He turned away, leaving me standing there, mortified and horrifically torn. I couldn't just walk away and let her die… but on the other hand if I didn't, I would be ushering in my own death. There was no way I could give her blood now without making Malcolm suspicious. If he told Alaria… Well, I knew how that ended.
I felt absolutely wretched, but I forced myself to walk away, trying to tell myself that she was one of Victor's people anyway. It wasn't just Alaria’s plan that needed to be stopped, but Victor’s too. Besides, if our positions were reversed, this woman probably wouldn't show any mercy to me. Even though I didn't want to think she was “just a vampire,” the thought crept in as I crossed the room away from her.
By the time Malcolm and I were finished tidying things up, it was too late for her either way. I went back to my room feeling sick and more alone than I ever had in my life.
~~~***~~~
The days continued to pass in a strange mix of monotony and college-like simplicity. I didn’t know when I would get a chance to even be alone with Alaria again, but I knew it had to be soon. I didn’t know how Thomas and Dani had been able to stand being here for so long.
I was sitting alone in my room, trying to avoid the madness of casual nights off surrounded by blood casters, when someone knocked on my door.
I heaved a sigh and opened it to see Kayla holding out a book.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“It’s a book Mistress Alaria created about blood casting,” she said. “We find that initiates can get a little bit disheartened because they're not practicing, so she devised this book to keep you excited.”
She held it out and I was forced to take it.
“Enjoy,” she said with a dark smile.
“Thanks,” I muttered, closing my door behind her.
I didn't want to read it. I didn't even want to open it, but it occurred to me that if anyone asked me questions about the content of the book, I needed to have answers. Besides, maybe if I knew more about blood magic, I’d be better able to defend myself and my friends against it.
I quickly regretted trying to read it. Some of the things Alaria claimed could be done with blood magic and arcanism were thrilling. It was different reading about it, and imagining the possibilities, instead of seeing it being used to kill someone.
Too many times I had read books like this in my MES courses, trying to study and learn magic on my own. It was too easy to forget I was reading about blood magic. With a shudder, I set the book aside and instead grabbed a fiction book I snuck from the library.
But the next day when people were talking eagerly about the book, I was forced to pick it up and keep reading.
I was thinking, and trying not to think, about the book while I headed to our little common area. I walked in and froze in my tracks. Malcolm was sitting and talking with Morgan Fletcher.
Oh my god. He was alive and he was here!
I took a deep breath and went to the other side of the room as far from him as I could get, reminding myself that I had used the potion, he couldn’t possibly recognize me.
For once, I was able to ignore the disturbing allure of the book as I pretended to read, while watching Fletcher out of the corner of my eye. Even though I knew I was sufficiently disguised, I sat counting down the minutes until I could escape without it seeming like I hadn’t been here long enough.
Then Alaria walked in and a hush fell over the already quiet room.
“No doubt some of you have seen my faithful disciple Morgan has returned to us. He bears some very interesting information. There will be some impromptu entertainment in the arena, come.”
With that, she whirled and left, leaving everyone to scramble and collect their things to follow.
It seemed that everyone in the castle was heading for the arena and nobody knew why. I had a sinking feeling, given Alaria’s glee, that something very bad was about to happen.
I walked into the arena amid a sea of hushed voices and whispers. Right away I could tell that something was happening in the middle. I worked my way around some of the crowd, trying to get away somewhere by myself so I could avoid the other blood casters and get a good view.
There was a large platform, like a stage, set up in the middle of the arena with four people standing on it. No, I realized as I spotted chains. They were attached to it! What was going on?
Curious, I worked my way a bit closer. My heart jumped into my throat and my breath caught.
Thomas. Dani. TS. Charlie.
It could only mean one thing: they had been caught.
There were other people down near the platform. I saw Fletcher and my knees felt weak. I was so naive. Here, all I did was worry about him recognizing me, safe in my disguise, I hadn’t even thought about what would happen when he saw the others.
