Heartless Heirs

by MarcyKate Connolly

  Aro, drawn out by the argument, appears next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist.

  Remy sighs. “I should be training Vivienne right about now,” he says, and leaves the room.

  “Don’t worry too much about your sister,” Aro says. “She has a good heart. But it’s been broken by what happened to her. It will heal eventually.”

  I sigh and rub my hands over my face. “I hope so. I hate fighting with her.” We always bickered; what siblings don’t? But this is different. Before, we were always on the same side, just with different approaches to our end goal.

  Now, we don’t seem to have the same goal anymore.

  I have no idea how I will achieve the peace that the Alchemist Alliance has sought for so long, especially with my twin fighting me for revenge every step of the way. But I’m starting with mercy. Real mercy, not the terrible kind the king and queen dole out to their subjects.

  Aro presses his lips to my temple. “We just need to keep on the right path, and eventually she’ll see the light.”

  “I’m worried she might slit Leon’s throat in the meantime.”

  “You can’t focus on that. We need to bring more people to our side. Vivienne’s working on that, isn’t she?” Aro says.

  “She is. And after the torture she went through at the hands of the queen, she’s almost as determined as Zandria is to stage a coup.”

  Aro laughs. “She’s got a fire in her, that’s for certain.” He bites his lip. “What will you do with Leon?”

  “We’re not going to kill him,” I say.

  “Oh, thank the Anvil,” he says.

  “For now, at least. I’ve managed to convince Zandria he might be useful to us.” I sigh. “He followed us because he wanted to ask me to help the Heartless with magic if we can. I didn’t make him any promises, but . . .”

  His eyes light up. “The Heartsong might win over the Master Mechanic himself to the Alliance. I’ll redouble my efforts at deciphering it.” He embraces me and whispers in my ear, giving me chills. “Thank you for helping Leon. He’s always known what and who I am. He’s one of the few people I trust.”

  I snort. “Need I remind you, you also trusted Darian?”

  Aro winces. “Please don’t. I trusted you too. I suppose I have a knack for being taken in by spies.”

  “And people who want to kill you,” I add.

  “Yes, that has been quite an awkward trend, hasn’t it?” A smile quirks at the edge of his lips. “But it’s true, we must help the Heartless. I think that might be the key to winning the people over.”

  “First, let’s start with their finances, shall we?”

  Until recently, Aro had no idea how badly the Techno leaders tax their residents. With Darian ramping up his experiments, they’ve doubled the taxes in recent weeks. People are struggling. If we can return those funds to the public, it might undercut the loyalty the royals currently enjoy. And if we can attribute it to the Alchemist Alliance, it will only bolster our cause.

  CHAPTER 28

  WHILE I’M LOATHE TO HAVE ARO aboveground where Darian or any other of the Palace spies might see him, tonight we need him to break into the Treasury. He’s never been inside, but he knows where his parents keep it locked and secure. And there’s an excellent chance this insight will be essential to our success.

  Owen and I head out with Aro in the lead, all of us carefully hidden under the cloaking spell, to find the secret Royal Treasury. I would’ve expected the king and queen to keep the funds under lock and key inside the Palace, but according to Aro, they’re too paranoid for even that. Instead they chose a secure, well-guarded facility.

  One might think stealing from his parents would cause Aro some inner turmoil, but if it has, he’s kept it well hidden. To be honest, he seemed eager, bordering on gleeful, as he plotted the logistics for taking their tax revenue out from under their noses.

  Aro stops our group in front of an unassuming building. Without his assurances I never would’ve guessed it houses two-thirds of the Technocrats’ wealth. The rest they keep on hand in the Palace as both a decoy and for easy access to spend as lavishly as they please.

  Owen frowns at it. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

  “I know, it could pass for a tenement house,” Aro says. “But it’s uninhabited. The only ones who go in or out are some of their most trusted guards.”

  And their most dangerous guards. But Aro doesn’t need to remind us of that.

