by A. L. Knorr
“There is no need. I have their information. Thank you, Signora Cagney.”
“Good bye, Enzo.”
“I would like to propose—”
I hung up the phone and saved the recording.
Walking down C hall, I found Dante and Gage’s names already posted on their doors, which were both closed. Peering in on Dante, I saw him lying on a bed, facing away from a nurse who was sliding an IV needle into his arm. He had his other hand over his torso as he spoke to one of the medics while he took notes.
Crossing over the hall to peek in on Gage, the situation was similar, only Gage wasn’t talking to anyone because he was still unconscious. Worry set heavy hands on both my shoulders. Surely he should have woken up by now. Dr. Burr stood at his bedside taking notes as a nurse arranged Gage’s IV. She looked up and saw me in the window. She gave me a hand with all five fingers up and mouthed, “Five minutes.”
I nodded and strolled down the hall to a dark green leather couch with a coffee table scattered with outdated Italian magazines. I went to the vending machine across from the couch and contemplated the snacks and drinks. My throat seemed to close up at the idea of anything but water, so I bought a bottle and sat down.
A tall blond woman wearing leather pumps and a tailored short-sleeved blouse appeared at the end of the hall. She looked tired and overstimulated at the same time. She looked around, read a sign, and decided this was the hall for her. Her footsteps grew loud as she approached, high-heels clopping on the tile. She read the names on all the closed doors as she came, and peeked into the rooms with open doors. Something about the way she moved and the angle of her cheekbones reminded me of the twins. She had a softness around the mouth that was pure Gage. I’d never met Angelica, but Gage spoke about her in reverent tones.
I got to my feet and called softly. “Mrs. Wendig?”
She looked up and took in my face and blazing hair. Her breath came out in a rush and she came down the hall toward me at a near-run. She swept me up in a hug that smelled like faded Chanel No. 5 mingled with a hint of spaghetti bolognaise. She must have gotten off the plane and come straight here. When she pulled back and held me at arms’ length, I jacked a thumb over my shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Wendig. First room on the left.”
“Bless you, Saxony,” she said, squeezing me again.
“Why?” I asked, idiotically.
She only laughed and brushed at moisture rimming her eye before striding to Gage’s room and looking through the window. She let out a distressed ‘oh’ as she peered through the glass, then turned the doorknob and walked in.
I followed her to the doorway, but hesitated to enter. Dr. Burr introduced herself to Angelica as she bent over Gage and put her hands on his cheeks, murmuring to him. She looked up at the doctor and straightened, now looking down at the shorter woman.
“I’m his mother. How is he?”
Dr. Burr’s face lit up. “Ah, you’ve arrived. Did you fill in paperwork at the entrance?”
“Yes. There was a rather fierce nurse there who wouldn’t let me pass without it. How is my son, please?”
Dr. Burr glanced at me and hesitated.
Angelica followed her view and saw me standing at the door. She extended a hand to me. “Come in, Saxony. Please. You should hear this, too. If it wasn’t for you, he’d be dead by now. Basil told me everything.”
I entered Gage’s room and stood at the end of his bed. He was the color of paraffin, and a heart-rending sight. He lay there with an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, an IV in one upturned arm, and a heart monitor beeping not far from his head.
“At this point,” Dr Burr said, losing her smile, “Gage is suffering from what we call ‘burn shock’. The best we can do for him is manage his fluids. We can’t open him up to take a look, and burns caused by a supernatural fire are unpredictable at best, but we believe that he’s sustained lung damage as well as internal blisters and edema. He may also have broken ribs from the CPR. We aim to resuscitate him by restoring adequate oxygen and fluid. We hope to maintain tissue perfusion and prevent his burns from deepening.”
“When will he wake up?” Angelica wove her fingers through Gage’s limp ones.
“I’m afraid we don’t know, but his heartbeat is regular, if not as strong as we’d like. We’ll monitor him for the next twenty-four hours and will give you an update tomorrow.”
“Have you seen this before?” I asked. “I mean, someone who had their fire forcefully taken?” I was trying to ignore her comment about how I might have broken ribs.
Dr. Burr shifted her tablet to the other hand and put her stylus into her pocket. “I’m afraid not. I’ve seen three plenary endowment patients in twelve years of serving supernaturals, but they were all on the receiving end. I’ve never seen a mage like this before. I’m sorry to say this will be new for all of us. But, I have an expectation that Gage will survive it.”
In spite of this positive news, Angelica seemed to wilt. I went behind her and moved a chair from the corner to where she could sit and still hold Gage’s hand. “But who and what will he be if he does survive?”
A stream of Italian came over the hospital’s intercom, which included a mention of Dr. Burr.
“I can’t speak to who,” she said, slipping her tablet into the deep pocket of her lab-coat. “But I can tell you what. Your son will be a natural, and if he’s lucky, he’ll have a normal life without a fire. If you’ll excuse me, I’m being paged. I’ll be back to check on Gage as soon as I can.”
