects that came from the box could return to it. So they’d all have to find another exit together.
Quietly, they left the storeroom and made their way through the dark, cold hallway beyond. There were several turns, and Valerie hoped that she was remembering Sanguina’s blueprint correctly, since she didn’t want to take the time to read the map unless she had to.
She sighed with quiet relief when they reached the entryway to the castle. The giant door was sealed shut, except for a sliver of light that fought its way through a chink in the corner of the door.
“The throne room isn’t far,” Valerie whispered.
They ran now that they were certain of where they were heading. Twice, Gideon yanked Valerie and Dulcea into side passageways so that they wouldn’t bump into Fractus guards in the hall. His hearing was so good, Valerie would bet that he could give Chrome a run for his money.
Finally, they were inside the room with the blood-red throne. As soon as Pathos crossed the threshold, a blue glow briefly flashed in the cracks of the stone walls.
“The orb,” Valerie said.
“Pathos has ensured that it is still active,” Gideon said.
Valerie saw Kanti’s statue in a corner, but before she could approach, a fluttering by the throne caught her eye.
“My wish was granted,” Kellen said. “I couldn’t come to kill you outside, so you came to me.”
Valerie dropped and rolled as the fairy fluttered closer so that he could sprinkle her with dust from his wings. With Gideon at her side, they could take on Kellen. They’d still make it out of here.
“I knew you were here as soon as you arrived,” Reaper’s voice slithered from the shadows, and Valerie’s stomach clenched. “The callbox was a loophole I hadn’t thought of, I admit.”
“We’re here for Kanti,” Valerie said, refusing to show weakness to her father’s and Midnight’s murderer, even if inside she knew their mission was doomed. “We’ll take her by force if we have to.”
Reaper moved closer to her, and the shadows of his face appeared exaggerated in the dim light.
“Henry’s debt has not yet been paid, so Kanti will remain here. Or dead, if you prefer?” Reaper made a twisting gesture with his hand, and Kanti’s statue began to shake, bits of dust crumbling off of her.
“Stop!” Dulcea screamed, and stood in front of Kanti.
Reaper’s magic hit her squarely in the chest, tossing her against the wall like a doll.
The room exploded in motion as Valerie drew her sword and launched herself at Reaper. Oleander burst into the room, and Valerie heard a clatter behind her and guessed that she had brought the invisible Fractus as reinforcements.
Before Valerie could get close to Reaper, her world turned on its axis, and the room seemed to reorient itself around her.
Valerie gritted her teeth and didn’t let her frustration stop her. She’d faced this trick of his before. Shutting her eyes, she let her own well of magic spring within her.
This time, when she struck at Reaper with Pathos, it connected with his scythe. It was a good blow, and Pathos was stronger than it had been the last time she’d fought Reaper. His mouth tightened in a hard line, and she knew that he noticed the difference, too.
Pain singed her arms as Reaper tried to dissolve her. But the attack didn’t have the power it might have had without the orb dampening Reaper’s gifts.
Valerie didn’t let herself stop moving, and the next time her sword connected with Reaper’s scyth
e, it sliced cleanly through. Reaper threw the pieces to the ground, scowling.
Next to her, Gideon was fighting the invisible Fractus; Valerie could tell from the crunch as her mentor’s blows connected with their breakable bodies. He nimbly ducked and wove, and if the breakables were landing blows on him, Valerie couldn’t tell.
“Pile on, you idiots!” Oleander barked. “There’s only one of him.”
Reaper opened a portal in the air, and Kanti’s statue began to move toward it. Valerie tried to throw herself at Reaper to stop him, but he held out a hand, and she was shoved back against a wall. It was like his hand was a magnet, and she was the reverse polarity. She couldn’t move closer, and she watched helplessly as Kanti’s statue inched closer to the portal.
A small form with a golden head of curls threw herself onto Kanti’s statue. Dulcea had somehow gathered enough strength to stand, and with her added weight, Kanti’s statue tipped over and fell to the ground, unmoving.
“You’re a brave little Conjuror. But you’re on the wrong side,” Reaper said.
