by Linsey Hall
“There!” I pointed toward the tracks, which were about a hundred yards away.
The train was still moving.
“Hey! You jerks!” I waved my arms.
“They might think we’re dead,” Maximus shouted. His magic swelled on the air, the scent of cedar crisp against the snowy air. A flare gun appeared in his hand, and he pulled the trigger, firing the glowing light into the sky.
The train’s brakes screeched, and the thing slowed.
“Thank fates for your conjuring.” I trudged as fast as I could toward the train tracks, the deep snow coming up to my thighs.
Every muscle in my legs burned as I went. Maximus clearly went slower to allow me to keep up with him, and I wasn’t going to complain. Last thing I wanted was to be left out here with the Snowman who would wake up eventually.
We reached the tracks and began to climb the wooden trusses that supported them. I climbed hand over hand, and was panting by the time I reached the top of the tracks, every muscle trembling. Maximus, who’d gotten to the top first, reached down and helped pull me up.
I flopped onto my belly, but gave myself only a moment. The train was stopped on the tracks in front of us, but it wouldn’t wait forever.
“Come on.” Maximus pulled me up.
Snow whipped against my face as I jogged along the tracks. “What do I win?”
“What do you mean?” His voice sounded suspiciously innocent.
“Don’t play dumb. We were about to make a bet when we had to go after the Snowman. What would I have won if we’d finished? I did reach his head first, after all.”
He frowned. “I don’t know. What do you want?”
“A lot of things.” Most of which he couldn’t give me, in fact. I wanted my magic back. To pass the Academy. To get rid of the darkness inside me.
Pretty much the only thing I wanted from him that he could give me was a kiss. And that wasn’t something I would say out loud.
“Let me think about it.” I reached the back of the caboose and climbed on.
The six fire mages stared at us.
“Not bad,” the leader said. His dark hair blew in the snowy wind, and he gave us an appraising look. “You sure you’re just tourists heading to Interhorn?”
“Yep.” I grinned and flexed my right arm. “I work out.”
He gave me a skeptical look, but I slipped by him and headed toward the main part of the train. The clock showed that it was nearly eight a.m., so we’d arrive pretty soon. At least I’d gotten plenty of sleep.
Maximus and I made our way toward the dining car and found an empty table. It didn’t take long to order a breakfast of eggs and toast, and we ate fast.
When I finished, I looked up. “So, what’s our story when we go through the border? The guard seemed to think we were tourists. We could go with that.”
He nodded. “On vacation for a weekend.” He frowned. “Is it the weekend?”
“I think it’s Thursday.”
“Early weekend. Then we’ll slip through and find the research lab.”
“I like this plan. Should be easy.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew it’d been a dumb thing to say. Things that should be easy never turned out that way.
13
I hadn’t been wrong. Passing through the border wasn’t easy. The lines were horrendously long through the cutesy little station. Decorative wood carvings were everywhere, along with gleaming fairy lights and the scent of hot chocolate.
But beneath it all, the scent of bureaucracy filled the air. The guards were highly regimented and the lines kept in meticulous order.
“Something is definitely fishy if a vacation destination is so closely guarded. This research lab is up to something,” I whispered, eyeing a uniformed official in the distance who eyed me right back. I was squished in between some tourists from Canada and some others from Japan. They were supernaturals of some sort, but I couldn’t tell what.
“By positioning themselves in a town like this, their staff has access to basic services,” Maximus said. “And they can attract the best.”
“Good point.” It was a pretty place. I wouldn’t mind working here. In fact, they probably were looking for good potion masters. Not that this was the life I wanted, but if the Protectorate kicked me out for having dark magic and being evil, then I could come work here. I had a feeling they wouldn’t mind if you were a little evil.
By the time I got up to the kiosk where a stony-eyed guard stared at us, I was grinning like a newlywed in love. Or at least, that was what I hoped it looked like. I clung to Maximus’s side, enjoying the muscles of his arms, if I was being honest.
“Reason for your visit?” the guard grumbled. His magic was strong—three signatures. The scent of beeswax, the feel of cotton wool, and the taste of bread.
“Honeymoon.” I gave Maximus googly eyes.
The guard frowned at us. “Then where are your rings?”
I scoffed at him. “We don’t hold with such nonsense. Our love isn’t on a physical plane, and it’s definitely not so old-fashioned. We don’t need that crap.”
I actually wouldn’t mind a ring if I ever got hitched, but we didn’t have them, so my excuse was going to have to work. The guard gave Maximus a look like he was too cheap to buy me a ring. “Where are you staying in town?”
“The Swisslandic,” Maximus said.
We’d heard another couple talking about it in the booth next to us at breakfast.
“What are your names?”
“He’s Arthur Allbright, and I’m Katie McCorey. I didn’t take his name.” I figured it fit with our no-rings personas.
“All right.” The guard began tapping into his computer, then frowned. “I see no Allbrights or McCoreys here. Everyone books before they come.”
“We did.” My heart started to pound a little bit harder. Crap, I hadn’t realized that. There was no reason Connor should have known it either.
“They must have lost our reservation.” Maximus sounded annoyed. I even bought it, though I knew this was all one big ruse.
