by Lucy Auburn
I smile at him gently, and turn to face the targets. In a voice pitch for Levi's ears alone, I muse, "Maybe we could go out to dinner sometime. You know, if you manage to restrain yourself. And if the campus doesn't fall to pieces around us. Or Brutus show up to kill us all."
"It's weird that you're a Brutus and he's the Brutus," Levi comments as I raise my free hand towards the targets and push at them with my mind, trying to create my force field. "We should find a new name for him. Like Assface."
I nearly choke, trying to remember if I told him that I used to call the four of them the Assfaces. "What about Marcus? It's his first name, after all."
"Too nerdy. Doesn't sound like a guy who'd fuck my shit up. And we both know, unfortunately, he totally would. It was only a concerted effort from the four of us that kept him from spilling my guts on the ground."
"You undersell yourself," I tell him, trying not to think about the fact that the target on the wall isn't moving, when just yesterday I could've made it fly through the air. "Your poison was what stopped him. He'll be feeling that even now."
"It was all of us," Levi corrects me. "Together. That thing you did at Copenhagen's, juicing us all up—it stuck around. It mattered."
"Yeah," I echo, biting my lower lip in frustration as I try every one of the targets, and no force field materializes. "I'm a real badass."
"You are." Cocking his head to the side, he suddenly, says, "What about MJB?"
"Who-say-what-now?"
"For the Brutus. Marcus Junius Brutus. It works if you ask me. A little silly to take him down a peg. A little mysterious. And we won't get him confused with you and your four powers."
I snort, shaking my head and dropping my free hand. "That seems unlikely to happen, given that I have no powers at all. Zada. Zilch. Zero."
"You still have the power to make me swoon," he jokes, putting a hand over his heart. I stick my fingers in my mouth and mime gagging, which just makes Levi lean in close and murmur, "Exactly the face you'll be making after our dinner when you thank me for a lovely time with a little post-date BJ."
I roll my eyes. "It'd be little alright."
"Aw, I'd be hurt, but we both know it ain't true."
He's right, damn him and his self-confidence. There's nothing small about what he's working with, sense of humor or otherwise. When I look at Levi, I forget about the rest of the world, about my messy past and my uncertain future. All I think about is him—the way he makes me roll my eyes, laugh, and just in general forget my worries and cares.
Of course, that's when he's not one of my worries in cares.
All in all though, I've been selling him short by treating him as a hookup and nothing else. It's time for that to change. If I can hold his hand knowing that I may have lost what makes me me for good, and be vulnerable next to him without my Affinities, I can fill up on appetizer bread in front of him and push my entree around the plate while drinking too much wine.
Behind us, Covington's voice breaks through our reverie. "Alright, something straightforward didn't work. But there are other ways to test your Physical Affinity."
He stands up and walks towards us, his eyes taking my stance in, and for a moment I think he's going to tell me to put my right foot out and shake it all about.
Instead, he stares me right in the eyes, his gaze disconcerting and intense, and tells me, "You're going to use your powers."
"I'm going to use my powers," I repeat back to him in a monotone voice, feeling like my brain has been scooped out of my head and replaced with a jelly substance.
Without even any conscious awareness or control, I raise my hand again, stare straight at the target, and push.
My vision folds in on itself, going grey at the edges and racing inward until everything is blackness. There's a sharp crack in the air in front of my palm that makes my fingers jerk back, skin burning like it was pinched. Fingers tightening on Levi's hand, I gasp—and my vision returns all at once like a lightning bolt, even as my heart races just like it did the moment I went blind for the first time.
On the wall across from us, the middle target is broken in two as if by a neat, impossibly sharp blade. I stare at it, frightened, confused, and more than a little miffed.
"You Jedi mind tricked me," I accuse Covington. "I didn't even know that was your Mental Affinity."
"Now you do," he says calmly. "It worked, though. Your powers did something."
Levi says, "Ellen's force field is usually much more spread out than that. This was... different somehow."
"It was. My hand is still stinging." I hold my palm out towards Covington, and he takes note of the raise welts across my fingers, frowning. Swallowing, I add, "And right as the power came out of me, I went blind. Even though I was holding Levi's hand. It was all of the weakness, and none of the advantages."
"So there are flaws," Covington says calmly. "But we still got a response. Your powers aren't gone—just missing. Which means they can come back, with practice and time, or by finding Maureen and taking them back by force. It may not be a long-term solution, but we have an answer to a question, and hope."
True enough. But you won't catch me asking him to do that to me again.
Grayson steps in and says what I'm thinking, "You can't boss Ellen around like that a second time. I won't let you."
Raising his eyebrows, Covington says, "I'm not sure you're in charge of this, but I respect Ellen's consent."
"You had better," he tells the professor, voice low. "When it comes to Mental Affinity, I'm no lightweight. And I won't let you in her head unless she wants you there."
My heart swells even as I shoot Grayson a look to let him know he doesn't need to go any further. I know I'm protected—and I don't want Covington to think we distrust him. We've already got enough enemies.
"Let's try again," Covington says when it's clear the dust has settled. "This time, Ellen, try pairing with... Wyatt. Maybe your Emotional Affinity will be easy to tap into now that you know it's possible."