He flicked his hand, and Dulcea began to scream. Valerie was still paralyzed, but Gideon surged toward Reaper. He was moving sluggishly, coughing as his fist connected with an invisible attacker who was in his way. He’d been exposed to Kellen’s dark dust, and Valerie saw the fairy hovering above him again.
“Gideon, move!” Valerie screamed.
But it was too late. Gideon stumbled when the dark specks falling from Kellen’s wings landed on him. Dulcea continued to writhe in pain. It was time to put the backup plan into motion.
“Sanguina!” Valerie whispered.
The ex-vampyre appeared next to her, delivered from the callbox. She saw Sanguina quickly assess the situation, and then step calmly through the chaos. Reaper saw her, and Dulcea abruptly stopped screaming.
“You came back,” Reaper said, his voice softer than Valerie had ever heard it.
“I never truly left. I was confused. Angry for this,” Sanguina said, thumping her prosthetic leg on the ground, once.
Sanguina reached Reaper’s side, and she laid her hand on his arm. Valerie could move again. Reaper’s gaze was unfocused, as if he were hypnotized by Sanguina.
“I had to do it. Justice even for those closest to me. Especially for those closest to me,” he said, staring into her eyes.
Valerie shivered, for the first time imagining how it must have been for Sanguina to watch the lower half of her leg dissolve before her eyes. But she couldn’t waste the distraction that Sanguina was giving her.
Kanti’s statue lay next to her, and Valerie slipped a vial out of her pocket that Cyrus had procured from the Glamour Guild. She dropped its contents onto her friend’s head, and the statue shrank small enough to fit in her pocket, which was where Valerie immediately shoved it.
The movement caught Reaper’s eye, and Valerie saw his face spasm with something like true grief before it became hard again. He gripped Sanguina by her throat.
”You’re one of them now, and I’ll slaughter you along with the rest of the cattle.”
But Sanguina slugged him in the eye, and he dropped her.
“You forget. I let you take my leg. I won’t let you do anything this time. Add to that the fact that there is powerful magic at work in this room, weakening your powers. If we fight now, you will win, but not without cost,” Sanguina said, twisting out of Reaper’s grasp when he grabbed her shoulder. She followed up with a sharp punch to his jaw that snapped his neck backward. “Or we can negotiate.”
“I don’t negotiate with traitors,” Reaper said, but his eyes searched the room, looking for whatever source of magic Sanguina had spoken of that was limiting his flow of magic.
“You’ll never be safe in this castle now,” Sanguina said, her face drawn and vicious. “I lost my leg, but you’ve lost your home. Where will you marshal your forces from now?”
At the truth of her words, Reaper’s face became red, and electricity sparked off of his body.
He was angry, which was Sanguina’s intent, Valerie guessed. She was hoping he’d make more mistakes if he wasn’t cool-headed. Reaper threw his hand up. Sanguina was launched into the air.
“Run, Valerie!” Sanguina shouted, before she crashed into the wall. In spite of her leg, she was swiftly back on her feet, ready to charge Reaper.
Valerie yanked a moaning Dulcea up and turned to find Gideon. During Sanguina’s distraction, her mentor had managed to shake off the effects of Kellen’s magic enough to snatch the fairy from the air and throw him onto the ground. Kellen lay, unmoving, but Gideon had also collapsed next to him.
“Can you walk?” she asked Dulcea, who nodded once and began limping as fast as she could to the exit.
Valerie hefted Gideon to his feet and threw him over her shoulder, never more thankful for her strength. She looked back at Sanguina and saw that the ex-vampyre’s hair was streaked with white from prolonged contact with Reaper’s magic.
She fought with grace that belied the pain she must be in. Sanguina was resistant to the touch of most magic, and maybe she’d escape. But even if she didn’t, Valerie had a promise to keep.
Slashing her way through the glass bodies between herself and the door, she struggled to balance Gideon’s bulk as invisible fists pounded her.
Once she was out the door, the going was a little easier. She quickly caught up with Dulcea, and they made their way down a long hall that was flickering, an unstable part of the castle. The farther they ran, the more nauseated Valerie became. Next to her, Dulcea was turning green, but she didn’t complain.
