Outbreak

by Annabel Chase

  “I told her she’d regret the day she brought me to the Fortress,” I said.

  “Not so superior now, is she?” Bryn said.

  Searbhan grunted and threw down his club. “No rise again.”

  My body began to convulse.

  “Dani, are you okay?” Bryn asked. She wrapped her arms around me and tried to hold me still.

  “I’m trying…to take…back control.” The magic was like a raging river, flooding my system. I began to feel like I was drowning.

  Bryn took my hand and squeezed. “Dani, you can do this. Deep breaths.”

  My head throbbed. “It’s too much.”

  “You’re Danielle Montrose Degraff, dammit, and you just saved a whole group of paranormals from a life of servitude. Don’t you dare turn around and be a slave to your magic now.”

  A slave.

  No. I wouldn’t let that happen. I refused to suffer my grandmother’s fate.

  Another wave of magic threatened to spill out of me, but I willed it to stay contained. I continued to squeeze Bryn’s hand and concentrated on slowing my heart rate. At first, the magic pushed back, but the more I remained committed to keeping it at bay, the calmer my body became. I felt the magic smooth and stretch until it reminded me of a flat sea.

  “See? You’ve got this, Dani,” Bryn said, and I heard her own breathing hitch. “Icarus?”

  I snapped to attention. Icarus was here?

  The snowy owl swooped to join us. He perched on Bryn’s shoulder and I saw the tears glistening in her eyes. “How did you find us?” she asked, her voice shaking with emotion.

  Was he alone? I scanned the arena, but there was no sign of anyone else from the academy.

  “He says Gray and the others are almost here,” Bryn said. “They received an anonymous tip.”

  “Is Peter with them?” I asked. My heart began to pound all over again at the thought of seeing the druid—of seeing my boyfriend.

  “Gray!” Bryn said. Warden Armitage, too. My spirits lifted when I saw Mia and Cerys race in with their wands at the ready. The warden’s brow shot up when he noted the number of flaming Danis in the arena. I realized it was time to call them off now that the hard work was done.

  I closed my eyes and made sure my center was calm before attempting to control my other selves. One at a time, I stopped them in their tracks and then ordered the fire to dissipate. The original silhouette was the last to burn out, thanks to a stubborn streak.

  “Who are they?” Nobu asked. He came over to stand beside us, dragging a dwarf in a headlock.

  “Two wardens,” I said. “And the rest are friends.”

  The echidna peered around me. “You have a lot of friends.”

  Bryn and I exchanged grateful glances. “Yes, we do.”

  Gray practically leapt from the top of the arena to reach Bryn on the platform. He swept her up in his arms and kissed her.

  “I thought I’d lost you forever,” Gray said.

  “Not possible,” Bryn replied.

  My reunion with Peter wasn’t something I’d let myself think about in the Fortress. When he finally appeared at the top of the arena steps, I could hardly contain myself. I sprinted toward him, taking the steps three at a time. He met me halfway, and I launched myself into his arms, wrapping my legs around him. He kissed my forehead and my cheeks before I nearly lost my mind.

  “My lips!” I said, jabbing at them with my index finger. “Kiss me here.”

  He didn’t hesitate. He kissed me with more intensity than I’d ever experienced in my life. I practically vibrated—and this time it wasn’t from magic.

  “Now there’s a greeting a guy could get used to,” he said.

  I kissed him again and slid back to stand on the floor. “Gods, I missed you.”

  “Dani!” Mia called. She and Cerys rushed down to greet me. They hugged me so hard that they nearly knocked us off the step.

  “What happened here?” Cerys asked. Her gaze swept across the arena, taking in the bodies and destruction.

  “Dani happened here,” Bryn said, joining us on the steps.

  I glanced back at Sheila’s lifeless body on the platform. “I guess you’d call it a revolution.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  To my great relief, all the paranormals from the Fortress were alive and accounted for. Gray and Armitage took their details so they could contact them for the official report. The more evidence they gathered, the better. They were offered the services of a healer to tend to any injuries and a third warden named Noonan was tasked with escorting the paranormals out of Terrene and back to their respective homes.

