by E A Foley
Iris wished she’d said something to her friends. To Nimbus. At least they’d had a few weeks together. It hadn’t been enough, but it was something. She only hoped she’d find him in her next life. Half her mind drifted through the warren of hedges and caves that protected her internal entrance to the Gallery of Doors. She entered, took a long look around the room, and whispered goodbye to everyone. Iris traced the lines of the elf’s face on Nimbus’s door. She stepped back and left the Gallery. Didn’t want anyone to see her death.
Moments crept by. Iris’s vision returned. She stared up at Morrigan. Puffs of white air obscured her face every few seconds as Iris exhaled in spurts. Her heart still heaved as though she’d sprinted up a mountain for miles. Pain built in her hands as they froze to the cold, hard-packed Earth.
Morrigan shifted the pressure on her blade. It forced Iris to sit back on her heels. No amount of pressure could get Iris’s body onto her feet. It was nothing more than a small boulder in her current state of exhaustion.
Seconds stretched on. Morrigan’s blade made it hard to swallow. Iris trembled from fatigue. The point at her throat dug deeper. A trickle of warm fluid rolled down her neck. Morrigan relaxed the pressure. Iris found her voice.
“I’d prefer you kill me over calling Jaden. If you were ever my friend, you’ll be kind enough to make this my last request.”
“I’m not going to kill you, Iris. Your knowledge and skills are too desirable. I came here to fight you. Winner would take the other, but it seems you’re not fit enough to oblige me with what I deem a fair fight.” She removed the katana from Iris’s neck and returned it to its sheath.
“Then what shall we do?”
“It appears I’ll have to wait. If I were to take you as you are now, I would betray my sense of honor. I will not lose that for anyone.” A black rectangle formed in the air behind Morrigan. She turned to walk through it but paused on the threshold. “I suggest you find a new place to practice. I will tell Jaden about this meadow when I see him next.”
Morrigan stepped into darkness and disappeared. Iris crumpled onto her side and rolled onto her back. Cold seeped into her body. She wasn’t sure what to make of Morrigan. She could have easily bundled Iris up and presented her to Jaden with a bow. Why hadn’t she? All Iris could come up with was that at her core, Morrigan remained unchanged. It gave Iris hope she could get her friends back.
Iris lay on her back, contemplating Morrigan when she realized she didn’t have the time to lie about in her meadow. While Morrigan would not fight her when she was exhausted, Jaden wouldn’t have any problem wrapping her up in a magical hold and carrying her back to the castle once more. She doubted he’d let her out of the dungeon this time.
She tried to open herself to the flows of power surrounding her, but couldn’t. With no other choice, Iris sent her little self to the Gallery of Doors and knocked on Aerianna’s door.
“Hey! What’s up?”
“I might have overdone it on the whole magic use thing again. Think you can come help me get home? I’m in that meadow you guys found for me to practice in.”
“You went back there? Alone? Even though you know Morrigan helped us find that place for you and has probably told Jaden about it?”
“Yes. I’m dumb. I realize that. Especially with how vulnerable I am at the moment. Please come help me. I can barely move let alone access any flows of power to create a doorway home. And it’s freezing.”
Iris’s physical self wiped the trickle of blood from her throat. She hoped Aerianna wouldn’t notice her pierced skin.
“All right. I’m on my way.”
“Thank you.”
The pair left the Gallery. A few moments later, Aerianna stepped out of her doorway. Iris heaved herself into a sitting position. The world spun at the effort. She waited for Aerianna to get closer.
“I think I need a hand up.”
“Do you have any idea how stupid you are?” Aerianna demanded. She sent healing flows into Iris’s body. Missed the small nick on her neck.
Iris tried to push herself off the ground but fell back immediately. No amount of healing would restore energy to her body with how drained she was. “Yes. I’m more aware of my stupidity than I’d usually admit. Can you give me a hand up? Please?”