I looked around at the dozens upon dozens of people surrounding us, knowing I couldn’t possibly rescue them. If I tried, they were dead and so was I.
But was the only alternative watching them die?
Chapter Seven
TS
For a moment, I stood still and watched the sheer mayhem unfolding before me. It seemed like every shifter in the arena except for me had shifted, most of them leaping for the throat of the nearest blood caster. The air echoed with shouted spells and screams and roars.
A crash caught my attention and I looked to see that several people had fallen over the rails and into the arena itself, where they continued to fight. As I watched, more jumped down and sprinted for the racks of weapons that were still off to the sides. We may have succeeded in revealing the blood casters’ presence and potentially ruining Alaria’s plans, but we were sitting ducks if we couldn't get off this fecking platform. I didn't doubt that there were plenty of people on both sides who would be happy to see us dead.
I struggled in the restraints, twisting and tugging, trying desperately to free myself. I considered shifting but with the way my arms were pinned back I had a feeling I'd probably break at least one shoulder if I tried before I was able to free my hands – I doubted I’d be able to shift in such tight cuffs without hurting myself anyway.
I paused to give my aching wrists a moment of relief before trying again, but could still feel the bite of the steel and knew that Tom was still struggling in his. I looked over at him and, sure enough, he was wiggling and yanking at the cuffs, trying to break free. Although it wasn't just his wrists and arms that were throbbing; all of the struggling was aggravating the stake wound in his chest.
Before I could get back to trying to free myself, I realized that it felt like I was standing in an oven; I turned in alarm to see Charlie desperately fighting his own chains. His eyes were flaring angrily and I knew he was dangerously close to erupting.
“Charlie!” I called. “Char, you've got to calm down!”
He glanced at me, then twisted around, trying to look behind him, before turning back to me. “I can't see Danio! Is he okay?!”
I tried to check, but the chain held me back, preventing me from getting a good look.
“I don’t know.” Probably not the best thing to say to a fire elemental who was about to erupt. “But you won't be able to help him if you lose control,” I added firmly. Charlie glared at me for a second, then turned away and I knew that he was trying.
There were more fights happening down on the sand around us now; it didn't seem to have occurred to anyone yet that the people who had started the whole thing were chained helplessly in the middle, but I doubted that it would be long before someone noticed.
I kept struggling. Almost worse than the hopelessness I felt when we were first brought to the arena, was this: this taste of hope, escape, just out of reach. In spite of our half-arsed plan working, if we couldn't free ourselves we were still dead.
I felt a flash of surprise and confusion from Tom. He was free, but I could tell from the emotions and the way he slowly pulled his hands forward to look at them that he hadn't done it himself. Before I could ask what happened I heard
a clink and suddenly the pressure on my wrists released, as if my cuffs had just magically unlocked themselves.
“What the hell?” I murmured, shaking the stiffness out of my arms out and easing them free from the cuffs. A moment later, Charlie did the same. The three of us looked at each other in confusion, then an air elemental threw a blood wizard into the side of the platform, much too close for comfort.
“We need to get out of here,” Thomas said.
The three of us leapt off the platform. I shifted in midair and stumbled as I hit the ground on paws that were still numb from the tight handcuffs. I quickly regained my footing, but it gave Charlie enough time to beat me to Danio’s side. Concern and anger coursed through me at the sight of one of my closest friends and packmates sprawled in the dirt, but it quickly turned into relief when Charlie and Thomas began to help him up.
I raced over, glancing from side to side as I did to make sure nobody was rushing us.
“Are you okay?” I cried, knowing that Charlie and Tom had probably both already asked a dozen times.
“I’m fine,” said Danio, waving them back and getting the rest of the way to his feet under his own power. He laughed weakly. “That kind of voltage barely counts as foreplay.”
Charlie rolled his eyes but let out a relieved laugh. “Sounds like he's just fine.”