  The rest of us piled into a van driven by Armitage. He assured us that he’d take care of credentials with the Order of the Edge when we crossed the border, as we obviously hadn’t entered Terrene legally.

  “How can the League not know about this?” I asked. “Their whole job is to detect the use of magic in Terrene and the fighting pit network is supposedly massive.”

  Gray and Armitage exchanged grim looks. “Corruption is my guess,” Armitage said. “There’s a lot of money at stake. A lot of payouts.”

  “It all links back to the Liberty Project,” I said. “I guarantee you they keep meticulous records. I bet they have lists of every transaction, every paranormal, and every fighting pit.”

  “This is how Seamus and Angela rose to power so quickly,” Gray said. “Money can be very persuasive.”

  I took a deep breath. “We need to break into the Liberty Project and find out the location of these fighting pits so we can shut them down. We need every name connected to the slave market.”

  Armitage laughed loudly. “You think you’re going to be able to break in there? That’s one of the most secure offices in the quadrant. They have a lot of powerful enemies and they know it.”

  “If we wait and go through the appropriate channels,” I said, “they’ll have plenty of time to hide their information or, even worse, destroy it. We can’t take that risk.”

  “I hate to say it, but she makes a good point,” Gray said. “Right now, the element of surprise is on our side.”

  “How do you propose to break in?” Armitage asked. “You and I can’t be involved, Mappleworth. We’d be out of a job.”

  I bristled. “Your job is more important than what’s happening to those paranormals in Terrene? They were going to sell us, Warden Armitage, like objects. To fight each other to the death for entertainment.”

  The warden’s expression soured. “I hear what you’re saying, Degraff, and I sympathize….”

  “We don’t need them,” Bryn interrupted. “We can handle it.” She looked at the rest of us. “Four capable witches will be more than enough.”

  Mia nodded emphatically. “Whatever has to be done, I’ll do it.”

  “Me, too,” Cerys added. There was no way she’d ignore the plight of paranormals kidnapped and sent to another realm. It hit too close to home.

  Armitage gripped the steering wheel. “I don’t want to know any details. As far as I’m concerned, you did not just say you plan to break into a legitimate organization’s office without any kind of official go-ahead.”

  “Then you should probably close your ears,” I said, “because we’re about to discuss logistics.”

  Peter held up a finger. “Make that four witches and a druid with a wicked staff. If anyone knows how to find the back door into a place, you’re looking at him.”

  “You can always shift into Clementine again,” I said, smiling.

  “No, thanks,” Peter replied. “She still harbors ill will toward me from the last time.”

  “She’s getting over it,” I lied.

  Gray hesitated. “I want to help.”

  Bryn reached forward and squeezed his shoulder. “I know you do, but it’s okay. We’ve got this. It took you far too many years to rejoin the AMF. I’m not going to be the reason you leave them again.”

  Gray brought her fingers to his lips and kissed her hand. “Go now.
If you wait until nightfall, Dani’s right—it might be too late.”

  “Mappleworth,” Warden Armitage said, and I heard the warning tone. No assistance.

  “Drop us a mile out,” Peter said. “That’ll give us time to come up with a plan out of earshot of you two.”

  Armitage glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “You sure you’re up for this? You and Bryn have been through the ringer this week. Nobody would blame you if you wanted to just let it go through the proper channels.”

  “We can’t risk it,” I said. “Angela and Seamus are too smart. This time, we need to be smarter.”

  Peter signaled when it was time for the drop-off and the five of us vacated the van. Gray rolled down his window to give Bryn a final kiss before they drove away.

  “I want to warn Jenny Fraser,” he said. “I don’t want her getting caught up in this.” Professor Fraser’s daughter was a Liberty Project advocate and neither one of us believed she had any connection to the misdeeds of Seamus and Angela.