Aerianna closed the gap between them, bent down, slung Iris’s arm over her shoulder, and stood up.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Aerianna said as she opened her doorway.
Iris took one last look around her meadow. It had been an amazing birthday present, but she could never come back here.
“You’ll find another place. I know it.”
Iris nodded. She’d lost two practice locations in less than a week. She tried not to dwell on it as they stepped through Aerianna’s door and into their living room.
“What happened?” Rozlynd demanded before the door closed behind them. Her back stiffened as she sat straight up from where she’d been lounging on the couch.
“I found my magical limit.”
“Again?”
“Apparently. Though it was different this time. Thanks,” Iris added to Aeri when her roommate plopped her down on the mini-loveseat.
“Different how?” Violet asked as she entered the living room from the hallway leading to their bedrooms.
Iris gladly answered the question. The longer she could keep them off the subject of her practicing magic—alone—outside of Davis, the better. “I used flows of power from both Earth and Gemina Terra.”
“You can do that? I mean, that’s possible?” Violet asked.
“It seems to be. And it allowed me a lot more power than usual, but in a different way. I tried causing an earthquake and while I shifted the Earth a little, it took so much power I drained myself before I realized it.”
“Didn’t we make a rule at the end of high school to prevent such an occurrence from happening again?” Roz asked Aeri and Vi with more than a little snark.
“No. We made a rule to keep me from killing myself again. I’ve discovered where my limit is and know not to go beyond it.”
“But you just said you rediscovered your limit,” Violet countered.
“I did. And what I meant is I was more powerful because I pulled flows from both planets, so I discovered a new limit based on that ability.”
Violet pursed her lips. Iris got the impression she didn’t believe her.
“If that’s the case, then how would you know you’d gone beyond your limit?” Violet asked after a few moments of contemplation.
“I’d be dead,” Iris admitted.
“Precisely. So, you’ll take someone with you next time you attempt something new or try to see how powerful you’ve become. It’s not a request nor up for argument. I’m telling you. Don’t make me get Nimbus involved. Or Thorin.”
Iris closed her mouth and swallowed her retort. “I hate it when you threaten to get Thorin involved. It’s beneath you.”
“I know how well he can annoy you into doing the smart thing and I will use any means possible to make you realize how stupid and stubborn you can be,” Violet said.
“I won’t try to use that much power again.”
“And you’ll take someone with you next time you go off to practice.” Violet insisted.
“I’m not making that promise.”
“Why the hell not?” Aerianna demanded. “Do you think we’ll all drop whatever we’re doing and come drag your sorry ass home every time you drain yourself that much?”
“No. But I would appreciate it.”
“Don’t split hairs, Iris,” Rozlynd admonished as her anger flared.
“I’m not splitting hairs.”
“Then take someone with you,” Violet dragged out the words. She placed her fists on her hips and leaned toward Iris. “It’s not safe to be outside the city limits of Davis let alone practicing magic by yourself.”
“I won’t take anyone with me. If Jaden ever gets the hang of tracking anyone’s abili
ties, it’ll be mine. I almost feel like I’m still linked to the asshole. If he comes after me, it won’t be alone. And I can’t let anyone become a hostage. That hasn’t changed.”
“Something has to change.”
“What if I tell you guys when I’m going somewhere and how long I plan to be there? If I’m not back by the end of my time limit, you’ll know he’s got me.”
“How is that supposed to make us feel better?”
Iris shrugged in response. She leaned her head back and rubbed at her eyes. Thinking became harder as her exhausted brain tried to process through its need for sleep.
“What if someone comes with you but stays hidden somehow?” Aerianna supplied.
“With how much stronger you’ve all become, sensing your abilities when you’re close by has also become easier. He wouldn’t need to track you based on your abilities, he’d sense you. You’d have to be at least five miles away. Probably farther.”
“You’re being asinine. You know that, right?” Rozlynd asked rhetorically.
