by B N Miles
But before she could release the energy, the house blinked into position.
Jared stared, not sure what just happened.
One second, it was gone. And the next… it appeared.
The house looked like any other in the block. Plain door, windows with bars. There was nothing special or remarkable about the exterior, which was the whole point.
Lumi let out a frustrated growl. “He dropped the wards,” she said through clenched teeth. “Jared Bechtel, prepare yourself.”
He stepped out toward her, his mouth hanging open.
A massive strike of lightning sliced through the concrete and smashed into her. Chunks of street and dirt kicked into the air, raining down on Jared. He turned and pulled Jessalene against him as the bolt exploded into a massive crater.
The concussion wave knocked Jared back a few feet. He nearly fell to the ground, but Jessalene was there behind him, steadying him before he could go down. One moment, Lumi was standing in the middle of the street, and the next there was a long carved rent in the ground and a crater where she’d been.
“Lumi!” Jared shouted. He moved to check the bottom of the crater but Jessalene grabbed him.
“Look!” She pointed up.
Jared followed her gaze.
A figure stood on the roof, glowing a strange light blue. His clothes were tattered and blowing all around him, but it was Ferric, no doubt at all, it was Ferric.
He turned and disappeared back into the building.
“Come on,” Jared said.
“What about Lumi?”
“She’s alive,” he said. “She had so much priori built up… she has to be alive. Come on.” He grabbed Jessalene’s hand and ran toward the building. They had to get within the perimeter of the wards before Ferric brought them back up.
Just as they hit the stoop, he felt the magic crackle into being. The building didn’t disappear, but he could see the lines of the wards snaking up the skin of the facade. Jessalene let out a little gasp and stumbled against Jared.
“What was that?”
“Wards came back up,” he said. “Come on. We’re going in.”
He opened the door. Unlocked, of course.
They stepped through together.
40
The living room was nearly empty. There was one couch, a simple coffee table, and a television stand with an older looking flat screen on top of it. There was nothing else, no decorations, no pillows. The walls were bare but clean and the floor was devoid of rugs or trash. There was a staircase to their left and a kitchen further back beyond the living room. It looked unused, one cupboard hanging open, just a few spare mismatched plates visible inside.
“Where is he?” Jared asked, keeping his voice low.
“Upstairs,” Jessalene said. She slipped the gun from its holster. “Come on. Let me go first.”
She crept forward and began to climb the steps. Jared followed, memgrams floating through his mind. He formed the shield memgram, but didn’t put it into place, not yet. He didn’t want to risk Ferric feeling his magic before they tracked him down.
The second floor was as sparse as the first. Nothing hung on the walls. The rooms were simply furnished, just beds and nightstands. Closets hung open, but were empty. There was another staircase to the third floor, and they crept up as quietly as they could.
Jared felt it then. Ferric’s power came washing over him. It was subdued, almost quiet, like it had been put away for the time being but had nowhere else to go. It washed down the hallway, coming from a bedroom toward the back. Jared touched Jessalene’s arm, motioned toward the room.
She nodded. She felt it too.
The door was ajar. They passed a third, short staircase that ended at a door, likely the roof exit. Lots of houses in Philadelphia had easy roof access, and a lot of them built decks up there. Jared continued forward, keeping low and silent, his heart beginning to race. If he could surprise Ferric, he might be able to get a sliver of magic around him before he could react.
Jared stopped outside of the door. He heard a strange groan coming from inside. He pushed it open and peered into the room.
It was a mess. It looked like it hadn’t been left for days. Dirty clothes were on the ground, dirty dishes, empty food wrappers. The bed was a tangle of sheets, and lying in the center was Ferric himself, curled into a tight ball.
Jared took a step inside and didn’t hesitate. He knew he wouldn’t get a moment like this again, where Ferric was distracted enough for him to get close. The memgram he needed slipped into his mind. A blade of grass bisected by the wind, sliced clean in half. Jared felt his power flare as he directed the magic toward Ferric.