  “Me neither,” I said. “But Seamus and Angela are the targets. If Jenny’s innocent, she won’t be connected to any of the information we uncover.”

  Peter nodded begrudgingly. “Whatever protective ward they have around the building won’t be active during business hours,” he said. “The guards are the main obstacles.”

  “Are the five of us going to waltz through the front door?” Mia asked. “That seems risky.”

  “No, that’ll draw too much attention,” Bryn said. “Two of us should create a diversion in the lobby. Nothing too serious, but enough to draw the guards there.”

  “Mia, can you use your magic to boost us to the top floor?” I asked. Twenty-five stories was no small feat.

  “I think so,” Mia said.

  “Cerys and I will create the diversion,” Bryn said.

  “I’ll take the stairs to Seamus’s office during the commotion in the lobby,” Peter said.

  “Good luck, everyone,” I said. “Let’s go, Mia.”

  We arrived at the imposing building and skirted the exterior. It helped that I knew the precise location of Angela’s office. I only hoped she wasn’t in it. They seemed to attend a lot of meetings, so the odds were in our favor.

  “Ready?” Mia asked.

  I nodded and she clasped my hand. I steadied my breathing as she summoned her magic. The wind stirred at our feet and we began to rise off the ground. An invisibility spell would’ve worked wonders right now, but the employees inside the building were likely too focused on tasks to bother looking out the window at two witches flying by.

  We made it to the twenty-fifth floor and I peered inside, relieved to see the office was empty. Mia kept us buoyant while I went to work on the window. I pressed my palms flat against the glass and warmth spread from my body to the window, slowly melting away a section large enough for us to enter. If it tripped any alarms, we didn’t hear them.

  I raced to the computer on Angela’s desk and Mia served as a lookout near the doorway. I hoped the others were successful.

  I couldn’t even get past the password entry. I banged my fists on the keyboard in frustration. What had I been thinking? I needed spell prep for this kind of fieldwork. I couldn’t come in here and think elemental magic would do the job. It wasn’t enough.

  “Someone’s coming,” Mia said.

  I stared at the keyboard, conjuring as many possible passwords as I could manage. None of them worked.

  “Any luck?” Bryn’s voice drifted through the open doorway. I glanced up to see Angela in front of her. “Because, if not, I’ve got you covered.”

  “No luck,” I said. Angela seemed to be in some sort of trance. “What’s going on?”

  “I gave her my blood,” Bryn said. “Seamus, too. Peter’s handling him now. Cerys did a great job with the diversion.”

  Cerys beamed with pride.

  “Sit at your desk and get us the information we need,” Bryn ordered.

  I moved out of the way as Angela sat down and began to type. “Tell her to send the files directly to Gray,” I said.

  “Good idea,” Bryn said. “I’ll give you the contact details, Angela. Now you be a good minion and follow instructions.”

  “I bet she’s never been a blood puppet before,” I said. “She’s used to everyone being her puppets.”

  “Not anymore,” Cerys said.

  Peter entered the room alone. “Seamus is sound asleep.”

  “Won’t he remember when he wakes up and come after us?” Mia asked.

  “Nope,” Bryn said. “I did that thing magicians do in the human world. Told him to go to sleep when he was done and to forget everything when he woke up.” She inclined her head toward Angela. “I’ll do the same to her.”

  “It’ll be a wonderful surprise when the AMF uses their own files against them,” I said.

  “Should you fix that window?” Peter asked. “Might be suspicious.”

  “I can do it,” Cerys said. She produced her wand and aimed it at the window.

  “Have Angela escort us out before she takes her beauty nap,” I said. “That’ll get us past the guards.”

  We took the express elevator down to the lobby.

  “The Liberty Project is going down,” Bryn said.

  I held up a finger. “But not in flames.”

  “No,” Bryn said. “Not in flames.”

  Angela waved us off like we were long lost friends. Once outside the entrance, I turned around.

  “Cerys, do me a favor,” I said. “Shake that plaque out of the stone.” I pointed to the liberty plaque above the entrance.