Dr. Burr headed for the door as Angelica and I exchanged a heavy look.
“If he takes it the way Chad has taken it, it will break our family,” she said softly.
I felt a wash of cold realization splash over me. “What?”
“Chad lost his fire ten days ago, the same day Gage was taken. He hasn’t spoken since and barely gets out of bed. He’s a shell. I tried to get him to come with me, thinking he’d pull himself together for Gage but he’s just a blank.” She waved a hand in front of her face and widened her eyes, making them purposefully empty in a chilling imitation of someone who’d vacated their senses. “He’s just gone. His mother has already arrived from England and moved into our house while I’m gone to take care of him while I’m away. And now this—” She gestured to Gage and her chin and lower lip wobbled. She put her face in her hand. “It’s too much. I can’t cope.”
Heart thudding almost painfully, I moved to sit on the other side of Gage. I took his hand. “What can I do? Please tell me how I can help.”
She looked up, her expression fierce. “Basil told me that fires are going out because of Nero, though he couldn’t explain how or why.” She leaned forward, eyes earnest and hopeful. “Gage brags about you so much. Ryan too, in fact.”
I recoiled in surprise.
“Oh yes. They do. Especially Gage. They say there hasn’t been a student like you at Arcturus in its entire history. They told me—Gage specifically, told me—about the games, and your amazing abilities.” Her eyes turned pleading and she reached across Gage’s still torso for my hand.
I gave her my free hand and wondered if she could feel my fingers trembling. “Mrs. Wendig—”
“Please. The Agency is in a mess, we can’t rely on them, though I know Basil is trying to pull together some competent mages. Look at what you’ve done already.”
“But, I didn’t—Gage is still—Look at him!”
“Yes, but he’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.”
“I’m not saying I don’t want to help, I do. But... you should have seen Nero and Ryan—” Explosions of colored light and Ryan’s blazing fists and eyes flashed from my memory. Somehow, he’d managed to leapfrog past me with hardly any time to adjust to his Burned abilities.
The door slammed open, startling us out of our conversation.
Ryan rushed into the room, face smudged with dirt, hair matted. Tomio followed, pausing at the door when he saw Gage lying there hooked up to oxygen, EKG and IV.
&
nbsp; Angelica stood as Ryan came forward, expression stricken. He opened his arms for her.
She lifted her hand back and swung hard, striking his cheek with a resounding open-handed slap so loud Gage’s heartbeat seemed to speed up momentarily in response.
Ryan’s face jerked to the side. He was frozen like that for a few seconds, then straightened to stare at his mother in horror. I’d never seen such an expression on his face.
It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room, then Angelica yanked Ryan into a violent hug and burst into tears.
Tomio and I shared an uncomfortable look as Ryan brought his arms around her and held his weeping mother, burying his face in her neck and shoulder. I moved away from Gage toward Tomio, beckoning him to leave. The poor Wendig family needed some privacy.
Taking Tomio’s hand, I led him from the room. As he closed the door behind us, I noticed that Dante’s door was open, the room empty. He must have been picked up by his father’s envoy. I looked at Tomio and he looked at me as he expelled a long exhale.
“Where’s Janet? How is she?” I asked as I moved down the hall to get away from the sound of Angelica crying.
Tomio shook his head. “Bad news. I’ve already called Ms. Shepherd and Basil.”
I felt rooted to the ground. “What?”
“Nero got there before we did. He cleared the bunker of artifacts, and took Janet.”
Epilogue
Tomio’s hand tightened around mine as the small plane hit turbulence somewhere over the Mediterranean. Across Tomio, Ryan’s hands gripped his armrests as he pressed his head back against the seat. Rain lashed the windows of the Bombardier Challenger the Agency had arranged to fly us back to England. Basil and Ms. Shepherd awaited our arrival at the London City Airport.
I caught a reflection of Ryan’s face in the black screen of the entertainment center installed in the back of the seat in front of him. He looked a million miles away. I wondered what he was thinking.
After their private family breakdown, Angelica and Ryan had emerged from Gage’s hospital room. Her eyes were puffy from crying while Ryan appeared to have slammed a door on his emotions. His expression sent a lance of apprehension through me, the cold eyes and hard mouth.
While Ryan had stood quietly by, Angelica explained that as soon as Gage was well enough to travel, she’d be taking him home to Canada. She was hopeful that his presence would help pull Chad out of his apathy.
“But you three—” she looked meaningfully from Ryan to me to Tomio and back to Ryan. “Sometimes responsibility comes before we are fully ready for it, and for you that time is now. Your species is under attack. You have the most experience with the enemy of any mages alive. You must work together with Basil to stop what is happening.” Her eyes flashed and her voice grew steely, all her maternal softness stowed away. “If he is not stopped, I fear there will soon be none of you left.” She nailed her son with a look. “Then what will it all have been for? All your tricks and cunning strategies to elevate yourself among your kind.”
