He needed revenge on Katie's killer. He wanted it because even though she had made mistakes, she'd deserved to live out her dreams with her band. She'd deserved to travel around the country, sleeping in seedy motels and playing dive bars. Who knew if she would have made it or not? It didn't matter because that wasn't the point.
He wanted it for her because he'd wanted it for himself. Being born in Varna had left him few choices. The only choice you really got was how much of your life you were willing to give up to the Lady for whatever she called rewards. His parents had made their peace with living on scraps, and he'd made his peace with what opposing the Lady might cost. But Katie, even though he hadn't known her until this year and she wasn't even from Varna, he'd wanted to know that she'd gotten out, was living her dream.
But when he heard Skylar's cries a second time, he pulled up short, skidding right to the edge. Zayn watched Levi and the other gang members fleeing from the warehouse. He knew in his gut if he didn't go after him now, he'd never see him again.
Zayn made it back through the hatch before the mist had completely filled the warehouse. Skylar was throwing bolts randomly, hoping to hit the sorceress and stop the mist.
"I thought you left me," said Skylar accusingly.
Zayn took a look at the warehouse. There was no way they were going to knock her out before the mist claimed them, and she was probably shielded in the circle of runes.
"Go for the windows," he said.
The outer walls were covered with windows, but those had been covered with sheet metal and bars. Zayn sent force bolts into them, sending arcs of broken glass across the warehouse. It took a couple of rounds, but then pieces of the sheet metal fell away and the mist started draining outside.
"It's working," said Skylar, who switched from hunting for the sorceress to knocking out windows.
The mist, which had almost reached them before they'd knocked out the windows, was rapidly draining. Zayn silently hoped the mist wasn't dangerous as he'd thought or he'd just killed anyone who was walking past this street.
When the mist had emptied enough that they could see the sorceress, they both switched to firing blasts at her, but as he'd suspected, the elemental magics bounced off an invisible shield.
"We can't get through," said Skylar.
The sorceress looked quite perturbed that they'd foiled her mist. She switched to a new spell, the pure determination on her face giving Zayn a warning as to how much worse this next spell would be, especially since she didn't have to worry about the majority of the gang.
"This is not good," said Skylar.
Zayn fired a few more blasts at her before having an epiphany. "Fire at the shelves near her. Maybe we can knock them onto her."
"Good idea!"
They sent a never-ending cascade of blasts at the industrial shelves, but the metal was sturdy and their hits did little at first. But once the first leg buckled slightly, the other legs quickly followed.
As soon as the massive shelves groaned and pitched over, Zayn realized his error. The first one falling would take out the next like a row of dominos.
"Get off! Get off!" yelled Zayn as he leapt to the shelf behind him.
Deep in her spell, the sorceress was unaware of the falling metal until the upper contents spilled off, burying her in equipment. Her screams were swallowed by the metal grinding and glass shattering inside the boxes.
Skylar made it to the next row over before Zayn, who had two more shelves to navigate before he'd be in the clear.
"Jump now!" she screamed.
He leapt, long before he was ready. He thought he was well short, until she stretched out her hand and caught him. She pulled him onto the shelf.
"That was too close," he said when the noise settled.
"Vin! Portia!" cried Skylar.
They scurried down to the concrete and picked through the broken boxes and shattered glass. They found Vin beneath a pile of empty boxes, unhurt. Portia was not far from him. She'd luckily landed on a gang member, breaking her fall from twenty feet up.
A few shakes woke them. Skylar then went in search of the old lady.
Skylar proclaimed, "She's dead," after moving aside a box.
From where he was standing, Zayn could see a metal strut had impaled her.
When the door burst open, Zayn fired a force bolt, only to see it knocked away by Instructor Allgood with his staff. He face was etched with deep disappointment. It only got worse when next through the door was Priyanka Sai.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The Spire, April 2014
Feeling like a leaf waiting for a strong wind
The fifth year that had retrieved Zayn from the seedy motel said nothing of where they were going or what was going to happen when he got there. That they weren't headed to the Hold did not bode well, Zayn thought.
He'd spent the last few days lying on his bed, thinking about what they might do. He mulled running, leaving the Halls and Varna forever, but he knew that was a temporary solution at best. So he'd waited, waited and paced, paced and slept, until at last he was summoned and he was taken to the Spire.
The ride up the elevator took forever. The fifth year hadn't even pressed a button. They just got in, and it started going up. When the door opened, the fifth year made no motion to get out. He didn't make eye contact either, which seemed like the least favorable sign possible, as if Zayn were about to be executed.
Unexpectedly, Zayn stepped into a lush garden. Plants reached to the barely visible ceiling, some with purple-green leaves he'd never seen before. An insect with gossamer wings and a fat, black body whizzed past, followed by two more making strange sounds he'd never heard from an insect. Somewhere beyond the first layer of foliage there was water running, enough that he could imagine a small stream.
Cautiously, Zayn pushed through the leaves on the path that led from the elevator, wondering if he was walking into an elaborate punishment, but he pushed those thoughts away. If they'd been planning on killing him, they wouldn't have bothered bringing him to the Spire.