“I’m not trying to be. I’m open to suggestions, but they have to be good ones that don’t wind up with the possibility of someone else getting captured. Unless any of you can hide your ability the way all of Jaden’s followers can?” Everyone shook their heads in the negative. “I’ve got nothing but a mush-filled brain at the moment, so I’m out of ideas. Sorry.”
“Have you tried working that little trick out yet?”
“Tried? Yes,” Iris told Aerianna. “Made progress, no.”
“How would you know you haven’t made any progress if you never take someone with you to try it out on?” Rozlynd countered.
“I’ve tried it with Nimbus. He’s the only other one adept at feeling out a nearby magic user. We’ve made a game of it. I’ve gone to his apartment through my mini-doorway almost every day for the last two weeks to practice. I stay in the living room and he moves about the apartment. The longest he’s gone in concealment from me is a whopping twelve seconds. I haven’t even managed one. Not the best progress I’ve ever made,” Iris added in disgust.
“But there is progress,” Violet tried to encourage her.
Iris grunted noncommittally.
“Where do you think Jaden learned that skill?” Rozlynd asked after a long silence.
“From whoever his new teacher is.”
“Is it Mr. Moreno?”
Though she was loath to admit it, Iris felt she had no choice. “I think so,” she said through a large exhale. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
“I remembered how Brett concealed his abilities from you throughout high school. He probably knew you were a magic user all year, huh?”
“Before that. But he supposedly couldn’t sense me until I bent his desk leg sometime spring.”
Three confused faces prompted Iris to continue her explanation.
“Turns out Mr. Moreno is an Oculus Prismatic. Yay,” Iris added with sarcasm. “I’m sure he told Brett all about what my eyes could mean as soon as he discovered his abilities. Hell, Mr. Moreno could have told Brett about it when he was a kid. He was the one who initiated trying to get my eyes to change most of the time.”
“Shit! So Brett and Jaden are working together?” Rozlynd asked.
“I don’t think so. I think it’s more of a competition to see who can get to us first. I haven’t decided if that’s better or worse.” Iris didn’t want to mention Brett’s current state of indecision for fear they’d tell her to stay away from him. Something told her that wasn’t the correct solution right now.
“I’d say better. It means they’re not sharing knowledge yet,” Aerianna mused.
“They don’t have to. They both have Mr. Moreno for that.”
The four women fell silent to contemplate Iris’s pronouncement.
“I wonder what he’ll do when he learns about Nimbus,” Violet said after a while.
“Why?” Iris swallowed. Did they already know Brett had sought her out recently?
“Because he seems to like you.”
“If he does still like me, I’m sure that’ll push him over the edge and into sharing everything he knows with Jaden. Fuck,” she added with a groan.
“It can’t be that much information.”
“Magic wise, I don’t think so. Unless they’re keeping their abilities from each other. Oh, and Brett has fought me multiple times while Jaden only fought me once and that wasn’t a true fight. It was more me being stupid. I should’ve seen his deserting to Mr. Moreno sooner. Much sooner.”
“You guys fought?” Rozlynd demanded.
“It was more like I chased after him and he seriously injured me.”
“And you didn’t ask me to heal you?”
“Jaden got Kylee. Sorry,” she told Aerianna. “I think he knew you’d never believe it was an accident. I don’t think Kylee believe it was, but she kept her promise and didn’t mention it to anyone. That’s neither here nor there now.”
“Like hell it isn’t!”
“Roz, we already know he wants to kill or capture us, so it changes nothing.”
Rozlynd crossed her arms and glared across the living room at Iris. Tension built until Violet brought the conversation back around.
“You said they don’t have a lot of magic information to exchange, then what else do they have to exchange?”
“Well, Brett has known me since elementary school which is even longer than you guys. Until college, he’d been in at least one of my classes throughout school. I bet he or Mr. Moreno made sure of that. He’s studied me this whole time. Even in college. He knows my major, where I work, memorizes my class schedule and routine, and knows my habits. Even my moods. Bit creepy when I spell it out, actually.”
