by A. L. Knorr
Coffee in hand, I headed back to my room to begin a marathon of updating people and trying to answer the million questions I knew my parents would have without alarming them too much.
Three
Confessions
By the time it was late enough in the day for Gage to have landed, I was seated in the back of a black, unbranded SUV, on my way to the London City Airport to join Enzo. The afternoon had passed with a frenzy of stressful conversations, some mediocre pizza, and a black hole of time while I tried to figure out what one would need when executing a directive given by a mafia boss. One thing was certain, I didn’t own enough black clothing. Somehow running around Naples in flip-flops and a spaghetti-strap sundress didn’t seem to fit my task—not that I had any to pack. Then again, Dante had liked me in dresses. The thought of wearing anything for Dante’s pleasure made me feel like gagging, but my dad had a saying about catching more flies with honey than vinegar, so I decided to try and find some summer clothing when I arrived in Naples. Not just for Dante’s sake, but to blend in. Summer in Naples could border on unbearable in terms of heat.
Before the SUV was even out the academy’s driveway, I checked the text I’d sent Gage earlier, looking for a confirmation that he’d received and read the message. He had. Hitting dial, I lifted the phone to my ear.
Gage answered, sounding tired. “Saxony?”
I smiled, not because I felt like it, but because I knew he would be able to hear it in my voice. “You know it. Sorry to harass you so soon after landing. How was your flight?”
His tone was withdrawn. Understandable given our breakup. “Good. I slept so it went fast. What’s up?”
I took a deep breath through my nose and went straight into it. “There’s been a development. I can’t come home yet, so I won’t be able to meet you at Flagg’s any time soon. I’m actually headed to the airport myself right now, but I’m flying to Naples.”
There was a heavy pause, then a drawn out, “Okaaaay, I’ll bite. Why?”
Guilt sent a thin blade into my heart. I’d never told Gage about Enzo. I never thought Enzo would cash in his chit so soon, and when Elda had come, dropping hints, I’d told Tomio the story because he’d been here when Gage hadn’t. After that, what had happened with Eira, and the confession of kissing Tomio had made everything else seem unimportant.
“It’s a long story, but here’s the fast version. I owe a favor to the don of a Venetian family named Barberini. I have to convince his son to leave Naples and go home to Venice before he gets further into trouble. From what Enzo told me, his son—Dante—might have made some kind of deal with someone who sounds a lot like Nero, and Enzo is worried for Dante’s life.”
I paused, letting Gage absorb this. My heart pounded as he took his time answering.
“This Dante, he’s a mage?”
“No. He’s just a regular guy, but that’s what Enzo is worried about, that he’s made a deal to receive a fire. I’m supposed to stop that from happening.” I braced a hand on the SUV’s door as the driver took a corner a little too fast.
Gage was quiet for too long.
“Hello?”
“I’m here. Do you have any idea how nuts this sounds?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry I’m blind-siding you with it. If you’d been here when Elda had visited, I would have had a chance to explain.”
“Who is Elda?”
“The mother of the kid who gave me his fire.”
“She visited you?” He sounded incredulous. “At the Academy?”
I was quickly feeling worse and worse for never having told Gage. Why hadn’t I told Gage more when I’d had the chance? Gage was the first mage I had ever met. Had I been swept into a love-bubble with him because I’d had nothing else to compare our relationship to? We had enjoyed one another’s company but Gage had never drawn me out the way Tomio had. Maybe because Gage hadn’t inquired much about my background, I thought my history was boring and irrelevant to him. Some people were like that, solely focused on the present.
“Yes, while you were in Italy with your mom,” I explained, fiddling with a curl and feeling embarrassed.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me about the favor you owed? Why do you even owe a favor? Why is this up to you?” His voice cracked and filled up with an edge of anger and something else. Concern?
“I... it didn’t ever seem important, and then the games happened, and then...”
“Tomio.”
“Yes.”
“My God, Saxony. Who are you? I feel like I don’t even know you. Maybe I’ve never known you.”