"Over here."
Priyanka Sai stood on a balcony visible at the end of a path. He joined her, almost expecting the view not to be the city, but found they were high in the Spire, at a point higher than the other buildings in the city. The view faced east towards the second ward and the ocean. Evening approached, and the Glitterdome had taken to its namesake.
"Do you like my office?" she asked.
He checked behind him, motioning towards the plants. "This is an office? I thought it was another realm."
"Most of the plants come from another place, one I like to visit from time to time. But I don't get away enough, so I had some of it brought here," she said.
"What's it called?"
The hint of a smile shadowed the corner of her lips. "Harmony."
"It sounds like it's a beautiful place," he said.
"And deadly." She looked at him like a woodcutter examining the blade on their axe. "Do you know why I asked you here?"
"Hopefully not to throw me off," said Zayn, leaning over the edge. "I wonder how long it would take to hit the ground."
Her dark eyes glittered with amusement. "You are charming."
"I hear a 'but' in that statement," said Zayn.
She turned and faced him, moving with the grace and economy usually seen in formal martial arts displays.
"You're not intimidated by my presence," she said, tilting her head. "I have been called Lady Death, or the Mistress of Knives. Does this not bother you?"
"If you were going to kill me, you would have done so already, and I don't believe that's your way. Plus, I've lived my whole life under the Lady of Varna. I guess I'm used to living with the idea of dying."
"What do you think of the Lady?"
The question gave him pause. He knew his patron and the Lady were allies somehow and he also knew that he had to be completely honest, leaving his possible answers fraught with danger.
"I have no love for the Lady.
"
Priyanka remained stone-faced, giving him no hint as to how his answer was received. His pulse quickened. Zayn worked to steady his breathing, but he knew the stakes had only gotten higher.
"Then why did you not return home when you were given the opportunity?" she asked harshly. "If you complete your five years here, you will become one of her Watchers, serve her until the end of her long days."
"We don't always get what we want," said Zayn.
"That's not an answer," said Priyanka.
"For my family," Zayn said quickly. "To keep them safe."
Priyanka's lips twitched with anger. "Then why not let your cousin take the burden alone? He could help your family from his position. Keelan could give your family many advantages. He wants to be a Watcher."
"I..."
She leaned into his face. "Don't lie to me. I know you used Roy Clovis to hold your spot and then had the Goon pass your name to Carron Allgood when Roy fell out."
"How did you know?"
"Did you think we would not wonder why the Goon would offer up his prized pupil to the Academy?" she said.
Zayn looked away, hoping he could salvage this mess. "I told him I would only stay a year, to learn Academy tricks so I might use them in Varna. But not long enough that the Lady would want to claim me. We thought a year was a safe number."
"But yet when you were given the opportunity to leave..."
"I changed my mind," said Zayn.
"I told you not to lie to me," said Priyanka. "Or you will get to learn how long it takes to hit the ground. Now tell me the truth."
His insides twisted. She wasn't messing around. She could toss him over before he could lift a finger.
He was also keenly aware that she might be trying to wring the truth out of him because she was the Lady's friend. If he told her what his true intentions were, then he'd go over the side just the same as if he'd lied to her. He had no doubt that she could detect his lies, either through enchantment, or pure acumen.
"I came for Keelan," said Zayn, continuing quickly as her eyes narrowed. "At first. I wanted to watch him, make sure he wasn't going to give in to his worst impulses, maybe get him kicked out if I saw things going the wrong way. But over time I realized I liked it here, and then I met the people in the ninth ward. Uncle Larice. Mrs. Kettle. Katie. And when things started happening, I wanted to help them."
"Is that what you think we do here? Help them?" asked Priyanka.
"I don't know if it's what you do here, but it's what I wanted to do. I wanted to help them and I wanted to stop that drug," said Zayn, letting anger thread into his voice.
She looked at him for a long time before answering. Her lips were flat and unreadable. "Thank you for finally being honest. What do you want to do now? Stay in the Academy? Go back to Varna?"
"The Academy," said Zayn, "though I realize that eventually I'll be back in Varna."
"And the Goon? He won't be happy," said Priyanka sharply.
Zayn shrugged. "He won't have a choice. The Lady trumps him."
Priyanka nodded sagely. "Will you be happy?"
"For now," he replied.
"Then I guess I won't be throwing you off my balcony today," said Priyanka, raising an eyebrow coyly. "You may stay in the Academy."
"May I ask why? You should have every reason to kick me out."
She put a hand on his shoulder and though he was taller than her, she seemed to tower over him. "And lose a mage with as much potential as you have?"
"But you'll lose me to the Lady at the end of my schooling," he said.
"Then I'll get as much as I can out of you before that time. You aren't the first Varna student with promise that's come through my doors," she said.
"What do you think of the Lady?" asked Zayn softly as if he might sneak the question past her defenses.
She frowned. "You haven't earned that answer yet. Ask me in a few years and I might tell you. Might."
"May I ask what happened afterwards at the warehouse? Did you find who Sandy was working with?" asked Zayn.