“We’re close,” Valerie said, recognizing the landmark Sanguina had told her about a few yards away.
A stone gargoyle was hunched in a nook in the wall. He was a huge dog with wings sprouting from his back. Before Valerie could reach out to touch the beast’s head, as Sanguina had instructed, Dulcea shrieked.
Oleander had followed them, and she grinned as Dulcea twitched on the ground. Oleander had shocked her with her touch, and Dulcea shook until her teeth rattled.
Valerie dropped Gideon and tackled Oleander, making sure to stay clear of her hands so that she wouldn’t be immobilized like Dulcea. Oleander was scrabbling against Valerie’s mind, trying to find a way in, but her power wasn’t as potent as Valerie remembered. Had the pulse of electricity that her father had given Oleander’s mind the year before still affected her, or was the magic orb that Pathos had unlocked dampening her magic?
With her magic flowing through her, Valerie knocked Oleander to the ground and turned back to the gargoyle. But she must have missed the pressure point, because Valerie turned just in time to see her lunging with a black knife. Oleander only had to nick her with it for Valerie to fall.
Dulcea surged forward to protect Valerie, and Oleander slashed her cleanly through her throat.
After that, everything moved in slow motion. Before the first drop of Dulcea’s blood hit the floor, Valerie flipped Oleander over her shoulder. The ex-Guardian landed on her back, her blonde hair splayed around her. The castle flickered, and a wave of nausea made Valerie so sick that she threw up. Then the flickering stopped, but an entire section of the hall was missing, now replaced with a wall. Oleander had vanished. The castle had swallowed her up.
Valerie threw herself on top of Dulcea to use her vivicus power to save her friend. But though her magic surged inside her, there was no one to release it into. Dulcea was gone, and this shell that had once been her beloved friend wouldn’t accept her magic.
Valerie released a sound that was somewhere between a scream and a sob. She grabbed Dulcea’s body with one arm and Gideon with the other, and then touched the gargoyle’s head.
Its eyes glowed blue, and Valerie thought she saw sympathy in his face before she was tumbling through darkness, away from the Black Castle.
Chapter 14
Light was everywhere, blinding Valerie. She had landed, with Dulcea and Gideon, in a lake in the middle of the Oasis.
Thai,
Henry, Cyrus, and Jack splashed into the lake to help them get out.
“What happened?” Cyrus demanded, but Valerie couldn’t reply through her sobs.
“Sweetie? What’s wrong?” Jack asked as he gently took Dulcea from Valerie’s arms.
Jack’s eyes flicked down Dulcea’s body, and her blood spilled all over his shirt. He clutched her close, making a low moaning sound.
Henry huddled on the ground. “No no no no no no no no,” he said.
“Get it together, Henry,” Thai said sharply. “Your sister needs you.”
Thai struggled with Gideon’s weight, dragging him ashore. Valerie collapsed next to her mentor on the beach.
“Step back,” she said, though her tears still fell.
She wouldn’t let her mentor meet the same fate as Dulcea.
She unleashed her vivicus power into Gideon, and this time, nothing stopped her. Her power poured into him, and the intense heat of her magic was a sweet pain that burned away everything else.
But then something changed. Instead of burning bright and clear, her power became sluggish, polluted with something dark—Kellen’s dark dust. She fought against it, reaching out to Henry for his help.
Valerie and Henry’s combined magic obliterated some of the dust, but its dark magic fought her efforts to expel it. Valerie gritted her teeth and pushed back, pouring more and more of her power, and herself, into Gideon.
“Valerie, stop!” Henry’s voice sounded so far away, but then he was in her mind, and his presence had never been more immediate.
He pushed against the flood of her magic, forcing her to stem its tide.
“Stop! I’m not finished!” she said, but her voice sounded weak.
“Yes, you are. Any more and you’d be gone,” Henry said.
“That isn’t what Gideon would want,” Thai added.
“I can’t lose him, too. Please, I can’t,” Valerie said, turning in to Thai’s shoulder and burying her face in his shirt.