“Yeah,” Tom said grimly, “but he won't be, and neither will the rest of us, if we don't get the hell out of here.”
I looked around and spotted a small door at the edge of the arena. “There’s a door close by!”
“Wait, where did Alaria go?” Tom asked.
We all turned back, looking around the mass of people fighting. I saw several people I recognized, but none of them were her.
“I don't see her,” I said.
“You mean she took off the instant it looked like she was slightly outnumbered?” Danio said flatly. “I’m stunned.”
“Uh oh,” said Charlie suddenly. “We should get out of here.”
I followed his gaze but didn’t see anything of note – aside from dozens of small battles waging, of course. Then, just as I was about to ask what was wrong, a huge fire flared up in the stands, engulfing non-humans and blood casters alike.
We all exchanged a look of alarm, then turned almost as one and sprinted toward the door. It led to a narrow stone hallway and we hurried along it until we reached a stairway.
“Okay,” I said, as we paused to regroup. “Given that she’s vanished, I don’t know how much success we’ll have finding Alaria – assuming nobody has taken care of her already – but it won’t do any good to waste time and potentially get ourselves killed looking for her.” They nodded in agreement. “Our priority needs to be getting to that labyrinth doorway, finding out how to open it, and getting the feck out of here. If we happen to find Alaria, we play it by ear but we’ve got to get back to Jon and let him know what’s happening. If this madness isn’t enough to stop Alaria, then MES is going to have to mobilize and do it and that won’t happen if we die here.” I took a deep breath and swallowed hard. I hated to say it, but knew it was true. “At least one of us has to get out alive.”
They all nodded grimly in agreement.
“If we get separated…” I trailed off.
“We get to the labyrinth,” Thomas finished softly.
As if we needed a reminder of how dire and tenuous our situation still was, a wall farther down the corridor abruptly exploded.
“Stairs,” Danio suggested. “Now.”
The sounds of the fighting echoed in the tunnel around us as we dashed down it, heading for the staircase. Just as we reached it, the walls burst sending out a shower of dust and bricks. The force hurled me from my feet and I slammed into Charlie, then the far wall, pinning him against it.
As I struggled to regain my balance the hallway ahead of us began to collapse. Thanks to his speed, Thomas had easily dodged the explosion and was already safely on the stairs. Danio dove toward them just as the stone ceiling came tumbling down in a pile of rocks and dust.
I staggered back to all fours and bounded as close to the collapse as I could get with Charlie right behind me. I could sense Thomas was fine but hadn’t seen if Danio got out in time.
“Are you okay?” I yelled.
“Is Danio?!” Charlie demanded.
“I’m fine,” came Danio’s voice.
Thomas called out after him. “We’re okay, are you both?”
I glanced behind us at the fight that had made its way into the corridor with us. “For now.” I swallowed hard, aching to get through the rubble to my soul-packmate’s side. It made me ill to even think it, but I knew we were going to have to split up; we couldn’t waste any time in getting to the labyrinth. “You have to…” I couldn’t make myself say it.
“I’ll let you know when we reach the doorway,” Thomas promised. I could sense he didn’t want to leave.
“We’ll find a way to catch up,” I called. “But if… if you have to enter… Don’t wait for us.”
Something slammed into the wall near us and we both turned to see a body crash heavily to the floor. He was so riddled with blood magic it took me a moment to realize it was Anthony. The hallway began to fill with swirling dust and the sound of roaring wind.
Charlie and I exchanged a horrified look, before he turned back to the pile of rocks. “Go!” he yelled. “We’ll see you there! Be careful!”
The response was drowned out as the wind began whipping around us. I ducked my head as grit and small rocks started flying, knowing it would hurt without fur to protect me. I tried to move myself between Charlie and the wind, but it seemed like it was going in every direction. I sensed Thomas hurrying away up the blocked staircase and took comfort in the fact that he and Danio were safe.
Shouts echoed from dangerously close and as quickly as it began, the wind stopped.