The guard eyed us with renewed suspicion. Then he stood. “Come with me.”
Holy fates, these folks didn’t mess around. I looked at Maximus, who nodded.
The guard gestured to a man standing against the back wall. He wore a similar uniform and quickly took his place at the booth.
We followed our guard away from the crowd. Actually, this was better. If we couldn’t easily sneak through the border, privacy was necessary.
The hallway that he took us to was much starker than the fairytale setting we’d left behind. Linoleum gleamed under fluorescent lights, and signs in German and French seemed to discuss safety, which was a bit weird for a supernatural town. A lot of the bureaucracy that plagued human cities didn’t reach our kind. But this place was clearly run like a machine.
The guard led us back to a small room with a window up high. There were iron bars over it, but they weren’t a problem. The main thing was that the window was big enough for us to shimmy out of.
We were alone, probably for an interview, though I doubted we’d be alone for long. I dug into the pouch of potions that hung along my side.
“Hands out of the bag,” the guard barked.
I grinned at him and pulled out the potion bomb. It was a freezing potion, thank fates. I didn’t want to kill the guy. With perfect aim, I threw the bomb and hit him in the chest. The glass exploded against him, and the liquid soaked into his shirt.
But he didn’t pass out.
“What the heck?” He should already be on the floor.
An ugly expression crossed the guard’s face as he reached for a red button on his shirt. An alarm.
But Maximus was too fast. He lunged for the guard, grabbed his hands, yanked them behind him, then wrapped his arm around the guard’s neck. The guard thrashed for a moment, then his eyes fluttered shut.
Maximus lowered him to the ground. “Sleeper hold. He should be out for an hour at least.”
“Good.” I
dug into the belt at my hip and withdrew a forgetfulness potion. Carefully, I withdrew the eyedropper from the little bottle and squirted a tiny drop into each of the guard’s eyes. “He’ll forget everything he’s seen for the last two hours. Should buy us some time.”
“As long as they don’t have security cameras,” Maximus said.
“I saw none.” And I’d been careful to look. “Hopefully they’ll just think he fell asleep on the job and won’t have a reason to question him.” I glanced at the window. “Though, when we break out of that, it will be a pretty big clue.”
Maximus walked toward the iron bars and reached for them, then hissed and yanked his hand back. “Protection charm.”
“I’ll take care of it.” I reached into my belt and withdrew another little vial.
“What don’t you have in there?”
“I’m like a Girl Scout. Prepared for anything.” I pulled a chair over to the window and climbed onto it, then removed the top to the little vial and spritzed it on the iron bars. “It’s like perfume, but it’ll break through very mild protective enchantments. Nothing like El Dorado, but this isn’t strong, I don’t think.”
As I’d suspected, this one wasn’t super powerful. They valued the border here, but they planned for there to be a guard with you at all times. The magic around the iron bars snapped, and the electric current dissipated.
I stepped off the chair and gestured to the bars. “Your turn.”
Maximus stepped up and yanked the bars straight off the window. Then he raised the glass window and hauled himself out, disappearing gracefully onto the street below. It was high enough that my escape was a little less graceful, but when I plopped to the snowy ground outside, I was pleased with myself.
I dusted my hands off and inspected the alley. The first thing I saw was a big trash bin with the lid off. The garbage inside was rustling around, and I had the eeriest feeling. Slowly, I approached, lifting up an old sandwich wrapper.
Eloise stared up at me, blinking owlishly into the light. The little badger grinned toothily. Poppy’s head poked up next to her. The flower that the possum wore behind her ear had been replaced with a sprig of mistletoe.
“Festive, Poppy.”
She just blinked at me.
Romeo’s head appeared next. Long time no see.
“Why do you keep showing up where I am?”
We’re your helpers. Magically ordained. Every Dragon God has helpers.
I lowered my voice so Maximus couldn’t hear. “But I haven’t gotten those powers yet.”
If I ever would. All I had was this dark magic, and that certainly wasn’t from the gods. If they were going to grace me with some of their magic, it certainly didn’t seem to be happening any time soon.
Well, you’ve got us. We’ve taken a break from trash hunting one hundred percent of the time and are here to help you.
I blinked at him, unsure of what to say. Then I realized that Maximus was watching the exchange. I looked at him. “Can you hear them?”
He shook his head.
“I swear I’m not crazy.”
“Sure.”
I heaved a sigh, about to retort back. But a shout sounded from inside the room we’d just escaped. My gaze flashed to Maximus.
He jerked his head toward the alley exit.
We’ll cover your trail!
I gave Romeo a grateful nod, then sprinted after Maximus. As I turned the corner, I spared one last glance at the alley, just in time to see the Menacing Menagerie leap onto the guard who’d shimmied out of the window.
Points for us.
A few feet out onto the main sidewalk, Maximus and I slowed to a walk. It wouldn’t do to look suspicious, and we still had a few moments before the guards made it out the front door of the border control and onto the main street.
The town itself was lovely, a perfect Swiss ski town with ornate wooden buildings, chimneys billowing smoke, and white mountains in the backdrop. Skiers walked around in snow gear, while shoppers were bundled up to their ears. It was a proper little city, right in the mountains.