But it slammed against a barrier. Jared clenched his jaw as the Need hit him, though not hard. Ferric sat up slowly and laughed, eyes wild, skin drenched in sweat.
“Weak,” he moaned. “Oh so weak. Now I see it. How you Magi have taken everything from us.” He laughed then groaned, clenching his jaw. He reached up and tore at his hair, shaking his head.
The man was crazed. His eyes were wild, rolling around in his skull. He laughed then lunged forward. Jared stumbled back but Ferric stopped and laughed. He flicked a tongue of flame against the wall, scorching the paint.
“Ferric, stop,” Jessalene said. Her voice wavered and Jared felt her press close against him, her gun held out, shaking slightly in her grip. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Come back with us, we can figure this out together.”
“Oh fuck,” he groaned. “Fuck it won’t shut the fuck up.” He grabbed at the sheets. “It won’t shut the fuck up. How do I make it shut the fuck up?” He crawled toward Jared again. “Please, oh goddess, please help me.”
Jared stared, horrified. Ferric twisted his own body and moaned in pleasure and pain. Jessalene pulled back as Ferric moaned and flames shot out from him, licking against the barrier Jared threw up between them.
It was the Need. He couldn’t believe the Meta was feeling the Need. He’d never seen a Magi so deep into the Need’s embrace like this. Any Magi that knew even a little bit about magic would’ve stopped using or found some outlet by now.
But Ferric wasn’t trained. He had no clue what he was doing, and the amount of priori he’d channeled was tremendous, and that was just what Jared knew about. Ferric had probably been suffering from the Need ever since that first fight at the river. It was tearing him to pieces. The realization hit Jared, a primordial fear ripping through him.
The man was insane. Half sane, at best. Jared stared at his future, horror flooding his body, making him freeze in place. This was every Magi’s worst nightmare, the very thing that haunted them all.
“Ferric.” Jessalene spoke, stepping forward. She put out a hand, almost tender. “It’s me. It’s your cousin. Please, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Ferric groaned and stared at her. “Cousin,” he whispered. “You tried to warn me, didn’t you? Tried to stop me. But oh goddess, please, make it stop now. Please make it stop. I’m begging, I’ll do anything.”
“Take off the glove,” she said, her voice soothing and gentle. “Just take it off. You’ll be okay. We won’t hurt you. Take off the glove and Jared can help you, he knows what to do.”
“No,” Ferric shouted, whipping more fire toward Jessalene. She stumbled back, her clothes singed, but Jared’s barrier held.
That broke Jared from his terror. “Ferric,” he said. “Take off the glove.” He reached for his power again.
“Go to hell, Magi,” he growled. “Oh goddess. Oh sweet mother goddess. I’m going to rip you to pieces then burn this whole fucking city to the ground.”
Jared had a shield up before Ferric could throw his flame. It lapped against Jared’s energy. Jessalene stumbled back and screamed at Ferric to stop as the fire began to consume the room around them.
Ferric stood up on the bed, then his feet floated up into the air. He was barefoot, his toes pointing down at the ground as priori flooded through him. He l
aughed, his eyes clear again, as power screamed in his veins.
Jessalene screamed again. “Stop, Ferric! You’ll take the whole block down!”
But Jared knew Ferric wouldn’t hear. He grabbed Jessalene and flooded himself with energy before snapping a shield around them. He held her tight and reached for another spell while holding the first. More energy flooded him, made him groan with the sweet bitter pain of it. Dust motes in sunlight.
Their feet left the ground just as Ferric released a blast of fire and lightning that tore the house around them to splinters.
Shards of wood and plaster smashed against his shield. He held Jessalene tight. They weren’t flying, he didn’t have the power to do that. But they floated down toward the ground, light as dust, light as nothing. His shield held as it was battered with fire, furniture, building materials. The world around them was chaos, screaming and breaking, as Ferric unleashed himself.
