“The Order’s not happy, though,” he commented. “They’re trying to pin the blame for the attacks on us. The Spirit Agents.”
“They what?” I said. “How’d they figure that one out? Didn’t anyone see Hawker was the person who massacred everyone?”
“There were few surviving witnesses,” said Miles. “The Order hates spirit mages. I know they’re under the control of the enemy at the moment, but blaming us for everything has always worked for them before. Keeps everyone’s attention off the real issues.”
“Bastards,” I said. “They should be more worried about what happens if Hawker and his band of spirit mages try to start another war.”
“There is that,” Miles said. “For the record, I have zero intention of joining them. In case it wasn’t obvious already. I didn’t even know it was possible to do what that sick fucker Hawker did in the citadel. Trapping sprites in cages.”
“And unleashing a deadly virus on the city.” I grimaced. “Though that was more likely the Family’s idea. They got away, too.”
“We’ll get them next time, Bria.”
I’d expected such a response from him, but his confidence didn’t dispel my unease. Opening up to him would put more at risk than I’d been willing to admit. And then there was Adair to consider. He’d held Tay under his command, and I didn’t trust him not to try the same with Miles, too.
I drew in a breath. “I can’t guarantee they won’t target you to get at me, like they did with Tay.”
“They’re welcome to try,” he said. “We beat them before. You did it twice, even.”
“Barely.” I broke my gaze from his. “They’re worse than I ever knew. I’m pretty sure they helped wipe out the elves, then captured their children and created people like me to assist them in their scheme to take over the Parallel. That’s the legacy they’re trying to hand over to me. And if you get involved with me… that’s what you’ll get drawn into.”
He tilted his head on one side at the words if you get involved with me. Because while a large part of me wanted to warn him to run for the hills, he’d had ample time to do exactly that. Yet after everything, he was still here.
As though he’d sensed my thoughts, he said, “I’m already involved in this, Bria. Ever since Shawn started his bullshit scheme to have me killed, I’ve been in on this. And the best part of the whole fiasco is that it brought me face to face with you.”
My face burned. “You’ve met my family. Doesn’t it bother you at all, knowing I’m linked so closely to people like that?”
“You what?” he said. “They might have raised you, but you aren’t like them in the slightest.”
“By some miracle.” I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had a screwed-up childhood, even if the true extent of the Family’s depravity hadn’t hit me until way into adulthood. “I can credit Tay with most of that. When we met in the House of Fire, she helped me see the impact of what the Family’s cantrips were doing to the people they were used on. Tay wasn’t the only one, but it was her story which taught me that not everyone grew up like I did.”
When I’d met her, part of me had still been Lex’s shadow. I’d been riven with guilt over what I’d done to her and Roth, and I’d been unable to see past the blinders they’d put on me even after I’d set their estate ablaze and left their corpses in the ruin. The impact of the lives they’d ruined hadn’t sunk in until the House of Fire had locked me up, and in the process, I’d met Tay. She’d been the one constant in my life since my escape from the Family, and now I was going to have to learn to live without her.
Miles’s eyes shone with sympathy. “I’m still impressed. You were a kid, yet you managed to break away from all that.”
“Not completely.” I looked away. “They still want to recruit me. I’m not sure they’ll ever give up on that. Now they’re walking free, and the Houses… they’re in no shape to stand up to another attack.”
The enemy might be in retreat, for now, but the infected cantrips wouldn’t be the end of their attempts to gain domination over the city of Elysium. I had little doubt about that.
“The Houses aren’t your problem,” Miles told me. “As for the Family…”
“Nobody can beat them,” I said. “Not permanently. They’re functionally immortal. I should have guessed they stole that ability from the elves along with everything else they took.”
His jaw tightened. “There’s always a way. Even liches can die. And spirit mages. You just need to find their weaknesses. Your elf friend might know.”
“Who, Trix?” I said. “I guess he did promise me lessons in elf magic.”
The elves weren’t as extinct as they’d appeared, even with their strongholds destroyed… and if I wanted to find a permanent way to be rid of the Family, I might have to look in unlikely places.