  The building is square and plain and squat, only a single story tall. I silently weave a spell we learned at the Sanctuary, one to reveal life-forms within a certain radius, lighting them up to the caster’s eyes well enough to detect them even through stone—or metal—walls. Within a few moments, I can see that there are at least twenty guards dispersed throughout the building and that many of them are underground.

  Realization dawns. “They keep the money in a vault in the basement.”

  “Yes. And if I know my parents, it will be nearly impenetrable.”

  Owen raises an eyebrow. “Then why are we hitting this one and not the one in the Palace? It sounds like that would be easier to get to.”

  “It probably would. But liberating funds from this one will rattle the king and queen more.” I consider the building’s metal and brick configuration. “I wouldn’t worry about it being impenetrable. That may be the case for a regular Technocrat or Magi. But not for me.”

  Aro laughs softly. “You’re fearless, Aissa.”

  That isn’t quite true. Plenty of things scare me. But I know my own worth. I know what I’m capable of, and I know I can do this. Getting past all those guards will be the real challenge. There’s no vault, no matter how deeply buried, or lock so intricate it can withstand my magic. People, with their own will and creativity to govern them, can always surprise. Having Aro here creates a new challenge, but it’s necessary in case our magic alone isn’t enough.

  “We should move in before the guards change,” Aro says.

  Our spells are in place, but I’ll have to release the silencing one once we get inside to take out some of the guards. Owen will keep up the shield as long as he can, but if he needs to use both handspells and incantations to attack, we’ll be exposed. The king and queen were quite careful to ensure no tunnel access was possible for the Royal Treasury, and there’s only one door that goes in or out—the front. With Aro safely behind us, Owen and I head for the entrance.

  “There are two guards posted at the door,” I whisper. “Then four more interspersed down the hall. Once we get to the basement, the guards double. We may not be able to use the shield at all if we have to keep attacking. We must be sure to get them all, then bind them up. None can happen upon us as we open the vault—they’ll raise the alarm.”

  Owen nods and Aro’s hand fidgets with the sword on his belt. From our sparring practices, I know he can use it well, but that might not be enough tonight.

  We pause under our shield, plastering ourselves to the side of the wall. Then I hum, casting a new spell that opens the lock and throws the door wide. We hold our breaths. We won’t have to wait long to be discovered.

  “Who’s there?” calls one of the guards angrily.

  When he gets no response, the first guard ventures through the door and looks around. He can’t see us under our magic, but he drops like a stone at my sleeping spell. “Somnis.”

  “What the forges is going on out here?” shouts the other guard as he barrels through the open doorway. But I’m ready and waiting.

  “Somnis,” I say. And he too drops to the ground.

  Without missing a beat, we drag the guards inside and close the door behind us. We lay them unceremoniously out on the floor, hands and feet bound and gagged, far enough out of the way that anyone glancing down the hall might not see them. The building is set up in such a way that there’s only one direction to go, herding us through to either be caught or complete our mission. The walls are not mirrored like they are in the Palace but use brick and sto
ne reinforced with metal supports at regular intervals.

  It isn’t long before we encounter the next batch of guards.

  We crouch around the bend from where they’re posted. My spell shows they’re spread out down a stretch of hall in such a way that once we ambush one, the others will notice and attack.

  “That makes things tricky,” Owen whispers.

  I bite my lip. “I have an idea,” I explain, and Owen and Aro nod in agreement. We edge closer to the bend, hearts in our throats. Then we turn the corner, arms raised in a violent wind spell that whips down the hall, blasting them off their feet within seconds. They don’t have time to respond before we’ve knocked them out, tossing them against the walls like rag dolls.

  Pulses racing, we survey the damage and tie them up before moving on. They’ll all live but will have massive headaches when they wake, that’s for sure.

  “Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Aro whispers, then kisses me softly behind the ear. Owen rolls his eyes, and I blush.