I closed my eyes in guilt and frustration. I felt bad, but didn’t have time for this. Sighing, I opened my eyes and told myself to find patience. None of this was Gage’s fault either. “I am sorry I never told you and I promise, when there is time, I’ll tell you everything. But right now, I’m on my way to Naples and I think Ryan might be in trouble. Again.”
Gage sounded bitter, and totally unlike himself. “Isn’t he always?”
I ignored his tone, even if it raised a red flag. Gage was stretched thin, and maybe whatever he’d learned in Naples was starting to reveal his twin’s true character to him and he didn’t like it. I hoped this was the case, though it made me sad to hear him sounding so disheartened.
“You said you learned some things when you were in Naples, things that you were going to tell me when we met at Flagg’s. Can you tell me now? I feel like I’m flying in blind here and need all the facts I can get my hands on.”
He let out a breath. “Yeah, okay. Well, I’m not sure that Ryan will even be in Naples when you get there.”
My head snapped up. “Really?”
“He never told me directly, but when he met me and Mom one night for dinner, I managed to steal his phone and take it to the washroom with me. I didn’t have much time with it but I saw some text exchanges with an unknown number about rushing a tourist visa for Iran. Someone gave him a travel authorization number from a contact at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With that number, he was supposed to be able to fast-track a tourist visa. He was told it normally takes two to three months for an Iranian tourist visa to come through, but this contact could rush his application and get one for him in a matter of days.”
“Iran?” I breathed, feeling dizzy. What was Ryan up to?
“Yes. A coastal place called Ramsar. The message said that Ramsar was outside of the Free Trade Zones and so he needed a visa to visit. That was all I learned, I had to get back to the table before Ryan realized his phone was missing.”
“I don’t know what’s more shocking,” I said, “the fact that Ryan is going to Iran, or the fact that you broke in to your brother’s phone. How did you bypass his security code?”
Gage sounded cynical again. “How do you think?”
It took me a second. “Face ID.”
“Yes. See what my brother is turning me into?” He let out a harsh breath. “Anyway, I think he’s going as part of his deal with Nero.”
“Do you know if Nero is going with him?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. There was only talk of rushing one visa, and maybe the unknown number was Nero himself. It’s not like Ryan knows anyone else in Italy.”
“Any idea what he’s going there to do?”
“None whatsoever but whatever it is, it can’t take too long. His rushed visa will only be good for twenty days.”
“I don’t suppose you took photos of this info?”
“Of course I did. I’ll text everything I have to you. And I’ll do my best to be on a flight to Naples as soon as I can.”
I froze, my eyes wide and sightless. I must have misheard him. “What did you just say?”
“I’ll meet you in Naples, Saxony. There’s no way I’m letting you do whatever the hell it is you’re doing all alone.”
“You only just arrived in Canada!”
He bit out his reply, sounding frustrated. “So? If I had known you’d be gett
ing yourself into trouble like this, I wouldn’t have left in the first place. I only came home because Ryan stone-walled me and you and I broke up. Now I know a little bit of what’s going on, thanks to you finally sharing something with me, so I’m coming. What am I going to do in Saltford? Get a job landscaping with the town? I’ll go crazy waiting for news from you. Why be here when I could be there helping?”
My heart drummed wildly, hardly knowing what to do with this information. I was relieved, frightened, excited, shocked. “What will you tell your parents?”
“The truth, or a sanitized version of it, anyway. Don’t worry about it. I know how to handle them. I’m not a kid anymore.”
I stared out the window at the blur of green countryside flying by, old stone cottages bristling with roses and wisteria. “Thank you,” I said, sounding hoarse. I didn’t know what else to say and I was so grateful my muscles felt weak.
“You’re welcome. Listen, I’d better go. By the time you’ve landed in Naples, I’ll have travel plans. Call me when you’re settled. Where are you staying?”
“They’re providing me with a villa.”
