by Sarah Noffke
Her brother shot her an angry expression. “But she wants me to turn off the entire system. I shouldn’t be able to do that.”
“And one Councilor shouldn’t be able to unregister us or lock our magic on their own, and yet we know that they can,” Liv stated.
Alicia’s voice came through the phone, her irritation evident from her high-pitched tone. Clark pulled the phone away from his ear, his eyes widening.
“You helped create this system?” he said in disbelief.
“That makes sense,” Liv said dryly, putting her back to the wall as she sidestepped, continuing to look for the white tiger. There shouldn’t have been places for him to hide, since he was huge at over four hundred pounds. However, that was one of the many mysteries of the Chamber of the Tree. The dark pockets around the room were like separate places where the regulator often disappeared. Conversely, Diabolos often hung out up high, where the ceiling met the walls.
“If I reboot the system, will anyone be able to tell?” Clark asked Alicia over the phone.
A moment later, he let out a deep breath. “Okay, fine. I’m ready to do it. How long will it take?”
He glanced at Liv. “She says two minutes. Then we’ll have a small window where the security settings aren’t up, and we can unregister our magic.”
“How do we keep the council from finding out I’m not registered anymore?” Liv asked, knowing they were constantly monitoring her magic use for various reasons. That was common for Warriors, to ensure they weren’t abusing their powers or to check that they were safe in the field.
Clark listened to the scientist over the phone and then nodded. “All you need to do is stand on your place while I’m unregistering you. Alicia says there’s a way to loop your magic feed from the last several months so it looks like the present reports.”
Liv liked this idea. It was similar to when criminals in movies looped the security cameras so the unsuspecting guards didn’t realize they’d been tricked.
“Okay, let’s get this going,” Liv said, striding toward her spot on the far side of the chamber. She took her place and gave Clark a hopeful smile. “Two minutes and we’ll be done.”
He let out a strained breath, patches of red covering his face the same way they always did when he was nervous. “Okay, ready in three, two, one.”
One by one, the lights representing registered magicians blinked off overhead. The lit-up branches of the tree dimmed, receding toward the base of the trunk until they were in complete darkness. Liv blinked, feeling suddenly blind. Then she caught a movement of light on the bench from the phone pressed to Clark’s face—and behind him, she saw the glowing green eyes of the white tiger, perched on the broad shelf in back of the bench.
Chapter Twenty
Liv didn’t even think. She just reacted, summoning a fireball and launching it. A scream ripped out of Clark’s mouth as he dove for the floor behind the bench. Jude soared overhead, the fireball missing him by inches and crashing into the wall behind him.
The white tiger landed in front of Liv, his long sharp teeth bared as a growl spilled out of his mouth, echoing all over the room.
Liv already had another fireball ready, both for protection and for light. Jude began to sidestep, his pensive stare on Liv.
“What’s gotten into you?” Liv asked him, wondering if he could respond somehow. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”
The white tiger’s growl shook Liv at her core, like she was standing next to a loudspeaker at a rock concert.
“Okay, it may seem wrong to unregister our magic, but it’s to keep us safe,” Liv explained. “And where have you been when Adler has been locking magicians’ magic and whatever else?”
Liv thought she’d brought up an excellent point, but the white tiger’s expression was unchanging.
Clark stood up again, his eyes wide with fright, the cell phone pressed to his face as he whispered to Alicia.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Liv stated to Jude. “Just let us do what we need to do, and then we’ll be out of here.”
The white tiger lunged for Liv, making her dive forward, rolling over one shoulder. She threw the fireball to the side of him, knowing it wouldn’t hit him, but hoping it would keep him back as she reloaded.
“Seriously?” Liv yelled. “This isn’t even a meeting of the Seven. Don’t you take a day off?”
Jude’s large paw came up, swiping through the air. His reach was longer than Liv realized, making her release the fireball to keep him from mauling her face. The tiger growled as he cowered back, his eyes on fire with rage.