They hit the ground floor. Jared pulled Jessalene away. They stumbled through what was left of the door and fell down the stoop, smashing into the sidewalk below. The shield took the brunt of the damage, but it still hurt. As he scrambled to his feet, he felt hot pain in his ankle and his knee.
“Are you okay?” he asked as Jessalene groaned. He helped her to her feet, a small trickle of blood running from where her head had hit the pavement.
She looked past Jared at the house. Her eyes went wide. “Oh my goddess.”
It was torn to pieces. Jared pulled Jessalene back as Ferric floated in the air, laughing. He unleashed more energy, ripping what was left of the structure into bits and pieces. The houses on either side remained untouched, which confused Jared, until he felt a second surge of energy, this one from behind them.
He turned and saw Lumi, glowing blue, her clothes singed, her hair smoking. “Take him,” she screamed.
Jared realized she was keeping the buildings from being destroyed. He pulled Jessalene further back from the sidewalk as Ferric burst into flames, laughing all the while, the fire licking down and consuming debris. “Distract him,” he said. “Shoot him, do whatever. I just need one chance.”
“Jared—”
“Do it,” he growled.
She nodded. She must have been thinking about the animal they saw back in that bedroom. Not Ferric anymore, not even close, but a shell of a man. He’d gone too far into the Need, much too far.
Jared had seen it before, had seen it in the eyes of older Magi. Their descent into madness had been gradual, but even then, there was no coming back.
Jessalene ran off, her gun drawn. She took cover behind a car, leaning over the hood, and fired at Ferric. He laughed as the bullets smashed into a shield.
“Little cousin,” he said, his voice booming over the destruction. “You have no idea what I can do. Ants, little cousin, all ants, all nothing.” He laughed, eyes wide.
Jared ran into the building again. He picked his way through the wreckage, holding a shield tight against him to keep the flame from burning him alive. He heard Jessalene shout something then fire her weapon again, pops just audible over the whoosh and growl of flame. He wished he’d given her something a little more powerful than a pistol, but it was all he had.
A crack of power ripped through the sky and smashed into Ferric. He staggered in the air and laughed. Lumi must have attacked. Jared got closer and closer to his goal, stepping over smashed chunks of falling building, trying to stick to the pieces of flooring that looked intact.
Another crack, another laugh. Jared saw Ferric throw lightning again and heard it connect with someone. There was no scream, just a flash of dispersed energy and another attack from the ground mixed with more gunshots. Jessalene and Lumi, attacking him together.
Jared got beneath Ferric. He was almost directly below him. Out through the back, Jared saw Cassie crouched behind a car. He gave her a signal and she nodded at him, eyes serious.
More energy flashed through the air. Ferric laughed, absorbing some, dispersing the rest. It slammed into the houses and shattered some of the walls. Lumi clearly wasn’t defending them anymore as she doubled her attacks on him. The amount of priori spent began to rip the very air to shreds, making fog and smoke curl around the shattered house. The ground shook with each new vicious strike from Lumi, but Jared’s eyes were in the sky.
He had one chance at this. One chance to take Ferric by surprise. He waited and gathered himself, drawing in priori as quietly as he could. Ferric was laughing, the mania clear in his voice as he slapped away bursts of lightning, of fire, and returned with his own.
“Come down!” he heard Jessalene screaming. “Stop this, Ferric. You’re going to kill people!”
But Ferric’s laughter was the only answer Jared needed.
He wrapped himself in a shield, skin tight. He took a deep breath and reached for a memgram. Light of a star doubling, growing, breaking against a deep pitch background.
The energy he directed at the ground beneath him threw him up into the air. Jared growled in pain and exhilaration as he flew up at Ferric. The Dryad barely had time to look down before Jared slammed up into his body.
They tumbled in the air, twisting and turning, but Jared grabbed Ferric and wrapped his legs around the Dryad’s middle from behind. Ferric laughed and threw lightning wildly before stabilizing them. Jared could feel the power crackling around them.
“Stupid human,” Ferric said as Jared clung to him. “You don’t get it yet, do you? Even your little pet Medlar down there isn’t a threat.”