“Nothing looks like a research lab,” Maximus said.
“No, I don’t suppose it would.” I studied all the buildings that we passed, unable to see anything that stood out from the rest. They all had comparable magic signatures as well.
It only took us about an hour to scan every street and building in the city, but none of them were our target.
“I think the magic signature of the place must be blocked,” Maximus said. “Even if it looks the same as the rest, we should be able to feel it.”
He had a point. Whatever they were doing in the lab would give off some serious magic vibes, but I felt nothing.
“Hang on, I have something for that.” I grinned as I dug into my belt.
I sprinkled a tiny bit of the potion on the back of my hand, and it began to tingle immediately.
Maximus frowned at my hand. “What does it do?”
“Enhances my ability to feel great magic.” My hand tingled especially strong when I put it near him, in fact. “Even concealed magic. Can you walk twenty feet behind me? You’re screwing up my reading.”
He nodded and stepped back, drifting away down the street. I held up my hand and spun in a circle. It prickled particularly strongly when facing east, so I headed down the street, following it.
Soon, I reached the edge of town, where a ski slope led upward. There weren’t any skiers on it, though there were tracks leading down. A gondola moved upward, the cars swaying slightly in the wind.
I turned back to Maximus and gestured him forward, speaking only once he was close. “I think it’s slightly outside of town. That way, maybe in the trees.”
“I can see a bit of a chalet.”
I squinted, and caught sight of the brown wooden building through the trees. The gondola was leading to it, in fact, though there was only one person riding it. “Let’s walk.”
He nodded. “Probably not a recreational ski slope, and we’re not very good at faking it.”
“No Oscars for us.” I stepped off the city sidewalk and into the snow, realizing that my leather boots might keep the snow out, but my toes were going to be frozen by the time we reached the top.
I ignored the cold as we climbed, sticking to the shadow of the trees. No skiers zoomed past us, but my hand prickled more fiercely as we got closer. Once we reached the building, we hid in the trees, spying.
The chalet was a large structure, at least forty feet tall with a domed glass structure on part of the roof.
“It’s an arboretum, where they grow things,” I murmured.
“There are two guards at the gate. This place will go on lockdown if we try to force our way in.”
“Lockdown? You sure know a lot of slang for someone born in another millennium.”
“My brief time with a mercenary guild was a real crash course in this sort of thing. And I made a point to assimilate quickly.”
He was a survivor, that was clear. And assimilation always helped with that.
I turned back to the building just in time to see two people step out of a side door. They strode toward a rack that was covered in skis, each of them wearing a pair of big plastic boots. “They’re going to ski down.”
“Done for the day, perhaps.”
“They can always change their minds.” I shifted through the trees, moving closer to them. “Come on. Help me grab them.”
“You have a plan.”
“A good one.” And it’d give me a chance to use one potion I’d never gotten to try. Maybe I wasn’t so helpless after all. Not if I had my liquid arsenal.
As quickly and quietly as I could, I raced toward the two scientists. At least, that was what I assumed they were. They wore glasses and looked very pale, so it wasn’t the worst assumption. As long as they had name badges and access passes, they would work for our purposes.
Fortunately, they were putting on their skis near the tree line, around the corner of the building and out
of sight of the guards at the front. I reached them at the same time Maximus did. I lunged for the smaller one and wrapped one arm around his throat while my other went around his mouth.
I tried the sleeper hold that I’d seen Maximus use, and it worked. The little guy sagged in my arms after a few seconds. “I hope I didn’t kill him.”
“You didn’t. And you’re a quick study.” Maximus laid his unconscious scientist on the ground.
“Thanks.” Quickly, I unbuckled the skis from my guy’s feet, then looked around for a place to stash him. I couldn’t just leave him in the snow, so it needed to be warm. There was a shed about a dozen yards away. “Let’s try to put them there.”
I started to drag my guy, but Maximus held up a hand. “I’ve got it. We don’t want body tracks.”
He threw one man over each shoulder, then started hoofing it toward the building. The shed was actually a small heated garage full of snowmobiles and gasoline containers. I eyed the machines with interest as I grabbed a few long rags off a table and used them to bind the hands and mouths of the men.
“It looks like they use this place often, so they should find them fairly soon.” Which was good, actually. I didn’t want them dying of starvation in here. I didn’t know if they were evil baddies, so I didn’t want to be responsible for their deaths. “Get their name badges and any identification or access cards.”
We rifled through their pockets and found lanyards with identification. There were no keys or access cards, but then, magical places didn’t often have those, so I didn’t worry.
“We don’t look like them, though.” Maximus eyed my handy belt. “Unless you have a glamour potion in there.”
“Indeed, I do.” I pulled it out. “I’ve never used it, though, so there’s no guarantee it will work. There’s one gross part though.” I grimaced as I bent and pulled a hair out of my guy’s head. “It’s really unfortunate.”
Maximus frowned. “Really?”
I popped the hair in my mouth and took a tiny swig of potion. “Yep.”
Chills raced down my skin as the potion made it to my stomach. Pain followed, a deep ache that made me wince.
Maximus studied me intently.