“Very,” her three roommates agreed at once.
“The question is what Jaden has to offer. I guess my teaching style and ability. Though I’d say knowledge from Zarina and Morrigan to fill in Brett’s gaps is probably more helpful to them. And knowledge about you guys. Brett was never focused on any of you while Jaden knows all of your strengths and weaknesses.”
Silence filled the room once more. No one broke it this time. No one recognized how dire their situation was until now. They had not one, but two people vying to capture them to the same end. If she possessed the strength to form a doorway, Iris would have gone to Nimbus’s place. She needed to keep working on assuring her friends stayed safe.
Chapter 19
Iris didn’t make it to band rehearsal that evening. She texted Thorin and told him she wasn’t feeling well. He’d relay the message to the rest of her friends and the mello section if they asked. Instead, she turned in early. Her mind and body were drained. As she drifted off to sleep, a familiar pain alighted at the back of her neck. She followed the flows back to their owner expecting to find Brett but discovered Jaden.
Cold saline flooded Iris’s body. Jaden could track her. Her mind spit out a hundred questions and solutions in a half-second. She grasped one. Distance. He was at Zarina’s. Within a hundred yards of where she lay in her bed. She needed to know if he could track her if she moved farther away. Iris got up, put on some slippers, and grabbed her car keys. She’d parked the 4Runner across the street. If he could track her that far she’d get in the car and drive until he couldn’t.
As she moved away from Zarina’s apartment, the pain at the back of her neck lessened. By the time she reached her car, it disappeared. Relief flooded Iris’s body before dread replaced it. He’d gotten the hang of tracking her in a few weeks. She wondered how much longer she could keep going to Nimbus’s without Jaden knowing.
Iris banished the thought. She didn’t have the mental capacity to dwell on it tonight. Instead, she crossed the street again, told her roommates what she was looking for wasn’t in her car, and climbed back into bed. The return of the pain at the back of her neck did nothing to help her fall asleep.
The next few days felt almost normal for Iris. She went to class and work and managed to concentrate on b
oth. In the afternoons and evenings, she formed her doorway to Nimbus’s apartment, and they continued trying to conceal their powers from each other. Jaden’s single success spurred her on to try even harder than before. It also fueled her anger.
She knew Nimbus sensed a change in her, but he refrained from asking. Iris both appreciated his lack of questions and felt guilty over her actions. Each small success they had lessened her anger. Soon Nimbus could conceal his magical abilities from her for a solid five minutes within the apartment. When he was further away, it was longer. Iris started to wonder if the ability to conceal magical abilities was multifaceted. Distance, power, and familiarity with the person being tracked all seemed to play a role in the ability to conceal or locate someone concealing their magic from another magic user.
When Nimbus increased how long he could conceal his magic from her to half an hour, Iris decided it was time to teach the skill to the rest of her friends. If it took them three weeks of daily practice to get as far as Nimbus had, then the sooner they started working on the skill, the better.
“Do you think it’s safe to keep using the island for practice? I mean Jaden, Zarina, and Morrigan all know about it.” Cirrus asked on Sunday after he and Iris stepped onto the island to assure no one else was there.
“Yes, but only when it’s all twelve of us.”
“You know Jaden had close to three dozen followers at New Year’s, right?”
“Yes. My memory of that night is sound. I also know you doubled your strength while we trained on Gemina Terra. Everyone did. That makes you all much more powerful than Jaden—even with his increased power and continued practicing.”
“So you’re saying the twelve of us could take on all of them?”
“If one of us got a barrier up in time, there’d be no competition. If we didn’t get a barrier up in time, we’d still have a chance.”
It’s all clear, her little self announced to everyone waiting in the Gallery.
“Nothing is a sure thing, though,” Iris added to Cirrus before he could ask another question. “How’s everyone doing today?” Iris switched into teacher mode the second the last person stepped onto the island. “Good? Great! Before we get started, does anyone have questions?”