Jared could see Lumi breathing hard, gathering more energy. Jessalene was still hidden behind the car, though half of it had been shorn away in the fighting.
He held tight to Ferric. “You’re right. I can’t fight you,” he said, grabbing the Dryad’s wrist.
Ferric laughed. “It won’t come off,” he said, and a flare of energy pulsed from him. “Now get off, little ant.”
Jared felt the memgram snap into place. He sliced through Ferric’s wrist, severing his hand.
Blood splattered through the air, thick and red, splashing against Ferric and splattering against Jared’s face. He tasted Ferric’s blood on his lips, coppery and warm. The gloved hand seemed to linger at the end of Ferric’s arm for a moment before dropping down toward the wrecked house.
All the energy dissipated from the air and the world went still. Ferric took a gasping breath and screamed as the Need came into him. Jared could almost feel it, still crackling in the Dryad’s body, but without the glove he’d have no way to touch the priori anymore.
And they began to fall.
It happened fast. Jared tried to pull his shield around them both as they smashed into the wreckage below. Pain flashed through him and Ferric screamed in horror and Need and rage. They slammed through the floor and smashed into the concrete basement below as the rest of the house rained down on top of them, turning the world into blackness.
41
Jared felt a pinch in his right arm, heard the soft beep of machines, and opened his eyes to fluorescent bright. He grunted, struggled, felt hands on his body.
“It’s okay.” He squinted. Cassie leaned over him, beaming a hesitant smile.
“Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital,” she said. “It’s okay. Jessalene’s here too, she just left to get some coffee.”
“You’re okay? She’s okay?” He tried to reach out, but the IV lines snagged on the arm of the bed.
“We’re fine,” she said, putting his arms back down. “Just take a second.”
Jared stared into her face, took a deep breath, and felt the world come back. His body hurt everywhere, ached and bruised, and the Need was a tickle in the back of his throat, but he was alive. He remembered grabbing Ferric, slicing off his hand, and then—
“Ferric,” Jared said. “Did he get away?”
“No,” Cassie said, frowning. “No, we got him. I mean… he was dead when we got down there.”
“Oh.” Jared nodded. “Okay. Right.”
> “You shielded yourself,” she explained, “but it didn’t extend to him. I think he died on impact, or maybe from blood loss, but either way it was pretty fast. Lumi helped dig you out.”
“Lumi,” Jared repeated. “Where is she?”
“She’s okay too,” Cassie said with a smile. “She’s not so bad, you know.”
He closed his eyes. “Don’t tell me you have a crush on her, too.”
“Oh, we’ll see,” she said and laughed. She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I won’t do anything without your permission, don’t worry. You and Jessalene.”
He opened his eyes and smiled just as Jessalene stepped into the room. She was holding two cups of coffee and she looked surprised to see him awake.
“Jared,” she said, putting her cups down. She rushed to his side and leaned over him, hugging him tight.
“Oh shit,” he said, groaning, but hugged her back with his other arm.
“I was so worried,” she said. “I’d never forgive myself if something… I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” he asked.
“You almost died.” She stared at him. “You’ve been out for a full day.”
He frowned and looked at Cassie. She shrugged. “I was getting to that.”
“How bad am I?”
“Broken bones,” Jessalene said. “Some internal bleeding. You had surgery to repair it, though, and the doctor says you should be fine.”
“Huh. Is this… a normal hospital?”
She nodded. “Lumi wanted to bring in a Medlar healer, but…”
Jared smiled at her. “You wouldn’t let her.”
“No, I wouldn’t.” She frowned back at him. “She saved your life though. Dug you out with magic, stabilized you, got you to a hospital.”
“I guess I owe her.”
Jessalene took his hand, held it tight. “Jared—”
“I’m sorry about Ferric.”
She looked away. He couldn’t tell if she was blinking away tears. “He wouldn’t have been the same,” she said. “I saw him. I mean, I saw it… up there, in the room.”