“It’s worth a try,” said Miles. “I have to get back to the others. See you soon, okay?”
“Sure.” I leaned in as he wrapped me in a firm hug and kissed me, temporarily dispelling my lingering grief and guilt over the horrors of the previous day.
While he left the castle grounds, I spotted Trix and Ryan near the gates. The former gave me a wave from the back of a zombie horse, while the Air Element looked altogether more relaxed than they usually did.
“Hey.” I walked over to them. “Made friends with Neddie?”
The zombie horse, upon seeing me, tipped Trix off its back, and he landed with a thump in the mud. “Ow.”
“Sorry,” I said. “He doesn’t like me.”
“Maybe it’s elves he has a problem with,” Ryan said. “You’re back, then?”
“I never left,” I said. “Besides, I thought His Deathly Highness wasn’t giving orders. He wasn’t injured in the battle, was he?”
“No,” said Ryan. “I haven’t spoken to him, either, but I’ve been running back and forth from Elysium since the battle. Checking up on the citadels, you know. Oh, there’s Liv.”
I turned to see her descending the steps at the front of the castle, talking to Devon, and walked over to meet them. “Devon’s nullifying cantrip saved us back there.”
“It did,” Liv said, “but it’s only a temporary measure. Those citadels are built to last and so are their machines.”
“Hey, Bria.” Dex flew over our heads. “Liv wanted to ask you to join our D&D group.”
“I—what?” Liv spluttered. “I didn’t say that.”
“I did,” said Dex. “Right, Devon?”
“We’re open to anyone, technically,” said Devon. “Unless you object, Liv. Ryan plays with us. We’re still working on convincing Cal and Felicity.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, baffled by this turn of events. “I’ll join in if someone can explain to me how to play.”
Liv still looked disgruntled, but before she could say another word, the castle door opened and a lich floated out. “The Death King wants to speak to you, Bria.”
“Me?” I frowned.
“Alone?” said Liv, her own expression a mirror of mine.
“Yes,” said the lich.
All right, then. I walked into the castle and approached the dais at the back of the hall. The Death King wore an illusion of his human face, which made him look a little less sinister than usual. Or maybe it was me. After all, I’d faced my Family again—all three of them—and escaped intact. Even the King of the Dead would have a hard time scaring me after that.
“Hey, Death King,” I said. “Um, sorry I never got the Houses to cooperate with you.”
“I believe you dealt with the difficult situation the best you could,” he said. “The Houses have a lot of rebuilding to do, if they survive, and I believe they need to rethink their relationship with the Order.”
“Does the Order even still exist anymore?”
“For now,” he said. “As for the Houses, I believe that they can be persuaded to join my side, given enough time.”
“Let me guess… you want me to convince them they’re better off teaming up with you.
”
“Only after they’ve had time to rebuild,” he said. “First, however, we might need the assistance of the elves.”
That, I hadn’t seen coming. “Which elves? I don’t even know where most of them live.”
“I think we’ll find ourselves in need of their help,” he said. “And I think you have the skills you need to find them.”
My mouth fell open. Okay, if Trix had survived, others had, too, but I was way in over my head when it came to tracking down the others. I hadn’t known the Death King had even been considering them as potential allies. Did he know what the Family had done to them?
As he continued to watch me, expecting an answer, I said, “I can promise to try, that’s all.”
The fight with the Family wasn’t over. All three members walked free, while they had the skills to amass an army if they had their way. All I had was a ragtag group of allies, living and dead, a heritage I’d barely begun to uncover… and so much more to lose than before.
This was war… and I’d take it to the Family on my own terms this time.
Thank you for reading!
The story continues in Tower of Fire, Book 3 in the Parallel Magic trilogy, available soon.
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About the Author
Emma is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of the Changeling Chronicles urban fantasy series.
Emma spent her childhood creating imaginary worlds to compensate for a disappointingly average reality, so it was probably inevitable that she ended up writing fantasy novels. When she's not immersed in her own fictional universes, Emma can be found with her head in a book or wandering around the world in search of adventure.
Find out more about Emma’s books at www.emmaladams.com.
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