“A mafia house? Bloody hell, Saxony.”
“I know.” I brushed at my eyes, feeling full of emotion.
“Please, be careful.”
“I will. You too.”
He snorted, then: “Bye.”
I hung up the phone and tucked it into my pocket, hardly aware of what I was doing. Gage felt like he didn’t know me, that maybe he’d never known me, and I was starting to wonder if I felt the same. I considered what Gage had recently been through. His brother had excluded him from whatever was going on in his life. That would be bad enough for any pair of siblings who cared about one another, let alone twins. On top of that, I’d broken up with him after kissing someone else. Or had he broken up with me? I didn’t even know anymore, and it didn’t really matter. It was hard to guess which of Gage’s relationships might be the biggest disappointment for him. I should count myself lucky that Gage was so eager to hop on a plane, but I knew it wasn’t just for my sake that he was coming back to Europe.
Up until recently, I’d always felt so close to Gage. I felt love for him and loved by him. But pressure applied to the cocoon of our relationship had popped it like a soap bubble. I’d had ample opportunity during the school year to explain my deal with Enzo. After Basil had outed me on stage, the door had been propped wide open. There was no need to keep secrets any more. But Gage had never pried and I had never volunteered the information, thinking that paying back Enzo would happen years in the future. But was that really the reason I’d never told Gage? When I examined my true feelings baldly and without excuses, I could admit that there was more to it. In some dark place in my heart—shadowed not because it was wicked but because it was vulnerable—I didn’t fully trust Gage. Not because he wasn’t a trustworthy person, but because I knew just how strong the ties were between him and Ryan, and I could never compete with that.
And what of our fire coming between us? Did my fire have some consciousness of its own? Did it know that Gage would always prioritize Ryan even before I’d seen proof of it myself? But Gage’s fire had a problem with me just as much as mine had a problem with him. What did that mean? Did it mean Gage didn’t trust me fully either?
So where did that leave things? It left me heading into an unknown situation, an ally at my side with whom I had a relationship that was riddled with complexity. Maybe it was a bad idea to let Gage come along, but at this point I’d take what help I could get. I didn’t fancy facing Dante, Nero, or Ryan, let alone all three together. Italy was quickly becoming a nest of enemies and I was headed straight for it.
Four
Meetings
Less than twelve hours after I’d landed at Naples International Airport I was back in arrivals. I checked my phone for what felt like the millionth time as butterflies brushed against the walls of my stomach. It was fourteen minutes after ten. Gage’s plane had landed, but he was either stuck in a customs line or waiting for luggage. He had basically gotten home, unpacked, repacked, and returned to the Halifax airport. He’d taken an overnight flight to Amsterdam, then a smaller plane to Naples early this morning. His internal clock was going to be so screwed up.
I’d landed late the night before, taken a cab to the villa Enzo had provided (a small two-bedroom flat with a loft which had been divided from the rest of the old house) and gone to bed. When I woke, I grabbed breakfast at a nearby bakery then found a street vendor who sold cheap cotton dresses and hand-made leather flip-flops. Even in the early morning, the sun was powerful. Heat didn’t bother me the way it had before my Burning, but jeans, sweaters and closed shoes would draw attention.
On my way to the airport to meet Gage, I texted Dante, which had gone pretty much as expected:
Me: Hi Dante. It’s Saxony.
He received the message, but twenty minutes passed before he replied. I could imagine the shock of hearing from me cracked his usual suave and smooth exterior, but it was back in place by the time he answered.
Dante: Well, well. Here’s one redhead I never expected to hear from again. Missed me, did you?
Me, after an eye-roll so violent it almost gave me a headache: I’m in Naples.
Another twenty minutes passed before Dante deigned to answer. Shock number two had thrown him for another loop. Again he reassembled his James Dean cool before answering. Instead of asking me what I was doing there or how I knew he was in the same city, he oozed that all-knowing, flirtatious superiority that I so despised.
Dante: If you want to see me, you have to ask nicely.