Liv summoned two more fireballs, swiftly moving her hands back and forth to discourage him from jumping at her again. “And Seven, really?” she continued. “You know damn well it’s the House of Fourteen. You have to. But you’re not jumping all over the Councilors when they casually refer to the Seven, are you?”
This seemed to strike a chord with the white tiger. Or maybe it was the hypnotizing effects of the fireballs as she moved them through the air, the light from them blurring slightly.
“His job is to stop any treachery,” Clark said from the bench. “You can’t reason with him. He supports truths and tries to banish deceit.”
“But we’re deceiving so we can stay alive!” Liv yelled furiously as the tiger made another attempt to attack her. She dropped both of her fireballs, and they extinguished on the floor immediately. Before she could summon another one, Jude’s claws were in her back as his weight crushed her to the floor. She tried to scream, but her breath was knocked out of her when the beast crashed into her.
“Liv!” Clark yelled from high up.
The pain that spread across Liv’s back as the white tiger clawed her was excruciating. It felt more than just claws and teeth. It was like she was being shoved through a meat grinder. They rolled twice, Jude’s weight adding insult to injury each time he was on top of her.
In the pure darkness of the chamber, Liv couldn’t see anything, not that light would help at this point. She was imprisoned in the unrelenting grasp of this regulator.
“I need to turn the system back on!” Clark yelled into the phone. “I need to do something!”
He was stuck up high, trying to work with Alicia. There was no way for him to save Liv. Lights would have helped with that, but in the pitch-black, he was helpless, and that made her feel remorseful for him. Her pity didn’t last for long, because in a swift movement, Jude was off of her.
She didn’t understand why he’d backed off, but she managed to push herself back several feet, cradling her arms around her knees. Her reserves were low from the attack, but if she could calm herself enough, she could summon another fireball. Maybe pull Bellator. Do anything to help protect her from the regulator, whose present location was unclear.
Then she felt his hot breath and knew his attacks weren’t over. The snarl that came next sent a sharp chill down Liv’s injured back. She didn’t know whether to dive to the right or left or how to escape what would come next.
The lights flickered on and back off, illuminating the white tiger. He was right in front of Liv, his face inches from hers. She shuffled backward, trying to get to her feet, but unable to get up due to the lacerations on her back. Like a strobe light, she got strange glimpses of Jude’s progress after her as the lights kicked on and then back off again and again.
His white face looked wrong, covered in her blood. She used all her energy to push to her feet, pulling Bellator at the same moment. What she did next would be impossible to cover up. The Council would know they’d be there. There would be no way to hide that she killed the ancient beast.
What happened next was completely in slow motion. Bringing Bellator up and around, Liv threw all her strength into the movement. Simultaneously, the tiger growled, swinging his giant paw through the air at her. Either the sword or his paw would connect first, but one of them wasn’t going to be standing in a few seconds.
And then the sound of the crow overhead froze them bo
th. Bellator stopped inches from Jude’s face. Similarly, his paw halted in midair only a breath away from Liv. Diabolos dove at the two of them. Afraid of another attack, Liv threw herself backward, bring Bellator behind her as she kept her weight low.
An explosion of smoke and ash rained down on them as a strange flapping noise filled the air. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It rang in Liv’s head, making her think she was imagining it, but then it shook the floor under her feet. Liv knew Jude heard it too, for his head fell to the stone under him as he covered his ears with his paws.
Her teeth vibrated from the noise, which grew in intensity second by second. She tried to shake off the strangeness, but suddenly she felt drugged. Ash continued to fall from up high, covering her feet and making it hard to move. Clark was yelling at her from the bench.
She couldn’t hear him. The flapping drowned everything.
He was waving his arms wildly in the air, then he pointed to the middle of the room. Liv couldn’t understand what he was trying to say, and then she saw it. Nearly covered by the ash, but still glowing: her spot in the chamber!