  Now the only thing standing in our way is the challenge that awaits us in the basement. I cast the detection spell again to get a sense of where the guards are now, in case they’ve shifted positions. They’re still in the same spots, and we take a moment to decide the best course of action.

  I’ve never forgotten the first time I fought a Technocrat: Caden the guard. It didn’t go at all like I’d expected it would. He surprised me, so I couldn’t use the spells I might normally cast to incapacitate an enemy. I’m determined to never be caught off guard like that again. I’ve always favored having a plan, and now I want to be prepared for every possibility. Succeeding tonight is a key part of what we hope will swing the residents of Palinor in our favor.

  “Owen, you and I should start with the wind spell again. See how many we can catch up in it, maybe toss them into each other to incapacitate them.” I don’t enjoy killing. There was a time I fantasized about murdering every Technocrat in the city in their beds while they slept, but the reality, I learned with Caden, is terrible and sickening. Now that I understand better that we’re all really from the same people, not as different as I was told, I’d rather reserve killing as a last resort.

  Zandria thinks I’m crazy. If I’d gone through the things she has, I might side with her. Our experiences have diverged, and eventually we’ll have to reconcile them if we want our new Alchemist Alliance to get a real foothold. But tonight it’s just me and Aro and Owen, and they’re more willing to be guided by me than she is.

  “After that, use a sleeping spell if you can on any who get close,” I say.

  “I’ll be ready to fight if they break through,” Aro says.

  I nod. “Hopefully we can make short work of them, but you never know what surprises they might have in store.”

  “Understood,” Owen says.

  “Then let’s go,” Aro says.

  Nerves kick up a frenzy in my gut. There are a lot of guards in the basement just below us. More than I’ve successfully taken on before. But I believe we can do this. We have to.

  Failure has never been an option.

  CHAPTER 29

  UNDER OWEN’S SHIELD SPELL, I USE MY magic to unlock the basement door, and it swings open. A short flight of stairs descends before us, and we wait for a breath or two to ensure no guards come racing up the stairs after hearing the door open. No one appears, and we start down the stairs. I can hear voices of guards and something else that sets me on edge.

  The unmistakable metallic creak of machines prowling.

  My heart stutters in my chest. Of course they have machines guarding the Treasury.

  I’m the only one in our party who can take them on magically. While Aro and Owen can do their best to fight them off, I stand the best chance of disabling them.

  The muscles in my body are strung tight as wires. The gears in my brain begin to turn, plotting out escape tactics if it becomes clear we’ll be overwhelmed.

  For the first time tonight, I’m nervous.

  But we press on, and now I’m sure my friends have heard the machines. Owen looks queasy, but he does an admirable job maintaining our shield spell nonetheless.

  When we reach the bottom of the stairs, the sight before us sends my adrenaline skyrocketing. A dozen guards are spread out down a long, wide hall with shiny metal walls. In the center is the door to the Treasury room. It’s a monstrous, rectangular machine built into the wall, with jumbled gears and wires entwined in a manner that would be hopeless to untangle for someone who didn’t know the proper key.

  But I don’t need keys.

  Roaming between the guards are six enormous spidermechs, the kind that can pin a grown man down and wind wires around him in seconds. I shudder.

  I really hate that kind of mech.

  Owen’s breath catches when he sees them. Aro, though, isn’t surprised. He told us they’d likely have mechs patrolling here too. The only good news is that he’s likely to have more insight into how these mechs are programmed and can avoid getting caught by one.

  But it’s still better if I can take them all out.

  I use my hands to cast the wind spell, weaving my fingers in just the right motions to stir up the air around me with magic and power. When I nod at a nervous-looking Owen, we send the wind spinning down the hall, sweeping up five of the guards right off the bat. Their companions’ shocked faces quickly harden, and they scatter as I try to knock them over by throwing the caught-up guards into them. I only knock out two, then a couple of the guards regain their feet. I catch them up a second time, knocking their heads together to finally render them unconscious.