She seemed like she wasn't going to respond at first, but then she nodded. "If she had partners, they were silent ones. She kept few correspondences. Nothing that suggested a larger conspiracy."
"What about the boxes? I saw they had addresses," he said. "And there was liquid in some of them."
"Very few, and none survived the fall. The boxes came from various universities and research labs, usually a biology department or company. She was probably using them to unwittingly acquire whatever she used to make the drug. There were no notes, no information on the recipe. For now we assume that she took that with her when she died."
"What do I do now?"
She looked out over the city with her chin high, watching the gondolas slide through the sky on invisible wires. "Go back to the Hold and finish the year. Then you can have a nice summer with your family. Enjoy it while you can because you won't have time when you come back next year."
"Yes, Patron Sai," he said, bowing.
"You're learning," she said. "And one more thing."
"What's that?"
"Don't forget you need your named coin from Instructor Allgood. Everything we just discussed is meaningless unless he agrees that you've passed the year, and he won't do that unless you have your coin, which, I might add, will be more difficult since you're the only student left and Carron is not happy with you, so he's going to be extra vigilant."
Chapter Forty
Ninth Ward, May 2014
Respect, man
Zayn approached the bodega with his heart in his throat. The door rattled as it opened, and he turned away in case it was a customer that might have known him. But thankfully, it wasn't a local, and he slipped through the open door.
Uncle Larice looked up from the counter, his wrinkled face breaking into a smile. "You ain't supposed to be here, man. Class is over."
"I couldn't leave without saying goodbye," said Zayn with his hands in his pockets. "And to make sure you'll be okay."
Larice's eyes glittered with thought. "Don't worry about me, man. Your patron hooked me up with a friend of hers from Golden Willow Clinic. My ailments don't bother me no longer."
Zayn let out a heavy sigh. "I'm happy to hear that. I was worried." He checked behind him to make sure no one was coming into the store. "Under different circumstances, I'd invite you back home. I think you and my parents would get along really well."
"I bet they're good people," said Larice. "Like you."
"You don't think what the Academy does is wrong?" asked Zayn.
"It depends," said Larice. "But I also know there are bad people out there and I don't want to face them without people like you."
Larice put his hand out, and Zayn clasped it. They shook for a good minute before they unclasped.
"Are you outta here? Back to home?" asked Larice.
"No," said Zayn. "I've got more errands today, and then one more thing before I pass my classes. Which reminds me." Zayn put a stack of bills on the counter. "This is to pay for anything that orange tabby steals from your shop. In fact, I'd like you to make friends with him. I think it'll work out for you."
Uncle Larice raised his gnarled eyebrow. His long gray dreads shifted on his shoulders. "You asking me to make friends with that little thief?"
"I am," said Zayn. "Trust me. "
Uncle Larice looked at the stack of bills, shrugged, and shoved them in his pocket. "What do I call the little fella?"
Zayn hadn't thought about it, but an answer popped into his head right away. "Marley."
"Hey, that's a good one," said Larice, nodding with his hand on his chin. "Marley. I think I can do that. And how do I make friends?"
"Give him some chocolate bars. He likes those the best." Zayn checked the time. "There's also enough in there for a nice bottle of wine for Mrs. Kettle. I'd apologize in person but I don't think she ever wants to see me again. I have to get going. If I don't see you, thank you, and respect, man."
; "Respect," said Uncle Larice, giving him the peace sign as Zayn walked out the door. When it shut behind him, Zayn felt a tug of lonesomeness. He would miss his Uncle Larice, and Marley, too.
Chapter Forty-One
The Hold, May 2014
Up a creek without his named coin
Zayn was lying on top of the covers in his boxers when his teammates woke him at four in the morning. Portia, Vin, and Skylar were standing over him, anxious and excited looks on their faces.
"I feel like a gazelle who just tripped over his own feet in front of a pack of lions," said Zayn, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.
"It's the last day," said Portia without a trace of the accent she had when she came to the Academy, but then she switched back to her thick Mexican accent for emphasis. "So hurry up, tonto."
"We want to help you," said Vin, a little too eagerly. "This could be like a total heist thing. I've got the perfect costume for you."
There were a few groans at the mention of a heist, but Skylar added with a trace of desperation, "If you don't have your named coin by the end of the day, you can't come back."
Zayn blinked a few times before rolling himself in his blanket like a burrito and turning away from them. "Don't worry, guys. I got this. But I'd like to get some sleep. It's been hell catching up on everything I missed."
Someone shook him. It felt like Skylar's manicured hands, but he wasn't sure since he was so tired since he'd been up all night
"But the named coin! You haven't done anything about it," said Skylar.
He held one solitary finger in the air and wagged it. "That is untrue. I've been very busy."
"Doing everything but getting the coin," said Vin. "You could have literally skipped every class, and as long as you get the coin, you're good."
"But I needed to learn," said Zayn from his cocoon. "I missed so much this year."
There was a heavy knock on the door. Zayn stayed in his covers while someone answered it.
"It's your cousin," said Vin.
The Reluctant Assassin Boxset Page 21