Jude looked up when she sprinted for her place. Each step was harder than the last. The distance seemed impossibly far. Liv recognized the fire in the tiger’s eyes as he threw himself to his feet. This wasn’t over yet.
He was about to lunge at her. She was only a few feet from the glowing circle marking her spot. If she didn’t get there in time, they would fail. She would die, slain by an animal meant to protect the truth.
The irony wasn’t lost on her.
An explosion threw Liv off balance, and the chamber shook. She covered her head, unsure of what was happening. Scorching flames seemed to lick at her from everywhere, making her cringe into a ball as she covered her head. There were two loud bangs. The walls shook. A growl was followed by a loud caw.
Suddenly the air was frigid. Nervous about what she’d see when she unfolded her arms from over her head, Liv tentatively peered around when the floor was no longer shaking and pushed up to a crouch. Jude lay lifeless a few feet from her. She let out a gasp, the urge to check his vitals pulsing through her.
Was he dead? she wondered just as a small ticking sound drew her attention to something on the other side of her.
Diabolos, similar to Jude, laid on the floor on the other side of her. Although he was moving slightly, they were pained movements.
Liv suddenly felt dizzy, and there was a strange copper taste in her mouth. Then she remembered that she needed to get to her spot before it was too late, but as she looked around, she realized that somehow she was already there.
Drips echoed around the room. Liv looked up, thinking there must have been a leak in the ceiling, but there wasn’t. She glanced down, disorientation about to overwhelm her, and realized where the dripping was coming from. It was her blood, hitting the chamber floor in fat drops.
That was the last thing she saw before her legs gave out. Her head hit the floor beside Diabolos, and her feet splayed across Jude.
Chapter Twenty-One
She was going to die, and it would all be his fault, Clark thought, rushing through the House of Seven, checking every corridor.
After whatever that was that had happened in the Chamber of the Tree, Clark had rushed over to Liv. She was breathing, but her wounds were bad. He could tell that much. And then there were Jude and Diabolos. They were barely alive.
He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, even though he had watched it all from the bench. The crow seemed to have exploded, sending ash all over the chamber. Then, when Liv had dashed for the lit spot on the ground, Jude had gone after her. Diabolos had crashed into him, just over Liv’s head, and both had fallen to the floor, unconscious. It was the strangest thing he’d ever seen, and that was saying a lot.
In the sitting room, he finally found Hester, having her afternoon tea. The old healer appeared so civilized, reading a book and chewing on a biscuit.
“Hester,” he began, realizing he was close to hyperventilating. “I need your help. It’s a matter of urgency.”
She glanced up casually and without hesitation rose to her feet. “Well, let’s go, then.”
“O-o-ohhhh…” he said, having thought he would have to convince her. “It’s Liv. She’s in the—”
Hester shook her head at him, sharpness in her gray eyes. “I know where she is, but no one else needs to,” she said, glancing around at the walls like they had ears.
“You do?” he asked, surprised.
“Of course, dear. Everything that happens next has been predicted.”
Clark thought he was going to throw up. “Then, will others know about this?”
“Unless they are Trudy, who had the prediction, I suspect not,” Hester told him, hurrying out of the room.
So Trudy was a seer. That made sense. The DeVries were an old magical family, most of them having unique abilities like Hester, who could heal. And Clark knew why they hadn’t advertised that Trudy could see the future. Things had had a way of happening to magicians like that over the centuries.
Clark sped after the old magician, surprised by fast she moved. “What happened in the prediction? Will she be okay?”
Hester stopped when the hallway split and shook her head. “No, she dies.”
Bile flooded into Clark’s mouth. He tried to say something, but Hester had already hurried off.
When he finally caught up with her, he choked on his words. Hester was being extra cautious as she moved through the House, stopping at every bend to check that they weren’t being followed.