  That takes care of seven. We still have five left, plus those spidermechs. They skitter toward the stairs and my heart takes a seat in my throat.

  “I’ve got these. Handle the rest of the guards, Owen,” I say.

  He drops his shield to cast the wind spell with his hands and another defensive incantation, revealing our position and numbers. While Owen incapacitates the nearest Techno guard with a sleeping spell, and the next with a burst of flame, the closest spidermech lunges at me.

  “Ascensio!” I lift it off its wriggling metal legs with my magic. Then I slam it into the next mech coming for Owen, tangling them together in a mess of metal and wires. I hum, pushing my magic into their bodies, making the metal hot enough that the floor scorches. They make a strange, unexpected squeal as they begin to melt and twist together.

  Owen grapples with three guards—a tricky task even with his dual casting ability. Aro launches himself into the fray to help, which distracts me more than I should let it. The next mech comes for me, long wires spitting in my direction. It catches me around the wrist, then yanks me forward. I stumble to my knees but never stop the words of my incantation.

  “Explosi!” The machine bursts into pieces. I direct the sharpest of those pieces toward the remaining guards attacking Owen and Aro, slicing the hands off one and a foot off another with the razor-thin metal of the spidermech’s body. The wire around my wrist loosens and slithers to my feet.

  Half the machines down. Magic and blood thrum in my ears. The last three advance on me together. One crawls across the ceiling, another on the floor, and the third along the left wall. My palms are slick. This is more mechs—especially dangerous ones made specifically for capturing people—than I’ve ever taken on at once.

  I take a deep breath and remind myself I was literally made to do this.

  My spell winds around them, teasing their wires from their bodies at my command instead of their own. Once my magic has a good hold on the wire lassos from all three, I yank on them, pulling the two in front of me together. Keeping an eye on the one above me, I quickly use the wires to trap the pair of spidermechs in much the same way they trapped others: tied tightly enough they can’t even wriggle.

  That should hold for a while at least.

  Before I can cast another spell, the one on the ceiling swings down, knocking me off my feet and the breath from my chest. My head swi
ms, but I don’t have time to be dazed. The mech’s pincers click menacingly in front of my face, and I duck left just in time, so they pierce my shoulder instead. The pain is blinding; Aro grunts with surprise. I grit my teeth and keep humming my incantation, the magic inside me winding up to strike.

  “Explosi,” I manage to whisper.

  The mech bursts apart, sending shrapnel down the hall. I realize too late that might not have been wisest, though it seemed the best idea in the moment. My thigh stings where Aro has been hit with a small piece, and Owen has a scratch on his arm, but it could have been worse. While I’ve been fighting off the machine, my companions overpowered the remaining guards. They’re all tied up and sleeping—thanks to a spell by Owen—at the far end of the hall.

  Aro helps me up and Owen glances between us as if he can’t decide which of us to heal first.

  I can’t help it. I laugh.

  And then promptly regret it. It literally hurts to laugh right now.

  “Can you heal my shoulder?” I ask Owen. “The wound originated with me. That will be the most effective way of helping both of us.”

  “So that’s how it manifests,” Owen says. “I know you’ve told me, but it’s another thing to see firsthand.”

  Aro takes my hand, pressing my fingers to his lips and sending a shiver down my spine. I’m relieved neither of them is too badly injured.

  We risk taking a few minutes for Owen to heal our wounds before entering the treasury itself. If we need to make a speedy getaway, we must be in top condition. He uses an incantation for my shoulder and a handspell for Aro’s thigh to make the healing faster.

  Once I’m able to move my shoulder again without pain, we start toward the door, but a metallic rattle stops me in my tracks. The two mechs I tied up are still trying to get out of their own wire bonds.

  “Hold on,” I say. Then I move my hands in a spell. The magic swells inside my chest, shooting down my arms as I clasp my hands together tightly. Then I rip them wide apart and the two mechs split down the middle, wires and all, with a resounding screech.