I’d rolled my eyes again, then bracketed my next text with flower emojis while my teeth were clenched: When can we meet?
In spite of his demeanor, I was the fire mage here and Dante was obsessed with magi. He wouldn’t be able to deny himself the temptation of setting eyes on any mage, let alone the one he’d created. But he’d also be suspicious, because he was right, I never wanted to see or speak to him again. He’d know something was going on.
I wished I’d asked Enzo if he’d told Dante about me owing him a favor, but it was too late for that now.
Dante had suggested the afternoon at a gelato shop in front of the bay. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Dante had taken me to a gelato shop on a date before he’d revealed his inner monster. The timing worked for me. It meant that Gage could observe our meeting from a distance, be my backup in case things got weird.
Dante had sent me a GPS pin for the shop and I’d returned a new pin for a nearby café, stating that it was better than the gelato shop because it had seats outside. I suggested we meet at two. He’d agreed.
Gage’s appearance, arriving among a cluster of tired looking tourists, brought me back to the present moment. Incredibly, he looked as bright-eyed as he always did, even if he didn’t give me as big a grin as I had been hoping for.
I put my arms around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist, but he didn’t squeeze me close against him the way he had before our breakup. He also held his head and neck away so that our skin didn’t touch. What else should I expect? But somehow, the distance between us and his appropriately withdrawn behavior still stung.
We parted and walked toward the exit.
“How can you look so fresh? Did you sleep on the plane?”
“I was exhausted after the flight from London. It made sleeping on the flight to Amsterdam easy.” Gage looked around as we emerged from the terminal. A line of taxis stood waiting for customers and we headed for the one at the front.
“I just need to get some cash.” Gage gestured to a nearby ATM.
The taxi driver loaded the luggage into the trunk while I waited for Gage to return. Three girls rolling expensive-looking bags stopped outside arrivals to take selfies. They looked younger than me. I wondered if this was their first trip away from their parents. One of them spotted Gage as he tucked his wallet into the rear pocket of his jeans. The girls giggled and made kissy-
faces for their cameras. Either unaware of them or ignoring them, Gage slipped into the seat behind our driver. I took the one behind the passenger seat.
While we rode to the villa, I caught Gage up on my history with Dante and Enzo and why I had to pay off this favor. Which meant it was time to give him more detail about Elda, Isaia and Nicodemo. I told him the story using the baking and cooking code words Arcturus students used in Dover so as not to alert the taxi driver.
He listened quietly, not looking at me. I was surprised to find I was grateful for that. His disappointment was apparent even without looking into his eyes. He was still hurt, I could tell by the way he sat with his arms crossed and his head down. He nodded on occasion, and asked me a question here and there. When I told him I had the meeting with Dante scheduled for that very afternoon, he told me he wanted to be there, as I knew he would.
“It would be best if you remained unseen,” I suggested. “I have to convince Dante to abandon whatever it is he’s doing. Another chef in the kitchen would be a distraction.”
Gage looked out the window, chewing the inside of his cheek. “And it would be better if you appeared to be single in order to do it,” he murmured some time later.
I didn’t feel the need to confirm that.
Nervous apprehension made my fingertips feel cool and tingly as I walked across the flat stones of the open piazza. Dante hadn’t seen me yet. He was seated at a small outdoor table, typing something into his phone. If I hadn’t seen his profile, I might not have recognized him. He’d let his hair grow long. It hung in a straight, glistening sheet of pale brown. His hair might have changed, but his taste in clothing hadn’t. He wore a butter-yellow polo with a white stripe encircling the chest and a pair of fitted chino shorts with tiny yellow suns embroidered all over them. A thick gold Rolex glittered from his wrist.
My sandal scuffed against the stones as I approached and he lifted his gaze. Looking into the eyes of the person who’d nearly killed me in his attempt to steal my fire made me feel like I’d swallowed a bunch of rocks. I forced my lips into something smile-like as I sank into the spindly metal chair across from him.