Catching the expression on his face, she shook her head, leaning close. She whispered, “You left her, and I know why. But in the vision Trudy saw, Jude wasn’t dead, and he wasn’t done with her.”
What?
That one word echoed for a long time in Clark’s head. He’d left Liv to die. It was unfathomable. He would never live with himself.
“B-b-but…”
Hester didn’t give him a chance to say anything, just continued down the corridor.
Clark shook off the fear and dread and picked up his speed, racing in the direction of the chamber, leaving Hester behind. Everything blurred as he shot through the House, racing toward his sister. He didn’t have his father’s cane, but he’d fight Jude with his bare hands if he needed to. Whatever it took to save his sister. Guilt was a bomb in his head, ready to detonate. It was going to explode once he entered the Chamber of the Tree and saw what he’d done.
Quickly he passed through the Door of Reflection, pushing the visions of failing his family out of his mind. It wasn’t just a sick potential anymore. It was becoming a reality.
Clark halted when he stumbled through the door. Liv wasn’t dead, but she wasn’t safe either.
Trudy DeVries stood between Jude and Liv, who was still passed out on the floor. The Warrior held a sword on the white tiger, who was snarling, his head swinging to the side in an act of aggression. She didn’t waiver from her place, protecting his sister.
When Jude caught sight of Clark, the tiger rounded on him, his stance indicating he was ready to pounce. In a matter of seconds, the strongest animal Clark had ever faced was about to soar through the air and attack. He wasn’t as fast as Liv. He wasn’t brave. But he had one thing she didn’t.
Clark Beaufont dropped to one knee, bowing his head in humility. “Jude, regulator for the House, we broke the rules. We unregistered our magic. We did it because our family was deceived. My parents’ magic was locked when they were on the Matterhorn, and they were overpowered by Adler Sinclair. We did what we had to do, not because we are trying to deceive the House, but because we are trying to protect it. We cannot do it if we are dead.”
Clark’s words ran out too fast. He had nothing else to say to prove his point. He felt the white tiger’s gaze heavy on him. When he looked up, he was stunned to find that the regulator’s stance was suddenly different. He wasn’t poised to attack, but rather sitting on his
hind legs, his tail swishing back and forth and a calm expression on his face, like how he usually appeared during meetings.
For several seconds, Clark was speechless. Then Hester’s hand clamped down on his shoulder, and he nearly jumped clear up to the ceiling.
“Only words that were one-hundred-percent honest could have quelled Jude,” the healer said. “Well done, Councilor Beaufont.”
Clark rose, shaking his head. “But Liv tried to explain the same thing to him before he attacked her.”
“But you two were also in the midst of doing something he deemed wrong,” Hester explained. “He can’t hear the truth and see wrong being done and understand it. That is too confusing for Jude.”
The healer hurried off, but not to Liv, as Clark expected. She scooped up Diabolos, cradling the limp crow in her arms.
“What about Liv?” Clark asked, hurrying over.
Hester glanced over her shoulder. “She’ll be fine once she sleeps it off. Jude’s attacks are purely mental.”
“But I saw her bleeding,” Clark said, revolving to find the blood that had splattered the floor. It was nowhere in sight. The ash that had littered the floor was gone too. He did a full circle before facing Hester and Trudy with a questioning look.
“It’s a very real experience when a regulator defends their pillar,” Trudy explained as Hester went to work on Diabolos. “It is real for the person who is being attacked and the one watching. I’m sure it was awful to watch your sister go through something like that.”
Clark nodded, but then shook his head. “I didn’t see much of it, actually. We were in the dark. But I heard her screams, and I felt that there was nothing I could do to save her.”
“Did you do what you two came here for?” Trudy asked.
“Unregister our magic?” Clark asked. “Yes, but I need to explain what—”
Trudy cut him off with a shake of her head. “There’s no reason to explain to me. I know why you two were here. I’m grateful I pieced together that today was when it would happen, or I might not have shown up in time to save her.”