  “With pleasure,” the earth witch said. She waved her hand and dislodged the plaque. It fell to the ground and cracked into two. Okay, so I didn’t get to smash it over someone’s head, but it was close enough. I picked up the pieces and carried on.

  We had one more stop before I was willing to rest. Adrenaline was sustaining me and I knew if I slowed down now, I’d collapse. I wasn’t willing to succumb just yet. Thanks to Peter and his never-ending connections, we secured a truck to take us to our next destination. It wasn’t much better than Fonthill’s pickup, not that I was complaining.

  Geddy Blackwell’s house was the residential version of his castle-inspired office.

  Peter whistled at the sight of the house. “Dude, this manticore lives like a king.”

  “Not for much longer,” I said. But first we needed to rescue the princess in the tower—or the indoor pool.

  It wasn’t difficult to find Brittany. Bryn used her water magic to identify the location of the indoor pool and we made our way there before anyone spotted us. It helped that Blackwell’s property wasn’t warded. He was apparently too arrogant to think anyone would dare trespass on his property.

  The Samodiva was underwater when we arrived. When her head broke the surface, I almost didn’t recognize her without her wig and heavy makeup. Her head was bald and her face appeared even older than I expected. If she was surprised to see us standing outside the pool, she didn’t show it.

  “You’re alive,” she said, as she climbed out of the pool.

  “Barely,” I said.

  “And what of my sisters?” she asked.

  I hesitated. “All dead.”

  “Good,” Brittany said. “You’ve come for Geddy then.” More of a statement than a question.

  “No,” I said. “We’ve come for something more important. We’ve come for you.”

  Brittany cocked her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “You can’t stay here,” I said. “Blackwell is going down and you don’t deserve to go down with him. Go gather what you can and let’s go.”

  Brittany instinctively reached for her wig, but then seemed to change her mind. Instead, she slipped on her flip-flops. “I don’t need to gather anything. I have everything I need.”

  “You’re sure?” I asked. I didn’t want her to feel like she was being taken against her will. Not again.

  Brittany fixed me with
a hard stare. “Did I stutter?”

  “No, ma’am,” Bryn said. “Right this way. We’ve got transport ready and waiting for you.”

  The Samodiva didn’t even crack a grateful smile. “You were the missing water witch,” she said to Bryn. “The one they were all searching for.” We left the indoor pool area and headed along the side of the house.

  “That’s me,” Bryn said.

  “The elf sends his regards,” I said. “He wants you to know that he’s sorry.”

  Her brow lifted. “Alfred? He’s alive?”

  “He helped us escape,” I said.

  Brittany closed her eyes and sighed. “I knew that little guy had it in him.”

  “He seemed to struggle, but he did the right thing in the end,” I said.

  “Geddy will be furious when he comes home from work and learns I’m gone,” Brittany said. “He expects a massage within half an hour of his return.” And then I saw it. The tiniest smile of satisfaction.

  “Blackwell is going to have more to worry about than your absence,” I said. “And he won’t be enjoying massages for a very long time.”

  We rounded the corner to the circular driveway. Peter stood by the truck with the doors open. “Sorry about the truck,” he said. “I’m sure you’re accustomed to better modes of transport.”

  “I’d ride on a mule if it meant ditching this place,” Brittany said. “I traded one prison for another.” She jumped into the backseat and didn’t bother to give the impressive house a last look.

  Bryn and I squeezed in beside her and Peter took the driver’s seat. As we pulled away from the house, Brittany faced me, her eyes sparkling. “Tell me every detail. I want to live vicariously through you.”

  It took the entire ride back to Spellslingers, but I did. I told her about the Fortress and the other paranormals I’d met there. About our escape from the market. I told her about Searbhan and what he’d told me when we were in the waiting cell. Brittany seemed overwhelmed by the information.

  “I was a symbol of hope?” She pressed her hand against her chest, her emotions building. “But I never stopped being a slave. I only swapped one master for another.”