Maybe. But I won't feel settled until I have my powers back completely and know that my weakness won't take me out of the game. Being blind again for just a moment reminded me how much is at stake if we mess this up—and how much I'll lose if I'm not careful.
Chapter 8
"How're we supposed to do this?" I ask aloud, looking around at my other Conduits in the underground arena. "I mean, I didn't exactly decide to go to the Black Serpent's castle in the first place. I'm not sure that we can just show up there and whatever."
"Your cat did," Mason points out. "I mean, not that I'm one hundred percent sure she's a real cat, but still. There was that hole between the dimensions. And we managed to show up and help you. I bet we can do the same thing if we manage to summon the doors."
Wyatt grunts, and I somehow know without words that he's thinking about the terrible apocalyptic future we saw of the campus: time frozen, students dead, and everything just slightly... off. Heavy with doom and dread. We could accidentally walk into the future again if we're not careful, which I don't look forward to.
Then again, without my powers, maybe something like that isn't possible. And if the Black Serpent knows anything about Vervaine and Brutus—and if he's even capable of telling us what he knows—we have to find out. I need to keep the vow I made and kill my mother's murderer.
"Alright. So." I cross my arms over my chest. "We're completely alone, so we can talk openly. How do we get past Headmaster Shu and avoid her figuring out what we're up to?"
"The doors show up here too," Grayson says. "That's a trick I figured out with the transportation stone in my cane. You have to really, really want it, and be completely sure where you're going, but we've been there before and all we had to do was follow your strange little cat. I'm sure we can do it again."
Levi says, "Also, this time we'll all be together and doing it on purpose. We'll be safe. He can't take you again."
At this point, I'm not worried about the Black Serpent nearly as much as I am about
Brutus. But I get why they're worried—I'm powerless now. The sooner that's over, the better.
"Let's go," I tell them decisively. "Now, while we have the chance, and Headmaster Shu isn't breathing down our necks. I can't just leave this in other people's hands—not considering the stakes. It's personal."
Grayson pulls the head of his cane off, revealing the transport stone beneath. Motioning towards us, he says, "Gather around me in a half circle. We need to summon the doors first, and you know how temperamental they are. Start thinking about our Mark: the Black Serpent, Connor O'Hara. He's done more than enough things to make him worthy of death. Cain's Doors should arrive for him and bring us to his location. If they're feeling a little rebellious, the transport stone will help them along."
Taking a deep breath, I stand next to Grayson as the others arrange themselves around us. This feels strange, somehow: voluntarily going back to the place where I was held prisoner by a madman. But now that I know what got him there, how much it cost him, I have to admit that I can't help feeling a bit of pity for the guy.
As I think about him, and the others do as well I assume, the doors pop into view in front of us. They're as thick and heavy as I remember, glowing with golden light, promising impossible things. I have no doubt the Black Serpent's pocket dimension is on the other side.
"It worked," Levi says, sounding surprised. "Usually those damn things are more than a little temperamental."
"They like me." Grayson puts his cane down in the sand in front of him, and the light of his transport stone sucks out some energy from the golden glowing light of the doors. "To recharge the stone," he explains at my questioning glance. "Since it's not regulation, they won't exactly give me a new one."
I stare up at the doors, licking my lips. "When we go through... he's not really going to be happy to see us. Especially me. I kinda did steal his blood ring, which was the only way he had to get out of there. He may not be willing to tell us all his secrets."
"There's a solution for that," Grayson says, and I doubt he means the one I have in mind. "We're ready for him, Ellen. If you are. So let's go."
I nod sharply, reaching into my pocket and fingering the blood ring. When I grabbed it off Cain's Doors, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, except keep it out of the Black Serpent's hands. It never would've occurred to me that I'd be returning to his shitty little dimension to possibly give back the ring in exchange for whatever information he may have about my mother's killers.
Mason climbs the stairs to the door, then pulls them open and turns to me. "Ellen, you ready?"
"As much as I'll ever be."
I join him on the stairs, and we go through first, Mason holding a dagger in his hand that makes me nervous, given how close to dying here he came last time. Wyatt is on our heels, pulling the doors open wide, and behind him Levi makes a ruckus with each footstep, while Grayson's steps are joined by the sound of his cane hitting the ground.
At the very last second I hear a little mrrrr-row and feel the press of a tiny kitty body against my ankle. Penny flits out ahead of Mason and I as we step into the woods of the pocket dimension, her tail raised in the air, steps prim and proper. I sigh, and she shoots an annoyed look at me over her shoulder, as if to say: you didn't think you could leave me behind, did you?
"That cat is some kind of shapeshifter," Mason says, watching her pounce on light beams that flit through the tree canopy. "She probably turns into a bat at night or something. So freaky how she's always managing to follow us everywhere and get in and out of trouble."
I snort. "She's a cat. Pretty sure they're born with the ability to sneak and get into trouble. They don't say they have nine lives for nothing."
"Sure she's not your witch's familiar?"
"If she is, she's never bothered to tell me."