I looked at Ryan, trying to decode his expression but I could read nothing, just the cold hard wall he’d put up.
“Do it for your father,” Angelica said to Ryan, taking his hand. “Do it for your brother. And maybe, one day, they will forgive you for what you’ve done.”
A crack appeared in Ryan’s veneer at these words, small and brief but unmistakable. For a moment I thought he was going to break down.
I moved to Ryan and took his other hand, unable to stop myself from offering comfort to the stricken, even if he had been my enemy. Our mage-bond flashed up my arm and he looked down at me solemnly. I couldn’t offer him a smile, but I could look him square in the eyes without wincing or looking away. What’d he’d done for us inside the volcano had gone some distance toward softening my dislike for him. I wasn’t sure if what Angelica thought Ryan needed forgiveness for was the same thing I thought Ryan needed forgiveness for, but it was clear that she thought Ryan’s actions had led to the loss of Gage’s fire, and maybe Chad’s as well. It was also apparent that Ryan knew a lot more about what Nero was up to than anyone else did. We needed him.
Tomio closed our circle, taking my hand and Angelica’s hand and looking at Ryan. “I’m in. No matter what comes.”
“Me too,” I said, squeezing both Tomio and Ryan’s hands. “I’m all in. For Gage, for Janet, for Chad and for the magi. As long as there is breath and fire in me, I will fight.”
Angelica nodded and looked at Ryan, Tomio and I followed her gaze. “And you, Ryan? Will you take this opportunity to redeem yourself?”
Ryan’s faced worked but his eyes did not tear up, his mouth did not tremble and his voice was strong and steady. “Yes. There is nothing else. Let’s go to war.”
The End
Grab your copy of the final book in the Arcturus Academy series, Source Fire!
Fire magi used to number in the millions, now there’s hardly any left. Can Saxony blaze a trail across the world to stop the greatest threat her kind has ever faced?
Endnotes
Here you are at the end! Thank you for coming along on this, the penultimate adventure in the Arcturus Academy series, with me. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to my editors Nicola Aquino and Victoria Knorr, thank you to my ARC team readers and members of my VIP Readers’ Lounge and Audiobook Review Team. You make me feel so supported. No book materializes from the work of just one person, it seems to take a the proverbial village, even if its a hamlet.
Naples is a city I have visited several times. I have hiked Mount Vesuvius and probed the underground city, I have swum in the bay and roamed the streets of the historical centre and the fringe community of Portici. All of the places Saxony visits in this book were inspired by real life, although I haven’t actually descended into the volcano itself. I don’t think anyone has or can, although there are other volcanoes that humans can and do visit, and watching videos of those sweaty adventures was great fun during the research phase of this story.
As I type this my mind is full of all the coming events for the final story in the series, Source Fire. Oh what fun, what danger, what romance and what revelation is coming Saxony’s way, and by extension (hopefully) yours. I do hope to see you at the end of the final instalment, and thank you again for coming all this way with me. It means so much that you choose to spend some of your precious time with me.
Naturally, the end of a book wouldn’t be the end of a book without a request for reviews. They help an author find their readership, and a reader find their favourite author, better than any other marketing. If you pen a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub or anywhere else, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Love, Abby
Antalya, Turkey
Feb, 2021
Come a little closer, my dear…
Want to be kept updated on new releases, be the first to know about sneak peeks and ‘read by yours truly’ audio snippets? I’m no Judi Dench but I do try not to make too many swallowing sounds. I host the occasional sale and sometimes join themed multi-author promotions that are good fun. Join my newsletter at www.alknorrbooks.com or request access to my private VIP Reader Lounge on Facebook (don’t forget to answer the three questions to get in). I also have Instagram for those who are curious about the life of a traveling fantasy novelist. I tend to visit a lot of ancient places, there’s inspiration to be found there, doncha know. See you in them virtual hills!
Love, Abby
Also by A.L. Knorr
The Elemental Origins Series
Born of Water (Targa)
Born of Fire (Saxony)
Born of Earth (Georjayna)
Born of Æther (Akiko)
Born of Air (Petra)
The Elementals
Earth Magic Rises Trilogy
Bones of the Witch
Ashes of the Wise
Heart of the Fae
The Siren’s Curse Trilogy
Salt & Stone
Salt & the Sovere
ign
Salt & the Sisters
Elemental Novellas
Pyro, A Fire Novella
Heat, A Fire Novella
Rings of the Inconquo
Born of Metal
Metal Guardian
Metal Angel
Mira’s Return Series
Returning
Falling
Surfacing
The Kacy Chronicles
Descendant
Ascendant
Combatant
Transcendent
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