I blinked in the suddenly still air. Charlie gasped in alarm and my heart jumped into my throat. Two wizards were standing, just yards away, over the body of an air elemental. They turned to look at us and raised their wands.
Charlie bent swiftly and grabbed a small chunk of wood that had come out of the broken wall; it burst into flames and he hurled it at the blood wizards.
“Dyn!” one cried in alarm, unable to dodge in the narrow tunnel.
He successfully defended himself, but the distraction worked. It took me two leaps to close the distance and I lunged, hitting him square in the chest with my paws before he could cast another spell.
Next to me I felt a flash of intense heat and saw the flicker of flames. The other blood caster screamed as I silenced the one I was on top of. Charlie and I nodded grimly to each other, then I heard the rush of footsteps and looked up in alarm.
A fire elemental woman – Singe I realized in dismay, one of Victor’s favorites – rushed in and stopped short, surveying the carnage.
“Hurry up, you two,” she snapped at us. “Victor wants us all to…” Her eyes narrowed and started flaring with dark red flames. “You,” she snarled. “You’re one of the spies! And you’re another, aren’t you?” she added, turning her searing gaze on me.
With that, flames burst to life in her hands and she rushed me. I had nowhere to go in the narrow tunnel, so I braced myself to meet her.
“Down!” Charlie yelled.
I dropped to my belly and, in a move that would have made Danio proud, he vaulted over me and threw himself straight into Singe. For a moment the two were hidden by a fire that engulfed them both. It died down and I gasped in horror as Charlie jumped back, narrowly avoiding a slash from a knife.
Singe swung her knife again, this time Charlie twisted around and pinned her arm against him, wrenching the blade free from her grasp. Even though it wouldn’t harm him, she burst into flames again. I growled, desperately looking for an opening. Then, Singe screamed, fell silent, and the flames flickered out, leaving Charlie standing over her body, clutching the knife.
Before we had even an inst
ant to recover, I heard the shout of a spell. A blood magic spell.
I felt like something punched me in the stomach. I stumbled and tried to catch my breath but couldn’t. In a panic, I realized I couldn’t breathe at all. Every increasingly frantic inhale did nothing. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get any air.
Charlie whirled and hurled the knife at the blood caster. He dodged it, but Charlie rushed right after it and the two burst into flames. The result was much different when one of them wasn’t a fire elemental.
My legs gave out and I fell hard as my head started spinning. A moment later, Charlie was at my side.
“TS!” he cried. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
I tried to tell him I couldn’t breathe, but I couldn’t so much as whine. Instead I just desperately, weakly kicked my legs as everything started going black.
“Skal-ang-gral!”
The spell hurled Charlie away from me with a cry of pain. I tried to lift my head to see what happened, but couldn’t.
“Skal-ahn!”
I could breathe! I frantically gasped for breath, trying to get back to my feet. My lungs ached as they finally filled with air and I felt light-headed. Then a familiar laugh filled the air.
My heart sank as my vision cleared and Morgan fecking Fletcher strode closer.
We hadn’t been able to beat him with Thomas, and Danio, and Jen, when the five of us were uninjured. I was still feeling dizzy and shaky from the lack of oxygen and Charlie was hurt, possibly quite badly.
He stepped almost gingerly around a body and I smelled fresh blood. Fletcher’s blood – he was hurt! In fact, it looked like he had already been in a few other scuffles. Maybe we had a slim chance… assuming I could even get off my arse and into the fight.
“How lucky that Malcolm didn’t have what it takes,” Fletcher chuckled, casually stepping over the other blood wizard’s body as he advanced on me.
I bared my teeth at him and tried again to stand. My entire body felt weak, but I couldn’t let him beat me, not Fletcher. Not the blood wizard who had orchestrated the death of one of my soul-packmates, tried to have Ember killed, and had nearly killed my closest friends and Thomas. He had betrayed us all, more than once.
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 70