Soon we're all on the other side of the doors, and as Wyatt pushes them closed, they blink out of existence like they were never there. Something about it makes me nervous, but I remind myself that I won't be trapped here a second time. Not with my guys here to protect me, Grayson's transport stone at hand, and the Black Serpent's blood ring in my pocket. This time, we'll be sure to get out.
Probably. I hope. And if not, well, nobody knows where we are, so that's great.
"I left Eve a note," Mason says quietly. "That way, if she gets back from her latest mission and we're not around..."
"She'll come find us, save us, then brutally murder me for going here without telling her. Got it."
He shrugs. "At least you'll die in an inventive way." I look at him askance, and he explains, "Eve is known for her creative kills. Though most of them are dictators and corrupt billionaires. Maybe she'll be nice and just stab you in the back."
"Comforting."
We walk through the woods together, our steps quiet and careful, each of us on high alert. I don't know why the Black Serpent makes me so nervous still—he's just a madman with a penchant for bullshit and no powers, like me. I just can't stop thinking of that vision I had of him facing off against an unknown enemy, sword in hand, rage on his face, clearly ready to murder whomever it was.
Hopefully it wasn't me.
As we exit the woods and reach a spot on the hilly landscape where we can see down into the castle in the middle of its valley, all the breath leaves me at once. I stare down at it, hand slack around a throwing knife I borrowed from Eve's chest, blinking as if what I'm seeing might disappear.
"It can't be," I murmur, stunned. "Are we sure this is the right place?"
Levi points out, "You're the one who spent the most time here. But it looks right to me. Just kind of missing half."
Down in the valley, the bizarre, ancient castle I was holed up in for days has been cut in half. Not in a haphazard, destroyed kind of way, with ruins everywhere and jagged edges, but neatly in half, as if a giant hot knife sliced through butter. The missing half is gone, while the rest of it somehow still stands, all the rooms and architecture exposed, stone and brick neatly sawed off, the tapestries and drapes inside blowing in the wind.
"It looks like it was recent," I point out, nervously glancing over my shoulder. "Is it possible they're here...?"
Wyatt grimly observes, "If they knew he had information about them, Brutus and Vervaine might've come here to kill the Black Serpent. Though this... I don't even know what kind of power does this. I guess they could have any, if they've been stealing them all this time."
"We don't know if he's dead." We all stare at Grayson, who shrugs. "What? The man is like a cockroach. He somehow survived having his powers stripped. They must've kept him alive for some reason. Maybe this was just a warning. Or maybe he did it himself. Only way to find out is to go down there."
"M-me first." Wyatt steps in front of us, crackling his knuckles. "Just in c-case they're h-h-here."
Now I really do regret not waiting until Eve could come along on this mission. We could really use her knives right now. But at least we're together—and hopefully, whatever did that to the castle is long gone by now. Especially because the last time we were here, my Conduits' powers were weakened, and I don't know if we could take on Brutus and his sidekick all alone.
As Wyatt heads down towards the castle, Penny follows closely on his heels. I wait to the count of ten, then follow after, Mason and Levi beside me, Grayson in the rear. I can hear him muttering and cursing about the mud and rocks on the side of the hill, so I hang back, reach out, and grasp his free hand.
"You don't have to do that," he says, even as my touch makes the pain fade from his face, de-aging him by what seems like years in an instant. "I was doing just fine on my own."
"You were inventing new curse words."
"Yes, I am very smart and creative. Thank you for the compliment. I'll accept your worshipful affection with grace and humility."
I snort at him, his fingers twining with mine, those blue eyes narrowed at the castle ahead of us. "What do you think happened to it?"
"Maybe we've been in a kid's dioram
a this whole time, and he cut it in half." He shrugs. "For the first time in my life, Ellen, I have to say that I have no fucking clue. None. Not even a good guess."
"He could've done it himself," I reason, thinking aloud. "He kept saying stuff about how this place was passed down in his family. Though maybe that was just the madness talking." Clearing my throat, I ask him, "How does it feel to find out your mean professor has been a killer all this time?"
"It's very gratifying. Now I know why I was bottom of my class and she discouraged me from even trying to use my powers on campus."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because she was afraid of me," he says, his tone blasé. “She knew, more than anyone, I could expose her. Psychic abilities are vanishingly rare among those with Mental Affinities—surprising, but true. Especially abilities as strong as mine. Even Covington can only make suggestions; I'm capable of controlling others. It must've worried her, so she set up tests designed to fail me, got the headmaster to hold me back... honestly, it's a wonder I even figured out how amazing I truly am, with a professor like that."
I smile at his bravado and confidence. "Well, if she does show back up on campus—or when she does, I should say—you should knock her on her ass with your powers."
"With you at my side, I can do all that and more." He squeezes my hand, then points ahead of us. "Here we are. And not dead yet. Maybe the giant who took down this place has returned to his house at the top of the beanstalk."
This isn't a fairy tale, though the Black Serpent seemed to think otherwise, at least when it came to his plans to wine, dine, woo, and marry me. If it were a fairy tale, it'd be the brothers Grimm kind, complete with girls cutting their toes off to fit their bloody feet into shoes and a side of mermaids killing themselves by dissolving into foam.